Race starts around 2 min 30 sec This is the whole race....

Merrill masters Mid-Ohio with Trans Am TA2 win

Race starts around 2 min 30 sec This is the whole race....
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emailBy Trans Am | June 28, 2020 5:33 PM

With a strong push to the front early in the race, Thomas Merrill claimed his first Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli TA2 Powered by AEM victory of the season with the No. 81 Diehl-Merrill Racing/HP Tuners/Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang on Sunday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

A late caution flag had set up a final one-lap dash to the checkers, but a post-race scoring recheck determined that the time limit had been achieved before a late-race restart, meaning that the race finished under a late-race caution. That negated a tumultuous final lap that saw Merrill crash while Scott Lagasse Jr. took an apparent victory over Mike Skeen.

“We were under a full-course caution and going for a restart,” explained Trans Am race director Dorsey Schroeder. “Because of the COVID-19 virus restrictions, our timing and scoring official, Bill Skibbe, was in a different building. He couldn’t get the information to us that we were going to run out of time before we got the restart underway. We should have gone checkered flag on the lap we went back to the green flag. So we went back to the last scored lap for the official result.”

The victory was a relished recovery for Merrill, who suffered an off while leading with just two laps remaining in the season-opening race at Sebring. The victory was his fourth in TA2 competition, in addition to four triumphs in Trans Am West.

Merrill dominated the event, passing pole winner Rafa Matos’ No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro on the 15th of 45 scheduled laps. Merrill built up lead of nearly eight seconds before Lagasse, driving the No. 92 M1 Racecars/Team SLR/Fields Racing Chevrolet Camaro, passed Skeen’s No. 77 Liqui Moly/Turn 14 Chevrolet Camaro in the keyhole on Lap 22 to take second.

“I’m real happy for the Diehl-Merrill Racing crew, they did an amazing job throughout the weekend to solve some electrical issues we had with the engine,” Merrill said. “The HP Tuners Mustang rolled off the truck perfectly, we didn’t change a thing on the setup. I hated it for the other guys, it’s never a good thing to have the result change, but I commend the officials for making the right decision. Mike (Skeen) and Rafa (Matos) are two of the best road racers in the world, and it’s always great to share the track with guys like them. When you pass drivers like them, you know you’ve earned it.

“It was great to get out front and stretch a gap. Once I was aware that Scott (Lagasse) was in P-2, my mission was to try to match his pace. I got real dehydrated towards the end of the race, and on that last lap I made a simple error. I grabbed a little too much curb in turn seven, hit a hole in the ground and spun the car off the track. It was just a simple error on my part.”

Running without power steering, Matos led the opening 14 circuits and was running fourth on Lap 37 when he pulled off with electrical problems in turn eight in the final 10 minutes. That brought out a full-course caution that ended the race.

Lagasse finished second, with Skeen rounding out the podium. Lagasse held off a final challenge by Skeen on the negated restart, appearing to win by 0.645s.

Rounding out the top five were John Paul Southern in the No. 61 pitrace.com/Southern Motorsports Camaro and Misha Goikhberg in the No. 99 Mike Cope Racing/BC Race Cars Camaro. The two had tangled and crashed on the front straight on the final restart.

The scoring change also negated top-five finishes for Tom Sheehan in the No. 97 LTK Insulation Technologies Ford Mustang, Jeff Wood in the No. 12 Berryman Products Ford Mustang, and Scott Borchetta in the No. 48 Big Machine Vodka Camaro.

Fresh from competing in the Trans Am by Pirelli Esports Championship, Borchetta took a top-10 finish and the Cool Shirt Cool Move of the Weekend in his TA2 debut.

“Today was my first race and it’s amazing to come away with this result,” Borchetta said. “I said before the weekend if I made it in the top fifteen then it would be a good day, so today is a great day! The restarts are crazy so I kept my eyes wide open, drove through other’s wrecks and had a great race. It was a great learning curve. It was an amazing weekend and the learning curve in TA2 was a fun one.”

It was a tough day for the 3-Dimensional Services Group. Doug Peterson went off with mechanical problems in the No. 87 Mustang on the opening lap. Teammate Cameron Lawrence was in top-10 battle before retiring the No. 8 Mustang after 14 laps.

The weeekend ended a layoff of nearly four months for the Trans Am competitors. The series is set to swing back into action in two weeks, racing at Minnesota’s Brainerd International Raceway in the Ryan Companies, US presents the Jed Copham Tribute Weekend on July 10-12.

 

Trans Am Series LIVE at Mid-Ohio

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9.84K subscribersTrans Am racing returns to Mid-Ohio! TA/XGT/SGT/GT Race

 

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Full Race - The First Energy Trans Am 100 at Mid-Ohio

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9.84K subscribersOur live stream from the First Energy Trans Am 100 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, featuring the TA, TA3 and TA4 classes.

 

TA2 results from Mid-Ohio under appeal

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emailBy Trans Am | 11 hours ago

A number of TA2 teams and drivers have officially informed the Trans Am Racing Company and SCCA Pro Racing of their intent to appeal the results of the TA2 race from the Mid-Ohio event held on June 28.

