Scott Tucker and his Motorsports teammates recently began the final quarter of a racing year that has included numerous podium appearances, multiple car changes, incredible accomplishments and yet still room for improvement. Tucker, owner and driver for Level 5, has been a leader for the team despite the rookie status he maintained merely months ago. His tight, balanced driving has earned him top honors in the American Le Mans Series as Rookie of the Year and Champion Driver in 2010. His races often end with stints on the podium, and his career has only just begun.

As Tucker, his co-drivers Christophe Bouchut and Luis Diaz and team manager David Stone prepare to close the calendar year with the all-important Petit Le Mans and the Ferrari International Finals, the stakes are high-the team has woven itself a reputation of excellence that is best understood by looking back at what has made 2011 a stunning year for Level 5 Motorsports.

To spend a day driving in Scott Tucker’s shoes would definitely prove exhaustive. In his seventh race in just five months, Level 5 Motorsports owner and driver Scott Tucker rejoined the Ferrari Challenge series in Monterey, Calif., during the weekend of May 22. The versatility, determination and sheer endurance required of someone to maintain Tucker’s schedule of three different series makes him impressive enough, but the fact that he had multiple podium finishes already under his belt as he hit the Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway for the FC 458 race make him impossible to forget.

The weekend’s pair of races were the Ferrari 458’s debut in the FC series, and it provoked intense competition on the famous 11-turn track. One of Tucker’s previous podium finishes came at the FC season opener in April at Infineon Raceway. Because of his hectic schedule, Scott Tucker hadn’t spent much time testing the 458, putting him at a slight disadvantage despite his winning record coming into the race.

The 458 challenge is based on the Ferrari 458 Italia, and the car has been modified with several significant changes in order to ready it for competition driving. Gear ratios and recalibration of the gearbox provide the car higher torque at lower revolutions. Additionally, Mechanics have also gone to great lengths to reduce the car’s weight, specifically focusing on lessening the thickness of body shell panels and using lighter materials such as carbon fiber.

“It’s a great car, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to develop it more as the season continues,” Tucker said at the time. After the starting flag on Saturday, Scott Tucker delivered an impressive performance, battling traffic and ultimately securing a second-place position. He was out of laps before he could catch Enzo Potolicchio, who chalked up his second win of the season.

Sunday brought a second day of intense competition. Scott Tucker, who served as a Ferrari test driver in 2010 for the 599XX supercar, also won the FC Dealership Championship for Boardwalk Ferrari in 2009, along with the Sports Car Club of America National Championship in a Ferrari 430. Unfortunately, Sunday brought a fifth-place finish for Tucker. “The car I drove was the best we had,” he said. “Unfortunately, some of the other guys had more time to test than we did, so they were stronger. We’ll see what we can do about that.”

Level 5 was also waiting on official approval of its primary car, so Tucker competed in the secondary car. Add that to the fact that Scott Tucker’s next scheduled stop would be at the 24 Hours of Le Mans-the world’s most prestigious endurance race-and it’s a wonder he maintained the focus and drive to score yet another podium appearance. “We definitely filled our plate,” Tucker said. “But our team is also full of talent and dedication. Every time we race, we race to win, and we’re not going to back down in the face of hard work.”

Of the FC 458 race, Tucker said, “We have a win and a podium, so we’ll continue to develop this car.”

With the ILMC 24 Hours of Le Mans ever closer, the Level 5 team headed to France with a win on their minds yet again.

Welcome to the portfolio of Scott Tucker Scott Tucker.

2011 - Earlier this year, the Scott Tucker-owned racing team Level 5 Motorsports prepared for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, an historic endurance race in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup series. Like any team, Level 5 aimed to win. But curiously, the team opted out of the option to qualify for a starting position in the race, instead accepting the dead last position for its two Microsoft Office-sponsored LMP2 cars, Nos. 55 and 95.

“Qualifying for a 24-hour race is meaningless,” said a Level 5 mechanic at the time. “Anything that’s not directly related to winning, we’re going to opt out of.”

It’s true; in a day-long event, starting position isn’t the most crucial element. But declining to qualify is not to say that the practice involved in driving laps prior to a race isn’t essential to success in professional motorsports. Specifically, it’s the kind of laps you drive.

