Race fans can find TechSport Racing battling at the front of the pack on any given race weekend. This team doesn’t shy away from competition; it seeks it out. Currently, TSR is contesting in three series under the SRO Motorsports America banner.
While competing in Pirelli GT4 America, TC America presented by Skip Barber and the Toyota GR Cup North America series. The race team has risen to the top of the competition in the latter two series. The TechSport Racing shop is onsite at VIRginia International Raceway. The circuit hosts the next calendar event for SRO America from Friday, June 16, through Sunday, June 18.
TechSport racing sits five points behind the current TCA Class points championship leader, LA Honda World Racing. The independent race team proudly runs and represents the Subaru BRZ in the TCA Class, with Devin Anderson and Shaoyi Che behind the wheel. As the series approaches its summer break, VIR presents an optimal time to take over the points lead before the season's closing stages commence.
Co-Owner of TechSport Racing, Deb Popolizio, wears many hats under her tent, including mother to driver Devin Anderson and wife to co-owner Kevin Anderson, making it a family affair. As she watches TechSport Racing and her son fight in the ultra-competitive TCA Class, she also actively runs the team's business side as Kevin Anderson focuses on competition at the track.
Popolizio, a native New Yorker, is undaunted by the prospect of a home race. The ease of having the team’s full shop at her fingertips is a welcome bonus to the upcoming VIR weekend.
“We always have tons of guests, family, personal sponsors, and other attendees at each event. We feed 40 people three meals a day throughout every SRO weekend. Going into the home weekend makes everything so much nicer,” Popolizio said. “We have all the added benefits of being in our shop.”
She is confident that the home-field advantage is a leg up on the competition.
“Devin runs VIR regularly. He runs at the front in numerous regional classes. He’s excited and ready to go for the TC side of things at VIR,” Popolizio said. Devin has a fiery personality, and he is a skilled and tenacious racer. He is on the simulator at least 15 hours a week and he and Kevin built and developed the No. 22 machine, so he really knows its capability.”
The tenacity Popolizio speaks of runs through everything the family touches. Kevin Anderson previously ran a successful construction company, while she operated a 500-plus student-strong gymnastics school. The pair's success in the highly competitive Long Island market garnered them the skills and thick skin needed to run a customer-based race team.
“TechSport racing is our main business. Our whole family is involved. From my middle daughter designing our TSR logo to everyone, you see at the track,” Popolizio said. “Scrappy is the perfect description for us. When you run a business on the outskirts of Manhattan, you learn that if you aren’t tireless and willing to do anything, you won’t see success. That’s the mindset we take in racing.”
TechSport Racing focuses on strong engineering and detailed and methodical data training to give its drivers the advantage needed to run competitively. The team works hard to meld the drivers and crew into a cohesive unit that echoes the work ethic of the Anderson family.
“Our team has a very esoteric tent,” Popolizio said. “We take care of our customers, but we also let them know that our drivers are here to work. Under our tent, we’re doing big information shares across cars and series. No matter the ego people join the team with, eventually, they realize that there is plenty to learn from their teammates. We have a stable filled with fantastic drivers fully capable of handling anything that comes their way. We are also acutely aware that how prepared and capable they are, is directly related to how capable and prepared we are as a team. We strive for perfection. It’s our motto, no mistakes.”
While the team is well known for being a staple in the TC America series, Popolizio knows the key to be consistently out front on track includes being open to change. In 2023, the team represents three manufacturers- Subaru, Nissan, and Toyota.
“The TC series is where our Subarus fit this year,” Popolizio said. “But the reality is we go where the racing is. We are running three brands this year. We own the homologation on the Subaru. If you want to run a Subaru, you must buy it from us.”
TechSport Racing will lean on the knowledge it built over 2022 with the Subaru to create a successful weekend at home.
“We won the driver and manufacturers championship with this car last year,” Popolizio said. “We know the setups. That’s the gift we have this season. The calendar is the same. Anything we did last year became info for this year. Of course, this season is a madhouse with the weather. We have run for nine seasons, and we’ve had two rain races in all those years. This year we have had three rain races and a rain out, and it’s not even halfway through the season.
The three-day event hosted at VIRginia International Raceway takes place Friday, June 16, through Sunday, June 18. Fans can purchase single-day tickets or three-day ticket packages. Nissan owners can join the Nissan exclusive car corral. At the same time, the Patriot Car Corral is open to vehicles of all kinds, with proceeds going to helping veterans of the United States and Canadian military. Tickets are on sale here.
For fans unable to attend the event in person, the GT World YouTube page may do just the trick. The live stream covers all series races over the weekend, including Fanatec GT World Challenge America qualifying rounds. For those wanting to get to know the community a little better, join DJ Clark, Kyle Heyer and Daniel Gilligan on the SROMotorsports Twitch stream, where the trio interacts with fans and interviews drivers while covering on-track activity.