TRANS-AM - Trans-Am to Lime Rock

 

TRANS AM RETURNS TO LIME ROCK PARK FOR MEMORIAL DAY CLASSIC

Nearly 100 Cars Ready to race at Lime Rock Park
 

Lakeville, Conn.  (21 May, 2019) – Seventy years of motorsports will be represented during the Trans Am Memorial Day Classic as the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli returns to Lime Rock Park Lime Rock Park May 24-27. Trans Am will be joined by the SVRA on the weekend, making for a huge line-up of both modern and vintage race cars for a non-stop fan experience at the fast and tricky New England circuit. 

With a race on Saturday for the TA2 powered by AEM class, and then a Monday feature for the Trans Am, Super GT and GT class machines, nearly 40 cars are slated to take on the 1.53-mile track in a pair of 100-mile rounds.

Following a true Western showdown during Round 3 at WeatherTech Raceway earlier this month, the TA2 powered by AEM drivers are on pace to deliver another action-packed race for fans on Saturday.

Returning to the roster after missing the last round is defending champion Rafa Matos, who will add another layer of drama to the TA2 race, as he looks to reclaim the top-spot in the championship from Marc Miller. Matos swept the first part of the season, claiming back-to-back pole wins before sitting out the trip out west.

“I am really excited to be returning to Lime Rock,” said Matos. “I’ve been racing here since I moved to the United States. I have a lot of great memories here and really want to add another win to that list. Lime Rock is a technical track, so a good driver and a great set up make a huge difference. We are expecting a large field and it’s a short track, so that will be a huge factor in qualifying. It’s going to be interesting for sure.”

Miller, however,  driving the No. 40 Prefix Stevens-Miller Racing Dodge Challenger isn’t ready to surrender his newly earned position in the championship.

“The competition is very tough in TA2 and anything can happen,” Miller said. “My focus is to put maximum effort into working with Stevens-Miller Racing to continually improve our Prefix Dodge Challenger's overall performance and to focus on maximizing points. We need to qualify better and lead laps this season to keep a firm grip on this championship lead.”

West Coast Trans Am Series driver Thomas Merrill will also make the coast-to-coast haul from California to Connecticut. In effort to capitalize on his success from the last round, Merrill poses a threat to the national drivers who need every point available to move up in the championship. In an outstanding display of patience and control, Merrill drove from last place to a podium finish in the TA2 race at WeatherTech Raceway. The California-native will wheel the No. 26 Mike Cope Race Cars Ford Mustang for Copeland Motorsports this weekend

The Burtin Racing duo of Lawrence Loshak in the No. 3 Elavon / Pennzoil Chevrolet Camaro and Tomy Drissi in the No. 8 Godzilla May 31 / Lucas Oil Chevrolet Camaro still reign over the TA championship heading into Monday’s 100-mile or 65-minute feature, but Chris Dyson, Ernie Francis Jr. and Amy Ruman have closed the gap on the season-long points leaders with only four points separating second place from fifth.

“I just made a couple year deal with Burtin Racing and we’re shooting for the TA championship,” explained Drissi. “I call Lime Rock the bullring. It is the Bristol of road course racing - it is so tight and small. There are a lot of corners and you are always moving. This track was built back in the day for small American and import model cars like MGs and Datsuns...and some of the greatest racing has taken place at Lime Rock over the years. The track hasn't got any bigger but the cars and power of the TA machines have! Every time I come up to Lime Rock I can't help but to be reminded of Paul Newman - this was his track.” 

Mechanical misfortunes plagued the first part of Francis’ season, but his luck turned around at Laguna Seca, dominating the weekend with a pole start and a first-place finish. Building off the momentum from his first victory of the season, the five-time Trans Am champion is focusing the rest of the season on consistent results to catapult him to the top of the championship standings.

“We have experience at Lime Rock so it should be a good weekend for the team,” said Francis, who pilots the TA No. 98 Frameless Shower Doors Ford Mustang. “The cars are extremely fast and it’ll be interesting to see how the car handles on the uphill section of the track. We got the win at WeatherTech Raceway and we are looking to carry that momentum into Lime Rock for another win.”

The official weekend starts Friday with TA2 on track testing alongside SVRA for 40 minutes starting 11:20 a.m. ET. TA2 practice begins at 2:20 p.m. ET followed by a 20-minute qualifying at 5:00 p.m. Saturday starts with a 40-minnute TA/SGT test before the TA2 powered by AEM 100 miles, 67 laps or 65minutes, whichever comes first, feature beginning at 12:55 p.m.

The day wraps up with TA/SGT official practice at 4:10 p.m. TA/SGT wraps up the four-day race weekend on Monday with qualifying starting at 9:05 a.m., culminating with a 100 miles, 67 laps or 65 minutes feature starting at 12:50 p.m.

