The Trans Am series is an American road racing series that dates back to 1966. Many big-name drivers such as Mark Donohue, Tommy Kendall, and Wally Dallenbach Jr. have raced in the series, and each won multiple championships. 

There are four different classes in the series: TA, TA2, SGT, and GT. This weekend, it was just the top two groups that made up the majority of the two races that were run on Sunday. TA and TA2, with the TA cars being the faster of the two. The TA cars are the pinnacle of American muscle featuring Camaros, Mustangs, Corvettes, and yes, even a few Cadillacs, all pumping out 800 (plus) horsepower. The TA2 class featured Camaros, Mustangs and Dodge Challengers. These cars have more restrictions on them, to keep costs down, and competition close.

The Sportscar Vintage Racing Association is one of the oldest, and is the largest, historic car racing group in the US. They were founded in 1978 have over 2,500 licensed drivers. This weekend, they had 10 different groups that ran in 8 different races. There was a great variety of vehicles spread out across the groups with everything from a minuscule Mini of the 60s up to an Audi LeMans car from the late ’90s. To add a little cohesion the historic Trans Am, cars ran their race right after the current Trans Am cars had finished their race.

We arrived just before noon on Friday which was a practice day. There are four campgrounds at the track. We were in the Chaparral campground. There are water and electrical hookups, as well as a fire pit, and picnic benches in each of the 82 sites in Chaparral. Showers and bathrooms are also nearby. Our site was close enough to the track that we were able to get a good overview just by walking about 100 feet from the back of our campsite.

… the combination of the old and the new, with amateurs and professionals sharing the track for the weekend.

Friday consisted of practice sessions for all of the groups in the historic category, as well as all the races in the professional category.  The last group of the day was a qualifying session for the TA/SGT and GT groups with the action winding down at 5 pm.

Saturday morning consisted of qualifying sessions for all the groups, apart from those who qualified on Friday. After the lunch break, it was time for the first race of the weekend, this being for the Trans Am groups: TA/SGT/GT. The race win went to the Ford Mustang of Ernie Francis Jr., with the 2 Chevrolet Camaros of Lawrence Loshak and Tomy Drissi completing the podium.

The remainder of Saturday afternoon was qualifying for all the historic groups, and the Trans Am TA2 group.

 

Sunday morning saw qualifying for the TA2 cars, including the first feature race for all the historic groups. After lunch, it was the historic Trans Am cars 2nd feature race, followed by the TA2 feature race with Marc Miller taking the victory in a Dodge Challenger, Thomas Merril in second place in a Ford Mustang and Ethan Wilson completing the podium, in a Chevrolet Camaro. The balance of the afternoon races consisted of the 2nd feature race for the remaining historic groups.

Group 1 and 3 was for small-bore, mostly production cars, featuring a slew of 356 Porsches, and quite a few Mini Coopers, with the Porsches coming out on top finishing 1-2 with the Minis finishing 3-5th.

Group 2 was open-wheel cars of 1600 CC featuring many Brabham’s, as well as a great mix of other, mostly British-built cars. The win went to the very rapid Brabham, driven by none other than Geoff Brabham.

… plenty of track action to keep you entertained.

The Group 4 race was up next, which was a bit of an eclectic mix of sports racing cars and 50s production cars. The field was headed by two Lotus 23 sports racers, and at the back, we had a 1957 Corvette, 1952 Jaguar XK-120 and a 1951 Allard K2. Indeed, an eclectic mix!

Group 6 was next up, which mostly consisted of big bore American iron, with a couple of Porsche 911’s and a Jaguar E-type thrown into what was a 24-car field. A Shelby Cobra was the winner, followed home by a couple of Corvettes.

Group 8 was for the 2.5-liter sedan class and was loaded with Datsun 510s some BMW 2002s and quite a few Lotus 7’s which were in a different sub-class than the sedans. The Datsun 510 of Troy Ermish scored yet another victory with two Lotus 7s completing the podium.

Group 9 was for more modern GTP and Formula cars Including names like Audi, March and Riley with the 2005 Audi R8 LMP of Travis Egen coming out on top.

Group 10 was for ex IMSA GT cars featuring many Camaro’s and Corvettes with a few Mustangs and a Pontiac thrown in.

The Historic Trans Am race was very entertaining, with a 20-car field and lots of lead changes. This race was mostly Mustangs and Camaros with the out-of-place looking Pontiac Tempest GTO making a good showing to Finish 3rd behind two Boss 302 Mustangs.

This was a really fun event. I liked the combination of the old and the new, with amateurs and professionals sharing the track for the weekend. The campground was very nice and comes with some spectacular views of the sunset once the racing is over. I would recommend this event to any race fan, whether it is your 1st event, or your 101st. It was a very laid-back atmosphere and there was plenty of track action to keep you entertained.

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