Road America 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w0hqSNk6cI

 

Esports is a video game

Trans Am breathes new life into Bridgehampton Race Circuit via Esports

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emailBy Trans Am | June 11, 2020 10:17 AM

The Trans Am by Pirelli Esports Championship will resurrect another retired circuit on Saturday, June 13 (3:00 p.m. Eastern). For the first time since 1970, Trans Am will return to Bridgehampton Race Circuit for its penultimate Esports video game championship round.

While the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli only raced three times at the Bridgehampton Race Circuit, the 2.85-mile Long Island layout was a key stop during the Golden Years of the championship. View the circuit guide video:



Trans Am first raced at Bridgehampton in 1968, won from the pole by Mark Donohue in a Roger Penske Chevrolet Camaro. Peter Revson challenged Donohue in an AMC Javelin until the 63rd lap of the three-hour race, when his gearbox failed. George Follmer went on to finish second in the other Javelin, 1.27-seconds back, followed by Sam Posey in the second Penske Camaro.

For 1969, Bud Moore’s Ford Mustangs dominated the event. Parnelli Jones won the pole and was joined by teammate George Follmer on the front row. Donohue, meanwhile, started last after switching to a different Camaro. The Penske driver quickly worked his way through the pack, and by lap 20 was challenging the two Mustangs. Jones dropped out with seven laps remaining due to a wiring fire. Follmer went on to beat Donohue by 1.26 seconds, followed by Jerry Titus in a Pontiac Firebird.

Roger Penske said the Trans Am moment he remembers most vividly was winning at Bridgehampton in 1970 — the first win for the Javelin driven by Mark Donohue that the team developed by themselves. AMC had threatened to pull Penske’s contract before the race.

Donohue dominated the event, beating the Ford Mustangs of George Follmer and Parnelli Jones. Camaros took the next three positions, driven by Jim Hall, Mo Carter and Peter Schwartzott.

Racing in a driving rain, Donohue was challenged by Jones and Swede Savage in a Plymouth Barracuda. Savage turned the fastest lap of the event, but went out after 54 of the 70 laps with differential issues. Jones then encountered difficulties, enabling Donohue to cruise to a two-lap victory, averaging 90.55 mph. He went on to capture two additional victories, although Ford took the all-important manufacturer championship.

Saturday’s race resurrects the memory of one of the most challenging circuits in American motorsports history. The community of Bridgehampton hosted races on village streets from 1949-1953. Several incidents- coupled with a spectator facility in Watkins Glen- brought street racing to a close in 1953. The permanent circuit was built in 1957, hosting international sports car races, the USRRC and Can-Am. Heavy storms damaged the circuit in 1970. That, along with noise ordinances, ended professional racing at the circuit, although club races continued until 1998 before the circuit was turned into a golf club and housing development.

 

Trans Am retrospective: Donohue dominates north of the border

Image via Trans Am
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emailBy J.J. O'Malley | 7 hours ago

Canada’s Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant was a regular mid-summer stop for the Trans Am Presented by Pirelli during the series’ Golden Years. The opening four races at the Mont-Tremblant resort near St. Jovite, Quebec, annually showcased the talents of Roger Penske’s Mark Donohue, who tamed the 2.65-mile course on July 21, 1968, before opening the month of August with victories in three successive years.

Donohue lapped the entire field during his first visit, his navy blue No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro (photo above) pulling away from the AMC Javelin of George Follmer.

A yer later, on August 3, 1969, Ford entered the three-hour race with a six-point lead in the all-important manufacturer championship. However, the race turned into a disaster for the Bud Moore Ford Mustangs.

Follmer won the pole with a lap of 1:45 in a factory Mustang, but the team’s hopes were hurt when Parnelli Jones parked his Mustang after nine laps.

Up front, Follmer and Donohue were running nose-to-tail. Suddenly, on the 14th lap, the Ford’s engine let go. Follmer spun in his oil and slammed into the guardrail, just past a blind corner. He bounced back into traffic, triggering a melee that eliminated 14 cars, including teammates Peter Revson and Horst Kwech. The incident brought out the first red flag in Trans Am history.

Donohue went on to win, finishing 85 seconds ahead of Jerry Titus (Pontiac Firebird), Ed Leslie (Camaro) and Lothar Motschenbacher (Javelin). Peter Gregg won his class with an eighth-place finish in a Porsche 911. Chevrolet regained its championship momentum, going on to capture its second-straight title.

In 1970, Parnelli Jones came to St. Jovite with the hot hand for the Aug. 2 event, having notched three victories in his Bud Moore Mustang. At mid-season, Donohue had only two wins in his Penske Javelin, including the most recent event at Road America, which allowed American Motors to close in on Ford in the manufacturer championship.

