Saturday’s Trans Am Race Sets A New TA2 Class Lap Record
Leading From Flag to Flag, Merrill Takes Trans Am TA2 Win
Saturday’s featured TA2 class race at Lime Rock Park proved to be a thriller with polewinner Thomas Merrill in the No. 26 Mike Cope Race Cars Mustang setting a new track record (53.514) for the TA 2 class while leading flag to flag for his second victory of the season.“The car was a rocket ship all weekend,” said Merrill, who also snatched pole position in the final seconds of qualifying from Machavern. “I got lucky with the traffic and used it to my advantage to keep Dillion behind me. Dillion is a respectable driver. There were several opportunities where he could have bumped me to take P1 but he kept it clean and I appreciate that. Mike Cope Racing really put together a great car at the last minute for me and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”
Starting on pole, Merrill pulled away from the pack, leading Machavern by more than three seconds after five laps. But, Merrill’s speed started to fade late in the race, allowing Machavern to challenge the front-runner. A late yellow regrouped the field after the No. 12 car experienced mechanical issues on track which required a tow. It was the opportunity that Machavern needed to close the final gap on Merrill. On the restart, the pair of Mustangs raced through the tight, fast turns of the 1.53-mile circuit. With time ticking down, Machavern tried to pass Merrill on the uphill. His attempt was unsuccessful as he dropped two wheels off track, allowing Merrill to cross the stripe about a half a second before him.
“Thomas is good at making his car wide and big, and he really worked that traffic well,” Machavern explained. “The Stevens Miller Liqui-Moly Mustang was awesome all weekend, but Thomas just bested me on the last lap in qualifying and really the same thing happened at the end of the race. I think we had the fastest car at the end, we had some passing opportunities, but Thomas just knew how to make his car big.”
Using his NASCAR circle-track experience to his advantage, Lagasse wheeled his No. 92 SLR/Fields Racing/M1Racecars Chevrolet Camaro from a fifth-place start to a podium finish despite losing power steering late in the round.
“I’m exhausted after this race and ready for a nap,” Lagasse laughed. “To run this kind of a track without power steering was a little bit interesting. We had a really good race car, but lost some speed after the power steering went out. We had solid race and this track was a lot of fun.”
Championship-points leader Marc Miller also experienced some issues early on in the race after contact between his No. 40 Prefix Stevens-Miller Racing Dodge Challenger and the No. 25 BC Race Cars Chevrolet Camaro of Tony Ave sent Miller back to mid-field. Working through traffic, Miller managed to finish the race where he started, in fourth.
“We soldiered the No. 40 Prefix Doge Challenger back through the pack to finish fourth,” said Miller. “We just didn’t have the car to win today, but we secured a solid result with no damage before the important Detroit GP double-header next weekend. It was a huge effort by the Stevens-Miller Racing team and Prefix. Also as the only Dodge in the entire TA2 field, we had a great deal of fans visit us for the fan walk. It was great to meet everyone and see some old friends. Now it’s time to head home to prepare for the next one.”
Missing the last round at Laguna Seca, defending TA2 champion Rafa Matos returned to the Lime Rock Park lineup. With major competition and limited passing areas, Matos was only able to make up two positions before the end of the race, slotting into fifth.
Doug Peterson won the Masters award in the TA2 class following a 10th-place finish in the No. 87 3Dimensional Services Group Ford Mustang. After weaving through traffic to take the win, Merrill received the Cool Shirt Cool Move of the race.
The TA2 powered by AEM drivers have a quick turn around before the next Round, traveling to Michigan for the Detroit Grand Prix May 31-June 2. For results, standings and timing and scoring, visit GoTransAm.com.
Lime Rock Park TA2 Race Results
(Pos No. / Name / Sponsor / Car / Best Time / Total Time / Diff. / Gap)
1 #26 Thomas Merrill / Salinas Calif. Mike Cope Racing / Ford Mustang 53.514 1:02:50.446
2 #77 Dillon Machavern / Charlotte Vt. Liqui-Moly / Prefix / Ford Mustang 53.539 1:02:50.996 0.550 0.550
3 #92 Scott Lagasse Jr / St Augustine Fla. SLR/Fields Racing/M1Racecars / Chevrolet Camaro 53.680 1:03:00.334 9.888 9.338
4 #40 Marc Miller / Holland Mich. Prefix / Stevens-Miller Racing / Dodge Challenger 53.754 1:03:04.286 13.840 3.952
5 #88 Rafa Matos / Boca Raton Fla. 3Dimensional Services Group / Chevrolet Camaro 53.610 1:03:10.341 19.895 6.055
6 #10 MishaGoikhberg /WoodbridgeOnt.Canada BC Race Cars / Chevrolet Camaro 53.659 1:03:19.961 29.515 9.620
7 #25 Tony Ave / Hurley Wisc. BC Race Cars / Chevrolet Camaro 53.674 1:03:20.451 30.005 0.490
8 #9 Keith Prociuk / Chicago Ill. HP Tuners / Chevrolet Camaro 54.116 1:03:21.093 30.647 0.642
9 #96 Kyle Marcelli / Midland Ont Canada SLR/Fields Racing/M1Racecars / Chevrolet Camaro 54.167 1:03:21.824 31.378 0.731
10 #87 Doug Peterson / Bonita Springs Fla. 3Dimensional Services Group / Ford Mustang 54.805 1:03:28.109 37.663 6.285
11 #52 Lawless Alan / Van Nuys Calif. AutoParkIT / Ford Mustang 54.121 1:03:11.622 1 Lap 1 Lap
12 #17 Jacob Mosler / St Augustine Fla. SLR/Fields Racing/M1Racecars / Chevrolet Camaro 54.673 1:03:18.538 1 Lap 6.916
13 #97 Tom Sheehan / Bow N. H. LTK Insulation Technologies / Ford Mustang 54.812 1:03:19.327 1 Lap 0.789
14 #05 Steven Lustig / Chester N.J. The Autosport Group / Chevrolet Camaro 55.294 1:03:39.754 1 Lap 20.427
15 #23 Curt Vogt / Wallingford Conn. Cobra Automotive / Ford Mustang 55.372 1:03:44.262 1 Lap 4.508
16 #32 Barry Boes / Dripping Springs Texas AccioData/SampsonRace/HarrisHill / Ford Mustang 55.662 1:02:51.003 2 Laps 1 Lap
17 #44 A.J. Hennriksen / Sleepy Hollow Ill. EngineeredCompositesCo/AnchorBolt / Chevrolet Camaro 56.246 1:02:55.532 3 Laps 1 Lap
18 #82 Frank Dalene / Wainscott N.Y. Telemark Inc / Chevrolet Camaro 58.022 1:03:15.306 5 Laps 2 Laps
19 #12 Brian Swank /Cumming Ga. Berryman Products / Chevrolet Camaro 56.085 0:46:23.126 28 Laps 23 Laps