Peterson, Lawrence extend point lead with victories at Road America

 

After being hassled by rain earlier in the day, the 34-car Trans Am field was able to take to a dry track after the storms had subsided.  Peterson and Lawrence each started in first position in their classes and come the green flag they were both challenged by competitors.

 

Peterson, in the #87 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet Corvette, was immediately challenged by the #23 McNichols Company Chevrolet Corvette of Amy Ruman and the #36 Stumpf Ford/McMahon Group Ford Mustang of Cliff Ebben.  They each pushed Peterson and the #87 car multiple times throughout the first few laps; however, after the #23 of Ruman entered the pits after just one lap, Peterson was able to focus on Ebben until the track went under a full course yellow. 

 

The #11 Ctek/Motorstate/NorthStar Battery Chevrolet Camaro of Lawrence, on the other hand, made way for the #98 Wheels America/Fix Rim Mobile Chevrolet Camaro driven by Bob Stretch after the two-time defending TA2 Champion made one of his trademark fast starts.  

 

The race remained under yellow for three laps of the 4.048-mile circuit, and continued under green until the twelfth lap of the race when the course went under yellow once again when the #23 of Ruman made contact with the #3 Hamilton Safe & Security Systems Chevrolet Camaro of Kenny Bupp, causing both cars to go off in an unsafe location.  During those green laps before the yellow, little changed toward the top of both classes, with only the #1 Gregg Motorsports Corvette of defending Champion Simon Gregg racing side-by-side with Ebben.

 

After a series of yellows, the race began to take its final shape towards the end of the 20th lap.  While Peterson was still in the lead, Ebben continued to hold second as the #31 Jamison Eng/UPRacing.com/1stClassAutobody Chevrolet Corvette of Kyle Kelley made its way into the top three.

 

The TA class would hold that shape for the remainder of the race, finishing in that order with Doug Peterson and the #87 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet Corvette finishing first overall and in his class. 

 

“Cliff gave me a hard time for awhile,” Peterson said.  “He’s always a good driver and he probably knows this track better than almost anyone, so I was definitely hustling out there.   But when it comes down to it, these cars are very easy to drive when set up correctly; and Tony Ave made sure of that.  I’m glad that we were able to extend this win streak, for both myself and Tony Ave Racing.”

 

The victory extends Peterson’s points lead over defending Champion Simon Gregg and his victory is the fourth on the year and fifth for Tony Ave Racing, as the team continues its dominance in the TA class, sweeping all Trans Am races so far in 2013. 

 

Cliff Ebben finished second in TA and continued his mastery of Road America, a course that has seen him land on the podium three times in his last four appearances and culminated in two victories and two second place finishes.  

 

Kyle Kelley finished third and came away with his first ever top five finish and podium appearance in this, his fourth Trans Am start. 

 

In TA2, Lawrence and Stretch battled back and forth through restart after restart, each trying to out drive the other.  Lawrence managed to pass Stretch while working the 14th lap of the race.  Lawrence then fended off the defending Champion on two restarts and managed to build up enough space to maintain his lead on the way to his third TA2 victory of the year. 

 

“Trying to keep up with Bob restart after restart is one of the toughest things about racing with him,” Lawrence said.  “When he gets close enough, it’s hard to keep him behind you.  We don’t like him being that close, so you just have to drive hard and try to build up a buffer between the cars.”

 

 “This is a good win for us,” Lawrence continued.  “We brought a whole new setup to the track, and it didn’t quite work.  So we were struggling over the course of the week; so knowing that Bob (Stretch) is always fast here we went ahead and put the car back to the way it was, knowing that we’d have a fast racecar. It’s great to get another victory though.” 

 

Lawrence would also set a new TA2 track record during his victory, timing in at 2.18.738 and averaging 105.038 miles per hour around the track.  

 

Stretch would finish second, his third podium placement in a row, and remains second in the point standings, behind only Lawrence.

 

In third was the #12 Ctek/Motorstate/NorthStar Chevrolet Camaro of Pete Halsmer, Lawrence’s teammate.  Halsmer finished third in TA2 for the third race in a row, as Miller Racing has held two podium spots in those three races.  His consistency has earned him third position in the TA2 points.

 

In TA3, Chuck Cassaro led the way for the America Muscle group, running a clean and consistent race.  The victory is the second of the year for the defending TA3 Champion and, while happy with his victory, he set the tone with a heartfelt dedication. 

 

“I came here with one goal,” Cassaro said. “And that was to get a victory to dedicate to a close family friend’s son who unfortunately lost his life.  I want to dedicate this win to Benjamin McCarter who recently passed away—this one is for him.”  

 

Tim Grey, in the #60 Ryan Companies US Inc Porsche GT3 Cupp 997, came away with a victory in the International group in TA3, landing on the podium for the second time this year. 

 

After a lengthy hiatus, Trans Am will return to the Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course for Round 6 of the 2013 Trans Am Series to once again race alongside the NASCAR Nationwide Series on August 17, 2013. 

 

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