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Le Mans / ALMS
ALMS: Scott Tucker’s Bucket List
Level 5 Motorsports owner/driver expands to LMP Challenge, which is just one part of his 2010 world tour.
Scott Tucker, left, with co-driver and mentor Christophe Bouchut, middle, during practice at Sebring. (John Dagys)
Less than four years ago, he hadn’t turned a wheel of a race car. Now, Scott Tucker is competing in the American Le Mans Series with a two-car LMPC team, the same squad that scored a third-place overall finish in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. Add his 24 Hours of Le Mans program with an Audi R10 TDI and with his sights set on the Spa 24 Hours and possible end-of-season rounds in the FIA World GT1 Championship and Tucker is set to be one of the busiest drivers in the sportscar world.
The crazy thing is that Tucker remains a relatively unknown name, having only taken his Level 5 Motorsports team to the professional sportscar arena two years ago. Stepping into the seat of a race car at the age of 44, Tucker, the chairman and CEO of Westfund, a private equity firm, first started competing in Ferrari Challenge. He also dabbled with Porsche SuperCup, IMSA Lites and select Rolex Series GT competition before moving his Wisconsin-based team to GRAND-AM Daytona Prototype competition in 2008.
After entering select GRAND-AM rounds over the past two seasons, including the recent podium finish with its Riley-BMW at Daytona, the team's focus for 2010 has now been turned to the ALMS competition in the new Le Mans Prototype Challenge division.
“In August [the ALMS] sprung this out that they were going to start a whole new prototype class,” Tucker says. “I looked at the car and it was very intriguing with paddle-shift, carbon-fiber brakes, etc. Then on top of that, it was set up with the rules where a Class A and Class B driver race together for the championship, which is good because most of the racing I do professional is all-pro. Given all of those elements, it really added up to something we wanted to try.”
Being an accomplished gentleman driver, the LMPC formula fit Tucker perfectly. After an initial test at Road Atlanta last October and a full-season of the Formula Le Mans Winter Series at Paul Ricard, which utilized the same Oreca FLM09 car that’s used in LMPC, Tucker and driving coach Christophe Bouchut made the decision to go LMPC racing full-time in 2010.
The veteran Frenchman, a two-time FIA GT champion and former winner of the Rolex 24 at Daytona and 24 Hours of Le Mans, has been with Tucker’s Level 5 operation since its GRAND-AM debut, helping get the Kansas native up to speed in the highly competitive Daytona Prototype category. With its sponsorship fulfillment complete in GRAND-AM, the duo has put their complete focus on their two-car full-season ALMC LMPC program.
One of the most interesting aspects of this program is the fact that Tucker is listed to drive both the team’s Nos. 55 and 95 entries. It’s thanks to a new IMSA rule allowing for gentleman LMPC or GTC racers to drive two cars, with the driver scoring points in the highest placed machine. This strategy is nothing new for Tucker, as he’s taken the same approach in DP competition.
“I bought an extra DP to practice in, and from what it costs me in my time and energy to practice, it makes more sense to do a two-car team at the race,” Tucker says. “Plus, there’s a lot of benefits with running both cars. When you’re out there practicing, you’re not racing against anybody... When you look at the equation, it’s much smarter for me from a time perspective and infrastructure perspective, too. On top of that, you get to have additional racing seat time.”
Open-wheel standout Ryan Hunter-Reay, fresh off a second-place finish in the IndyCar season-opener in Sao Paulo, Brazil last weekend, leads the charge in the No. 95 car along with Tucker and James Gue. Mark Wilkins joins Bouchut and Tucker in the No. 55 entry for Sebring.
The David Stone-led team has high hopes for 2010, especially in the Pro-Am environment of LMPC, but it isn’t Tucker’s only racing program this year. In addition to returning to Ferrari Challenge, he’s inked a deal to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a Kolles Audi R10 TDI.
Tucker will join Bouchut and FIA European GT3 veteran Manu Rodriguez in one of the German team’s diesel-powered prototype. The rather surprising deal came about thanks to Bouchut’s European connections.
“This is a great opportunity for both of us,” Bouchut says. “Everyone knows the Audi R10 is a car that won Le Mans three years in a row. It’s a very reliable car and we can expect a good result. Of course Le Mans is the most famous 24-hour race in the world. I believe all drivers dream of one day participating in this race. When we talked about running there, I presented [Scott] some different options in different classes. The project with Kolles was the most prestigious. Everything seemed logical to go this route.”
