Team SLR: Smith Takes First Career TA2 Podium with Mosack a Strong Fourth, Marks Charging to Seventh, Sawalich Earning 13th and Green Finishing 16th
July 5, 2022
Date: July 3, 2022
Event: Ryan Companies present The Trans Am 100s (Round 8 of 12)
Series: Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli
Division: TA2
Location: Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Layout: 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course
Format: 25 laps or 75 minutes
Weather: Sunny, mid-70s
Race Winner: Brent Crews of Nitro Motorsports
TeamSLR:
? Sammy Smith – Started 7th, Finished 2nd (Running, completed 25/25 laps)
? Connor Mosack – Started 3rd, Finished 4th (Running, completed 25/25 laps)
? Justin Marks – Started 29th, Finished 7th (Running, completed 25/25 laps)
? William Sawalich – Started 14th, Finished 13th (Running, completed 25/25 laps)
? Austin Green – Started 2nd, Finished 16th (Running, completed 25/25 laps)
Notes:
? This was Smith’s first TA2 podium and it came in just his second career TA2 start.
? Marks won the ChillOut Systems “Keep Cool Move of the Race” Award as he climbed from his 29th-place starting spot to finish seventh.
Sammy Smith, No. 18 TeamSLR/M1 Racecars:
“We had a very good weekend overall – great speed in practice and in qualifying, knowing we had room to improve when race time came. We had a decent start and fell back to ninth, but then started working our way up the field to finish second in the end. The guys at TeamSLR put me in a great car and if we had a couple more laps, I feel pretty sure we could’ve secured the win.”
Connor Mosack, Driver No. 28 First Supply/Interstate Foam & Supply/Nic Tailor Custom Fit Underwear/TeamSLR/M1 Racecars Ford Mustang:
“I felt like we had a fourth-place car by the time we reached the checkered, but if I had played that last restart better, I feel we could’ve ended up with a podium position. Nashville is coming up next month and I’m confident we’ll run better there. It was great to have a company like First Supply on the car for this race and I cannot thank the TeamSLR guys enough for the preparation they did for this weekend.”
Justin Marks, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing/TeamSLR/M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
“I’m just really happy with the effort of the team. I feel they worked harder on my car than any other this weekend to get it right for race time after encountering some issues in practice and qualifying. We got on track and passed a lot of cars, turning our not-so-pretty qualifying run into a top-10 finish in the race. The car underneath me let me drive very aggressively, which helped our result. I can’t wait to get back into a TeamSLR Trans Am TA2 car again.”
William Sawalich, No. 8 Starkey-Audibel/TeamSLR/M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
“The race was good. We had a very fast car underneath us and I cannot thank everybody at TeamSLR enough for providing me with such a car. I ran off the track a few times and I felt like everyone was driving a bit over their head, myself included. We ended up in 13th and I felt if we hadn’t been caught up in a big incident at turn five, we could’ve finished higher. I cannot wait to be back in the TA2 car next month at Nashville.”
Austin Green, No. 96 Jagemann/QPS/Fields Racing/M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
“The weekend started out strong with us qualifying second, which is something I will be keeping in my book, especially with my lack of seat time in these cars and at Road America. This was my first race of the year and, after qualifying, it felt like the weekend was already set. We ended up getting a penalty early on, which was a mistake on my part and set us back, but we did the best we could to recover positions. I want to give a huge thank you to everyone at TeamSLR, as well as Jagemann Stamping, QPS Employment Group, and everyone who was able to make this weekend happen.”
Next Up:
TA2 competitors in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli have a month-long reprieve before heading to the streets of downtown Nashville, Tennessee, Aug. 5-6 for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, an event headlined by the NTT IndyCar Series. The race weekend begins with a pair of practice sessions on the 2.17-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit on Friday, Aug. 5. Qualifying takes place on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 6 with the TA2 race going green later that afternoon. Coverage will be livestreamed via SpeedTourTV.com and the SpeedTourTV page on YouTube.
About TeamSLR:
TeamSLR (Scott Lagasse Racing) competes fulltime in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli in a multifaceted effort that includes dedicated entries in the TA2 division, customer programs, driver coaching and car construction. Its history dates back to 1985 and covers a wide spectrum of motorsports, including NASCAR, IMSA, SCCA, ARCA and ASA. TeamSLR is a family-owned organization run by Scott Lagasse Sr., and Scott Lagasse Jr., The father-and-son duo have combined to win more than 100 races and seven championships across a variety of series and styles of racecars, from paved ovals to road courses to dirt tracks. For more information, please visit us online at www.TeamSLR.com, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram and on LinkedIn.
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