Back to Story List

Gregg and Lawrence victorious at Virginia International Raceway

September 29, 2013

Simon Gregg finally captured his first victory of the 2013 Trans Am Season today, Sunday, September 29, 2013, at Virginia International Raceway during the Trans Am 100, Presented by World Information Systems. The victory was the culmination of an impressive outing for Simon Gregg at VIR—he led every practice session, set the fast lap in qualifying and led every lap of the race today behind the wheel of the #1 Derhaag Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette.

In TA2, Cameron Lawrence, in the #11 Ctek/Motorstate/NorthStar Battery/Bay Investments/ Out of the Life Chevrolet Camaro walked away victorious for the sixth time this year, capturing the 2013 TA2 Championship in his wake—the result of a dominant performance throughout the entirety of the season, Lawrence’s Championship also set the record for the youngest ever Trans Am Champion, surpassing Wally Dallenbach Jr.’s prior record at the age of 22, Lawrence is only 21 years old.

“I don’t think it has really set in yet,” Lawrence said. “It’s surreal, but last year when we joined Miller Racing I knew they were the team to help us capture a Championship, and that’s what we did. Mr. Miller and the entire crew always provide a great car and we went out and took care of business.”

The session began with Gregg on pole, followed by TA points leader Doug Peterson, in the #87 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet Corvette, and Amy Ruman in the #23 McNichols Company Chevrolet Corvette. As the course went green, Ruman raced forward to challenge the #87 of Peterson, overtaking him before the completion of the first lap.

During the third lap of the race, Ruman went off course due to gearbox failure, causing a ripple effect through the TA leader pack, as the #86 Baucom Motorsports/Roadraceparts.com Ford Mustang of John Baucom and the #87 of Doug Peterson were forced off track to avoid collisions. The #86 and #87 continued on their way but the #23 of Ruman remained off track, unable to restart.

In the wake of the incident, the #57 Kryderacing/WRP Investments Chevrolet Corvette of David Pintaric moved up to second place followed by the #36 Stumpf Ford/McMahon Group Ford Mustang of Cliff Ebben in third.

In TA2, Lawrence started on pole followed by Robert Huffmaster, behind the wheel of the #27 Kryderacing/VirSec Chevrolet Camaro, and the #33 Pinnacle Autosports Chevrolet Camaro of Gregg Rodgers. The TA2 race remained largely unaffected by the incident in TA, and the top three continued in that order until lap 11 when Huffmaster suffered a steering pump failure—the latest in a long line of mechanical failures that have maligned otherwise stellar performances from the TA2 Rookie of the Year contender.

During lap 18 of the 101.37-mile race, the field went under a full course yellow, the result of the #57 of David Pintaric being stuck off course in a precarious position near turn one. His off allowed the Tony Ave Racing duo of Peterson and Paul Fix, in the #4 StopFlex/BeebeRacng/PME/Lamers/ Chevrolet Corvette, to move up into second and third positions, respectively.

After the restart on lap 22, the race continued with Peterson continuously pushing Gregg for the lead, but like much of the weekend the defending Champion was nearly flawless in his run, fending off the points leader and powering the #1 Corvette across the finish line for his first victory of the year.

“I’m very happy with the result,” Gregg said. “This season hasn’t been ideal, but I’ve ramped it up and it’s good to get some momentum going into the final two races at Road Atlanta and Daytona. We’re down, but I’m going to give it all I have till the end of the season.”

“VIR is one of my favorite tracks,” Gregg continued. “It has everything you want in a course, long straightaways and plenty of technical points all along the track. It’s a true rollercoaster of a track.”

Following Gregg across the finish line were Doug Peterson and Paul Fix, holding their positions from the restart to the podium. The second place finish continued Peterson’s podium streak—Peterson and the #87 are yet to miss a podium during the 2013 Season. Peterson remains in first in the TA point standings in pursuit of his own Trans Am Championship with 160 points to Gregg’s 116.

In TA2, Cameron Lawrence crossed the finish line and made Trans Am history, becoming the TA2 Champion for the 2013 Season. Following him, Gregg Rodgers came in second after spending most of the race battling back and forth with Tom Sheehan and the #97 Damon Insulation/FixRim Mobile Chevrolet Camaro. Rodgers was able to hold on to the position, while Sheehan came in third, his first podium placement on the year.

The podium placement is Rodger’s third of the season and third in a row, the continuation of a hot streak for the TA2 driver, a streak that has powered him to third in TA2 points, with 83, just five off of 2012 TA2 Champion Bob Stretch, who currently rests in second.

In TA3, American Muscle, Steve Kent, Jr., started in first position behind the wheel of the #17 XLR8Diesel Trucks/SKS Equipment Ford Mustang. Starting in second and third were Rich Jones, in the #37 JOMAC Bodies & Crances/ Deb’s Peppers Ford Mustang, and Rob Bodle in the #16 Caribbean Food Delights Ford Mustang.

Despite plenty of turmoil and competition, all three drivers crossed the finish line in that order—with Kent leading the pack by a large margin. Mickey Mills and the #43 Mills Racing BMW M3 won the TA3 International Group as well. Rob Bodle’s third place finish was his fourth podium of the year and closes the gap between himself and points leader and defending TA3 Champion Chuck Cassaro. Bodle currently has 81 points to Cassaro’s 102.

The Trans Am Series will now head south to Road Atlanta for Round 9 of the 2013 Season on Sunday, November 3, 2013.

As always, keep up with all things Trans Am at www.gotransam.com, on Facebook a www.facebook.com/gotransam and on Twitter @gotransam.