Just four years ago he took up racing, now a 48-year-old American makes history at Le Mans
On a course in the French countryside outside the city of Le Mans, Scott Tucker slipped into an Audi R10 racing car to compete in one of the world's most glamorous races, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car he drove is a three-time winner of the race, a technical marvel so efficient it barely makes a sound even as it's throttling over 200 mph.
Competing for the first time at Le Mans on a tricky twisting circuit in front of 240,000 spectators, Mr. Tucker handled the pressure admirably. He cracked 200 mph on his first lap and from there, during six hours behind the wheel, posted consistent times in the neighborhood of three minutes, 35 seconds, which put him squarely in the middle of the pack among some of the world's top drivers. It's impressive enough that Mr. Tucker, at 48 years old, fulfilled a lifelong dream by racing at Le Mans, a 87-year-old event that's considered the Super Bowl of international sports car racing. He also became the first American to pilot one of Audi's multi-million dollar V-12 turbo diesels in competition. But here's what's really remarkable about Mr. Tucker: Until four years ago, the wealthy private investor from Leawood, Kan., had never stepped on a racetrack or sat behind the wheel of a racing car. "He has to be a natural or he couldn't do that," said Richard Attwood, a Le Mans champion in 1970 who still competes in vintage races. "He [must have] a balance that is inherent in his body." Leo Hindery, a media company CEO and entrepreneur who has raced at Le Mans, called Mr. Tucker's results "incredible." "The R10 is like a jet plane," Hindery added. "Anybody who can get an R10 around that track in 3 minutes and 30 seconds deserves a lot of accolades. It's a gift."
Automobile racing has always attracted wealthy aspirants-the type of people who can afford to move pricey machinery around the globe and pay for damages when the metal gets bent out of shape. But it's extremely rare, at least in modern times, for one of these people to demonstrate world-class talent. To gain the experience to compete professionally, most drivers today begin training long before they're old and tired enough to get their driver's licenses. Seven time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher was hammering go-kart throttles on racetracks when he was four years old. "Motorsport requires a longer apprenticeship than other sports-if you're going to continue to live," said Mr. Attwood, the Le Mans champion. "The more experience you have, the better able you are to cope with what comes up." Mr. Tucker's unusual trajectory to Le Mans began with a career as an investor in real estate, hotels, restaurants, internet companies, loan companies and car dealerships. To satisfy an obsession with sports cars, he built a miniature car museum in his home outside Kansas City.
In 2006, he saw a Ferrari Challenge competition in Florida and decided to start his own racing team, Level 5 Motorsports. He began entering a few GT races in the Rolex Series and finishing well back from the leaders. Last season, Mr. Tucker had his first big breakthrough when he won the Sports Car Club of America National Championship.
In January, Mr. Tucker's team placed a rewarding third overall at the 24 Hours of Daytona. But it was Le Mans that Mr. Tucker had pinned his hopes on. "It's the biggest race in the world," he said. "It's the race all the manufacturers want to win."
Le Mans is widely considered the most important competition for crazy manufacturers aiming to prove on the track that their cars are the world's most intelligently engineered. The race consists of teams of three drivers, each with a single car, who are charged with driving as fast as they can without frying the machine. The car that travels farthest after 24 hours wins.
To help him prepare to qualify for the race, Mr. Tucker woke up every day at 4:30 am to do an hour of cardio, then work with a trainer doing core and flexibility exercises. He turned to his mentor, the French pilot Christophe Bouchut, a legend who won at Le Mans in 1993, to teach him how to handle the elevation changes and make the swift left- and right-hand turns that often trip veteran drivers. "You must be on the limit everywhere playing with the balance of your tires and engine," Mr. Bouchut explained. The race moves so quickly, he said, that while the car is on one corner, "your mind and vision is already in the next." Mr. Bouchut arranged for Mr. Tucker to take a seat in the Audi R10 TDI, which was fielded by Kolles, a German team. Mr. Tucker flew to France to test the R10 prior to the race, but when he got in the car for qualifying at Le Mans (at night, no less), he still didn't know the machine or the track with any intimacy. Soon he was ripping around the course at 200 mph in the dark. "Everyone on the team's going, take it easy, get used to the car. I swear to God, after two or three laps, you could already hear them on the radio: Now you start picking it up and you're like, Jesus Christ, I just got in this thing!" To qualify, Mr. Tucker had to post world-class lap times. "I think they were surprised how quickly I got up to speed," he said. Mr. Tucker's Audi didn't win at Le Mans. One of his teammates crashed after 13 hours and the car was retired. Mr. Tucker said the demands of racing at that level are draining. "It gets awful hot in the cockpit-I lose five to seven pounds each race. And the guys I'm racing with are 10 to 15 years younger than I am," he said. "I have to work my tail off physically just to be in the same ballpark." Nonetheless, Mr. Tucker's unlikely racing career is still ascending. His team is currently leading in points in his class in the highly competitive American Le Mans Series. Level 5's next major competition is August 7 at the American Le Mans Series Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge, which will be aired on CBS. Should the team make it onto the podium, Mr. Tucker will host his traditional post race victory ceremony-one that befits an American rookie. There will be no bottles of Grand Cru Bordeaux. Mr. Tucker really likes fried chicken. "You ever heard of Popeyes?" he asked.
A.J. Baime is the author of Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans.
