Peterson grabs TA win while Lawrence gets first career TA2 victory

 

When the dust settled at Road Atlanta, Doug Peterson finished first in the TA class, claiming his second victory of the year.  Peterson and the #87 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet Corvette started alongside Tony Ave, who started on pole, and kept pace with the defending champion through the first lap, passing him during the second.  Peterson would hold that lead through the remainder of the race, and was able to fend off furious challenges from Amy Ruman and Tony Ave after the restart from a full course yellow.  Peterson was pleased with his win, especially his performance on the 37th lap restart.

 

“It was an awesome run, I drove as hard as I could for as long as I could.  We had a bit of an issue when the rain came through, which was mainly due to cold tires from the restart—tires you’ve already done 30 laps on, and they were pretty gone.  So we had cold tires that were worn on an already greasy track that was wet, but we pulled it off and I couldn’t be happier”

 

Ave and Ruman held their own positions as well after the restart.  Ave and the #4 Lamers/PME Engines/RPX Chevrolet Corvette would end up in second and also put down the fastest lap of the race at 1:21.679.  The two time defending champion had a solid showing for the weekend with a first place finish in the first race and a second in the finale. 

 

Ruman and the #23 McNichols/Goodyear/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette would claim third, capping off the season with two podium finishes.  Ruman was unfortunate to spin out in the first lap of the race and was the victim when fellow driver Bob Monette spun in her path, colliding with the #23 car.  Ruman was able to recover though and was in contention for first from the restart on. 

 

In TA2, Cameron Lawrence got his first ever career TA2 win with the #11 Ctek Battery Chargers/Allstar/Motorstate Chevrolet Camaro.  Lawrence was pleased to finally come out on top after struggling with mechanical issues earlier in the year.  That all changed when the 20 year old joined Miller Racing under the guidance of Mike Miller and teammate Pete Halsmer.  From that point on Lawrence has been competitive in all of his races this year, finishing second during Saturday’s race as well as in round seven at Brainerd International Raceway. 

 

Lawrence started behind Saturday’s winner Kurt Roehrig and the #04 Roehrig Enders Suspension Chevrolet Camaro, but was able to pass #04 car during the eight lap of the race and hold on to the position for victory, despite strong challenges from Pete Halsmer in the #12 Ctek Battery Chargers/Allstar/Motorstate Chervolet Camaro and defending champion Bob Stretch in the #06 Fix Rim Mobile Wheel Repair Chevrolet Camaro.  Lawrence was, in a way, relieved to finally have ended up on the podium. 

 

“It’s relieving.  We’ve been going at this all season long and we’ve had bad luck here and there, so it’s good to have everything finally go your way once.  It was great, Bob (Stretch) is always fast and so is Pete (Halsmer) and they really put some pressure on me early in the race but you just have to keep driving and they had some problems, but I just did what I had to do.  The crew did a great job patching up the car after yesterday and it looks beautiful, and you know a fast car is a pretty car.”

 

Halsmer would end up finishing second while Stretch claimed third in the TA2 class. 

 

The Trans Am series will formally announce its champions tonight, Sunday November 4, during its awards banquet at 7:45 p.m. EST.