The practice sessions open to teams in the days leading up to races are a critical time to get to know an unfamiliar track and maximize the efficiency of driver changes and pit stops. And, for Tucker and Level 5, practice is an opportunity to get a feel for a new car, a factor the team has faced numerous times in its existence.

Most recently, the team showed its new LMP2 cost-capped Honda chassis at the American Le Mans Series Monterey at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway on Sept. 17. The mere hours of road time the car experienced before the race were valuable indicators of how the car would perform in the race, another benefit of practice time.

The Level 5 team stays true to its mechanic’s word: Practice is nothing if it doesn’t make perfect. That’s one of the reasons the team runs two Le Mans Prototype entries in every race-when Tucker started Level 5 Motorsports in 2008, he was only two years into his professional racing career, and he needed practice. But he also wasn’t willing to waste time completing meaningless laps around a track against no competitors.

“From the time and energy I spend practicing, it just makes more sense to enter two cars in the races,” Tucker said. “Not only that, but it’s actually beneficial to run two cars. When you’re out there practicing, you’re not racing against anybody. When you look at it logically, it’s much smarter from a time perspective and infrastructure perspective, not to mention that you get extra racing seat time.”

To Tucker, the most valuable practice experiences have been those in actual race situations. Although practice sessions have proven useful to the Level 5 team when it wants to survey a new car’s capabilities, the team typically treats each and every mile on the track as an opportunity for a world-class win. That strategy has worked for the team, who now enters the pinnacle of the 2011 season-with the SCCA Runoffs, Petit Le Mans and the 6 Hours of Zhuhai in China left to go-after two years of continuously increasing success.

Although Tucker was 44 when he took the wheel for his first professional race in 2006, his race-only mindset strategy has quickly made up the time he never had to build his career. His success has skyrocketed in just the past 5 years. The results can’t be ignored: He’s a three-time national champion; 2010 ALMS rookie of the year; two-time T1 division national champion, going for a third this weekend; three-time Ferrari Challenge Series champion; and holder of a record 10 wins in the FC series.

Entering his career, Tucker clearly had his accelerator to the floor. He quickly joined endurance veteran Christophe Bouchut, who acted as his mentor in addition to his driving partner. Tucker has always driven with the cream of the elite motorsports crop, a strategy that has allowed him some room to develop as a driver while still being making plenty of podium appearances. The winning mindset he has maintained since day one has helped him become an elite driver in only a handful of years. As Tucker’s team makes its LMP2 debut in the American Le Mans Series Petit Le Mans next weekend, it will compete against some of the fastest, most experienced drivers in the industry. For Level 5 Motorsports, it should be a good practice.

Scott has over 15 years of professional experience working in the graphic and web design industry. He specializes in a unique balance of highly functional, and aesthetically pleasing creative practices and consistantly delivers innovative user experiences that bring about measurable business results Scott Tucker.

For the past two races in which Level 5 Motorsports has competed, the team’s main strategy has had to be simply: Avoid traffic. Owner-driver Scott Tucker purchased two Honda prototypes for the team mid-season this year, and so far the cars have given the team very little to worry about. At American Le Mans Series Monterey at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway earlier in September, Tucker nailed a first-place finish in the first of the two prototypes. Later, in October, both LMP2 entries rode in Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Hoping to fend off the top-of-the-field Nissan entries, Tucker and his team drove the cars to another first-place finish. After the Nissan experienced mechanical problems, the Level 5 Honda HPD ARX-01g entry gained a multiple-lap lead. The drivers of the winning No. 33-Tucker, Christophe Bouchut and Joao Barbosa-needed only to maintain the lead and avoid traffic. As Barbosa said, the track was crowded, and collisions could easily happen.

Traffic hasn’t been too much of a concern for the Level 5 drivers. With years of experience under most of their belts, they’ve mastered the art of driving at triple-digit speeds around corners and weaving through other cars doing the same. But earlier this year, the Level 5 team experienced a catastrophic crash at Spa-Francorchamps during the 1000 km of Spa, the one blemish on an almost flawless racing season for Level 5. G-forces and inertia are forces motorsports drivers must endure every time they race cars. If they don’t exhibit the utmost control over the vehicles, things can get out of hand quickly-especially when the lanes are narrow and not much room exists for error.