Ford entered a third Bud Moore Mustang for St. Jovite, for three-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt. That car, however, handled like a “yellow school bus” and Jones sidelined it when he crashed in practice trying to help set it up.

Nevertheless, Jones won the pole in his regular Mustang, and was joined by Donohue on the front row. The field also including Vic Elford, replacing Jim Hall in the factory Chevrolet Chaparral Camaro.

Jones and teammate George Follmer took turns leading early in the 70-lap race before Donohue caught them both, passed both and went on to win by one minute over Follmer, with Jones finihing third, one lap down. Sam Posey placed fourth in a Dodge Challenger, followed by Peter Revson in the second Penske Javelin.

Aug. 1, 1971, saw Donohue win the Player’s Quebec Trans Am, his fifth victory in seven starts that season. Donohue’s Javelin beat the Bud Moore Mustang of George Follmer by 63 seconds, with Peter Gregg third in the second factory Mustang. Peter Revson took fourth in the ARA Javelin, one lap down, followed by the Mustangs of Warren Tope and Jerry Thompson.

Trans Am made only two additional trips to the picturesque circuit, in 1977 (won by Peter Gregg in a Porsche) and 1978 (Monte Sheldon, also in a Porsche). Bob Tullius (Jaguar XJ-S) took Category I top honors in both events.

St. Jovite, Trans Am

 

Trans Am has a 50-year history at Road America

Images via Trans Am
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emailBy Trans Am | 7 hours ago

The race at Road America has been a fixture of the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli since 1970. This weekend, August 6-8, the series will return for its 49th appearance, adding to its storied central-Wisconsin history.

The list of Road America Trans Am winners is a Who’s Who of American racing, from Mark Donohue and Peter Gregg to Tommy Kendall and Dorsey Schroeder; from Paul Gentilozzi and Scott Pruett all the way to Ernie Francis Jr. and Rafa Matos.

More Trans Am!

Trans Am retrospective: Donohue dominates north of the border

Pickett reaches Trans Am milestone with Thunderhill West Coast win

Qualifying records fall as Gregg grabs Thunderhill Trans Am West pole

The Trans Am series, which debuted in 1966, first visited the four-mile Road America track during its classic 1970 campaign, Donohue notching the first of back-to-back triumphs in Roger Penske’s red, white and blue AMC Javelin.

John Greenwood was the 1973 winner in one of his famed Corvettes, while the following year, Gregg took his first of three Road America victories, in 1974, ’77 and ’79, all in different Brumos Racing Porsches.

In 1977, the series held two feature races, Ludwig Heimrath winning the Saturday event in a Porsche 934.

Another Road America winner from the 70’s, Greg Pickett, won at the Wisconsin circuit — the third of his four victories — on his way to the 1978 title driving a Corvette.

Pickett had made his Trans Am debut at Elkhart Lake three years earlier in 1975, finishing fifth. Last weekend, won the Trans Am West Coast season opener at Thunderhill, extending a remarkable streak: He has won races in six different decades. (Pickett’ last full season in the Trans Am national series was 2005, when he won the pole and finished third at Road America in his Cytomax Jaguar XKR.)

Moving on to the 1980s, David Hobbs won the ’83 event in a Camaro before Jack Roush took over, his team fielding five consecutive Road America winners beginning with Willy T. Ribbs in ’85; Pete Halsmer in ’86 and ’87; Scott Pruett in ’88; and Dorsey Schroeder in ’89.

Tommy Kendall ended Roush’s reign by winning with a Chevrolet Beretta in 1990, but the tall Californian put Roush back on top in ’96 and ’97, scoring back-to-back race wins in a Ford Mustang.

Schroeder returned to victory circle in a Tom Gloy Mustang in ’94, with Buz McCall Camaro driver Scott Sharp winning in ’91 and ’93. Also winning in Gloy Mustangs were Ron Fellows (’92) and Boris Said (’95).

“Road America was my favorite track, because it was the closest to where I grew up in St. Louis,” Schroeder said. “It was a four-mile track, and coming from a background in Formula Atlantic, H Production and Sports Renault, I’ll never forget the speed the Trans Am car carried down the straightaways, the kink and the carrousel. To be able to win against those guys my first time around was fantastic – one of my career highlights, for sure. My second win was memorable, too, because it was raining. I was following my teammate, Ronnie Fellows, in Canada Corner, and he had just taken the lead from me when he locked up his brakes and spun into the gravel! I had (just) enough distance to miss him and avoid spinning, and I went on to win the race.”

