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 NEWS FROM THE SCCA TRANS-AM SERIESSCCA TRANS-AM SERIES NEWSThe SCCA Trans-Am Racing Series News The Trans-Am Series is back for 2010 after being resurected by the SCCA last year. The technical regulations will be based on current SCCA GT-1 rules from the Club Racing General Competition Rules (GCR) with additional potential safety requirements. The Trans-Am cars roared on our race tracks from 1966 to 2006 and gained a great following. Mosport International Raceway hosted more Trans-Am races than any other track. In 2010 the Trans-Am Series will again make a stop at the historic Mosport International Raceway. We will be glad to have them back on the Victoria Day weekend May 21 to 23, 2010. As well the Trans-Am series will join the Indy Racing League at the Honda Indy Toronto July 18 to 20, 2010.
____________________________________ JOLIET, ILL. (August 1, 2010) - "It was a little harder than I was hoping," Ave said. "RJ and I just had a really good race. It was a bigger gap than you would think for such a tough race. We were both running as hard as we could. I lost my brakes at the end for some weird reason, so he about got me, but I hung on. I've got to really thank Denny Lamers, Bob Monette and Mark Smith. Those are the guys that are helping me do this. Without them, we wouldn't be here." "I want to win races and I need the prize money. We use that to race on. I sell cars, and winning sells cars, but you're thinking about (the championship), too. Like when you see him coming, if he was a lot faster, you're not going to let him spin you out, you've got to just let him go. But it worked out good."
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TORONTO, ONTARIO. (July 18, 2010) - "I knew I had a good car," Lopez said. "In fact, I knew Tony had said before the race that he didn't think his car was going to be all that great, but he drove the hell out of it. It's unfortunate what happened to (Tomy) Drissi (who started the race from pole), and I got by (Amy) Ruman when Drissi cut a tire (on the opening lap). I would have liked to have had a good battle with Ruman, but I was able to sneak by there. I just started catching Ave and I knew we were going to get him. Once we passed him, I was just running a pace. Every once in a while, I'd see him get a little closer and I would just pull out a little more until I couldn't see him in my mirrors. Then I just cruised." Canadian driver, Stouffville Ontario's Blaise Csida, in his Canada Primedia/Signal Tech/Chevrolet Corvette, finished 8th after a drive shaft problem.
LIME ROCK, Conn. (July 3, 2010) - "It's good," Ave said. "I like racing here and it's a really fast place. We knew we would be pretty good in the long runs, because we found something in the car after Mosport. It just keeps getting better and better." "Toronto is a whole different deal, opposite of this place, so hopefully we can come up there with a setup that's good. But it feels good to have three in a row and extend that points lead. Everything went really well" he added.
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 20, 2010) - The No. 4 Tony Ave Racing/Pro Motor Engines Chevrolet Corvette was clearly the class of the field throughout the 23 lap event. After starting from the pole, Ave jumped out to a healthy lead early on and pulled away until a full course caution to retrieve Terry Giles' No. 85 Powerhouse Racing/ECR Engines/Goodyear Chevrolet Corvette from the Turn 12 gravel trap came out on Lap 10 and bunched the field. However, Ave managed to again build a healthy advantage on the ensuing restart. It appeared that Ave was conserving his equipment as the laps wound down, which allowed second place RJ Lopez to close up, but Ave's lead was never in jeopardy. He went on to win by 1.474 seconds. With the victory, Ave extended his lead in the championship to 52 points, 496-444, over Lopez after four of 10 rounds in the 2010 Trans-Am Series. "It was really good," Ave said. "It shows that we've got our car sorted out. I can always qualify good, but we didn't have a great racecar. We seemed to have sorted that out. I ran it as hard as I could, just so I could see what our tire wear was like. I think we have a little bit to go yet. We need to work on the rear suspension a little bit. It's good. It's always good to have the points lead. It gives you a cushion, and the prize money doesn't hurt. For everybody that is helping us, it keeps them pumped up too."
TOOELE, Utah (June 6, 2010) - In the inaugural SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series race at Miller Motorsports Park, Tony Ave, of Maiden, N.C., earned his first Trans-Am victory after more than 16 years of trying. "It's awesome," said Ave. "I'm doing this mostly because I like it. I mean, I build and sell cars, so we do it to make some money, but I come and my friends help me with some money and we come and try to have some fun. My buddy, Dave Janz, kept my head on straight. I was so nervous. Every time we're fast, it seems like we find a way to lose. Those guys had to kind of smack me around a little bit this morning, but Jeff Pope, especially, he's 22 years old, he never knew anything about racecars until five years ago and he does the whole thing. It's really down to those guys. I've been able to drive these things fast enough for 15 years, but when you don't have a huge budget and it comes down to how much work these cars are - and we run a lot of used parts - it feels really good." He added, "It's really for the guys. I mean, they volunteer their time to come and do this except for Jeff. Luke Keller and Jimmy Madsen were here too. They're just the greatest friends and they work really hard. I've also got to thank the guys at Pro Motor Engines. We couldn't have done this without them."
BOWMANVILLE, ON. (May 23, 2010) - Ken Wilden's return to SCCA Tran-Am was a memorable one as he finished his incredible weekend with the race victory and a new Trans-Am record. The Oakville, Ontario racer signed with Derhaag Motorsports just days before the race and he took full advantage of his opportunity. He broke the Mosport Trans-Am record in qualifying by more than two seconds with a lap time of 1:15.719 setting the tone for the race. Stouffville, Ontario's Blaise Csida finished in third place.
MILLVILLE, N.J. (May 9, 2010) - Defending SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series champion Tomy Drissi couldn't have opened his title defense any better in the first race of 2010, as the racer from Hollywood, Calif. kicked off the season at New Jersey Motorsports Park by taking the third victory of his Trans-Am career.
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