BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (May 2, 2023) – TPC Racing scored a career performance this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park where its four-car team and drivers secured three race wins, four poles and a string of additional podium and top-four finishes in three days of USAC Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama competition on the 2.38-mile Alabama road course.
Following up on his breakout win in the season-opening weekend of competition at Barber Motorsports Park in March, David Williams scored a second-consecutive 992 Am class victory in his TPC Racing No. 237 Mission BBQ Porsche 992 GT3 Cup in Saturday’s opening race. Williams backed Saturday’s top performance up with a runner-up showing in Sunday’s finale to retain his 992 Am class championship points lead after the first four rounds of the 2023 season.
The team’s other top performer on the weekend was debuting Porsche Junior Driver Chloe Chambers who dominated the Sprint Challenge Cayman class in the No. 70 Monoflo International Cayman GT4 Clubsport. Chambers, 18, swept both weekend Cayman sprints from the pole and led every lap in both races to leave Barber with nothing short of a perfect performance in her first Porsche Sprint Challenge race weekend.
Chambers’ victories were the first overall wins for TPC Racing in Porsche Sprint Challenge. The Sebring victory for Williams was the first in TPC’s three years of competition in Sprint Challenge but the team’s career-win total in the all-Porsche series has quickly grown to four after this weekend’s pair of wins by Chambers and Saturday’s P1 showing by Williams.
Chambers was part of a three-strong Cayman effort from TPC Racing at Barber. Her teammate Tillman Schmid carried the momentum of a Sebring podium finish to Barber where he drove to a pair of fourth-place overall finishes in the weekend’s races in the TPC Racing No. 77 Monoflo International Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport. The solid performance built on the results from Schmid’s Sprint Challenge series debut where he earned a podium finish with a last-lap pass for third in Saturday’s race despite competing on racing slick tires for the first time.
The team’s third Cayman at Barber was regular TPC Racing driver Shaun McKaigue who stepped into the No. 34 TPC Racing Cayman GT4 Clubsport for the weekend. McKaigue is scheduled for the majority of the season in the Porsche Sprint Challenge 991 division but was caught up in an on-track incident in the Sebring opener that sidelined his Porsche GT3 Cup car for the Barber weekend.
Shaking off a challenging race on Saturday, McKaigue rebounded in the TPC Racing No. 34 Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport for an Am-class runner-up finish in Sunday’s finale. McKaigue and the No. 34 team also won the Am-class pole for both Cayman races this weekend.
Next up for TPC Racing in Porsche Sprint Challenge is a stand alone Porsche GT3 Cup weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this summer. Williams and McKaigue will compete in the GT3 Cup doubleheader in Ohio that supports the IndyCar 200 weekend, June 30 – July 2.
Harris Levitas, TPC Racing Director of Race Operations: “The TPC Racing team was amazing. I think this is the best group of guys we have ever put together at TPC Racing, as far as the team members go, and that has a lot to do with everyone working together. The whole team just gels, we work as one, and this was one of the best executed and well performed weekends we have ever had as a team. That’s really big for continuing to move forward through the year. Right out of the box, the team prepared outstanding cars for all of the drivers. Just very minimal changes. The testing we did prior to coming here with the GT4 cars was just huge for us. I think we had a real breakthrough there with our GT4 program, and Chloe Chambers coming in with the No. 70 car was just fantastic. She did a really great job, kept her head together, and drove fantastic. We have to thank Monoflo International and Henning Rader for making this all happen and come together for the No. 70 and No. 77 cars. Shaun McKaigue did an outstanding job in his first race weekend in a GT4 Clubsport. He came out and won the pole for both races in the Am category. That was pretty incredible, and it was great to see him shake off Saturday’s race and reach the podium Sunday. Tillman Schmid did an outstanding job. Being in the top-five overall fight in both races is really hard, but Tillman was there the entire time in fourth. He is really improving in just his second race and I am super proud of him. In the 992 race, it was a great weekend for David Williams. He had never been to Barber before and really just put it all together in each session. He kept getting quicker and quicker and was able to score some key points we needed this weekend. With a victory Saturday and P2 finish Sunday, that keeps David as the points championship leader going into the next rounds. We need to hang on to that consistency in all of the rounds going forward.”