Tucker took Speed TV along with him for a lap at Sebring and described the track to provide a drivers-eye view of a typical racing lap. For the most part, he identified the track as being bumpy, but mostly flat. Tucker was able to maintain speeds of 160 mph and faster. Several times coming into turns, he was required to cut left, then right, then left again in a relatively short period of time. Right after turn seven and right around turn 16, drivers enjoy long straightaways that allow for convenient passing. However, Tucker said, the roughest part of the track is right after turn 17. “The car gets all crazy and wants to push outside,” Tucker said. That’s where the skill, focus and control of a driver comes into play. Luckily for Level 5, driver skill is abundant.

Tucker began his professional racing career in 2008 at 44 years old, having never sat in the driver’s seat of a race car before. His commitment to the sport in the years following his debut have earned him a spot in the most elite group of motorsports athletes in the world. “I’ve worked extremely hard to get to where I am now,” Tucker has said. While he was getting up to speed on the ins and outs of motorsports, he relied on co-driver and then mentor Christophe Bouchut, one of the most experienced endurance drivers in the industry.

The team has grown and added 2 brand new Honda prototypes to the roster. After the cars were finally track-ready just two weeks ago, the drivers did a crash-course orientation with the cars. Although the prototypes were nearly flawless in construction, adjustments had to be made in order to accommodate driver comfort. If the drivers weren’t properly situated in the cars, counteracting the driving forces and executing turns and hard braking wouldn’t be achievable.

Since 1995, Scott Tucker has been Director of Choral Music at Cornell University where he conducts the Cornell University Chorus, Glee Club, and World Music Scott Tucker.

Scott Tucker with the exceptional Level 5 Motorsports teammates traded their racing jumpsuits for suit jackets and slacks for the American Le Mans Series season banquet last week. The banquet occured to honor various achievements over the 2011 season by various members of each motorsports team in the league.

Tucker and co-driver Christophe Bouchut took the stage to accept their drivers’ championships awards. The two clinched the awards when they won first place at Petit Le Mans, but they had been leading in points long before that race earlier this month. “We’re the most proud of this award and our championship at Le Mans,” Tucker said. That night, he raised a glamorous trophy above his head, but mostly this season, he’s been spraying champagne. The 2011 season has been a whirlwind of success for Tucker and the entire team, with room still left to improve for the coming season and even for the coming race, the 6 Hours of Zhuhai in China, which will end the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Series season.

Level 5 Motorsports has had the podium several times in the past year, starting in the beginning at the Roar Before the Daytona 24. They also delivered solid performances at the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and American Le Mans Series Monterey. Tucker also did podium time in the Sports Car Club of America series, nabbing an historical third consecutive national championship at the SCCA Runoffs, and he also continued his Ferrari career.

“Everybody’s happy and looking forward to a well deserved break before we go to China,” said team manager David Stone. The team has barely had a chance to sleep in the past month or so, as they unveiled their two new Honda prototypes for Petit Le Mans. The cars had been in production still when Tucker announced the switch, and one of the cars was shipped to the Petit track at Road Atlanta with build work still to do. The entire team stayed up until 2 a.m. multiple times to finish the build on the car and make the appropriate adjustments.

“It’s been a fantastic season with many ups and downs because of all the changes,” said Luis Diaz, another Level 5 driver. Although Diaz, Bouchut and Tucker eventually drove the new HPD ARX-01g cars to victory at Petit Le Mans, the cars were a labor of the entire team. The engineers, mechanics and pit crews all had to sync with all the car as much as the drivers did, in order to streamline pit stops, driver rotation, and any mechanical issues that might have come up.

“They have a mechanic of the year award,” said Ken Swan, crew chief for Level 5. “But we have several mechanics of the year. Every individual guy did an outstanding job.” The team built five cars in this single racing season-not an easy feat with a packed racing schedule. Making adjustments on the fly and accommodating new parts and problems with every car was just a day’s work for the Level 5 mechanical team.

The team next heads to China for the Nov. 13 Six Hours of Zhuhai, where they’ll attempt to claim a vice championship in the ILMC rankings.