The established protocol will see SCCA Pro Racing General Manager Sydney Davis Yagel make a determination to seat the Court of Appeals panel,

“We fully support the process. There are competitors on both sides of the issue and the SCCA Pro Racing Court of Appeals Panel is the appropriate venue to address the situation and make a decision that everyone can accept,” said Trans Am Racing Company President John Clagett.

The final results will remain provisional until the Court of Appeals decision has been made.

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Pickett reaches Trans Am milestone with Thunderhill West Coast win

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emailBy Trans Am | August 2, 2020 6:30 PM

The 2020 Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli West Coast Championship opened its competition season Sunday on Thunderhill Raceway Park’s three-mile, 15-turn circuit during a 33-lap race covering 99 miles. Those numbers — 3, 15, 33 and 99 — are all odd. But what wasn’t odd at all was to see Greg Pickett claim an overall and TA victory in the No. 6 Pickett Racing Ford Mustang.

It was XtremeGT (XGT) driver Simon Gregg, in the No. 59 Derhaag Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3, who started the race on pole and led the opening laps of the race. By the third lap, Pickett had moved past Gregg and extended his lead to upwards of 30 seconds on his way to the record-setting victory. With the win Sunday, Pickett has achieved the rarest of feats: collecting professional race wins in six consecutive decades.
“Trans Am is near and dear to my heart,” Pickett said. “To get one of these in each of six decades is a real accomplishment. I’m very proud of my team, and very proud of my family for letting me do this stuff for that long. And I’m proud to be competing at a high level and being very competitive.

“The weather, the heat, made it a little difficult today,” Pickett continued. “About 45 or 50 minutes into the race, the car started getting pretty loose. Thankfully, I had enough pace early to create a gap, and we fundamentally just cruised around later.”


Though he finished second overall, defending West Coast Championship winner Gregg marked his XGT Class debut with a strong run to the class win.

“Qualifying was a highlight and it was thrilling to get the track record,” said Gregg. “But consistency wins the race.”

Related

Qualifying records fall as Gregg grabs Thunderhill Trans Am West pole

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The TA2® powered by AEM class was led to the green flag Sunday by the No. 49 Western Grinding Chevrolet Camaro of Ethan Wilson. He stayed out front the entire time, ending up with a four-second lead on runner-up Tim Lynn in the No. 17 RoofOptionsRacing/TFBPerform Ford Mustang. And with that, Wilson earned his first Trans Am West Coast victory.

“We were really strong all weekend,” Wilson said. “We knew we had the pace, but we had to keep the car underneath us. I made a smart start to get into the lead, and put in some hot laps to build a gap. And then it was just managing the brakes and tires throughout.”

Rounding out the TA2® podium was Tom Klauer in the No. 25 Naake-Klauer Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro. Klauer moved to the third position after the No. 19 Butson Racing Chevrolet Camaro of Matthew Butson and the No. 76 Honeywell Competition & TFB Chevrolet Camaro of Anthony Honeywell tangled on course and fell out of contention for a podium appearance.

In SuperGT (SGT), Carl Rydquist led flag-to-flag driving the No. 4 MyRaceShop.com/Tel-Tac/Mendeola Factory Five Racing GTM. The victory couldn’t be called easy, however.

“Something happened with the left-rear tire. I was basically driving a three-wheeled car for the race,” Rydquist said afterwards. “So, today, we couldn’t quite show what we’ve got in the car.”



Beau Borders started on pole in the GT class driving the No. 7 APEX Race Parts Ford Mustang. But Joe Bogetich, driving the No. 65 Westover Corporation Chevrolet Camaro, had the lead by the end of lap one. On lap six, Borders popped into the pits to deal with an overheating motor. He came back out on track nearly a full minute behind Bogetich.

Turns out that wasn’t an insurmountable gap for Borders as he slowly reeled in Bogetich. At the end, Bogetich’s winning margin was only three seconds.

“If this race had gone another lap or two, he would’ve gotten around me,” Bogetich acknowledged while holding his first-place trophy.

RESULTS

Next up for the 2020 Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli West Coast Championship is an August 21-23 visit to Sonoma Raceway about 45 minutes north of San Francisco. Fans can follow live timing and scoring on GoTransAm.com.

Thunderhill Raceway Park, Trans-Am, Trans Am

 

Trans Am set to build on its Road America heritage with 49th visit

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emailBy Trans Am | 15 hours ago

Set to add a 49th chapter in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli history at Road America, the thundering machines will take to the icon 4.04-mile, 14-turn circuit in Wisconsin this Saturday with a doubleheader event that features several storylines to follow.

The fourth round of the 2020 Trans Am championship will be staged as part of the NASCAR Xfinity Series weekend and will see the action open with the Trans Am, Xtreme GT, SuperGT and GT class race on Saturday, with the 25-lap (100-mile) Muscle Car Challenge featuring the TA2 powered by AEM class following later in the afternoon.

