A nice breeze blows across the porch as everyone takes turns sharing their best race stories. When the time comes for Randal to share, he pauses and continues to slowly rock in his chair. Everyone remains quiet, hearing only the crickets chirping and the frogs croaking, waiting to hear what Randal has to say.

Randal didn’t have a recent victory to share. In fact, he had a heartbreaking end to his last race weekend. He did well in both practice and qualifying which allowed him to start P4 for Race 1. But shortly into Race 1, Randal called over the radio about a noise and loss of power. All he could do was limp the car around Watkins Glen and back into the pits, hoping to race the next day. His race was done, and little did he know, so was his weekend.

If this was a traditional PR piece, that’s where the story would end. That’s not where our story ends though. Randal didn’t try to leave the track. He stayed around to hang out with everyone, review his race video with his coach, and wait for what he hoped wouldn’t come—the news that he wasn’t racing in Race 2. In fact, it was Randal’s actions from the rest of the weekend that would lead to this fine summer evening, listening to race stories from all of TPC.

“Perhaps one of the most iconic phrases in sports was from the ABC Wide World of Sports, narrated by Jim McKay, ‘the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.’ As a child, this phrase seemed to sum up sports in a nutshell. As an adult, I have grown to learn there must be more than winning and losing. You bet your bottom dollar there is nothing sweeter than the thrill of victory, but losing doesn’t have to be in agony.”

Everyone perks up a little once they hear this come out of Randal. He’s normally very laid back, but today he has a serious tone to his voice. Randal paused for a moment, took a breath, and continued on.

“Perhaps motorsports racing has developed the stereotype-for-trade by Will Ferrell’s character, Ricky Bobby, in Talladega Nights. ‘You’re either first or you’re last.’ However, from my eyes, I see much more than winning is everything. I see fellowship. It’s made up of support from family, friends, teams, coaches, teammates, crew members, team owners, and fans. Don’t get me wrong – this is an extremely expensive sport, and pressure on drivers, sponsors, and team owners to win is real. But don’t let that fool you. In order to win, you must have fellowship. You must have friends. And, if so, winning is possible. So, through my eyes, the community as a whole influences my sportsmanship.”

Everyone sat back and looked around. They remembered Randal showing up that Saturday for Race 2, in his team shirt, with a smile on his face. They watched him walk around recording a Facebook live during the grid, talking with teammates and friends. He continued recording through the race while cheering on everyone from the pit box.

What Randal said should be true for more racers and teams – losing doesn’t have to be in agony. We sometimes spend more time with our race team than we do with our own family. The team becomes family. How can we not cheer on our family if they win and we lose? Are we really losing? The comradery that Randal showed that weekend brought TPC just a little closer together and made everyone a little more like a family.

Ah, summer in motorsports. The days are longer and the races are hotter.

With the Glen coming up in just a few short days, summer has officially begun in motorsports. Here at TPC Racing, our drivers don’t slow it down and go on vacation, they push harder and drive faster. With the new season, we’ve decided to start a new series of stories that focus on our drivers, crew, and staff.

As a fan, it’s easy to see drivers and teams as unapproachable. We’re here to let you know that we’re just regular people, living out our lives on social media and race broadcasts.

It was an easy choice to pick our first team member to highlight. After his first international podium at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Dan Hardee is going into Watkins with a big smile on his face. After all, he got a podium finish during an F1 event.

Things most people know about F1 events: they’re busy, there are lots of celebrities, and there is a lot of action on track. Things most people don’t know about F1 events: money can’t always buy you access to the F1 drivers and support series (like GT3 Cup) get very little time on track. GT3 Cup drivers only get one 40 minute practice session before they have to qualify. This little time makes it difficult for anyone to really prepare for a race.

Dan had already thought this through. Even during our pre-season test at Barber Motorsports Park, Dan knew he needed to find a way to get some seat time. For the first time in his life, Dan planned out something in advance. Dan the Man, was a man with a plan.

Dan’s plan was actually well thought out. He asked one of our team coaches, Mike Skeen, for some help putting together a simulator. Mike enlisted the help of long-time friend and tech nerd, Scott Barton, to put a system in place. Once all the computers and sim pieces came in, Dan got to work. It’s rumored that he once did 2 hours of laps, before realizing he didn’t have his CoolShirt hooked up. Apparently, sim time can really work up a sweat.

