SEBRING, Fla. — The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli will ignite its season where it all began, Sebring International Raceway, home of the series’ inaugural race in 1966, launching a year-long celebration of Trans Am’s 60th Anniversary.
The legendary 3.74-mile circuit, renowned for its punishing bumps and historic character, has hosted 31 previous Trans Am events and has opened the season for the National Championship every year since 2013.
More than 60 cars are set to thunder onto the Sebring circuit between the TA/GT classes, the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series, and the debuting TA Sprint category, promising a massive and unforgettable start to the milestone season.
Gentilozzi Grand Marshal
Trans Am Hall of Fame inductee Paul Gentilozzi will serve as Grand Marshal for this weekend’s season opener at Sebring, piloting the pace car for Sunday’s TA race.
A five-time TA champion, he is the winningest driver in Trans Am’s TA class with 31 victories, along with claiming numerous poles and podium finishes during a dominant stretch in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Known for his fierce competitiveness and technical acumen as both a driver and owner of 3GT Racing, where his team has won the last two-consecutive TA class titles, Gentilozzi helped define an era of TA competition. Among his many achievements, Gentilozzi earned a TA class victory at Sebring in 1999.
TA Sprint Debut
The Trans Am Series ushers in an exciting new chapter at Sebring with the debut of TA Sprint, a new competition platform designed to deliver high-intensity racing in a 35-minute sprint format. The four-track, five-race championship will take the green flag for the first time this Sunday, followed by a race at Lime Rock Park in May.
Road America will be a doubleheader weekend with two races in June, followed by the season finale at Watkins Glen International in July. The championship will count a driver’s best four results, and competitors must participate in a minimum of four races to be eligible for the title or associated prize money.
Two-Time Champion
Paul Menard (No. 3 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford Mustang) enters Sebring with momentum on his side, returning to the historic 3.74-mile circuit as the winner of the last two season openers contested there, and as the reigning back-to-back TA champion.
A third-consecutive victory at Sebring would further cement his recent dominance, but an even bigger milestone is possible in 2026: Should Menard secure a third-consecutive TA title, he would join Trans Am Hall of Famers Chris Dyson and Tommy Kendall as a three-time champion, elevating his name into even rarer company in the storied history of the longest-running professional road racing series in North America.
Double Duty
Last year’s TA class runner-up Adam Andretti (No. 17 Top Liner Chevrolet Camaro) faces a demanding doubleheader weekend, balancing the first race of his Trans Am championship pursuit at Sebring on Sunday with NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series duties on the streets of St. Petersburg on Saturday.
Andretti continues to expand his stock car résumé after making his NASCAR top-three series debut last weekend in Atlanta, where he impressed with a 12th-place finish in the first of four scheduled Truck Series starts this season.
With backing from Top Liner, Andretti is also slated to compete at Watkins Glen on May 8 and at the San Diego event at Naval Base Coronado on June 19, in addition to his races at Atlanta and St. Petersburg, all while remaining a key contender in the TA class championship battle.
Drissi Duo
Past Trans Am TA champions Tomy Drissi (2009) and Simon Gregg (2012) will reunite this weekend at Sebring, with Drissi Motorsports fielding both drivers full time in 2026.
The duo returns to action together after closing out the 2025 campaign with an impressive double top-five finish at Circuit of The Americas. Drissi (No. 8 Trench Shoring Chevrolet Camaro) has been especially strong at Sebring, recording top-five finishes in five of his last six starts, including a fourth-place result last season.
Gregg (No. 59 Simon Gregg Foundation Chevrolet Camaro) will make his first Sebring appearance since 2021. Drissi also enters the weekend looking to defend and improve upon his third-place finish in last year’s TA championship standings, a campaign highlighted by three podiums and 10 top-five finishes.
Notably, Drissi and Gregg are both entering their 23rd year of competition in the Trans Am Series and are two of only five drivers in Trans Am history to capture both National and Western Championships.
Bryson Moves
Kaylee Bryson makes the leap into the premier TA class in 2026, piloting the No. 2 LSI/Team Weaver Racing Dodge Challenger for Weaver Racing Concepts as she continues her rapid rise through the Trans Am ranks.
Bryson enters the season with momentum, having captured the SGT championship in 2024 and the XGT title in 2025. With those back-to-back crowns, she joined Amy Ruman as one of only two women to earn multiple Trans Am championships, and she became the first female driver in series history to win titles in two different classes.
