TPC Racing started their racing outfit in the late eighties; refining the turbocharger systems for the Nissan 300ZXs, Mazda RX7 Twin Turbos, Lotus Turbo Esprits and Consulier GTPs of the IMSA GTU series. That sort of background manifests quite clearly in two aspects of this monstrous “GT2″—the paddleboard-sized intercooler, which looks like it could reverse global warming alone, and the fact that this twin-turbo, 3.6-liter motor produces 660 horsepower at the rear wheels in endurance trim. In fact, this machine was so fast that Randy Pobst and owner/driver Levitas would challenge one another into Turn 1 at Daytona to see who could enter faster. They tied at 207 mph each.
Big turbochargers strain those broad rear slicks through Virginia International Raceway’s tightest bends.
TPC took this machine first to race in club races, and later, the spiritual successor of IMSA GTU: Grand-Am. However, nowadays it spends most of its time hunting down NASCAR machinery under the control of Levitas. Virginia International Raceway, with it’s long straights, high-speed chicanes, and technical sections, sets the perfect scene for a battle between these two powerful racing cars with very different specifications.
The Duel
Despite the fact that the Porsche’s wearing dangerously tired rubber, it slithers and dances in hot pursuit of the big-bore stock car. Despite the forceful and responsive motor sitting behind Levitas, it can’t quite match the sheer grunt of the American iron which edges the stock car away on the straightest sections of the Danville, Virginia course. However, every remotely technical section clearly favors the nimbleness of the Porsche and Levitas’ tidy lines. Not happy to be caught so easily, the man ahead has to resort to unsavory blocking—most dangerously at 2:48—to try and keep Veritas behind. Some people just lack a sense of sportsmanship.
The Car