In all seriousness, Dan put in a lot of work to get ready for his F1 debut. He watched hours and hours of in-car video to memorize the track. After many days of staring at in-car video, Dan finally showered and ate a meal before calling his BFF and fellow TPC driver, Tom Kerr, to go to Cars and Coffee Palm Beach where they would debut their new Method Seven Sky Optics Sunglasses.

Once Tom was done wining and dining Dan at the early bird special, Dan hopped back on the simulator. Weeks passed and Dan finally felt comfortable with the track. He was even able to turn consistent lap times!

The true test of all of Dan’s practice came upon arriving in Canada. He was easily distracted by all the F1 shiny objects and thrilled to have his car on display at the F1 Fan Walk to start the weekend. He was over-the-moon excited to be at his first F1 event ever! Luckily, Zac Robichon, another one of TPC’s excellent team coaches, was able to pull Dan back down to earth during the track walk with the harsh reality of curbs, concrete barriers, and limited runoff that a temporary circuit offers.

All of the time and studying that Dan put in before the event really paid off. He was quickly able to get up to pace and qualified fourth. Race 1 went by fast, but Dan was able to get in the danger zone and finished 3rd, giving him his first real podium finish! With all the TPC drivers finishing in the top 10, Dan happily shared his champagne with the team. Team work makes the dream work!

Race 2 had Dan starting in 3rd. His Red Bull was in full effect that morning. Unfortunately for Dan, he didn’t see the banana peel that a fan had tossed onto the circuit in time causing a spin that took him out of contention for P2. Even without a second trophy, Dan left the track more excited than ever.

Dan now has all the plans and has been spending hours practicing on the sim. He’s looking forward to having the band back together and being a big data nerd with Mike Skeen.

Make sure to stop by the TPC Racing paddock if you’re at the Glen!

Dan would like to give a special thank you to Spencer Pumpelly, Mike Skeen and Zac Robichon for their coaching skills. Zac played a big part of Dan getting on the podium at Montreal. He would also like to thank TPC Racing for preparing and setting up his car perfectly for the event.

Thank you to all of Dan Hardee’s sponsors for their continued support:

SPONSORS:
Revolve Luxury Automobile Subscription Service
Apple Rush Sparkling Beverages
Lucas Oil Products
Cars and Coffee Palm Beach
Method Seven Eyewear
Hardee Family Foundation
DellaPorta Cosmetic Dentistry

*Disclosure: some of this may be a true story.

Why the 986 Boxster is a Porsche that we should all be shopping for

We have apologized to Matt on numerous occassions for the mishap with the brakes in the following video. Unfortunatley, the turbo Cayman we had ligned up for him fell through last minute due to a scheduling conflict. Another customer was gracious enough to let Matt drive his car for the video. However, he forgot to warn us or switch out the brake pads (he uses a separate set for street/track) before the video. As a result, Matt did cut the video a lap or two short to practice caution. We applaud his ability to put together a great review of the vehicle’s engine performance despite the sub par brakes.

The No. 36 Porsche, driven by Michael Levitas, boasting the latest DSC Sport/Tractive suspension engineering, posted the top Gold Cup class times in two practices, captured pole and earned two wins. The car sailed through the historic circuit, setting a qualifying lap record and race lap record for a Porsche 997, with the only addition this year being the DSC Sport computer and Tractive dynamic dampers.

“The difference from a year ago without DSC is uncanny,” DSC Sport CEO and driver Levitas said. “You can lean so much harder into the turn, and laterally and longitudinally everything is just a dream. It was almost too easy to drive. My times improved by over a second from last year and all we did was change to the DSC Sport suspension package. We customized the mapping and boom we were there.”

Watkins Glen International is an 11-turn, 3.4-mile circuit that is known to sports car fans as a mecca of North American road courses. The fast, flowing track demands respect from the driver, especially in the challenging “The Boot,” one of the most famous turn sequences in North America.

While other cars were sliding through turns and enduring rough rides over the curbing, the No. 36, driven by seasoned veteran Levitas, had minimal drama.

“You couldn’t lean hard enough into the corner,” Levitas said. “I could do no wrong. It may have been the best car I’ve ever been in. I couldn’t even feel the curbing on the way into the Bus Stop (chicane). I was going 97 mph through there, faster than the Platinum (Type 991) cars. And that’s all thanks to DSC Sport and Tractive and the work of our incredible engineering of Doug, Eric and Rob, and the TPC Racing team doing setup at the track. This team seems unstoppable.”

DSC Sport is the leading developer and manufacturer of active control modules for electronic suspension. By controlling the individual damping value of each shock in virtually real time, DSC Sport provides more grip to the tire, greater stability and ride control.