Scott Tucker and Level 5 scored a commanding victory in the 2011 Petit Le Mans and secured the 2011 American Le Mans LMP2 Championship Scott Tucker.

This year the Level 5 Team came with something to prove. In its first year the in Le Mans Prototype (LMP) 2 class, they have to prove that they’re skilled enough drivers to compete with some of the world’s most elite. They also came to prove that their brand new car was a worthy investment and can keep up with the field-dominating Nissans and other prototypes. So far, the Scott Tucker-owned team hasn’t had any problems.

Tucker’s co-driver Luis Diaz secured the coveted pole position in a dramatic win over the No. 26 Signatech Oreca 03 Nissan driven by JK Vernay. Diaz overtook Vernay in qualifying just inches before the checkered flag. It’s nearly impossible to dream up a better starting position for the Level 5 team-the lead of the field; a brand new, top-of-the-line car; and the recent addition of Marino Franchitti, an experienced LMP2 driver, to the team. In qualifying, the car, an HPD ARX-01g has consistently proven faster than its counterparts since it left the factory two weeks ago.

“For me, qualifying was a matter of pushing myself hard,” Diaz says. “I brought a lot of speed around turn one, and the car handled very impressively.” The modified fuel injector in the new prototype allows for higher speeds, something that will undoubtedly benefit the team, especially in races as close as Diaz’s qualifying run. But still, speed is nothing if there isn’t an able driver to apply strategy.

Level 5 already made that statement with a year of incredible performances by Diaz, Tucker, Bouchut and Barbosa. Tucker and Bouchut already had their drivers championship points locked in weeks ago, and Tucker’s entire team is strategically built to harbor the fastest, most experienced drivers. Christophe Bouchut is one of the most successful endurance racers in the world, and Franchitti has driven just about every iteration of the HPD ARX series, starting with the HPD ARX-01a. And if anyone’s proven anything, it’s Tucker, a rookie driver just five years ago who has now propelled himself into the top elite motorsports classes in the world.

Level 5 Motorsports is geared up for a weekend of success at Petit Le Mans. Having won their LMP class last year, they were slotted in LMP2 for 2011. With promising performances by the new car and stellar deliveries by the drivers, Level 5 has achieved a very positive position going into tomorrow’s 10-hour race.

“We’ve worked really hard to get ourselves to this point,” Tucker said. “With the new car and some driver shuffling, things were up in the air for a little while there. But this is the race we’ve been waiting for, so we have to get out there and race smart, race hard and just give it all we got.”

Petit Le Mans will run at Road Atlanta for the 14th time this year. It also marks Tucker’s debut as a professional sports racer; he made his professional debut at Petit Le Mans in 2006. The race is the effective championship competition for the American Le Mans Series, based on the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Series. Tucker will drive both of the Level 5 Motorsports HPD ARX-01g entries, with Diaz, Barbosa, Bouchut and Franchitti splitting the remaining racing time in half.

Learn more about Scott Tucker and Level 5 Motorsports Scott Tucker .

Scott Tucker’s racing schedule, for most people, would be an overcommitment. Competing in 5 series in 7 countries for the 2011 season, Tucker has been literally all over the map for the past 10 months. But for Tucker, his racing schedule-which includes the Grand-Am Rolex series, the American Le Mans Series, the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup series, the Ferrari Challenge series and the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge series-is truly evident of simply commitment. The schedule doesn’t overwhelm him because he’s doing it for the sole reason that he enjoys it. The sometimes four-race weekends don’t stress him out because he wants to be at each and every one. There is perhaps no better way to illustrate Tucker’s commitment to all of the series and cars that have gotten him where he is today than to look at his five-year relationship with Ferrari, where everything started.

Now, Tucker is a three-time national driving champion who has competed in some of the newest, fastest cars in the industry and stood at podium next to the racing veterans who have been doing it the longest. But just five short years ago, Tucker was climbing into the driver’s seat of a Ferrari for his first full season as a race car driver, in the Ferrari Challenge series. He raced at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and later he took 5th place at Portland International Raceway, his best finish of the season. He then took third in one of the two North American races at the World Finals in Italy.