Tucker and Bouchut will get their first impressions of the powerful LMP1 machine at a test in Europe sometime in the spring prior to the twice-around-the-clock June classic. For Tucker, being able to compete at Le Mans - in the highest category - is a dream come true.
“I’ve done three 24 Hours of Daytona races and Le Mans has always been a goal of mine,” Tucker says. “It’s always easy to put it off. Next thing I wake up and I’m ten years older and I would put it off again. The circumstances aren’t always perfect, but we’ve been able to allocate the time to do it this year and make the commitments.”
Bouchut is taking a realistic approach to this new adventure. The veteran driver will be making his 17th Le Mans start. Only 14 other drivers have competed in the race more times. While he’ll be playing the role of lead driver, Bouchut will still be relying on his two co-drivers to pull their own weight, too.
“Of course we are not dreaming of winning Le Mans, that is clear,” Bouchut says. “We’re not there to fight with the factory teams and it’s not our concern. We are three drivers with all different levels of experience. As a driver, I’d like to be very competitive and show strong pace in qualifying. With only three drivers, Scott will have to be a real part of the team. He and Manu will have to drive just as much as me. With a car like this we’ll be able to be faster than all of the GT cars easily, and we’ll be able to make the best result ever for a car like this at Le Mans. My job is to coach them and drive them on the right away to catch the checkered flag.”
Tucker’s 2010 program doesn’t stop there. He’s also lining up a drive in the Spa 24 Hours in August in either a Ferrari F430 or Audi R8 LMS and also has ambitions of joining Bouchut in some end-of-season FIA GT1 World Championship rounds in a Lamborghini once the ALMS season concludes in October.
It seems Tucker can’t get enough of driving and he’ll go anywhere to get behind the wheel of a car. Considering he and his team’s rapid rise in sportscar racing in just a few short years, what’s next for Level 5, say in five years from now?
“Depending on how long I want to drive, I see Christophe and I picking and choosing the [races] we want to do together,” he said. “We like the [championships] where it’s not two professional drivers. We can be pretty competitive in that setting. I’ll probably do more [racing] in the U.S. and around the world.”
Even though he’s only been racing for a few years now, Tucker has already given back to the sport. He’s sponsoring a few up-and-coming drivers in the karting and motorcycle ranks and could see that commitment increasing in the years to come.
“That’s probably where I’ll evolve into, being more of a sponsor for some people I like. I want to give them an opportunity in motorsports that I didn’t. If I was young and had the opportunity, I probably would have started this before I was 44!”
The crazy thing is that Tucker remains a relatively unknown name, having only taken his Level 5 Motorsports team to the professional sportscar arena two years ago. Stepping into the seat of a race car at the age of 44, Tucker, the chairman and CEO of Westfund, a private equity firm, first started competing in Ferrari Challenge. He also dabbled with Porsche SuperCup, IMSA Lites and select Rolex Series GT competition before moving his Wisconsin-based team to GRAND-AM Daytona Prototype competition in 2008.
After entering select GRAND-AM rounds over the past two seasons, including the recent podium finish with its Riley-BMW at Daytona, the team's focus for 2010 has now been turned to the ALMS competition in the new Le Mans Prototype Challenge division.
“In August [the ALMS] sprung this out that they were going to start a whole new prototype class,” Tucker says. “I looked at the car and it was very intriguing with paddle-shift, carbon-fiber brakes, etc. Then on top of that, it was set up with the rules where a Class A and Class B driver race together for the championship, which is good because most of the racing I do professional is all-pro. Given all of those elements, it really added up to something we wanted to try.”
Being an accomplished gentleman driver, the LMPC formula fit Tucker perfectly. After an initial test at Road Atlanta last October and a full-season of the Formula Le Mans Winter Series at Paul Ricard, which utilized the same Oreca FLM09 car that’s used in LMPC, Tucker and driving coach Christophe Bouchut made the decision to go LMPC racing full-time in 2010.
The veteran Frenchman, a two-time FIA GT champion and former winner of the Rolex 24 at Daytona and 24 Hours of Le Mans, has been with Tucker’s Level 5 operation since its GRAND-AM debut, helping get the Kansas native up to speed in the highly competitive Daytona Prototype category. With its sponsorship fulfillment complete in GRAND-AM, the duo has put their complete focus on their two-car full-season ALMC LMPC program.
