SEBRING, Florida (March 19, 2021) – TPC Racing opened the brand-new Porsche Carrera Cup North America championship this week at Sebring International Raceway with team driver Vernon McClure just missing the podium in Friday’s race two with a fourth-place finish.
McClure charged from eighth on the grid in the No. 10 Main Street Homes/TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup during Friday’s 45-minute race, sliding into the top five with six minutes remaining and claiming fourth place with less than two laps to go.
“It was a great weekend,” McClure said. “I got a little better all week, and that’s all I can really ask. It’s not my best track, but I was starting to trust the car and learning more about what it will do. It’s a blast to drive. I’m the only one on the team’s that’s driven it, so it’s a challenge just translating what I’m feeling to the team and them helping me along. My coach, Spencer Pumpelly, is awesome. I can’t say enough about Mike and Harris Levitas and the whole group, they’re a lot of fun to hang around and that’s half of the weekend right there. There are a lot of fast drivers this year, though. It’s a step up. The car is amazing. It turns, it handles, it just feels great. My hat’s off to Porsche, the 992 is the way to go and I’m glad I did it.”
With luck, Thursday’s result could have been even better than Friday’s strong finish. McClure was running as high as third during Thursday afternoon’s race, but contact with a competitor knocked him back to a sixth-place finish. The second car was penalized for the incident.
“The competition in the Carrera Cup Series is definitely stronger than we’ve had in the pass,” Director of Race Operations Harris Levitas said. “It’s a great new series. The TPC Racing team did an amazing job prepping the new 992 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. It’s been a lot of late nights and long days, so hats off to the crew for that. Vernon drove an amazing race, both yesterday and today. Yesterday’s results don’t quite show exactly what he can do, but today he just drove fast, consistent laps and got the job done. I’m so happy for Vernon, putting great points on the board. We learned a lot today and there’s more to come.”
The IMSA-sanctioned Porsche Carrera Cup North America is for the newest-generation 992 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. McClure leaves Sebring unofficially sixth in the championship after two of 16 rounds, but just five points out of third-place in an tight early-season battle.