The end of the 1990s saw the emergence of Paul Gentilozzi’s Rocketsports as the dominant team at Road America, the team owner winning in ’99 in a Mustang and in 2000 in a Jaguar. Gentilozzi also fielded winning Jaguar XKRs for Pruett (’03), Kendall (’04) and Klaus Graf (’05). Another second-time winner was Said, who triumphed in ’02 in a Panoz Esperante.

Graf’s victory marked the Trans Am’s last appearance for four years, ending 36 consecutive years at Road America. But the relaunched series returned in 2009, with Cliff Ebben winning that year, 2011 and 2016, all in Mustangs. Tony Ave won in ’10 and ’12 and Doug Peterson in ’13 and ’14, both me driving Corvettes.
Ernie Francis Jr. has four Trans Am victories at Road America.

The Francis Jr. era began in 2014, with the young Floridan winning his first of back-to-back TA3 Am victories. Francis took the Breathless Mustang to victory in TA4 in ’16, and then to the TA class the following year, winning overall in ’17 and ’19. Said won his third race over three decades in ’18 in a Dodge Challenger.

TA2 debuted in 2011 as a separate class on the four-mile circuit, with Scott Tucker winning in a Porsche 997. Cameron Lawrence won the class in ’13 and ’14, with Ave adding another victory in ’15. For ’16, Tony Buffomante won the first stand-along TA2, with other winners Sheldon Creed (’17), Ty Majeski (’1 and Matos (’19).

Schroeder remains active with the series, serving now as Race Director, and shed some light on what it takes to win at Elkhart Lake:

“Probably the biggest secret to racing at Road America is (setting up) the car good enough so that you will still have something to race at the finish,” Schroeder said. “You run the car really hard there; you lean on the tires and brakes really hard. You have to leave enough for the end to do combat.

“Trans Am races often get down to a caution with a few laps to go,” Schroeder added, “and you better have a lot left, because you’re going to work hard during those final laps.”

Trans Am will make a huge return in 2020, with 51 cars entered among the five classes — TA, TA2, Xtreme GT, SuperGT and GT. On the schedule: Thursday, August 6, is a test day. Friday, Aug. 7, kicks off with a pair of practice sessions in the morning, followed by split back-to-back qualifying sessions in the afternoon.

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

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

Road America, Trans Am

 

Trans Am: The more things change

Images Dave Friedman Collection / Benson Ford Research
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emailBy Steve Nickless | 14 hours ago

Just six laps into the 79-lap 1970 Riverside Raceway SCCA Pro Racing Trans Am battle, Indianapolis 500 winner and many-time USAC champion Parnelli Jones’ bright orange Ford Mustang was caught up in someone else’s accident, off the track in Turn 9, suffering bodywork and spoiler damage, clawing for traction.

Jones skidded back on the racing surface and was quickly up to speed once more, by then well behind then-race-leading teammate George Follmer but beginning one of the most memorable come-back drives in the storied history of the SCCA Trans American Championship.

After the race, Jones would joke about the worsening vibration, about using the curbing to turn the car; but his rivals on the day – on the season – could only hang their heads. Jones’ Bud Moore-built No. 15 Mustang had caught and passed Follmer’s No. 16 with eight laps remaining in the Oct. 4, 1970, Riverside Trans Am, clattering on to claim its second consecutive victory, fifth on the season, further solidifying Ford’s lock on the manufacturer’s championship.

Nearly 50 years later, one established veteran and one young driver whose skill might someday carry him to Parnelli Jones heights – Ed Sevadjian and Tyler Kicera, respectively – split a pair of victories on the same Southern California circuit, triggering a flood of memories in those lucky enough to have witnessed both events.



Much beloved Riverside Raceway, of course, gave its concrete and asphalt life for a shopping center back in 1989. But, almost magically, the fast nine-turn circuit has been resurrected in virtual form to, on May 30, 2020, once again host a pair of Trans Am races – Esports style, that is.

While Riverside is long gone and Jones long-retired, the now-named Trans Am Presented by Pirelli series is very much alive. The much-anticipated 2020 season had to be significantly reconfigured due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but today’s drivers are back on track, having already picked up the in-person action at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on June 26-28 and Brainerd International Raceway on July 10-12. The next stop is Road America on Aug. 6-8, all of this picking up where Trans Am left off at Sebring back in February, in those heady pre-pandemic times.

For many of the current drivers – and certainly for the fans – there was a seven-round Esports Trans Am series to keep the fires of enthusiasm well stoked. Much like the pivotal 1970 season, the Esports version was intense from start to finish, featuring most of the modern-day series stars and headlined by a fierce championship duel between Kicera and Josh Hurley that carried right to the finale.
Ed Sevadjian led flag to flag in Race 1 on the virtual Riverside Raceway, resurrecting a now-defunct circuit for a most-popular stop in the 2020 Trans Am Esports series.