Tucker drove Ferrari again in 2007 for his second full season of the Ferrari Challenge. In May 2007, he nabbed his first career win at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. Tucker then created his Level 5 Motorsports team in 2008, entering the FC series as both owner and driver. He took his Ferrari to the top six times in the 13-race season and finished second overall in the final drivers’ standings, and then won both of the two North American races at World Finals. Tucker took a Ferrari V8 Crawford GT to four Rolex Sports Car Series races in the same season. In 2009, Tucker won 10 races, which made him the winningest driver in Ferrari Challenge’s history. His Boardwalk Ferrari team won the Dealer’s Championship.

When Tucker decided to pursue even more prestigious racing events, including the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and the American Le Mans Series, he knew his increasing opportunities were in part thanks to his success with Ferrari. Not only that, but he still loved racing Ferraris. So to ditch his Ferrari career after finding so much success in the series was never an option. Even as he added four additional series to his racing schedule, along with cutting-edge supercars in the Le Mans Prototype classes, Ferrari always made the list, too. Tucker has raced in up to four different races in a single race weekend to accommodate all of his commitments.

In 2010, Tucker began a partnership with Ferrari to test and develop its new 599XX for the 2011 season. Tucker’s new No. 55 Ferrari 599XX improved the mechanics, technical specifications, technology and speed of its predecessors. The fact that he not only raced for Ferrari while racing in four other series but also spent time creating a new car with the program is testament to Tucker’s solid ties to Ferrari. Without Ferrari, he might never have ignited an engine on the race track, and he isn’t ignorant to the fact. As his schedule permits, he will continue to race in the Ferrari Challenge series just as he did five years ago.

Learn more about Tucker and the dream team Tucker and the dream team

There are a few things different about this year’s Mazda Laguna Seca race. For all drivers, the weather has been uncharacteristically chilly throughout the week’s practice runs and system checks. For Level 5 Motorsports, the weather is hardly noticeable-at least not compared to the brand new metal vessel they’ve been wheeling around at triple-digit speeds.

Recently the team partnered with Wirth Research to debut an HPD ARX-01g chassis at the American Le Mans Series race tomorrow. Last week, drivers Christophe Bouchut, Joao Barbosa and Luis Diaz, along with team manager David Stone, visited the Wirth Research team to meet their new team member. But of course, giving it the once-over means nothing once behind the wheel.

Initial practice runs this week were promising; the drivers emerged from their seats optimistic. Team owner Scott Tucker was a man of few words after his first practice run. “It’s good,” he said. “We’re going through the normal systems checks. We’re just going through the motions.”

The motions should be enough for Level 5, if last year is any indication. The team won the 2010 American Le Mans Series championship, and Tucker won both 2010 Rookie of the Year and Champion Driver. Still, with a brand new car, it will be important to find the team’s sweet spot in order to make the podium once again.

“Right now, it’s more about finding the balance,” said Luis Diaz after his practice run earlier this week. “If you have a good balanced car, you’ll have a good car in qualifying and race. We’re focusing on having a decent car, good balance front to rear, and then we’ll start to focus on having that ultimate lap.”

Although the drivers are being diplomatic in their answers, team manager David Stone offers a bit of insight. “Everybody left last night feeling pretty optimistic about the car,” he says. “The initial performance indicators were really good. This is really a test race for us getting ready for Petite le Monde.”

The team has been using a simulator in London in order to prepare for the new car’s debut. The car is so new that no spare parts have arrived yet, which makes this weekend’s race one of the riskiest ones for Level 5. “We don’t have any spare parts, so we need to be really good with the car today,” Stone said. The team rushed the new car to the raceway in order to be ready for Petite le Monde next weekend, so it’s clear their eyes are to the horizon.

Changing cars is nothing new for the Level 5 team. Tucker, who began his career at age 44 in 2006, raced in two cars for his first season: the No. 55 Oreca FLM09 and the No. 95 Oreca FLM09. This year, the team entered the LMP2 class and changed cars again. Following a year of outstanding success, which included two podium finishes just four races into the season, the team made an announcement: it would finish the year with yet another car. They would pair their existing Honda motors with the Honda LMP2 chassis to finish out the race calendar.