David Williams, Driver – No. 237 Mission BBQ Porsche 992 GT3 Cup: “The weekend was great. I had never been to Barber, and it is always a little bit of a challenge for me getting up to speed quick enough, but I went faster every session. On Saturday, candidly, I lucked out a bit when the leader had a problem, but I got myself into P1 and held that position to the finish. On Sunday I had a good start and the car was fantastic. There is just so much grip at Barber, it’s just amazing. The car is fantastic, the team gave me a great car here, and that is not my constraint at all. Sebastian Moreno has been great, he is a good coach for me, but it is honestly me trusting the car more, trusting myself. Today was a good example of that because I had my fastest time of the weekend on the last lap of the race. I sort of know the car can do it, there is a lot of grip out there, but I am probably just fighting a little bit of time and experience in that car. The more I can get, the better I will do here. Also, Sebastian in my ear has been good from just a race-craft perspective. He’s kind of pushing me, pushing me to get things done, get them done quickly and move on. That was sort of Sunday’s race. I am super excited because I have been to every track now going forward. It’s not like I have tons of laps at Indy or somewhere, but I have got some time at VIR, I like Road America, there is a lot of good venues I know ahead now, so I am really excited about that.”
Chloe Chambers, Driver – No. 70 Monoflo International Cayman GT4 Clubsport: “I had a lot of confidence in TPC Racing’s ability to give me a fantastic car, and knew I had the support around me to perform at my best. I felt really good in practice and the times showed our pace. I went into the weekend full of confidence and it really couldn’t have gone any better! I have to thank Monoflo International for making this whole opportunity possible. Of course, the team at TPC did a great job of listening to my feedback and making the right changes to the car. The car got better every session and I was able to learn a lot about this whole new world of sports car racing. I have to thank all my sponsors and supporters who have been there every step of the way as well! In Saturday’s race, I was put under a lot of pressure throughout the race. I learned that the nature of the track and equality of the cars make it difficult to pass and I was quick in the places it mattered most which protected me from being overtaken. Most of my learning was from now running a full race distance on the tires though, to see how they would behave. We had a couple tweaks on the car to make it even faster which made a huge improvement for Sunday’s race. The car was amazing to drive and I’m going into the next rounds with more knowledge of the tires and car.”
Tillman Schmid, Driver – No. 77 Monoflo International Cayman GT4 Clubsport: “Fantastic weekend for both MI Racing and TPC Racing! Very happy for Chloe. I was very pleased with my own performance as I had initially worried a little bit if I would be able to translate the skills learned at Sebring to a different track. But, the TPC crew made sure I was comfortable and the car fast. Was happy to maintain starting position both days and continue to improve throughout the weekend.”
Shaun McKaigue, Driver – No. 34 TPC Racing Cayman GT4 Clubsport: “We had a lot of fun on Sunday. Unfortunately, on Saturday we had a cut tire that put us out of contention, but we rebounded in the final race. It was a good race, very respectful competition by all of the people around me, and we were able to set our fastest lap of the weekend. That is really and truly a good feeling when you walk away the last time you were out on track and you set your fastest lap. I am also really pleased that we were able to get pole in our category for both races, and the guys from TPC Racing just kept working with me. Just a wonderful job of bringing me along through the weekend and I really enjoyed the GT4. It was a lot of fun. It was a great learning experience for me, and I will be able to take a lot of the lessons from the GT4, carrying all of that momentum, and bring that over to my Porsche 991. It will just help to make me a better driver. It was also just a spectacular job by Sebastian Moreno to coach me along, and it really was a big advantage having both Tillman and Chloe on the team to learn from them as well. Just a great experience.”
About TPC Racing: TPC Racing is the Mid-Atlantic’s premier maintenance, service, tuning and modification center dedicated solely to Porsche sportscars. TPC Racing specializes in R&D and sales of high-performance modifications for Porsche sports cars and race cars, offering a wide range of vehicle upgrades. Best known for a line of forced induction solutions for the Porsche 911, Cayman and Boxster, a long-time focus on only one make, Porsche, has enabled TPC Racing to become experts in Porsche service, tuning, and racing. In 2000, TPC Racing began entering races under its own banner, scoring an SGS-class Championship in 2004 in the Grand-American Rolex Series and was a class winner in the 2006 Rolex 24 At Daytona, and captured the 2013 and 2016 IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA Gold Cup Championships. More information can be found at http://www.TPCRacing.com.