In the virtual Riverside race, Sevadjian’s Esports win from the pole (which he’d claimed by an astounding 0.001sec) was lights to flag. Kicera’s win in the 20-minute-long Race 2, though, brought with it memories of Jones in that infamous 1970 run: Starting fifth on the grid, Kicera picked off one driver after another in the short race, taking over the lead with just minutes remaining to close the points gap on season-long rival Josh Hurley.

The full replay can be found at Trans Am’s YouTube channel, and it’s genuinely worth your time.

Running to the history books

As important as the Esports series was, filling the three-month gap between real-world events, sim races at long-lost Riverside and Bridgehampton – two of the most challenging road courses in North America – sent many scrambling to YouTube and a variety of history books for fresh perspective on one of the most heralded racing seasons ever: 1970 Trans Am.
Sand-swept Bridgehampton Trans Am 1970: Barracuda (Swede Savage), Mustang, Javelin, Camaro, Challenger …

The 1970 season is a cornerstone of Trans Am lore as the only one in racing history to feature all four (then) major U.S. automakers: Ford, General Motors, American Motors, and Chrysler. Fronting for those automakers were a half-dozen powerhouse teams and many of America’s most skilled drivers, among them Jones, Follmer, Mark Donohue, Peter Revson, Jim Hall, Dan Gurney, Swede Savage, and Sam Posey, plus lesser well-known but supremely talented Tony Adamowicz, Ed Leslie, Milt Minter, and others.

Sadly, one great driver left off that list at season end was 1967 Trans Am champion, ex-Shelby pilot and Titus/Godsall Racing principal Jerry Titus, tragically killed in July at Road America.

This was only the fifth season of SCCA’s sedan series which had been launched in 1966, perfectly timed to catch the ascendancy of the “pony car” – Ford’s Mustang and the herd that followed: Chevrolet Camaro, Pontiac Firebird, AMC Javelin, Dodge Challenger, and Plymouth Barracuda.
1 2 3Bridgehampton, Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Mustang, Mark Donohue, Parnelli Jones, Riverside, Esports, SCCA / SportsCar Magazine, Trans Am

 

Trans Am: The more things change

Images Dave Friedman Collection / Benson Ford Research
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emailBy Steve Nickless | 14 hours ago

For the 1970 season, the factory efforts had all been parceled out to powerhouse teams, Ford continuing with South Carolina-based NASCAR team owner Walter “Bud” Moore; Chevrolet’s back-door factory effort with Texan Jim Hall; Pontiac through the Canadian-funded Titus/Godsall Racing; Plymouth jumping in with the great SoCal All American Racers; and Dodge via the Marblehead, Mass.-based constructor Autodynamics (with chassis’ built by AAR).

The shocker over the winter was Team Penske parking its all-conquering ’69 Camaros in favor of a lucrative deal to run American Motors’ Javelin, introduced to the series the year before by Ron Kaplan.
Team Penske scored the lucrative American Motors deal for 1970, but it was several races into the season before the Javelins could truly compete with the fleet Bud Moore Mustangs.

Not unexpectedly, Penske struggled at the start of the season with its new cars, the well-dialed-in Bud Moore Mustangs dominating the first four events at Laguna Seca, Lime Rock, Bryar, and Mid-Ohio.

At Bridgehampton in June, though, it all came right for Penske’s brilliant Mark Donohue who gave the Javelin its first win. The quiet New Jersey-born driver then won again at Road America and Mt. Tremblant, a three-win streak interrupted by Milt Minter’s surprise victory (in an ex-Penske Roy Woods Racing Camaro) in an incident-plagued, appropriately named, Donnybrooke (aka Brainerd).

Englishman Vic Elford notched a win at Watkins Glen, the Jim Hall Camaros well suited to the upstate New York GP circuit’s long straights. But the tide swung back to the Mustangs as the 11-race season wound down, Jones winning handily in Kent, Wash., and charging spectacularly back to front in the October Riverside finale.

Donohue’s red, white and blue Penske Javelin finished third at Riverside. It was both appropriate and touching that Mark’s son David was invited to participate in the 2020 Esports race. An accomplished GT racer himself, David Donohue never got to lap the real Riverside, and while the 3.3-mile virtual version was different from the 2.54-mile layout used in the 1960s and ’70s, his appearance was heartwarming – and somewhat successful. Handicapped by a cast on one wrist and despite no previous experience at the track or in the series, he finished just outside the top 10 in the Trans Am Esports Race 1 at the circuit.