While the full live streaming experience won’t be available at Road America, users of the Trans Am by Pirelli Racing App (click here to download) will have exclusive access to a new beta test feature. By logging onto the app, fans can access five onboards to live stream from the driver’s point of view. Chris Dyson, Ken Thwaits and Tomy Drissi will be live in the TA/XGT/SGT/GT feature while Cameron Lawrence and Doug Peterson will be streaming in the TA2 race.

Two Wisconsin natives, Cliff Ebben and Denny Lamers will compete on Saturday in the TA/XGT/SGT/GT feature. Ebben’s No. 36 StumpfFord/McMahonGrp/LamersRcng Ford Mustang is a staple on the legendary Wisconsin road course. Competing with Trans am since 2001, Ebben always has a strong showing on his home track. The Appleton local got his maiden Trans Am victory in 2009 at Road America and his first career pole in 2015 on the same circuit.

Hailing from Fremont, Lamers will once again be wheeling the No. 66 StumpfFord/McMahonGrp/LamersRcng Ford Mustang. Over the last few years, Lamers has made his home track of Road America an annual return to Trans Am.

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Ernie Francis Jr. opened the 2020 season with a pair of victories at Sebring and Mid-Ohio, but the Brainerd round saw his lead trimmed considerably after a sixth-place finish. Brainerd winner Tomy Drissi is now just four points back, with two-time series champion Amy Ruman just 12 markers adrift of Drissi ahead of the Road America event weekend.

“We always have a strong performance at Road America,” said Francis Jr. “We were here two weeks ago for a tire test and got the car pretty dialed in. Our goal is to be fast right off the trailer. Road America is the only place on the Trans Am schedule where we can carry speed all away around the track. This place is wide open and you can really feel your speed here.”

Ken Thwaits (No. 5 Franklin Road Apparel Audi R8 GT3 Ultra) will once again go to battle with XGT Championship rival Erich Joiner (No. 10 Championship Coffees and Tool Porsche 911 GT3 R). Having gained valuable points and experience over his main adversary at Brainerd, Thwaits is looking to claim the win at Road America he missed out on in 2019.

“Brainerd was probably the best weekend we’ve had with the Audis since the start of the year, not just because we won, but because we’ve begun to see just how fast we can be. It was great to be as quick as some of the TA cars, and hopefully there’s more to come.”

Thwaits’ team Showtime Motorsports, will bring another Audi R8 LMS Ultra to compete at Road America with Josh Hill behind the wheel.

“I’m thrilled to have Josh joining me on the grid, not least because there’s the possibility of a Showtime 1-2, Josh is quick and we’ve got our work cut out,” said Showtime Motorsports team principal Thwaits. “Last week we took both cars down to test at Road Atlanta — he progressed the lap times every session. We are excited to have him onboard at Road America.”

Last year at Road America in the SGT class, Lee Saunders (No. 84 Landsearch LLC Dodge Viper) took the win. Coming off a huge victory at Brainerd, Saunders looks to continue his winning streak at a track that’s given him so much success in the past.

Adrian Wlostowsk will return to his No. 96 F.A.S.T. Auto Ford Mustang at Road America in the SGT class after switching to his GT-1 Corvette at Brainerd following mechanical issues at Brainerd. Aaron Pierce will play Ironman this weekend, pulling double-duty racing in both the SGT race (No. 26 LogicalSystems/SamPierceChevy Chevrolet Corvette) and the TA2 100-mile feature (No. 2 Sam Pierce Chevrolet Chevrolet Camaro).

In the GT class, Tim Horrell (No. 45 Breathless Racing Porsche GT4 Clubsport) will round out the 22-car filed for the TA/XGT/SGT/GT race.

While a relative newcomer to Trans Am, the restrictions forced upon the world during the pandemic provided Tyler Kicera an opportunity to make a name for himself in the Trans Am by Pirelli Esports Championship. Earning five wins and a runner-up finish in the championship, Kicera was in the conversation every week, taking part in a number of dramatic finishes all the way to the final event.

Kicera’s Esports success caught the eye of sponsors, now the Esports standout is eyeing a real-world return to the series behind the wheel of the No. 4 Carbotech Brakes Ford Mustang at Road America.

“To say I’m excited to get behind the wheel again is a huge understatement,” Kicera said. “All of my earlier 2020 racing plans have been postponed or canceled. I suffered a pretty bad right ankle fracture about 10 months ago and haven’t been in a race car since, so I’ve had to wait a long time. I need to be realistic about what to expect, but I’m optimistic that if I can keep my nose clean and survive to the end, we can earn a solid finish.”

Kicera’s small family team, consisting of his father (Vic Kicera), grandfather (Bob Filmore) and best friend (Dan Spangler) have some testing planned in the interim and are eager to make the trip from their home base in eastern Pennsylvania to legendary track in Elkhart Lake.

The weekend ends with the TA/XGT/SGT/GT 100-mile feature starting at 8:00 a.m. Central, followed by TA2 powered by AEM Muscle Car Challenge starting at 2:15 p.m. Central.

For live timing and scoring, event photos and post-race recap videos visit GoTransAm.com. For live race updates follow @GoTransAm on Twitter.

• 2020 Road America Schedule v6
• 2020 Road America Entry List

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