ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli is on its way to Road America for Round 7 of 12, kicking off the second half of the season with the Road America SpeedTour, coming straight from last weekend’s event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
The track, which opened in 1955, is celebrating its 70th season of competition this year. The Trans Am Series has made more starts at Road America than any other circuit, with 65 events held at the 4.048-mile road course since the series made its first appearance there in 1970. Trans Am Hall of Fame inductee Mark Donohue won the series’ first race at the track, with Horst Kwech victorious in the Under 2 Liter category.
Seven drivers in this weekend’s field have taken the checkered flag at Road America before. Lee Saunders has the most wins at the track of any entrant, taking the victory in 2020, 2023 and 2024 in the SGT class.
CD Racing Finishes 1-2
Last weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, CD Racing earned a 1-2 finish, with Matthew Brabham driving the No. 21 GYM WEED Ford Mustang to GYM WEED Winners Circle, and Chris Dyson (No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang) finishing second.
The team returns with two entries this weekend, but in Saturday’s event, it will be Humaid Masaood behind the wheel of the No. 21 allgram Ford Mustang.
Team owner Dyson has two past wins at Road America, earning back-to-back victories in 2020 and 2021. He has also scored multiple IMSA wins at the track, as well as a Pirelli World Challenge victory.
Jones Returns
TA points leader Paul Menard (No. 3 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford Mustang) will have a teammate this weekend, with Paul Gentilozzi’s 3GT Racing unloading two cars at Road America. NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Brandon Jones will get behind the wheel of 3GT’s second car, the No. 31 Menards/Masterforce Tools Ford Mustang.
Jones has made one start with the team this season, finishing sixth in the Sebring Int’l Raceway season opener. Jones has two previous Trans Am Series starts at Road America, with a best finish of fourth in 2018. He has also made seven Xfinity starts at the track, earning a best result of fifth in 2022.
Since he last took the green flag in the Trans Am Series, Jones has scored one win in the Xfinity Series at Darlington Raceway, and he currently sits seventh in the point standings.
Bryson XGT Winner
2024 SGT Champion Kaylee Bryson (No. 02 Logical Systems Inc. Chevrolet Corvette) made the switch to the XGT class in 2025, and after three races, she can now say that she’s an XGT winner after taking the checkered flag last weekend at Mid-Ohio.
The 24-year-old PMH Powering Diversity Scholarship recipient now leads the championship standings over Paul Tracy, who won the first two events of the season.
Drissi Brings Experience
Tomy Drissi (No. 8 Trench Shoring Co./Motul Chevrolet Camaro) comes to this weekend’s race at Road America with experience on his side, with 16 Trans Am starts at the 4.048-mile road course dating back to his rookie season in 1999.
His best finish at the track is fifth, which he has achieved several times in his career, including his last two starts at the circuit. In addition to Trans Am experience, Drissi has also made two NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Road America in 2015 and 2016.
GT1 Heats Up
This weekend will see the largest number of GT1 Challenge competitors on the entry list since the class began competition this season. Four drivers will take the green flag in the class: points leader Jon DeGaynor (No. 04 Speed Dream’n Racing Ford Mustang), second-place Rob Dickey (No. 64 Forty 48 Competition Chevrolet Camaro) and newcomers to the class Colin Comer (No. 6 WOT Shop/Colin’s Classic Auto Ford Mustang) and Ray Kobs (No. 00 AuditWell Chevrolet Corvette).
This weekend’s race is especially important to Dickey, whose Forty 48 Competition team is located 15 minutes north of the racetrack. The team’s name is derived from Road America’s length of 4.048 miles.
Dickey made his GT1 debut in his 2004 Trotnow chassis at Road Atlanta earlier this season, completing every lap and taking his first-career Trans Am victory. In addition to the GT1 entry, Forty 48 is also fielding GT entrant Ryan Szyjakowski in the No. 49 Forty 48 Competition Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport. Forty 48 Competition is a full-service race shop supporting customer-owned cars since its founding in 2022.
McKee On Top
The CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series saw its fifth different winner in the opening six races of the 2025 season when Tristan McKee (No. 28 Spire/Gainbridge/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro) took the checkered flag at Mid-Ohio, making him the second-youngest winner in Trans Am history at 14 years, 10 months and 19 days old.
The young driver’s victory extended his lead in the championship standings, as he now holds a 24-point advantage over the season’s only two-time winner, Thomas Annunziata.
In addition to leading the championship standings, McKee also leads the Rookie of the Year race, as well as the standings for the Young Gun Award, which comes with a $20,000 prize for the top driver under the age of 25.
Triple Duty
A two-time winner this season, Thomas Annunziata (No. 90 Gazoo Racing/Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry) is hoping to add three more checkered flags to his collection this weekend.
In addition to competing in Sunday’s CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series race, Annunziata announced that he is going to be running in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ inaugural race at Lime Rock Park with sponsorship support from TA team owner Claudio Burtin’s Top Liner. He will also be competing in the ARCA Menards Series race at Lime Rock that same day with Nitro Motorsports.
With the NASCAR and ARCA events on Saturday, Annunziata will start from the back of the field on Sunday, without practicing or qualifying at Road America.
The Coach
Although he’s been in the paddock every weekend as a driver coach for Nitro Motorsports, Tyler Kicera hasn’t been entered in a TA2 race since Watkins Glen International last season. Kicera will finally get back behind the wheel this weekend, keeping the drivers he coaches honest by piloting the No. 10 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry.
The Pennsylvania native has three previous starts at Road America, claiming a best finish of fourth in 2020.
