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Coming off an all-Hyundai podium finish at their title sponsored race last month, the Hyundai race teams turn their focus to the penultimate round of the 2021 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at Virginia International Raceway. Driving the #77 Veloster N TCR, Taylor Hagler and Michael Lewis currently hold the points lead this season. Should they ultimately claim the title, Hagler will be the first female ever to win the IMSA TCR championship. Hyundai Journeys: Hyundai is partnering with world-renowned portrait photographer, Annie Leibovitz, on a creative marketing campaign that brings to life the stories of Hyundai owners and employees. The campaign, “Journeys,” features portraits of eight Hyundai owners and 17 employees from across the organization to tell the stories of those that make up the Hyundai brand. Michael Johnson, co-driver of the #54 Hyundai Veloster N TCR is featured as one of the eight in the campaign. Michael is paralyzed from the chest down and has overcome all obstacles to make a name for himself in the sports car racing world. Annie Leibovitz photographed Johnson, and his team earlier this season at Watkins Glen International Raceway. Win #15: Hyundai has proven to be the most reliable manufacturer since joining the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge in 2019. Their most recent victory at Laguna Seca last month was the 15th win for BHA and Hyundai. Hyundai currently leads the manufacturers championship by 20 points over Honda. Next Level: The second of five episodes of Hyundai’s web series “Next Level” was recently released. The episode, titled “Taylor’s Journey” takes viewers behind the scenes of Taylor’s transition from equestrian competition to climbing the IMSA leaderboard with 350 horses. Watch Next Level on Hyundai’s YouTube channel: (130) Taylor’s Journey | Next Level Ep. 2 | Hyundai – YouTube Defending the SWEEP: BHA are the defending race winners at VIR. They finished first, second and third last year when Michael Lewis and his then teammate, Mason Filippi finished on the top step of the podium after an exciting battle. Harry Gottsacker and Mark Wilkins were second and Parker Chase and Spencer Brockman were third. Hyundai Motor America Hyundai Motor America focuses on ‘Progress for Humanity’ and smart mobility solutions. Hyundai offers U.S. consumers a technology-rich lineup of cars, SUVs and electrified vehicles. Our 820 dealers sold more than 620,000 vehicles in the U.S. in 2020, and nearly half were built at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. For more information, visit www.HyundaiNews.com. Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian: Founded in 2009, Bryan Herta Autosport has grown from a single car Indy-Lights team into a multi-championship winning auto racing franchise. Led by IndyCar and Sports Car star Bryan Herta, Bryan Herta Autosport has won races in every discipline they have entered, including Indy Lights, Indy Car, Global Rallycross, and championship titles in Pirelli World Challenge and IMSA. BHA rose to prominence after winning the 2011 Indianapolis 500 in what was the final race of the Centennial Era, a celebration of 100 years of racing at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with driver Dan Wheldon. Five years later, BHA partnered with Andretti Autosport, and defied the odds again, winning their second Indianapolis 500 with rookie driver Alexander Rossi. In 2018, BHA entered the American Sports Car scene beginning its immensely successful partnership with Hyundai. Together, BHA and Hyundai have won three championships in as many seasons, including their dominating performance finishing first, second and third in the 2020 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, where Hyundai won its first manufacturers title. For 2021, BHA will debut the all-new Hyundai ELANTRA N TCR and continue with the proven Veloster N TCR with a three-car assault in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. For more information, visit: www.BryanHertaAutosport.com. BHA/Hyundai Customer Support: Bryan Herta Autosport is the U.S. sales agent and part support representative of Hyundai TCR and TCA race cars for customer teams. The BHA/Hyundai Customer Support Team offers trackside engineering support, setup and tuning advice, and part and order fulfillments for the Hyundai Veloster N TCR and TCA teams and drivers from the BHA’s headquarters in Speedway, IN. Since its North American debut in 2019, the Hyundai Veloster N TCR has scored 26 race wins, and three TCR championship titles. #77 Hyundai Veloster N TCR Best Start: 6th Best Finish: 1st Championship Standings: 1st ·     Michael Lewis is the defending race winner at VIR. Lewis won with then 2020 co-driver Mason Filippi in 2020. ·     Hagler and Lewis have finished on the podium in six of nine races this year. Michael Lewis: “VIR is such a great track. It has a lot of diverse and fun turns that our Hyundai Veloster N race car handles really well. My favorite part of the track is probably the last sector as it’s just crazy! This track has been good to our Bryan Herta Autosport team and Mason Filippi and I were able to win the race in 2020! I am really looking forward to racing on this track as it’s one of my favorites and it’s one where we see a lot of fan engagement. Taylor, the team, and I have really maximized our results at virtually each race this season and we’ve got two more races to keep up that effort!” Taylor Hagler: “This is a race I have been looking forward to all year, because we had a rough race there last year. I ended up out of the race early due to get caught up in someone else’s incident. I know the Veloster has performed well there in the past and I am excited to see what Michael and I can do. It feels like a big Lime Rock to me and we won there, so I am feeling good!”