Back to 1970, though, faced with a down economy and a looming energy crisis, the factories, one by one, withdrew from the Trans Am. In response, SCCA rules makers changed the look of the series through the decade with Porsche 934 turbos battling for top honors in the premier class and Group 44 Jaguars and Triumphs plus several independent Porsches and Corvettes starring in the supporting Category I.

On into the 1980s and ’90s as tubeframe racecars overtook the production-based machinery, the “pony cars” (Camaros and Mustangs) returned. Intensity remained, a hallmark as a host of new names emerged, young drivers with bright futures seizing the Trans Am limelight: Wally Dallenbach Jr., Scott Pruett, Tommy Kendall, Willy T. Ribbs, Scott Sharp, Paul Gentilozzi, Boris Said, and many others.

21st Century Renaissance

The early years of the 21st century were rebuilding years, as the Trans Am faced formidable GT-racing competition from all sides. Fresh enthusiasm from new owners The Trans Am Race Company (assuming management of the series from SCCA) and its principals Tony Parella and series veteran John Clagett turned the tide. With support plus sponsorship from tire maker Pirelli, which debuted in 2017, and several seasons of steady growth behind it, the Trans Am renaissance – along with the exciting and affordable muscle car laden TA2 class – was in full swing rolling into 2020. Another spectacular 12-race schedule on most of North America’s premier circuits had been announced, the combination of rules stability and newly added XGT class backstopping a record number of entries at the start of a new decade – and then COVID-19.

The first few weeks of March were fraught, indeed, with all the major sanctioning bodies forced to cancel spring races and Trans Am was no exception.

To the rescue? A virtual Trans Am series. After a preliminary event at Lime Rock set up in record time (read more about that in the June issue of SportsCar), a larger platform was found which had digital machinery most closely approaching Trans Am spec cars. A seven-weekend, 14-race April to June Esports series on the Assetto Corsa Ultimate Edition gaming platform was the result, launched to much acclaim at a virtual Laguna Seca on April 18.

Class of the field in the opening rounds were the two drivers who would take the points battle to the finale: Josh Hurley, who’s had an enduring career in a wide variety of machinery, from karts to Formula Atlantic as well as sports and GT cars; and Tyler Kicera, who rose up through the Spec Miata ranks. In the virtual series, Hurley ultimately got the better of Kicera to take the Trans Am Eports title by the narrowest of margins – and cling to the hope the real world would notice and put him into a real-world TA machine.

Through the spring, though, others impressed, including race winners Dylan Archer, Ed Sevadjian, and former “real world” Trans Am champions Cameron Lawrence and Ernie Francis Jr., while Thomas Merrill, J.P. Southern, Hunter Pickett (grandson of series great Greg) also earned podium spots. And the West Coast Trans Am series was well represented in the points courtesy Nick Rosseno, Cameron Parsons, and Carl Rydquist.

Sim racing filled the spring gap, but there was no hiding the fact the Trans Am world was anxious to get back on track. In late May, Trans Am released its extensively revised 10-race schedule, the action resuming during the June 26-28 weekend at Mid-Ohio, which it shared with the SCCA Pro Racing F4 U.S. Championship and FR Americas series.

 

Trans Am: The more things change

Images Dave Friedman Collection / Benson Ford Research
emailBy Steve Nickless | 15 hours ago

Full Support

The entry list for the Mid-Ohio race showed that most of the expected regulars and all of the front runners made it through the lockdown, preparing to pick up where they left off at the beginning of the year. At the top of the order, defending and six-time champion Ernie Francis Jr., one of America’s brightest young stars, has returned with a new sponsor to resume his battle with accomplished former prototype racer Chris Dyson for TA-class top honors, both in Ford Mustangs.
Francis Jr. (right) is one of the bright young starts of the 21st-century Trans Am. Image by Chris Clark.

Nipping at their heels in the Trans Am’s premier class was be a quintet of former champions, Tony Ave, Amy Ruman (in Corvettes), Tomy Drissi, Simon Gregg (son of perennial champion Peter Gregg), and Doug Peterson (in Chevrolet Camaros).

While the focus over the years, generally, has been on the premier class, the Trans Am has featured a multi-class format from the beginning. The original Over- and Under-2-Liter (the latter becoming the 2.5 Challenge in 1971) morphed steadily through to a streamlined 2020 featuring five classes: big-bore TA; populous and hard-fought TA2; and XGT, SGT, and GT for the huge variety of production-based GT3, GT4, and other exotica and select SCCA Club Racing muscle.

