The GoGoGear.com Racing Team won three major titles in the United States Touring Car Championship in 2018. Gary Sheehan won the Touring Car class Driver Championship in the Konig Wheels/Orafol Vehicle Wraps Hyundai Genesis Coupe. Larry Bani won the Super Touring Driver Championship in the KW Suspension/Total Lubricants BMW M3. The team also won the prestigious Escort Top Team award as the best team of the year.
Sheehan started the season leading the race, but a missed shift is all it took to drop to second place at Thunderhill. The mistake only encouraged the team to work harder, resulting in two consecutive wins at Fontana and Sonoma. In the balance of the season, Sheehan won two more races and never finished lower than third place. In a season where qualifying was separated by .1 second at most races, every position mattered, and a mistake would be devastating. In the end Sheehan, won by only 5 points, the value of one position!
“The Moroso Performance/AEM Electronics Hyundai was reliable and quick at every race and I am extremely happy to win the title,” Sheehan said. This is Sheehan’s third driver’s title in USTCC and his second with the GoGoGear.com Racing Team.
Bani started the season with strong performances and won the first four races at Thunderhill, Fontana, Sonoma and Laguna Seca. He finished the season with a couple of second-place finishes and took home the title after finishing second in 2017.
“The JB Autoworks BMW M3 was a joy to drive and was fantastic all year long and the Hankook slicks were superb,” commented Bani.
The Driver Championship was great for the driver, but Team Principal Ali Arsham said it was all about the team, and winning the Escort Top Team award was the priority.
“We know we have the best team and we wanted to win the Escort trophy,” said Arsham. “The drivers understood this and were extremely unselfish. We have the best driver lineup and I am so proud of all of them.”
Art Nersisyan also earned the honor of being crowned the Plastex Top Rookie. Nersisyan had a rough start at the first race of the season with a stall that put him in the back of the field. But he fought back and ended the season with a second-place finish in the other Konig Wheels/Orafol Vehicle Wraps Hyundai Genesis.
“I was so nervous at the first race, especially while waiting for the start. It took a few races to calm my nerves and be focused,” explained Nersisyan.
Follow all the action from the United States Touring Car Championship on NBC Sports in 2019 as well as on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.