One of the most interesting aspects of this program is the fact that Tucker is listed to drive both the team’s Nos. 55 and 95 entries. It’s thanks to a new IMSA rule allowing for gentleman LMPC or GTC racers to drive two cars, with the driver scoring points in the highest placed machine. This strategy is nothing new for Tucker, as he’s taken the same approach in DP competition.
“I bought an extra DP to practice in, and from what it costs me in my time and energy to practice, it makes more sense to do a two-car team at the race,” Tucker says. “Plus, there’s a lot of benefits with running both cars. When you’re out there practicing, you’re not racing against anybody... When you look at the equation, it’s much smarter for me from a time perspective and infrastructure perspective, too. On top of that, you get to have additional racing seat time.”
Open-wheel standout Ryan Hunter-Reay, fresh off a second-place finish in the IndyCar season-opener in Sao Paulo, Brazil last weekend, leads the charge in the No. 95 car along with Tucker and James Gue. Mark Wilkins joins Bouchut and Tucker in the No. 55 entry for Sebring.
The David Stone-led team has high hopes for 2010, especially in the Pro-Am environment of LMPC, but it isn’t Tucker’s only racing program this year. In addition to returning to Ferrari Challenge, he’s inked a deal to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a Kolles Audi R10 TDI.
Tucker will join Bouchut and FIA European GT3 veteran Manu Rodriguez in one of the German team’s diesel-powered prototype. The rather surprising deal came about thanks to Bouchut’s European connections.
“This is a great opportunity for both of us,” Bouchut says. “Everyone knows the Audi R10 is a car that won Le Mans three years in a row. It’s a very reliable car and we can expect a good result. Of course Le Mans is the most famous 24-hour race in the world. I believe all drivers dream of one day participating in this race. When we talked about running there, I presented [Scott] some different options in different classes. The project with Kolles was the most prestigious. Everything seemed logical to go this route.”
Tucker and Bouchut will get their first impressions of the powerful LMP1 machine at a test in Europe sometime in the spring prior to the twice-around-the-clock June classic. For Tucker, being able to compete at Le Mans - in the highest category - is a dream come true.
“I’ve done three 24 Hours of Daytona races and Le Mans has always been a goal of mine,” Tucker says. “It’s always easy to put it off. Next thing I wake up and I’m ten years older and I would put it off again. The circumstances aren’t always perfect, but we’ve been able to allocate the time to do it this year and make the commitments.”
Bouchut is taking a realistic approach to this new adventure. The veteran driver will be making his 17th Le Mans start. Only 14 other drivers have competed in the race more times. While he’ll be playing the role of lead driver, Bouchut will still be relying on his two co-drivers to pull their own weight, too.
“Of course we are not dreaming of winning Le Mans, that is clear,” Bouchut says. “We’re not there to fight with the factory teams and it’s not our concern. We are three drivers with all different levels of experience. As a driver, I’d like to be very competitive and show strong pace in qualifying. With only three drivers, Scott will have to be a real part of the team. He and Manu will have to drive just as much as me. With a car like this we’ll be able to be faster than all of the GT cars easily, and we’ll be able to make the best result ever for a car like this at Le Mans. My job is to coach them and drive them on the right away to catch the checkered flag.”
Tucker’s 2010 program doesn’t stop there. He’s also lining up a drive in the Spa 24 Hours in August in either a Ferrari F430 or Audi R8 LMS and also has ambitions of joining Bouchut in some end-of-season FIA GT1 World Championship rounds in a Lamborghini once the ALMS season concludes in October.
It seems Tucker can’t get enough of driving and he’ll go anywhere to get behind the wheel of a car. Considering he and his team’s rapid rise in sportscar racing in just a few short years, what’s next for Level 5, say in five years from now?
“Depending on how long I want to drive, I see Christophe and I picking and choosing the [races] we want to do together,” he said. “We like the [championships] where it’s not two professional drivers. We can be pretty competitive in that setting. I’ll probably do more [racing] in the U.S. and around the world.”
Even though he’s only been racing for a few years now, Tucker has already given back to the sport. He’s sponsoring a few up-and-coming drivers in the karting and motorcycle ranks and could see that commitment increasing in the years to come.
“That’s probably where I’ll evolve into, being more of a sponsor for some people I like. I want to give them an opportunity in motorsports that I didn’t. If I was young and had the opportunity, I probably would have started this before I was 44!”
ALMS Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
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