Schmidt, Torres, Smith and Levitas will drive the No. 299 Brenthel Trophy Truck in the 400-mile event that runs four laps of the 100-mile loop that extends from the California-Nevada state line in Primm to the Southern edge of Las Vegas in Jean, Nevada and is considered the most grueling and challenging off-road racecourse in the United States.

The Unlimited Truck SPEC class features purpose-built trophy trucks, but with a sealed motor to contain costs.

Besides a one-day test on a practice course in California last week, only Schmidt brings any off-road racing experience to the event. Schmidt and Lamborghini Super Trofeo co-driver Trevor Andrusko competed in a UTV-based class in the race a year ago – much different than the full-size trophy truck of this year’s competition, as well as the Lamborghini Huracan that Schmidt road races. Levitas, the Director of Race Operations for TPC Racing, is filling the role as “super sub” for the team after a non-racing injury forced Andrusko out of the race.

“This is going to be so much fun,” Levitas said. “We did a quick test in the desert with Brenthel last week. I rode shotgun for a lap and then drove a lap and it’s wild. It’s completely backward from what you’d do in a car on asphalt. You have to look way ahead and start to steer early and use the power. Once you get used to that it’s a ton of fun, and we’re all just looking forward to something completely different.”

Like Schmidt, Torres is also a sports car racer under the TPC Racing umbrella. Torres competed this season in the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

“Scott did this last year and said he had a blast,” Torres said. “It’s going to be a big undertaking, especially in a trophy truck. But I’m looking forward to the challenge. It’s 400 miles of really rough terrain against huge competition. We know we won’t have the speed or the experience of the top guys, so we want to be smart and keep it clean which should provide us with a good position at the end.”

Though it’s the first foray into off-road racing for TPC Racing, the company does have some experience in the off-road market. While TPC Racing is primarily known for aftermarket tuning and upgrades for Porsches, sister company DSC Sport and its electronic active suspension line includes controllers for the Ford Raptor.

“While we can’t use the DSC Sport suspension controller on our trophy truck, we’re hoping that some of the knowledge we have as a company will carry over to our effort in the Mint 400,” Levitas said. “But no matter what, we’re going to enjoy each other, have a lot of fun, and try something new just to see what happens. That’s what we’re all about here.”

The race event got underway with the Mint 400 Off-road Festival on Thursday, December 2, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Las Vegas’ Fremont Street East. Each of the three hundred and sixty-plus teams paraded in front of twenty-five thousand off-road fans daily, on their way to technical inspection at the end of the festival.

Qualifying takes place between noon and 3 p.m. PST on Friday, with the start of the 400 miles coming at 10 a.m. PST on Saturday, December 4. Qualifying and the race stream, as well as results, live timing and GPS tracking, can be found at TheMint400.com.

McClure stayed in touch with the Pro-Am class leaders in both races and dodged some of the off-course and contact incidents that sidelined more than one competitor in the weekend’s pair of 45-minutes races.

The Carrera Cup weekend was the second visit to VIR by McClure and TPC this year, which is the closest track on the IMSA schedule to both McClure’s home in Chesterfield, Virginia and the TPC Racing shop in Jessup, Maryland. McClure challenged for a podium position in the Porsche Sprint Challenge weekend at VIR back in June and won the “Apex’n Award” for passing the most cars on track during in the weekend’s second race.

Following a sixth-place finish in Saturday’s race after starting ninth, McClure pulled of some more key passes in Sunday’s second and final Carrera Cup sprint. Starting sixth, McClure picked up two positions at the start to move to fourth place on the first lap.

“I started sixth in Pro-Am and moved up a couple positions overall right at the start, but I still ended up sixth again in the race,” McClure said. “I’m a little disappointed, I had a great start, was fourth and I thought ‘I can do this,’ but braking in turns one through three a few laps later, I lost a position or two. It’s so hard. That was so much work, it’s crazy how you sweat it out on these, but it’s a blast.”

Shaking off the incident, McClure reset his focus and went to work on racing back into the top five until the finish.

“I caught fifth place at the end and we were separated by a tenth,” McClure said. “I should have taken one more chance, I almost got him in turns nine and 10, but it was good racing and we were clean. I made it to the end, and it’s amazing how much it takes out of you. It’s a work out. Everyone asks you if it’s fun, but fun is probably not the word. It makes you grow. You get out there and you’re anxious and wound up and you just have to go at it for 45 minutes in an almost a 3,000 pound car. It’s pretty cool, actually.”

McClure was the only TPC Racing entry this weekend but confidently carried the team flag after a successful test at VIR recently.

“It was a great weekend for Vernon,” said Harris Levitas, TPC Director of Race Operations. “Last week we were here testing, and a huge thank you to Billy Johnson who is also our TPC Racing and DSC Sport development driver for our products that we sell to the street car market. Our engineering staff worked hard with Billy for a full day and a half to help us get the car sorted. We’ve not had the time necessary to truly develop this chassis, and we found that last weekend and got a grasp on it. We have a fast car now, and Vernon is getting more and more comfortable in the car, which is truly important. We’re just going to keep making progress through an upcoming test and the season-ending race at Road Atlanta. We’re making great progress, our TPC Racing team worked hard all weekend and delivered a fast car right out of the trailer.”

Next up for TPC Racing is the season-ending tripleheader on Petit Le Mans weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, November 10 – 12. The packed schedule features a pair of races Thursday, November 11 that set the stage for the next day’s final race of the year.

Competing in just their second professional race weekends each, Torres earned a third-place finish during Saturday’s 40-minute sprint and a runner-up finish on Sunday in the No. 16 Stoneleaf/TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Lorndale finished just spots behind in the No. 6 TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, earning a sixth-place finish on Saturday and just missing the podium with a fourth-place finish on Sunday. Both competed in the Gold Cup class for 991.1-generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars.

