Mechanical Setbacks Thwart Tom Lepper’s Push for the Win

June 25, 2023 (Sonoma, CA) –Tom Lepper, driving the #34 GOGOGEAR Racing Honda Civic suffered

mechanical setbacks but still managed to finish fourth in round 3 of the 2023 Hankook Tires United

States Touring Car Championship at Sonoma Raceway.

Tom Lepper started the weekend strong in his well-setup Honda Civic Hatchback, setting impressive

practice times. He kept it rolling in qualifying, placing the Civic on the outside of the front row for the

feature race. As is often the case with a tense standing start, the pack shuffled a bit with Lepper settling

onto the back of the leader out of turn 2. He settled into his race pace, comfortably running right on

the tail of the leading BMW while managing his car and tires. For the first half of the race Lepper

looked like he had the stronger package and was just waiting for his opportunity for a final push for the

lead. The check engine then came on with an associated loss of power, followed by an exhaust failure.

Lepper kept fighting but lost two valuable positions on the last lap, limping the car home in fourth. The

team of Lepper/McColligan lost a bit of ground in the Sportsman Class Season Points Race but will keep

pushing hard for the front!

GoGoGear.com Racing Team is a professional racing team that has been winning races since 1994 and

has grown from one car to seven cars. The team has won dozens of championships since then in

different classes and different cars. The team most recently won the driver’s championship in the United

States Touring Car Championship in 2019 and placed second in the Team Championship. The team does

more than just win races though. They have built some awesome project cars, including ones for the

SEMA show for major manufacturers including General Motors, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota and Kia.

USTCC is a professional road racing series comprised of late model sport compact sedans such as BMW 3

series, Mazdaspeed 3, Hyundai Genesis Coupe, Chevrolet Corvette, Porsche 911, Audi R8, Ford Mustang,

Honda Civic and others. The cars use slightly modified engines and highly modified suspensions with

aerodynamic ground effects and sticky Hankook slick race tires. The races can be seen exclusively on

Final Drive TV available on NBC Sports on Xfinity cable, Dish Network, DirecTV and AT&T U-verse. For

more information on USTCC, visit www.ustcc.com.