(August 14, 2013) Jessup, MD – For rounds nine and ten of the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama Series, the TPC Racing / Porsche of Towson / Merkle team was at Road America. This was the first time that the team had been to Road America, and all three cars were fast right out of the trailer.

In practice, the TPC Racing Porsche GT3 Cup cars were great. While Ben Keating and David Williams have been to Road America before, Michael Levitas used the test sessions and first practice to learn the course to be competitive. While learning the track, Levitas still had an impressive lap time to put him in the top three; that is when the team knew that the car was good. The team made chassis adjustments to help better the handling of the cars and the 35 car of Ben Keating, 36 of Michael Levitas and 37 of David Williams were ready for qualifying.

For qualifying, Ben Keating had a strategy that he pulled off in the 35 car. In the 36 Porsche of Towson entry, Michael Levitas drove his car to a starting position of third for the first race and set his second fastest lap time to be that of starting first for race two. David Williams was consistent with his lap times and qualified sixth in the Gold class.

At the start of the first race, the 35 Porsche of Towson / Merkle entry had a great start, as Keating started moving his way up through the field and his strategy was playing out. Ben started further back in the field as he did not want to do many qualifying laps on the tires and rolled off in the twenty-second spot on the grid. Even with lengthy cautions in the beginning of the race, Keating was able to drive up to eleventh spot which earned him the Yokohama Hard Charger Award.

“The TPC Racing / Porsche of Towson GT3 Cup was great today,” Keating said. “The team worked hard to give me a great car and once again delivered a fast car that I could drive through the field with. We had a strategy going into qualifying that worked out for me and at the start I stayed out of trouble and made my way up through the field. Thank you to TPC Racing for the great car and I look forward to Baltimore.”

The 36 Porsche of Towson / Merkle entry of Michael Levitas had a great start. Michael took over the lead after a nice battle and held on. On the last lap while leading the race in turn six, Levitas got hit in the left front which caused the tire to go down and Michael finished in the fourth position but took second place in the Masters class. In race two, Levitas started on pole. It was a wet race, and Michael did not want to take chances as he was learning a wet line and also in the lead of the race. The second race was full of long cautions and Levitas finished in third but won the Masters class.

“It was a great race, a great race,” Levitas said. “The Porsche of Towson TPC car just did incredible. We made a little bit of a change before the race I thought it would give me some rear grip but it gave me a little too much, and it cost me about a half of a second a lap, and it really hurt. But what really hurt is that I had the lead up until the very last lap. But we still pulled off P3. My teammate Dave Williams–my hat goes off to him. Dave Williams did a supreme job he brought that car into second place and he was a steady guy he was strong and there at the end and that’s what matters.”

“In the second race things got a bit crazy with the rain and extended cautions, but David and I were smart and worked as a team. We survived the race and moved up in class without making a mistake. It was great to win the Masters class and have my teammate David Williams in second”

David Williams drove a fantastic race in both the first and second race of the weekend. In race one, David was setting consistent laps which had him finish in second place in Gold and Williams took the win in the Masters class with his 37 Merkle / Porsche of Towson machine. In race 2, David had a great race in the rain. Williams started in sixth and worked his way up to fourth before a long caution came out. David was faster than the top three, and was looking forward to a strong run to the front but the race finished under caution. The fourth place finish would put Williams in second in the Masters class and would also see David winning the Yokohama Hard Charger Award for the second race of the weekend.

“It was very crazy,” Williams said. “But it ended up being a good race. The restarts were crazy everyone got jammed up coming up the hill and Turn-1 and Turn-3 was just nuts but ultimately great race and great venue. My TPC Racing / Merkle car was great. As always, the team gave me a great car to drive to a podium finish.”

About TPC Racing:

TPC Racing is the Mid-Atlantic’s premier maintenance, service, tuning and modification center dedicated solely to Porsche sports cars. This long time focus on only one make, Porsche, has enabled us to become experts in Porsche service, tuning and racing.

TPC Racing has its roots in the IMSA Supercar Series of the late 1980’s and early 1990s, as well in the Grand Am Rolex Series with over 28 race wins and 40 podium finishes. In 2004, the team won the team and drivers championship in the SGS class. In 2006, TPC Racing won the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in the GT Class.

By combining a lifetime of automotive enthusiasm, business experience and technical skill with advanced aeronautical training and certifications, Levitas has managed to extend the engineering of some for the most advanced and well-regarded machines in existence – Porsche race cars.

About Porsche of Towson

Porsche of Towson is Baltimore’s only exclusive Porsche center. That means that our Porsche staff is 100% dedicated to the Porsche brand and nothing else. They will be able to assist you with all of your Porsche needs. On behalf of the entire Priority 1 Automotive Group family of dealerships, welcome to Porsche of Towson. We look forward to meeting all of your Porsche needs.

Porsche of Towson is a part of the Priority 1 Automotive Group which is a family owned and operated group of dealerships. As a family dealership, the family’s reputation in the community is of the utmost importance. Therefore, there is a tremendous focus on providing exceptional customer service. With a brand new state-of-the-art Porsche dealership (completed in 2010), the most elite and experienced group of client advisors for sales and service, and a highly trained team of service and support personnel, your sales and service experience is assured of being second to none. Our clients appreciate the way we do business. We know you will too!

About Merkle

Merkle is the nation’s largest and fastest-growing customer relationship marketing (CRM) agency. For more than 20 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios. Employing data-driven strategies, Merkle combines a complete range of marketing, technical, analytical and creative disciplines to offer complete integrated customer marketing solutions. With a strategically led, consultative approach, we work closely with clients to design, execute and continuously evaluate CRM programs throughout the buying cycle, across channels and media.

About CrunchDaddy Popcorn

CrunchDaddy Popcorn makes “Popcorn Unusual!™”, an array of sweet and savory inventions that take the sophisticated snacker beyond the common recipes for caramel, kettle and cheese popcorn. All CrunchDaddy Popcorn flavors are available on-line through their website, www.crunchdaddy.com