Dyson Takes Second in Hard-Fought Sonoma Trans Am Series Return

April 28, 2025

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (April 28, 2025) – Coming back from injuries that put him out of action for two months, Chris Dyson celebrated his return to the Trans Am by Pirelli series with a race-long battle with eventual winner Paul Menard. Dyson finished Sunday’s 100-mile contest at the physically demanding twisty 2.52-mile Sonoma Raceway right on Menard’s bumper (official margin 0.291 seconds) after a late-race caution period negated the small-but-important performance advantage Dyson’s #16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang enjoyed as the 40-lap contest headed for its conclusion.

“I can’t be disappointed today,” Dyson said following his runner-up finish. “It was only a bit over a week ago I was (medically) cleared and felt good to go. I worked super hard in training in the time available to get ready and I’m pleased with my effort all weekend. It was a great race with Paul. I’m proud of the team; they gave me a great chance to shine again.”

The six laps of slow yellow-flag running, following a major crash with Adam Andretti and David Pintaric gave Menard the breather he needed to cool off his tires before the four-lap all-out sprint to the finish. Menard, the 2024 series champion following Dyson’s three-year title run, admitted “Chris was better on long runs, but we were better on short ones.”

Saturday’s qualifying session was cancelled because of heavy rain. The grid for the race was set based on practice times, with Menard on pole and Dyson alongside him and for Sunday’s race the track was still damp when the green flag waved.

“It was tricky conditions, but if we hadn’t gotten that yellow there near the end I think I’d have gotten him,” said Dyson, who set the race’s fastest lap and never trailed Menard by more than 1.5 seconds. “He was coming back to me. Still, it was hard racing the whole way, and I am so happy to be back racing and to be up front battling. If you had asked me a couple weeks ago I would have been pretty hard-pressed to say I'd even be out here today. So I am super grateful.”

Next Up, Laguna Seca

This weekend Dyson will have a rematch with Menard, as well as Andretti and Sonoma’s third-place finisher Tomy Drissi as the Trans Am series completes its West Coast swing with a return after a two-year absence to the Monterey Peninsula’s Laguna Seca Raceway, 150 miles south of Sonoma.

On the way to his second Trans Am title in 2022 Dyson won the series’ most recent race at Laguna Seca from the pole. He also won the pole there in 2021.

"Laguna in a Trans Am car is just a thrill. With the horsepower we have, the corners come at you pretty quickly. It's going to be a shorter (two-day) weekend than normal National events, so I'm hopeful we can use some of our old lessons to hit the ground running, and have another great race. 
For more on Chris Dyson Racing.

Laguna Seca Schedule
Qualifying takes place Saturday, May 3, 2:40 PM – 2:55 PM PT (5:40 PM – 5:55 PM ET)
The 100-mile race takes the green flag Sunday, May 4, at 1:20 PM PT (4:35 PM ET)

Broadcast Schedule 
The race will be live-streamed on both SpeedTour.TV and the SpeedTour TV YouTube channel, as well as on SPEED SPORT 1, which can be watched on Amazon Prime Video, Roku, PlutoTV, Sling Freestream and more. For more information on how to watch, click here.

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