The GT classes, attracting entries from SCCA Club Racing and others whose FIA GT3 cars have lost their homologation, have enjoyed steady growth, largely at races in the Midwest. Then there is TA2: Introduced in 2011, the TA2 Powered by AEM Championship has all but taken over from the more exotic TA and GT machinery as a crowd favorite, with more than 20 and often 30-plus TA2 cars enjoying separate races on all Trans Am weekends. Being largely spec, many have likened this class to Spec Miata, but with crazy horsepower.
The crowd-pleasing Under 2-Liter (later Under 2.5-Liter) Trans Am class so popular in the 1970s and ’80s is back via the current trio of GT classes. Image by Chris Clark.

With tube-frame chassis from a quartet of American manufacturers; rigidly controlled shock absorber, brake, and other components, approved engines, and Camaro, Mustang, or Challenger bodywork that very much resembles the real thing, TA2 is fast becoming one of the most popular ways for its drivers to enjoy big horsepower on America’s best tracks.

The new young racing in the TA2 class has been spectacular – so good, in fact, that this year its rules were adopted by an Australian race organizer, with the Australian Trans Am series set for a summer debut.

As it was in the glorious 1970 season, it’s impossible to predict a 2020 TA2 champion: Defending champion Marc Miller is not returning to defend his title this summer, and Sebring race winner Mike Skeen was not on most pundits’ pre-season list of predicted winners (though with a strong Stevens/Miller Camaro and impressive race history, he should have been), leaving the door wide open for the likes of former champions Rafa Matos, Cameron Lawrence, Doug Peterson and (West Coast) Thomas Merrill; experienced Misha Goikhberg and Scott Lagasse; and young up-and-comers Lawless Alan, J.P. Southern Jr., and, frankly, many others.
Mike Skeen has emerged the 2020 season TA2 frontrunner, but he’s closely pursued in the points race by a horde of talented drivers in the series’ most populous class. Image by Chris Clark.

In recent years, TA2 has become popular with the young stars of NASCAR looking to gain road-racing experience (although packed racing schedules in post-COVID summer and fall may preclude many free weekends this season).

The tone was clearly defined in the Trans Am’s early years – door-handle-to-door-handle racing start to finish in hour-long races on North America’s best racetracks featuring fan-recognizable machinery hustled along by supremely talented drivers – and it continues to this day. Across the decades, the influence of drivers like Parnelli and George and Mark and Dan is still felt, heard in the echoes of rumbling Trans Am V8s.

This story originally appeared in the August 2020 issue of SportsCar magazine, the official publication of the Sports Car Club of America. A print and digital subscription is just one of the many benefits of SCCA membership.

SIDEBAR Meet Tony Parella

Tony Parella’s motorsports journey began innocently enough as a 15-year old, wheeling dirt-track cars in Upstate New York. As time progressed, Parella’s involvement in the sport also changed, with him ultimately purchasing the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) in 2012. A quite unique professional racing opportunity arose soon thereafter, and now in 2020, Parella continues to expand his offering through SCCA Pro Racing’s duo of formula car series.
Tony Parella (behind the wheel) has blended vibrant SVRA vintage series, historic Trans Am and, most recently, FR Americas and F4 into a potent and entertaining weekend recipe. Image via SVRA.

“In 2013, I received a call from John Clagett, the president of the Trans Am Race Company [TARC, which operates the SCCA Pro Racing Trans Am Series], and he said Trans Am would like to race at SVRA’s Sebring weekend,” Parella explains of the conversation that eventually led to him becoming the majority owner of TARC.

That SVRA-Trans Am weekend showed tremendous promise, although Parella admits several SVRA members pushed back. “Some of the vintage racers asked how we could let professional racers into the weekend,” he says, “but now there have been an insane number of SVRA members who have crossed over to Trans Am’s TA2 because it’s very affordable professional racing. Children and grandchildren of some of the SVRA racers are now competing in TA2.”

The partnership between Parella, SVRA, SCCA Pro Racing, and TARC worked so well that when the opportunity arose for Parella to take control of the SCCA Pro Racing F4 U.S. Championship and FR Americas Championship series, both powered by Honda, the fit was natural.

“Adding F4 and FR Americas to the fold will enable us to take Trans Am, F4, and FR Americas, and not only run them with SVRA weekends, but also break off and do professional racing weekends on their own,” Parella explains of his plans to manage the two spec open-wheel series that SCCA Pro Racing has launched over the last four years, plus Trans Am, all with SCCA Pro Racing sanctioning.

It doesn’t stop there. Trans Am released a mobile app earlier this year that showcased the series and allowed fans to stream races, and Parella’s intent is to expand this into F4, FR Americas, and even SVRA races. “Having F4 and FR Americas under the umbrella allows me to leverage the apps that we developed and the streaming packages we built,” he says, adding that despite the Trans Am app being announced barely one day prior to Trans Am’s 2020 opening round at Sebring, it drew some 500,000 views spanning 41 countries.