True to his history, Scott Tucker is prepared for and confident in the change. “We’ve seen gains with the engine all year and the good thing is that there’s still room for development,” he says. “The HPD engine and chassis combination has proven to be the best over the years. We feel very comfortable and confident in making this unprecedented and decisive move in the middle of the season.”

As the race kicks off tomorrow, the new car will weather it’s first true road test. The results of that race will be a telling indicator of the weekend to come.

One of the obvious perks of working at a telescope shop is that I get to use a little of everything when it comes to astrophoto gear. But I do have some favorite telescopes and cameras Scott Tucker.

The story of Scott Tucker’s career is what some would call a Cinderella story. A successful private equity investor from Kansas enters his first professional motorsports race at age 44, and five years later, he’s constantly atop the podium after races in multiple 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.

Clearly, not just any person could pull off the kind of late-bloomer success Tucker has achieved. His skill level, endurance, technique and depth of knowledge would not exist if not for an enormous passion for the sport. Scott Tucker loves cars-before he had the opportunity to race, he built a sort-of car museum in his Leawood, Kansas home. So it’s fitting that Tucker, the unlikely American Le Mans hero, would be the first American to enter his team in the Le Mans Prototype class in nearly 25 years.

“Breaking into the Le Mans series has always been on my mind,” Tucker said. “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 fastest closed-wheel racing cars on contemporary circuit racing tracks. Their cost and technology are comparable to that of Formula One cars, but LMP vehicles top out at even higher speeds than Formula One cars. No wonder 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 allow for increased speeds compared to other LMP2 engines. It wasn’t any wonder when Tucker reserved the first two out of development.

The Le Mans Prototype was used for the first time at the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans, when a small field of competitors caused the race to be open to small, open-cockpit race cars using production road car engines in an attempt 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 expensive Group C prototypes without much competition beyond Le Mans races, which were few and far between. As Group C became obsolete, the Le Mans Prototype class was created. In 1999, the American Le Mans Series was created, allowing for a much broader competitor base because more Le Mans races would be held each season.

Today, a driver can race in an LMP, LMP2 or LMP1 class, in two of which Tucker has made his mark. In 2010, during his debut season in the Le Mans series, Tucker took the LMP championship and won rookie of the year. Moving forward in to LMP2 for the 2011 season, Tucker started racking up podium finishes at breakneck speed, with impressive finishes at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, Infineon and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Tucker and his Level 5 Motorsports team might be just what the United States needs to bring greater attention to 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 compelling story, his own obvious excitement for the sport and his unwavering success are a verifiable formula for a figure whom the public could get behind.

Looking for more information about Tucker Tucker

Scott Tucker and his teammates recently began the final quarter of a racing year that has included numerous podium appearances, multiple car changes, incredible accomplishments and yet still room for improvement. Tucker, owner and driver for Level 5, has been a leader for the team despite the rookie status he maintained merely months ago. His tight, balanced driving has earned him top honors in the American Le Mans Series as Rookie of the Year and Champion Driver in 2010. His races often end with stints on the podium, and his career has only just begun.

As Tucker, his co-drivers Christophe Bouchut and Luis Diaz and team manager David Stone prepare to close the calendar year with the all-important Petit Le Mans and the Ferrari International Finals, the stakes are high-the team has woven itself a reputation of excellence that is best understood by looking back at what has made 2011 a stunning year for Level 5 Motorsports.

In mid-March, following a modest but strong showing at the Rolex 24 at Daytona several weeks earlier, the Level 5 Motorsports team made its LMP2 debut. After winning its LMP class in 2010, the drivers nabbed the LMP2 distinction. As has become somewhat of a tradition in the past year, the team was working feverishly to finish its entry car in time for the starting flag. In a matter of just days, the Lola Honda was finished and shipped to Florida for its race debut and the team’s class debut.

Scott Tucker, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Luis Diaz split time commanding the racetrack. Tucker told members of the media that the 12 Hours of Sebring was a “test run” for the Lola Honda, as it had come straight off the assembly floor, but if Sebring was a test, Level 5 Motorsports scored an A+. Even in the face of a handful of mishaps and issues, the drivers drove strong and finished strong, making up for any mistakes with skillful maneuvering around turns and careful, strategic straightaway shots. The Level 5 Motorsports team secured an LMP2 victory, reliving their LMP success from the previous year. Tucker also won the Champion Driver award at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2010.

