Paul Menard Sets New Qualifying Record, Wins First Pole of 2025 at Sebring

February 22, 2025

Paul Tracy Fastest in XGT, Joshua Carlson Tops SGT, Chris Coffey First in GT, Jon DeGaynor Best in GT1

SEBRING, Fla. (February 22, 2025) – Practice and qualifying have concluded for the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli at the Sebring SpeedTour at Sebring International Raceway. Paul Menard in the No. 3 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford Mustang will lead the field to green for the first time in 2025 after setting a new qualifying track record of 1:57.629.   

"We have a new partner with Pittsburgh Paints and Stains, they came on in January, so I'm really excited to get on the front row, get a pole, and a new track record for those guys," said Menard. "It's a really cool, different design; I like the paint splashes and all that. The car itself is the same as last year, different livery, but a super-fast car again. Over the off-season the car was totally rebuilt, so it had some bugs to work through in the test sessions and then again in practice, but we kind of put it all together there for qualifying. The track was slippery, must have been from the TA2 race, so the track didn't have the grip that I was expecting, but still good enough for the pole and a track record."

Paul Tracy (No. 10 Race Cars For You Innovation IRC GT) was quickest in XGT, while Joshua Carlson (No. 36 Enseva/Diercks Ltd./TC Fab Ford Mustang) topped SGT. Chris Coffey (No. 97 Traffic Grafix/Chill Out Motorsports Maserati MC GT4) was fastest in the GT class, and Jon DeGaynor (No. 04 Speed Dream’n Racing Ford Mustang) was the sole competitor in GT1 Challenge.

The TA/GT race will be contested tomorrow at 10:50 a.m. ET. It will be streamed LIVE on Trans Am’s YouTube channel, @TheTransAmSeries, with coverage beginning at 10:15 a.m. ET, and broadcast LIVE on SPEED SPORT 1, with coverage beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET. An encore presentation will air on SPEED SPORT 1 at 10:00 p.m. ET. For more information on where you can watch SPEED SPORT 1, click here.

TA Qualifying Top Five:
1. Paul Menard, No. 3 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford Mustang (1:57.629)
2. Chris Dyson, No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang (1:57.729)
3. Adam Andretti, No. 17 Top Liner Chevrolet Camaro (1:58.624)
4. Tomy Drissi, No. 8 Trench Shoring Co./Motul Chevrolet Camaro (1:58.977)
5. Brent Crews, No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (2:00.189)

XGT Qualifying:
1. Paul Tracy, No. 10 Race Cars For You Innovation IRC GT (2:02.699)
2. Danny Lowry, No. 42 Bennett/BridgeHaul/Pitboxes.com Mercedes AMG GT4 (2:05.261)
3. Billy Griffin, No. 14 Griffin Auto Care Mercedes AMG GT3 (2:05.337)
4. Kaylee Bryson, No. 02 Logical Systems Inc. Chevrolet Corvette (2:06.047)
5. Mustafa Bakir, No. 68 Mustafa Bakir Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R (2:12.719)

SGT Qualifying:
1. Joshua Carlson, No. 36 Enseva/Diercks Ltd./TC Fab Ford Mustang (2:07.925)
2. Lee Saunders, No. 84 Landsearch LLC Dodge Viper (2:11.463)
3. Patrick Utt, No. 49 RaceQuip/Driven Racing Oil Chevrolet Camaro (2:13.359)

GT Qualifying:
1. Chris Coffey, No. 97 Traffic Grafix/Chill Out Motorsports Maserati MC GT4 (2:12.973)
2.  Mike Fitzpatrick, No. 89 89x Motorsports Aston Martin GT4 (2:13.592)
3. Jeff Lindstrom, No. 41 Griffin Auto Care Ford Mustang (2:14.542)
4. Colin Cohen, No. 38 Norwood Auto Italia/Traffic Grafix Maserati MC GT4 (2:18.683)

GT1 Qualifying:
1. Jon DeGaynor, No. 04 Speed Dream’n Racing Ford Mustang (2:07.819)

Full qualifying results can be found here.

TA Practice Top Five:
1. Chris Dyson, No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang (1:57.317)
2. Brent Crews, No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (157.426)
3. Paul Menard, No. 3 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford Mustang (1:57.744)
4. Adam Andretti, No. 17 Top Liner Chevrolet Camaro (1:57.880)
5. Tomy Drissi, No. 8 Trench Shoring Co./Motul Chevrolet Camaro (1:58.654)

XGT Practice:
1. Paul Tracy, No. 10 Race Cars For You Innovation IRC GT (2:02.155)
2. Billy Griffin, No. 14 Griffin Auto Care Mercedes AMG GT3 (2:04.399)
3. Danny Lowry, No. 42 Bennett/BridgeHaul/Pitboxes.com Mercedes AMG GT4 (2:04.847)
4. Mustafa Bakir, No. 68 Mustafa Bakir Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R (2:15.596)
5. Kaylee Bryson, No. 02 Logical Systems Inc. Chevrolet Corvette (No Time)

SGT Practice:
1. Joshua Carlson, No. 36 Enseva/Diercks Ltd./TC Fab Ford Mustang (2:06.915)
2. Lee Saunders, No. 84 Landsearch LLC Dodge Viper (2:10.944)
3. Patrick Utt, No. 49 RaceQuip/Driven Racing Oil Chevrolet Camaro (2:12.500)

GT Practice:
1.  Mike Fitzpatrick, No. 89 89x Motorsports Aston Martin GT4 (2:14.247)
2. Chris Coffey, No. 97 Traffic Grafix/Chill Out Motorsports Maserati MC GT4 (2:14.404)
3. Jeff Lindstrom, No. 41 Griffin Auto Care Ford Mustang (2:15.569)
4. Colin Cohen, No. 38 Norwood Auto Italia/Traffic Grafix Maserati MC GT4 (2:17.859)

GT1 Practice:
1. Jon DeGaynor, No. 04 Speed Dream’n Racing Ford Mustang (2:05.383)

Full practice results can be found here.