Iron Man Sheehan Award in Daytona for Damon Racing TA2 Driver
November 18, 2019
Daytona, FL - November 18, 2019 - A tough year for Tom Sheehan, the man behind the wheel of the No. 97 LTK Insulation Technologies Ford Mustang in the TA2 Class of the 2019 Trans Am presented by Pirelli Championships, was rewarded at the Honors Gala when the New Hampshire based pilot was awarded the ‘Iron Man’ prize. It was a fitting tribute for Tom, always such a tough competitor, and particularly after a race that promised so much but ended in bitter disappointment.
The season has undoubtedly been one of highs and lows for Tom and the Damon Racing team, who began the year adapting to the new Ford Mustang on the Mike Cope platform, having previously been running a Chevrolet Camaro. Nevertheless, and in spite of mixed results over the year, Tom went into the final weekend of the season in a highly credible P10 out of the 65 drivers to have competed over the course of the year - a testament to the tenacity he has shown in often very trying circumstances in the most competitive of all the TA Classes.
The weekend at Daytona began well for Tom, who demonstrated competitiveness in first testing with a time of 1:52:611 on lap 3 of the session for P6. He lowered that to 1:51:838 in official practice before qualifying the Mustang in 1:51:437 for P9 on the grid.
The race started great for Tom, who progressed with an excellent start getting up to P5 by lap 7. However, 2019 has been characterized by some exceptional bad luck, and the curse of the year was struck again when Tom was forced to retire with a tire puncture.
Speaking after the day's events Tom reflected, "It's been an incredibly tough season, and today's race was no exception. I want to thank everyone on the team, who've been incredible all year. Tonight's award is a consolation, and I want to thank Trans Am and Mike Cope Racing Enterprises. We will be back next year looking to improve and be up with the pacemakers all season."
Building on the 2019 roster of events, the 2020 Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli schedule features a 12-race schedule for the National Championship that uses outstanding venues and boasts healthy consistency year-on-year. The opening rounds of the 2020 season are very similar to 2019. It's the 54th year of Trans Am and the 50th anniversary of the historic 1970 race season. For 2020 as part of the SpeedTour event featuring Trans Am and SVRA February 29 - March 1. The multi-class series will then head to the always competitive Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on March 28 - 29.
Keep your calendars marked for the CBS Sports coverage on December 15 at 1:00 p.m. ET as part of the 2019 Trans Am presented by Pirelli season review.
Here is a taster of the high octane action: https://youtu.be/f_oNRnbTS5M
Keep up with Trans Am driver Tom Sheehan on social media – Facebook page is Damon Racing; Instagram is TomSheehanTA97 and Twitter give us a follow @TomTA2_97.
For more information on LTK Insulation Technologies please visit the website online at https://ltkinsulationtechnologies.com/.
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