Barry, Straus to Lead DART Car Initiative in TPC McLaren GT4

Photo: TPC Racing

TPC Racing and the Driven Artists Racing Team (DART Car) will debut the No. 44 McLaren Artura GT4 this weekend at Sonoma Raceway with co-drivers Zoe Barry and Aurora Straus in the Pirelli GT4 America Am class.

The debuting DART Car project is a female-led, mission-driven motorsports program with the purpose of elevating the achievements of women in the traditionally male-dominated fields of motorsports and fine art.

DART Car launches this weekend with an inaugural commission by acclaimed contemporary artist Mickalene Thomas, who has created a custom livery for the team’s McLaren as well as one-of-a-kind driving suits and hand-painted helmets for Straus and Barry, who is making her professional racing debut this season.

Both the DART Car McLaren and accompanying helmets and driver suits by Thomas will be auctioned later in the season to raise funds for the next aspiring artist and driving duo to continue the team’s mission in a planned rotation to bolster the number of under-represented artists and drivers in both motorsports and fine arts.

DART Car has partnered in its initial program with race and championship winning sports car racing team TPC Racing.

Led by Harris Levitas and his father Mike Levitas, TPC has an accomplished resume of achievements that include a GT class win in the 2006 Rolex 24 At Daytona and a long list of team and driver championships across several different North American racing series.

“We had some encouraging showings in a limited and late-season run of races with the McLaren Artura GT4 last year in Pirelli GT4 America and were looking for the right partners to continue this progress,” said Harris Levitas.

“We have known Aurora for years and have seen promising progress in Porsche Sprint Challenge and other series from Zoe in recent seasons.

“We learned a lot in last week’s test at Sonoma and look forward to a great weekend ahead and doing our part to make the DART Car debut a success.”

Barry made her semi-pro racing debut in Porsche Sprint Challenge in 2022 and has raced the last two years in International GT as a consistent top-three finisher in the GT4 class.

“I just turned 40 years old, and I am living out that childhood dream of becoming a professional race car driver,” said Barry. “I am so excited to make this debut at Sonoma Raceway.

“This is the first McLaren art car, and very importantly we are racing No. 44, which is a nod to the fact that only 4 percent of artist at auction are women and only 4 percent of licensed motorsports drivers are women.

“Our goal with the DART Car program is to really elevate underrepresented and talented individuals. For the DART Car program, success looks like inspiring one young girl to get into karting, inspiring one woman to get behind the wheel in motorsports racing, inspiring one person to collect Mickalene Thomas’s work.

“Sales of the Thomas designed helmet, suits and car will help fund the next DART Car Project artist commission and the next season of female pilots.

“For me, making my professional racing debut in SRO, this is what success looks like.”

Straus is a popular and accomplished American race car driver and recently made history as the first woman worldwide to win a race in Radical Cup North America.

She is very familiar with the McLaren Artura GT4 and drove the first car of its kind in North America in its debut at Daytona International Speedway in 2023. Starting last in the 44-car field after early mechanical issues, Straus and her co-drivers charged to a sixth-place finish at the checkered flag.

“This is an amazing program,” said Straus. “Art cars, race suits, race helmets that will eventually be auctioned and the proceeds will be reinvested for the next set of drivers and artists.

“So, the way I look at it, is that Zoe and I are the inaugural drivers, Mickalene Thomas is the inaugural artist – who we are very grateful to have onboard – and in the future we hope to expand to a full other set of artists and drivers beyond just us.”

Photo: TPC Racing