The Lola Honda wasn’t the fastest car through the straights, but shined when the track started to bend. Tucker and Diaz made the first rounds of the Sebring International Speedway and made clear their class dominance early on. Strong showings from the drivers on the first two legs of the race still left work to be done by Hunter-Reay, a Florida native. Hunter-Reay drove an excellent leg, recovering plenty of time for the team and ultimately whizzing past the finish line at the front of the pack.

“The team had some issues but made up for lost time,” Tucker said. “Ryan had a grew last few laps,” Tucker also added. Although the Lola Honda was barely finished before tackling a notoriously grueling 12-hour race, the car didn’t show any signs of fatigue or wear at race’s end. The team didn’t face any mechanical issues, and nary a scratch was visible on the body at the end of the day. “We’re pleased with the vehicle performance,” Tucker said. “We knew we had a great car, and we’re eager to see what we can do with it.”

The Level 5 team, along with other entries, donned Japan stickers on their cars to honor the country after the earthquake and tsunami that had occurred in the time leading up to the big race.

Reaching podium on the first ALMS appearance of the year was what the Level 5 Motorsports had hoped for coming into Sebring. With plenty of races to come before the championship Petit le Mans in October, they had a lot of work ahead of them, a lot of miles to drive, and a lot of potential for successes to come.

Penn Badgley starred as Scott Tucker in the movie John Tucker Must Die. He has also starred in the movies John Tucker Must Die, The Stepfather, and … He also appears in John Tucker Must Die playing Scott Tucker Scott Tucker.

October 2011 - Scott Tucker’s quest for a Ferrari Challenge Series world championship got off to a great start Thursday. The driver of the No. 755 Boardwalk Ferrari F430 earned the top qualifying position with a speed of 158.416 mph in preparation for Friday’s North American division race No. 1 at the Ferrari Challenge International Finals at Mugello Circuit in Mugello, Italy.

It is Scott Tucker’s first time back in competition behind the wheel of an F430 in Challenge Series competition since last November, when he won a race and finished second in the other at the Ferrari Challenge International Finals in Spain. Following Race number 1 on Friday will be a second race on Saturday. Then, the season comes to a close with the F430 World Finals on Sunday where Tucker looks to solidify another driving championship.

A mere .7 seconds separates Tucker from the top qualifier, Italy’s Riccardo Ragazzi, setting up a showdown for the World Championship title. The Ferrari Finali Mondiali features a world-class field of drivers, and the competition among the F430 cars is astight as it has ever been.

“We came into this week knowing how hard we needed to work to win here. The field is very, very tough,” Tucker said. “This is a very challenging circuit. You can’t make any mistakes here. If you do, you’ll run yourself right out of a chance to win. And, that’s what we came here to do - win.”

Tucker is a three-time winner in the Ferrari Challenge International Finals between 2009 and 2010. The event was held in Valencia, Spain, both years.

Mugello Circuit, officially the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, is a 3.529-mile road course near Florence. The track, built in 1974, is comprised of 15 turns and a long straightaway.

Turns 14 and 15 combine in a challenging hairpin that leads into the straightaway, which is1,141 meters in length. The width of the track varies between 9, 6 and 14 meters.

Tucker has competed in four Ferrari Challenge Series races this season, all in the newFerrari 458. He won the series opener at Infineon Raceway in California in April and finished sixth in the second race that weekend.

In May at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Tucker finished second to Enzo Potolicchio in Race 1 and fifth in Race 2. With his busy worldwide racing schedule, he has not participated in the Ferrari Challenge Series since.

The green flag isscheduled to wave for race No. 1 on Friday at 3 p.m. local time. Qualifying for race No. 2 for the North American division is set for 9:30 a.m. local time Friday. The green flag is scheduled to wave for race No. 2 at 2:40 p.m. local time Saturday.

Fans looking to follow the action can find live timing and scoring as well as all session and raceresults on the Circuit’s website: http://mugellocircuit.it/.

Find more visit http://www.level5motorsports.com or http://www.tucker-racing.com