Fans are also invited on Saturday from 12:20-12:50 p.m. for the TA2 Fan Walk. Several other fan activities are also scheduled for Sunday. View full schedule and purchase tickets here: http://limerock.com/memorial-day-weekend

Live timing and scoring is available at GoTransAm.com or on the Race Monitor app.

Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli only schedule
 

LIME ROCK ENTRY LIST

                                      TA / SGT/GT
 
# Class Driver, Hometown Sponsor, Car
3 TA Lawrence Loshak, Milwaukee, Wisc. Elavon / Pennzoil Chevrolet Camaro
4 TA TBD Ave Motorsports Ford Mustang
8 TA Tomy Drissi, Los Angeles, Calif. Godzilla May 31 / Lucas Oil Chevrolet Camaro
19 TA Kerry Hitt, Harrisburg, Pa. Advanced Composite Products Inc Cadillac CTSV
20 TA Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, N.Y. Plaid Ford Mustang
23 TA Amy Ruman, Stow, Ohio McNichols Co. Chevrolet Corvette
41 TA Vincent Allegretta, Hampton Bays, N.Y. TA Sights and Sounds Chevrolet Corvette
46 SGT Mark Boden, Winnetka, Ill. Beverage Flavors International Porsche 991 GT3 Cup
57 TA David Pintaric, Canfield, Ohio Kryderacing Cadillac CTSV
59 TA Simon Gregg, Ponte Vedra, Fla. Derhaag Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette
67 SGT Jason Berkeley, New York City, N.Y. Falls Village Inn Chevrolet Corvette
96 SGT Adrian Wlostowski, New York City, N.Y. F.A.S.T. Auto Ford Mustang
98 TA Ernie Francis Jr, Southwest Ranches, Fla. Frameless Shower Doors Ford Mustang
03 TA Jim McAleese, Leesburg, Va. Mc Aleese and Associates Chevrolet Camaro
07 SGT Brian Kleeman, Baltimore, Md. DWWMotorsports/ExpoIT/Forgeline Ford Mustang
09 SGT Chris Outzen, Sudbury, Ma. DWWMotorsports/ExpoIT/Forgeline Ford Mustang
 
 

LIME ROCK ENTRY LIST

                             TA2 POWERED BY AEM
 
# Class Driver, Hometown Sponsor, Car
9 TA2 Keith Prociuk, Chicago, Ill. HP Tuners Chevrolet Camaro
10 TA2 Misha Goikhberg, Woodbridge, Ont. Canada BC Race Cars Chevrolet Camaro
12 TA2 Brian Swank, Cumming, Ga. Berryman Products Chevrolet Camaro
14 TA2 *    Matt Parent, Bellevue, Wash. Venture Construction Ford Mustang
17 TA2 Jacob Mosler, St Augustine, Fla. SLR/Fields Racing/M1Racecars Chevrolet Camaro
23 TA2 Curt Vogt, Wallingford, Conn. Cobra Automotive Ford Mustang
25 TA2 Tony Ave, Hurley, Wisc. BC Race Cars Chevrolet Camaro
26 TA2 Thomas Merrill, Salinas, Calif. Mike Cope Race Cars Ford Mustang
32 TA2 Barry Boes, Dripping Springs, Texas AccioData/SampsonRace/HarrisHill Ford Mustang
40 TA2 Marc Miller, Holland, Mich. Prefix / Stevens-Miller Racing Dodge Challenger
44 TA2 AJ Henriksen, Sleepy Hollow, Ill. EngineeredCompntsCo/AnchorBolt Chevrolet Camaro
52 TA2 Lawless Alan, Van Nuys, Calif. AutoParkIT Ford Mustang
77 TA2 Dillon Machavern, Charlotte, Vt. Liqui-Moly / Prefix Ford Mustang
82 TA2 Frank Dalene, Wainscott, N. Y. Telemark Inc Chevrolet Camaro
87 TA2 *    Doug Peterson, Bonita Springs, Fla. 3Dimensional Services Group Ford Mustang
88 TA2 *    Rafa Matos, Boca Raton, Fla. 3Dimensional Services Group Chevrolet Camaro
92 TA2 Scott Lagasse Jr, St Augustine, Fla. SLR/Fields Racing/M1Racecars Chevrolet Camaro
96 TA2 Kyle Marcelli, Midland, Ont Canada SLR/Fields Racing/M1Racecars Chevrolet Camaro
97 TA2 Tom Sheehan, Bow, N. H. LTK Insulation Technologies Ford Mustang
05 TA2 Steven Lustig, Chester, N.J. The Autosport Group Chevrolet Camaro

Tom Beeler

Tom has been a contributor to RIS since 1992, and has covered IndyCar, Formula 1, NASCAR, Grand-Am, ALMS and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In addition to his RIS work, Tom has been a contributor for General Motors, Nissan, Toyota and the ACO.

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Volume 2019, Issue 5, Posted 12:37 PM, 05.24.2019