New Look
David Pintaric returns to full-time TA class competition in 2026, ushering in a new chapter with primary sponsorship from Birds Eye View Project and a striking new look for his No. 57 Ford Mustang. The updated livery pays tribute to Dorsey Schroeder’s iconic 1989 25th-Anniversary Mustang as a nod to Trans Am’s heritage. A steady presence in the TA class since 2013, Pintaric has built a reputation for consistency.
Birds Eye View Project was founded by Navy SEAL Ryan “Birdman” Parrot and raises awareness and funds to support the challenges veterans and first responders face, focusing on five pillars of life after service: mental, physical, emotional, social, and spiritual wellness.
TA Cup National Championship
TA Cup steps into the national spotlight in 2026, earning National Championship status as part of Trans Am’s 60th-Anniversary season.
Building on the momentum of a successful inaugural Western Championship campaign won by Ken Sutherland, the 2026 TA Cup National Championship will feature a five-track, six-race schedule at some of North America’s most iconic road courses. The season opens at Sebring (February 26–March 1.
Designed as a competitive and cost-conscious platform within the Trans Am paddock, TA Cup utilizes spec vehicles produced by Chris Evans Inc. (CEI), owned by two-time Western Championship titleholder Chris Evans, and runs under tightly-controlled regulations that emphasize driver skill, consistency and close competition. In addition to its new National Championship slate, TA Cup will continue to contest the full Western Championship schedule in 2026.
Coffey Cup
Back-to-back GT class champion Chris Coffey embarks on a new challenge in 2026, stepping into the SGT ranks after consecutive title-winning seasons.
Leaving behind his championship-winning Maserati, Coffey will pilot the No. 97 Traffic Grafix/NAI Racing/GTE Engineering Ferrari 458 Challenge as he looks to extend his success into another highly-competitive class. Coffey made his SGT debut in last year’s season finale at Circuit of The Americas, finishing second.
Sebring Success
Sebring is home turf for Lee Saunders, the Lakeland, Florida native and driver of the No. 84 LandSearch LLC Dodge Viper, who returns to Sebring as the winningest driver in the field at the venue with seven-career victories.
Saunders also holds the record for the most SGT class wins in Trans Am history with 24, underscoring his long-standing dominance and consistency in the class. Saunders has already experienced success at the track this year, as he opened the season in SCCA Majors competition with a second-place finish in GT2 Race 1 and a third-place result in GT2 Race 2.
Tovo Twins
In addition to logging valuable laps at last month’s pre-season test, twins Ethan and Jackson Tovo head into this weekend’s race at Sebring with impressive recent success at the historic circuit. Ethan Tovo swept both GT2 races during the SCCA Majors event at Sebring in January, showcasing strong pace and racecraft on the demanding track.
Jackson Tovo also stood on the podium, finishing second in GT2 Race 2 to complete a standout weekend for the brothers. With momentum already on their side at Sebring, the Tovos arrive poised to carry that speed into competition this weekend.
Barrett’s Three-Car Team
For the first time since 2017, Stanton Barrett is set to make his return to the Trans Am Series, this time leading an ambitious three-car effort in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series.
Barrett previously made two starts in the TA class, highlighted by an impressive fourth-place finish at Sebring in 2017, and now comes back with renewed focus as both driver and owner of Stanton Barrett Motorsports.
The expanded program will feature Barrett in the No. 88 Acellis Nutritionals/8T8 Elite Energy Ford Mustang, alongside Rafa Matos (No. 12 Concord American Flagpole/CNA Ford Mustang) and newcomer Graham Jacobson (No. 19 Hertz Car Sales Chevrolet Camaro), creating a formidable lineup.
Matos, a proven force in TA2 competition, returns as the winningest driver in series history with 26 victories and a record three championships, bringing veteran experience and championship pedigree to the team’s 2026 campaign.
Silver Hare Pair
Silver Hare Racing returns to action this weekend, unloading a pair of entries for the Sebring season opener. This year, the organization led by Maurice and Laura Hull will field Young Guns Noah Harmon and Tanner Reif. Harmon, who finished eighth in the points last season, will once again pilot the No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro, while newcomer Reif will get behind the wheel of the No. 75 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro for his Trans Am debut.
Although he is new to TA2, Las Vegas-native Reif has extensive stock car experience, competing in the ARCA Menards Series, as well as ARCA East and West, in addition to several other West Coast-based series.
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