Sheehan Climbs Field in Impossible Circumstances at Road Atlanta TA2 Race

March 27, 2022

At Round 3 of the 2022 Trans Am presented by Pirelli Championship season, we were reminded exactly why New Hampshire's Tom Sheehan won the Ironman award in 2019. A tough and attritional Road Atlanta TA2 race on Saturday saw the never say die driver of the No. 97 LTK Insulation Technologies Damon Racing Ford Mustang lose fourth gear retention on just the second lap. This gave way to all sorts of problems keeping control of the car for virtually the entire race, so his finishing position of P13 was more remarkable in the circumstances.

Tom qualified the LTK Mustang in P27 from 43 starters, so it was an admirable effort to climb 14 places in the race. We spoke to the granite tough wheelman on his exit from the car and he explained what had happened, “It was challenging out there today. The ignition switch bumped itself off and on the second lap. I was able to figure it out at the Turn 5 exit. The car wouldn't stay in fourth gear, so I just had to hold it in. I was one-handed, just hanging on. Into Turn 10A it was rough. I needed a lot of race track. I just did the best I could.”

He went on, “We were alright on the back side of the race track and on the [front] straight. After the early big caution I had to hold it in fourth gear, it wasn’t a sure shift with the busted gear. It didn’t always engage, I was on the chip a bit."

Further mechanical issues ensued towards the end of the race, “In the end at the last restart we lost the belt off the power steering and that drives the water pump. It was a busy day all around. I just muscled it for the last lap. We're going to take a break. The guys have been on the road for a long time. We are all working together looking ahead. We'll get back to Lime Rock and we're certainly going to do some testing and try to figure out what’s next."

Tom Sheehan and the LTK Damon Racing team won't be making the long trip out West to California. Next up after some well-deserved rest and recuperation is the annual trip to Lime Rock Park at the end of May.

Watch the full replay of the race online here:

https://youtube.com/c/TheTransAmSeries

CBS Sports Network Air Times

This weekend’s races from Road Atlanta will air on CBS Sports Network on Sunday, April 3 at 5:30 p.m. ET.

For more information on LTK Insulation Technologies please visit the website online at https://ltkinsulationtechnologies.com/.

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