LEEDS, Ala. — The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli heads into the penultimate round of the season at a track the series has never visited in its 59-year history — Barber Motorsports Park.
The 2.38-mile road course opened in 2003 and is known for being a challenging and scenic track, with technical corners, rapid transitions and rollercoaster-like elevation changes.
The beautifully-maintained facility is also known for its world-class Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. Fans attending the race and watching at home will be treated to a Trans Am doubleheader, as both the TA/GT classes and CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series will compete on Sunday in an action-packed day of racing.
Watch all the action Live on SPEED SPORT 1.
Welcome Aboard
This weekend’s races at Barber Motorsports Park will see the Trans Am Series debut of four different drivers. In the GT class, Jake Latham (No. 27 Coffey Motorsports/Traffic Grafix Maserati MC GT4) will join the series as a third entry on Chris Coffey’s Norwood Auto Italia team.
In the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series, three drivers will be making their first-career start. Jake Bollman (No. 75 Guy M. Turner/Waukegan Farms Chevrolet Camaro) joins Silver Hare Racing, while Ethan Ayars (No. 80 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang) will make his debut with Nitro Motorsports.
Finally, Norwegian driver Andreas Nilsson will make his first start in the No. 93 TeamTrysil.com Chevrolet Camaro. This weekend will be the first National Championship effort for Team Trysil, which recently began competing in the Western Championship earlier this year with driver Stein Frederic Akre.
Championship Fight
The TA championship race this season has been the tightest in recent history, with Paul Menard (No. 3 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford Mustang) and Adam Andretti (No. 17 TOP LINER Chevrolet Camaro) still neck and neck.
Only 46 points separate the 2024 champion and current points leader Menard from Andretti, who has been racing in Trans Am since 2013 but has yet to win a title. While the race remains close, Menard has the clear edge when it comes to statistics, as he has five victories, while GYM WEED Winners Circle has eluded Andretti this season.
Chasing History
When Chris Dyson (No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang) drove from last to first in Trans Am’s last outing at Virginia International Raceway, the three-time champion earned his 29th victory, tying him with fellow Trans Am Hall of Fame inductee Mark Donohue for the second most TA class wins.
He now sits just two victories away from win-list leader Paul Gentilozzi, who has 31-career victories. With two races remaining this season, a strong finish to the season could tie him at the top of the list by Circuit of The Americas.
Dyson has an advantage in his favor, as he is one of only a handful of competitors who have previous experience at Barber Motorsports Park, racing there twice in his career.
Father & Son
With more than 500 races completed in his career, there aren’t many places that 2022 SGT champion Milton Grant (No. 55 Sentry Self Storage/Springhill Suites Porsche 991.1) hasn’t driven. Coming into this weekend, Milton and his son Carey Grant (No. 6 Grant Racing 2 Porsche GT3 Cup) both bring past Barber experience.
The Alabama track is just three and a half hours away from their Tennessee home, and in 2008, the pair shared a Porsche GT3 Cup ride in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.
Double Duty
This weekend, the Trans Am Series is holding both its TA/GT class and CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series races on the same day, with just a few hours separating the end of the first 100-mile race and the beginning of the second.
Despite the challenge, one driver on this weekend’s entry list is brave enough to do double duty: Adrian Wlostowski. Wlostowski will get behind the wheel of the No. 9 CMI/F.A.S.T. Auto/Howe Racing Howe HR6 for his GT class debut, then pilot his regular entry in the No. 3 CMI/Spot-On Services/AMT Motorsports Ford Mustang in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series.
History Books
By taking the green flag this weekend, Kaylee Bryson will clinch the 2025 XGT championship. As the 2024 SGT champion, the XGT title will make her the first female driver to win championships in two different classes, and just the second woman in series history to claim two championships.
TA’s Amy Ruman (No. 23 McNichols Co./Valley Automotive Group Chevrolet Corvette) was the first, winning back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016. Bryson has earned two victories this season at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Road America, and has finished on the podium in all but one start this season.
Chance To Clinch
With a 152-point advantage coming into this weekend’s event, CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series points leader Tristan McKee (No. 28 Spire/Gainbridge/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro) has the opportunity to clinch the title at Barber.
With an eighth-place finish or better, McKee can claim the championship regardless of where title rival Sam Corry (No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry) finishes in Sunday’s event.
Earning additional points for qualifying or leading laps offers McKee even more flexibility with his result.
Should McKee claim the title, he would become the youngest champion in the history of the Trans Am Series at 15 years, two months and 16 days old, besting current record holder Brent Crews by more than four months. He would also become the first driver to capture the championship, Sunoco Race Fuels Young Gun Award and Rookie of the Year honors in the same season.
Experience
At a track where the Trans Am Series has never raced before, Sam Corry (No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry) heads into Barber Motorsports Park with something most drivers don’t have — experience.
The 17-year-old raced at the track in USF Juniors in 2022, earning a second-place finish in Race 1. Corry is the only driver in Sunday’s field who can come between Tristan McKee and the 2025 championship.
Sitting 152 points behind McKee, Corry, who scored one race win this season at Lime Rock Park, will have to gain the maximum points available and hope that the bad luck McKee experienced at Virginia International Raceway carries through to Barber.
Annunziata Returns
When he started off the season with back-to-back victories, Thomas Annunziata immediately became the favorite for the 2025 title. But while sitting second in the standings, Annunziata took a two-race hiatus to focus on his NASCAR and ARCA efforts.
Annunziata returns to Trans Am this weekend to race with Nitro Motorsports, but he’ll have a new number, getting behind the wheel of the No. 10 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry instead of his familiar No. 90.