On a course in the French countryside outside the city of Le Mans, Scott Tucker slipped into an Audi R10 racing car to compete in one of the world's most glamorous races, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car he drove is a three-time winner of the race, a technical marvel so efficient it barely makes a sound even as it's throttling over 200 mph.
Competing for the first time at Le Mans on a tricky twisting circuit in front of 240,000 spectators, Mr. Tucker handled the pressure admirably. He cracked 200 mph on his first lap and from there, during six hours behind the wheel, posted consistent times in the neighborhood of three minutes, 35 seconds, which put him squarely in the middle of the pack among some of the world's top drivers. It's impressive enough that Mr. Tucker, at 48 years old, fulfilled a lifelong dream by racing at Le Mans, a 87-year-old event that's considered the Super Bowl of international sports car racing. He also became the first American to pilot one of Audi's multi-million dollar V-12 turbo diesels in competition. But here's what's really remarkable about Mr. Tucker: Until four years ago, the wealthy private investor from Leawood, Kan., had never stepped on a racetrack or sat behind the wheel of a racing car. "He has to be a natural or he couldn't do that," said Richard Attwood, a Le Mans champion in 1970 who still competes in vintage races. "He [must have] a balance that is inherent in his body." Leo Hindery, a media company CEO and entrepreneur who has raced at Le Mans, called Mr. Tucker's results "incredible." "The R10 is like a jet plane," Hindery added. "Anybody who can get an R10 around that track in 3 minutes and 30 seconds deserves a lot of accolades. It's a gift."
Automobile racing has always attracted wealthy aspirants-the type of people who can afford to move pricey machinery around the globe and pay for damages when the metal gets bent out of shape. But it's extremely rare, at least in modern times, for one of these people to demonstrate world-class talent. To gain the experience to compete professionally, most drivers today begin training long before they're old and tired enough to get their driver's licenses. Seven time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher was hammering go-kart throttles on racetracks when he was four years old. "Motorsport requires a longer apprenticeship than other sports-if you're going to continue to live," said Mr. Attwood, the Le Mans champion. "The more experience you have, the better able you are to cope with what comes up." Mr. Tucker's unusual trajectory to Le Mans began with a career as an investor in real estate, hotels, restaurants, internet companies, loan companies and car dealerships. To satisfy an obsession with sports cars, he built a miniature car museum in his home outside Kansas City.
In 2006, he saw a Ferrari Challenge competition in Florida and decided to start his own racing team, Level 5 Motorsports. He began entering a few GT races in the Rolex Series and finishing well back from the leaders. Last season, Mr. Tucker had his first big breakthrough when he won the Sports Car Club of America National Championship.
In January, Mr. Tucker's team placed a rewarding third overall at the 24 Hours of Daytona. But it was Le Mans that Mr. Tucker had pinned his hopes on. "It's the biggest race in the world," he said. "It's the race all the manufacturers want to win."
Le Mans is widely considered the most important competition for crazy manufacturers aiming to prove on the track that their cars are the world's most intelligently engineered. The race consists of teams of three drivers, each with a single car, who are charged with driving as fast as they can without frying the machine. The car that travels farthest after 24 hours wins.
To help him prepare to qualify for the race, Mr. Tucker woke up every day at 4:30 am to do an hour of cardio, then work with a trainer doing core and flexibility exercises. He turned to his mentor, the French pilot Christophe Bouchut, a legend who won at Le Mans in 1993, to teach him how to handle the elevation changes and make the swift left- and right-hand turns that often trip veteran drivers. "You must be on the limit everywhere playing with the balance of your tires and engine," Mr. Bouchut explained. The race moves so quickly, he said, that while the car is on one corner, "your mind and vision is already in the next." Mr. Bouchut arranged for Mr. Tucker to take a seat in the Audi R10 TDI, which was fielded by Kolles, a German team. Mr. Tucker flew to France to test the R10 prior to the race, but when he got in the car for qualifying at Le Mans (at night, no less), he still didn't know the machine or the track with any intimacy. Soon he was ripping around the course at 200 mph in the dark. "Everyone on the team's going, take it easy, get used to the car. I swear to God, after two or three laps, you could already hear them on the radio: Now you start picking it up and you're like, Jesus Christ, I just got in this thing!" To qualify, Mr. Tucker had to post world-class lap times. "I think they were surprised how quickly I got up to speed," he said. Mr. Tucker's Audi didn't win at Le Mans. One of his teammates crashed after 13 hours and the car was retired. Mr. Tucker said the demands of racing at that level are draining. "It gets awful hot in the cockpit-I lose five to seven pounds each race. And the guys I'm racing with are 10 to 15 years younger than I am," he said. "I have to work my tail off physically just to be in the same ballpark." Nonetheless, Mr. Tucker's unlikely racing career is still ascending. His team is currently leading in points in his class in the highly competitive American Le Mans Series. Level 5's next major competition is August 7 at the American Le Mans Series Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge, which will be aired on CBS. Should the team make it onto the podium, Mr. Tucker will host his traditional post race victory ceremony-one that befits an American rookie. There will be no bottles of Grand Cru Bordeaux. Mr. Tucker really likes fried chicken. "You ever heard of Popeyes?" he asked.
A.J. Baime is the author of Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans.
About the Author:
Scott Tucker, the entrepreneur, investor, and racing champion has been featured by almost every major media outlet. Racing's One-in-a-Million Story at the Wall Street Journal
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