The 1987 season saw a continuation of Lincoln-Mercury's mastery as Roush's Merkurs won 11 of the 12 races to capture a fourth-straight manufacturers' title with Pruett, who won seven races and his first Trans Am title. The Group 44 all-wheel-drive Audi Quattros rolled on to center stage in 1988 as Hurley Haywood, Hans Stuck and Walter Roehrl combined for eight victories and 19 top-five finishes. Lincoln-Mercury driver Scott Pruett won two races that year. Paul Gentilozzi won his first Trans Am Series race, and earned Oldsmobile its first Series victory.

American Muscle

The Trans Am Series returned to its roots in 1989, as American carmakers Ford, Oldsmobile and Chevrolet squared off. Ford capped a 25th anniversary celebration for the Mustang by scoring its first Manufacturers' Championship since 1970. Ford lead driver Dorsey Schroeder entered the season as a rookie, but by the end of the year, he was definitely a veteran as he owned six victories and the championship and was named Rookie of the Year. In 1990, the Trans Am Series celebrated its 25th anniversary. Chevrolet won eight races en route to its first title in seven years. Tommy Kendall collected six victories and the drivers' title. Oldsmobile started the season strong, earning victories in four of the first five outings, but finished the year second in the championship while Ford dropped to third.

In 1991, the Camaro contingent continued its dominance as Scott Sharp and Jack Baldwin scored seven victories en route to claiming the top-two places in the championship.

In 1992, Baldwin beat teammate Sharp for the championship, although it came down to the final turn of the final race of the season. Dodge made its return to the Trans Am Series that year, making for a true battle of the big three. Chevrolet and Sharp again dominated the 1993 campaign, but not without a strong fight from Ford and arch rival Ron Fellows. Fellows won three of the first five races, but Sharp then took over, earning Buz McCall's American Equipment Racing team its third-straight title. For Sharp, it was his second crown in three years, earned on the merit of six victories and nine poles.

The 1994 storyline was dominated by five former champions and a host of hungry challengers. The result was 30 track records, including five races decided by less than one second. In the end, Pruett claimed his second title in a Camaro with three victories.

The spectacular performances continued in 1995, a year without a single flag-to-flag winner, thanks in part to the introduction of an inverted "Fast Five" qualifying grid. Kendall's single victory, at the next-to-last race of the season at Road Atlanta, proved to be enough as his consistent performances earned him his second championship. Fellows, switching from a Ford Mustang to a Chevrolet Camaro for 1995, fought his way to a career-high five victories, but came up short of Kendall, earning his third-straight runner-up spot.

Five different drivers won the first five races of 1996, tying the all-time record for "season-opening" races without a repeat winner-a mark that had stood for 23 years. The season's opening rounds also produced some serious competition as eight drivers-Boris Said, Fellows, Kendall, Gentilozzi, Tony Ave, Schroeder, Jamie Galles and Sharp-led the field in the first four races, combining for 18 lead changes-just one less than the 19 total lead changes in 1995. Kendall went on win his third title in a Ford Mustang.

Kendall Dominates

The 1997 season will be remembered as the year Kendall awoke to find all of his dreams had come true. Scoring 11 consecutive victories en route to his then record fourth and third-straight championship. Kendall's remarkable winning streak set records in the Trans Am Series, SCCA Pro Racing and "major series" road racing worldwide.

Building on the exposure and momentum created in 1997, the Trans Am Series entered 1998 with BFGoodrich Tires as the series' spec radial racing tire supplier. Also new to the Trans Am Series in 1998 was the fifth-generation Chevrolet Corvette driven by Paul Gentilozzi. Gentilozzi won seven races and set seven records en route to his first Trans Am Series title-the first Drivers' Championship earned in a Corvette since Eppie Wietzes did it in 1981.

In 1999, Gentilozzi switched alliances to Ford, but it didn’t slow him down, as he captured his second consecutive title in a Mustang, with Brian Simo finishing second.

The year 2000 saw the Trans Am Series usher in new manufacturer eligibility, multi-valve engines, fuel injection and spec rear wings. It marked the return of Jaguar, brought to the party by Gentilozzi’s Rocketsports team. The title was captured by Simo in his Qvale Mangusta on the strength of three wins and seven top-five finishes, with Gentilozzi finishing in second.

The Jaguar Years

Jaguar and Rocketsports dominated three of the next four seasons, taking three manufacturers’ and drivers’ championships.

In 2001, Gentilozzi won his third Trans Am Series championship in four years and led Jaguar to its first manufacturers' title since 1978. Gentilozzi won four races that year, including three straight early in the season.

Boris Said powered his Panoz Esperante to eight wins in 2002 to earn his first Trans Am Series championship, as Jaguar used the season to develop a multi-valve engine program that would prove to be nearly unbeatable the next year.

The Rocketsport Jaguars returned with a vengeance in 2003 as Scott Pruett won eight of 10 races en route to his third title. In 2004, the stage was set for a Rocketsports showdown featuring four-time champ Kendall and three-time titlist Gentilozzi. Both drivers entered the season in hot pursuit of Donohue’s record for most wins (29) with Kendall leading the charge with 26 wins, but followed closely by Gentilozzi at 24 wins.

The year belonged to Gentilozzi, who gained his fourth title on the strength of five wins in eight starts. His final victory of the season came in Denver to tie Donohue at 29 career wins.

The 2005 season was one of the most competitive in years. A scant 19 points separated the top four drivers with just two races to go, as Derhaag/Corvette ace Randy Ruhlman, thanks in large part to a win at Cleveland, led the points chase by a single point. German Klaus Graf, driving a Rocketsports Jaguar, finished out of the top 10 in three of the first four races but turned things around in a big way with the season headed for the home stretch. He won the final three races (Denver, Road America and Montreal) to secure his first drivers’ title and Jaguar’s third straight manufacturers’ title.

Gentilozzi, ran a limited schedule in 2005, but remained a factor when he entered. He won in the streets of Toronto to become the all-time leader in career wins with 30. The other feat of note was Greg Pickett winning in Edmonton, to become the first driver to win in four different decades.

Significant news was made off track, as SCCA Pro Racing assumed series’ ownership and management. Just two races were held in 2006, and both were run at Ray Irwin’s Heartland Park Topeka. The field was mostly GT-1 club racers, but it did include several Trans Am “regulars”, including Gentilozzi. Gentilozzi earned his 31st career win and added a second in the other race, which propelled him to his fifth title.

Trans Am Series was shuttered by SCCA Pro Racing following the 2006 season. At the time, it marked the end of the road, despite an impressive run of 41 years of continuous operation. ? ?The Trans Am was brought back to life for the 2009 season, with the technical and sporting regulations based on GT-1 club rules. Veteran Tomy Drissi won the Portland race and took the Drivers’ title while Tony Ave was the series’ runner up while former Champion Graf made the most of his two appearances – winning two of two (VIR and Mosport).

Ave turned in monster performances in 2010 and 2011, taking six wins each season to win back to back titles.

Also in 2011, Amy Ruman became the first woman in series history to win a race, accomplishing the feat in the season finale at Road Atlanta.