“We’ve had such a successful partnership with Trans Am that it gave us a great template to work with for F4 and FR Americas,” Parella concludes. “Trans Am is doing tremendous, and I think SCCA Pro Racing is happy about that. This next chapter will also have a great outcome.” – Philip Royle

 

Skeen declared winner of red-flagged TA2 feature at Road America

Images by Chris Clark
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emailBy Trans Am | August 8, 2020 7:14 PM

Mike Skeen emerged the winner of a dramatic TA2 Powered by AEM Trans Am race Saturday afternoon at Road America. The North Carolina native claimed his third victory of the 2020 season following a multi-car incident in the high-speed kink that red-flagged the event with 16 minutes still on the clock. With at least 20 minutes of cleanup required, the race was halted.

Despite having lost the position on the unscored final lap, Skeen — one of several drivers involved in the Lap 14 pileup — led all 13 scored laps in the No. 77 Liqui Moly Chevrolet Camaro, and extended his lead in the season championship after four races. Sam Mayer finished second, with Rafa Matos netting the final podium position in a race that was slowed by multiple incidents on the fan-favorite Wisconsin track.

“We had good battles early on, and the Stevens-Miller Racing Liqui Moly Chevrolet Camaro was just great, said Skeen. ”We had to fend off (several) challenges with the restarts — more than we wanted, for sure. When we had longer runs, the car was running away from them. It’s a shame that it’s all torn up now, but we will rebuild and come back again.”

More Trans Am!

Dyson gets redemption with Trans Am win at Road America

Dyson takes second consecutive Trans Am pole at Road America

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

Local-favorite Mayer started fifth and drove to a second place result despite also being part of the Lap 14 multi-car collision in which his No. 96 M1 Racecars Camaro suffered extensive damage. The runner-up finish is the second in as many TA2 outings for Mayer, having done the same at Daytona International Speedway in 2019.


“I am feeling OK; I am just a little emotional after that race,” said Mayer. “I am disappointed in how that race ended. The race was a lot of fun. I am happy that I was able to come out OK (and) happy to be here and race with these guys. Hopefully we can come back soon if our schedule permits — come back for the win.”

Rafa Matos wound up third in the No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Camaro, his third podium of the season. Late for the grid, Matos took the green flag from the back of the field. Up to third on a restart at the start of Lap 14, Matos took second in Turn 1 and got past Skeen later on the lap.

However, with numerous cars crashing in the kink to bring out the red flag, the race was brought to an immediate stop. Scoring reverting to the last completed lap by the field per Trans Am racing regulations.

Tyler Kicera, a star of the Trans Am by Pirelli Esports Championship, took fourth in the No. 4 Carbotech Brakes Ford Mustang in his season debut, while Brad McAllister won the Cool Shirt Cool Move of the Race Award after placing fifth in the No. 24 Portland Implant Dentistry.com Mustang, the reigning TA2 West Coast champion making his 2020 National Trans Am series debut.



Rain and lightning earlier in the day resulted in a more-than-two-hour delay for the race, and the opening laps set the tone for the contest: Pole-sitter Cameron Lawrence was involved in an incident following the green flag and the No. 8 3-Dimensional Services Camaro failed to complete a lap, while Thomas Merrill pitted early in the No. 81 Diehl-Merrill Racing/HP Tuners Ford Mustang and returned to racing only to be involved in the last-lap incident in the kink.

The race went to caution on both the fifth and 12th laps for separate incidents before the Lap 13 restart, which became the final result-scoring lap.

Bob Lima was the Masters winner, placing 12th in the No. 63 Lima Company Camaro.

RESULTS

The next scheduled race for the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli is at the Watkins Glen International on September 11-13.

 

AMC Javelin

The AMC Javelin is an American front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-door hardtop manufactured and marketed by AMC across two generations, 1968–70 and 1971–74. One of the biggest surprises of the 1970 motorsports season was the announcement that Penske Racing had taken over the AMC Javelin program, thus leaving the Camaro Trans-Am program to Jim Hall. American Motors hired Roger Penske and driver Mark Donohue to seriously campaign Javelins in SCCA Trans-Am Series.

 

Sports cars to open wheel - Trans Am’s connection to the 'Greatest Spectacle in Racing'

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emailBy Trans Am | 17 hours ago

Lyn St. James. Willy T. Ribbs. Mark Donohue and Roger Penske — all three have made major contributions to the Indianapolis 500. And the Trans Am Series Presented by Pirelli helped launch them on the road to Indy.

