The Le Mans Prototype : Scott Tucker and Level 5 Motorsports

By Jim Tobin


The plot of Scott Tucker's career is just what some would most likely call a Cinderella story, an American classic: A profitable private equity investor from a Kansas city makes its way into his very first professional motorsports race at the age of Forty-four, and 5yrs later, he's consistently on the podium just after races in many series-Grand-Am, Ferrari, American Le Mans Series and the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Earlier this year, Tucker made podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in his debut season in the LMP2 class.

Not surprisingly, not just someone could pull off the late-bloomer success Tucker has achieved. His capability, strength, procedure and amount of real information would not exist if not for an enormous love for the activity. Scott Tucker loves cars-before he had the opportunity to race, he built a sort-of car museum in the Leawood, Kansas place. So it's fitting that Tucker, the unlikely American Le Mans leading man, could be the 1st American to go into his team in the Le Mans Prototype class in nearly 25 years or so.

"Breaking into the Le Mans series has always been on my mind," Scott Tucker reported. "I could wait another 10 years for the time to be right, but we got an opportunity and decided to go for it."

The Le Mans Prototype, or LMP, are the swiftest closed-wheel racing cars on modern-day circuit racing tracks. Their value and technological know-how are just like that of Formula 1 automobiles, but LMP cars top out at even increased speeds than Formula One automobiles. Not strange Tucker couldn't wait to get in one. After he barreled through the LMP series, Tucker moved into the LMP2 class. Mid-season, a Honda Performance Development/Wirth Research partnership was finishing work on a cost-capped prototype that would provide for accelerated speeds in comparison with other LMP2 engines. It wasn't any wonder when Tucker reserved the first 2 out of development.

The Le Mans Prototype was utilized the very first time at the '92 24 Hours of Le Mans, when a small field of competitors caused the race to be open to small, open-cockpit cars using production road car engines to try to expand the field. At the end of that year, the World Sportscar Championship and the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship organizations dissolved, which left high priced Group C prototypes without much competition beyond Le Mans races, which were quite few. As Group C became outmoded, the Le Mans Prototype class was designed. In 1999, the American Le Mans Series appeared, permitting a much larger competitor base because more Le Mans races would be held each year.

Now, a person can race in an LMP, LMP2 or LMP1 class, in 2 of which Tucker has made his mark. Last year, throughout his debut season in the Le Mans series, Tucker took the LMP championship and won rookie of the year. Advancing in to LMP2 for the 2011 season, Tucker began accumulating podium finishes at breakneck speed, with striking finishes at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, Infineon and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Tucker together with his Level 5 Motorsports team might be just what the United States needs to bring larger awareness to auto racing. With NASCAR largely dominating motorsports interest and not even a single Le Mans Prototype entry coming from the nation in a quarter century, there's been a lack of depth in auto racing coverage. Tucker's enjoyable story, his own apparent joy for the sport and his undeniable success are a verifiable formula for a figure whom men and women could get behind.




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