Cameron Lawrence rebounds from qualifying with victory at NJMP
June 6, 2014
(Team Release) June 2, 2014: Cameron Lawrence has been a very consistent qualifier in his Trans-Am career that has spanned almost 3 years. That was not the case at the most recent event at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Sunday when a car issue relegated him to a 7th starting position in the TA2 class. Lawrence, however, was not fazed by the setback.
"The Miller Racing team has consistently given me a fast car and reliability has been amazing," Lawrence noted. "We had a small problem with the car for qualifying, but this team will fix it and give me great car for the race. I just have to do my job and get it to the front. My team is the best and will give me what I need."
The race started smoothly and Lawrence was able to pick up one position on the first lap. His car was indeed fast and after three laps he was up to second place behind pole-sitter Adam Andretti. The two would remain locked together for the next several laps until the first caution flag was thrown due to a car stopped on the track.
The restart was uneventful and Andretti and Lawrence continued their race, still nose to tail and at times side by side, for several more laps with Andretti showing the way. However, just before the half way point, lapped traffic temporarily slowed Andretti and Lawrence was able to get by.
Andretti quickly closed on Lawrence and the race was again on. Andretti was never more than a second or two behind and waiting for an opportunity to retake the lead. Before that could occur, however, the second and final caution of the day was displayed due to a catastrophic engine failure by one of the TA cars immediately in front of Lawrence. Lawrence got through without incident and held the TA2 lead during the caution period.
The final restart was more exciting with cars going three wide into the first turn. Despite the mayhem, Lawrence stayed ahead of the determined Andretti with the third place car of fast Kevin Poitras close behind. Despite having to deal with lapped traffic, Lawrence was able to hold off Andretti and took home the victory with a two second margin at the finish. Andretti's teammate AJ Henriksen finished third, with the Mike Cope Racing's duo of Brian LaCroix and Kevin Poitras rounding out the top five.
After the race, Lawrence was elated to bring home the win and extend his points lead.
"I really wanted to get this win today for my team,” said Lawrence. “We knew we had a car capable of winning if I could keep it clean and save the tires for the end. Andretti raced me hard and towards the end, I was concerned I had used up too much of my tires early on. The Miller Racing Camaro was just too good today and I was able to hold on for the win—this was a team victory!"
The win allowed Cameron Lawrence, the defending 2013 Trans-Am TA2 Champion, to extend his point total to 155 for the season. Andretti holds the second position with 125 points with Poitras in third with 115 points.
The Trans-Am Series moves to Road America for a June 21st race. Cameron Lawrence is the defending winner from this race last year. Live scoring and timing can be followed on GoTransAm.com.