How St. James got up to speed
Lyn St. James (pictured above at Detroit in 1989) competed in four full-time Trans Am seasons. She finished 10th in the championship in 1983, driving a Mercury Capri for Tom Gloy. She returned in 1988 to run three years for Jack Roush, ending with seven top-fives and 23 top-10s in 53 races.

St. James finished on the podium in her first race for Roush, taking third at Long Beach in a Mercury Merkur XR4Ti. She placed fourth at Long Beach the following year in a Ford Mustang, while finishing fourth three times in 1990.

“Looking back, I think that was the best era of Trans Am racing,” St. James said. “Everyone talks about the ’60s with Mark Donohue and Parnelli Jones, and that was fabulous. But when I raced it was different. We had very deep fields, and it was only one class. It was tough competition; it was very deep, with a lot of really strong cars and drivers. You had to get it done and show what you’ve got. I had some great ones, but I had some not so great.”

Learning to get up to speed quickly for Trans Am qualifying paid major dividends for St. James when she made it to Indianapolis in 1992, where she finished 11th in her first of seven Indy 500s.

“Racing Trans Am taught me, more than anything, how to get up to speed now, fast,” St. James said. “I was used to having 30-minute qualifying sessions, and I had developed habits to go out and warm the car up, warm the driver up. In Trans Am, you couldn’t do that. We had very short sessions, and you had to learn to go fast when the tires weren’t in yet. When I went to Indy – even though you’d think we had days of practice – the tires didn’t last that terribly long once they came in. That whole mindset, of getting in the car and getting right with the program, it was all about getting with it right away. That intensive and learning to push the car right out of the box was what I learned in Trans Am.”

St. James was the second woman to compete in the Indy 500 – and her predecessor also had ties to Trans Am.

Janet Guthrie had competed in two Trans Am races in 1968 and 1973 prior to becoming the first woman to race in the Indy 500 in 1977. Guthrie also raced at Indy in 1978 and 1979. She competed in Trans Am five times, with her finish finishes fourth at Watkins Glen and Mexico City in 1978.

Ribbs enjoyed three standout Trans Am seasons
Willy T. Ribbs enjoyed three standout seasons in Trans Am prior to becoming the first African-American driver to compete in the Indianapolis 500 in 1991 and 1993. He won five races in a DeAtley Camaro and captured Rookie of the Year honors in 1983, finishing second in the championship behind teammate David Hobbs.

Ribbs vacated his ride prior to the 1984 season opener, and joined Jack Roush’s rookie Roush Protofab team five races into the campaign. He took second in his first drive in a Mercury Capri at Detroit, then won three of the following four races at Daytona, Brainerd and Watkins Glen. Ribbs ended the year with four victories and placed third in the final standings.

Ribbs did even better in 1985, winning seven of 15 races and finishing second in the championship behind Roush teammate Wally Dallenbach Jr. That was his last full season in Trans Am, although he ran selected races for Les Lindley in 1988, winning at Sears Point from the pole. Ribbs ended his Trans Am career in 2000, finishing with 17 victories in 61 starts.

“Trans Am was one of the ladders that I went up to get to Indy,” Ribbs said. “I did Formula Ford and Formula Atlantic, and Trans Am was the next ladder where I wanted to go. I made a good living doing it, and I won a lot of races. But, no matter,what championship you’re in, you’ve got to show the big league that you can win races, and that’s what I did in Trans Am.”

Ribbs proved he could win at a high level in Trans Am – in addition to bringing plenty of interest and excitement whenever he completed.

Donohue, Penske’s Trans Am success carried over to Indy
Mark Donohue ran five seasons in Trans Am – recalled by some as the “Golden Years” of the series – beginning in 1967. He won 29 career races, in addition to three then-unofficial driver titles and finished second twice. He also led Chevrolet (1968-69) and AMC (1971) to the all-important manufacturer championship.

More importantly, Donohue’s dominance in Trans Am opened the door to Indianapolis for both Donohue and Roger Penske’s race team.

Donohue was the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year in 1969, finishing seventh, and placed second in both 1970 and 1971. Donohue also won the inaugural Schaefer 500 to christen Pocono International Raceway in 1971, giving Penske Racing its first Indy car triumph. For 1972, no longer racing in Trans Am, Donohue and Penske teamed to win the Indy 500. It was Donohue’s only victory at the Brickyard, but the first of 18 for Penske. This weekend, Team Penske will be looking to add to that total.

Trans Am made its Indianapolis Motor Speedway debut as a Series in 2017 and it has been a team and driver favorite on the schedule ever since.