Torres, who qualified fourth for Saturday’s race and third for Sunday’s race and moved forward in each, had a chance to earn the win during Sunday’s race. Pushing hard coming out of the museum corner with two laps to go, Torres spun, but recovered quickly enough and had a large enough gap to third place to hold on to the runner-up position.

Lorndale was at a disadvantage in both races after mechanical gremlins cost him Friday afternoon’s qualifying sessions. That meant he started last in both races, but continued improvement and steady lap times rewarded him with a sixth-place finish on Saturday and a fourth-place finish on Sunday.

The Barber Motorsports Park event featured rounds three and four of the 14-race 2021 Championship. TPC Racing returns to Sprint Challenge North America action at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, in less than two weeks with a doubleheader April 30 – May 2. Torres and Lorndale will be joined on that weekend by a host of TPC Racing entries across multiple series, including Vernon McClure in Porsche Carrera Cup North America competition.

Harris Levitas, Director of Race Operations: “This was just an excellent weekend for TPC Racing. Both Pedro and Rob continue to get better every weekend we’re at the race track, and the guys continue to work really hard to get our Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars up to speed. I’m really proud of the way Pedro and Rob have worked to get better both at the track and in between races and have really taken the coaching they’ve gotten from Spencer Pumpelly to heart. It shows, and we expect the results to keep coming for both of these guys as the year goes along.”

Rob Lorndale, Driver, No. 6 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: “My fuel pump failed as we were lining up for qualifying. I did not set qualifying times and so started the races in the back. In race one, I got off to a slow start. After that, I got into a rhythm, made quite a few passes and finished decently. After the race, Spencer Pumpelly and I watched the entire video of the race. Spencer pointed out my mistakes at the start of the race and also in handling traffic. This video session was enormously helpful; it provided a sound approach for race two. Race two went much better. I was able to finish P4 and plan to take what I learned to COTA. The entire team had a great weekend. Pedro had two podiums and is driving and racing extremely well. He works very hard on data analysis. His hard work certainly is paying off! The preparation of our cars from setup to maintenance is second to none. All the guys work really hard.”

Pedro Torres, Driver, No. 16 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: “This weekend was great! The guys did a fantastic job getting the car put back together for this race. Unfortunately, we lost practice one due to an abs sensor. One more session would have definitely helped in qualifying but this happens. The guys got the car back in shape really quick and after a couple of small changes ran much better in qualifying two. I think we had the pace for second in the first race and first the second race. But those guys have a lot more experience than me and it showed while driving through traffic or defending in the race. I got better at attacking on the second race, but Kurt Fazekas made no mistakes and was better coming off the key turns. In the end it was really exciting, and I still have lots to learn. I will definitely be drilling down into the data to see where I can improve. I know between Spencer and the TPC crew we will have the car and support, now it’s up to me and Rob to make it happen.”

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.

Jessup, MD (March 14, 2013) Today marked an amazing start to the race season for TPC Racing. Over the offseason, both Michael Levitas and David Williams worked very hard to prepare for Sebring and to be championship contenders, and today proved that. The practice sessions on Wednesday were tough for the 36 TPC Racing / Merkle GT3 Cup of team principle Michael Levitas, but the team worked hard and sorted out the car.

Levitas started off the week in P4 turning laps in the 2:14 range while teammate David Williams was turning 2:13’s in his 37 TPC Racing / Merkle GT3 Cup. The team worked hard Wednesday night to prepare for the qualifying session this morning. Right away, the changes that were made to both cars Wednesday night proved to be successful.

Right away, Michael Levitas turned fast laps in his 36 TPC Racing / Merkle Porsche and grabbed the pole position turning a 2:10.5. This was the fastest lap that Michael has turned at Sebring in his GT3 Cup. Shortly after Levitas clocked in at a 2:10.5, David Williams turned a 2:11.4 in his 37 TPC Racing / Merkle GT3 Cup to take P2. From there, the positions stayed and TPC Racing would start the first race of the season P1 and P2.

When the race went green later that afternoon, Levitas kept his nose clean and turned consistent times holding a nice lead. David did the same and held his position in P2. Late on in the race, David starting running very fast lap times giving Michael a good run for his money. It was going to be a great team battle, but a caution late in the race would have race one of the weekend finishing under caution. When the check flag flew, TPC Racing would take its first ever 1-2 finish in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge. It was a fantastic race, and the team did an amazing job preparing the cars to be race winning machines.

“It was a great run, I had a great time, I mean TPC really pulled it off in the final hours,” said the class-winning Levitas. “Even from the practice day we had a great car but for some reason we couldn’t find it and the guys worked hard and pulled it off in the final hours last night. We weren’t too sure what we had going into the qualifying but once we got to qualifying I knew I had a great car, it was a great feeling going into the race.”

This was a great run by David Williams finishing P2 in his 37 TPC Racing / Merkle Porsche GT3 Cup. David took delivery of his GT3 Cup in December after taking a few years off from racing and right away after a few test days was running in the front of the field racing for the race win.

“It was all about redemption this weekend,” Williams said. “We did well in qualifying as well as the race, so overall this was a great weekend in my first race. If it wasn’t for the hard work and determination of our team and sponsors, we wouldn’t have been able to pull this off.”

TPC Racing is hoping for another 1-2 sweep for race two Friday afternoon. The team has worked hard, and Michael Levitas will be starting from pole position again in his 36 TPC Racing / Merkle Porsche. David Williams will be starting P4, but David has a great car under him and is ready for a great race.