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Elkhart Lake, WI - August 9, 2020 - A terrific second consecutive win in the Xtreme GT Class for Ken Thwaits and the Showtime Motorsports Franklin Road Apparel team at Road America means that the experienced and innovative team principal driver stays on top of the XGT Drivers Championship. The 34 points Ken bagged at the checkered flag puts up 127 points for the season and in pole position for the title as the 2020 Trans Am presented by Pirelli season moves forward.
Ken's car was fastest in early testing with the No. 5 Franklin Road Apparel Audi R8 LMS GT3 Ultra posting a very quick time of 2:10:055 with Mike Skeen at the wheel. During the next test Ken was quickest with a 2:12.15. In qualifying, Ken was just edged out by rival Erich Joiner in the Porsche 911 GT3 but with the two so close - a tight wheel-to-wheel race was in prospect. Both drivers were faster then four of the TA Class cars.
When the race got underway on Saturday morning, Showtime teammate Josh Hill departed the track at Turn 3 of the second lap following interference. It's the kind of thing that can happen in motorsports and fortunately Josh was fine from the incident. It left Ken and Erich to do battle again and while Erich was ahead after 12 laps, his sudden retirement opened the door for Ken who duly took full advantage and guided the Audi home for maximum points.
"These are long races, and anything can happen," Ken said after the race. "All I was trying to do was run as hard as fast as I could and hang around until the end to bring it home. It wasn't a very tiring race. I am fresh as a daisy and can do it again if someone asked me to!”
Of the overall experience at Road America he added, "It's been a great weekend. It seems like we're residents here now we've been here so long. It's been great because we've had a lot of track time and we had a plan coming into this race and we came away with the win today." Of his chief rival in the XGT Class who exited before the end of the race he went on, "I feel bad for Erich Joiner. I've lost races that way too but I'll take it. I'll take the W today!"
Ken's comments on the Showtime Motorsports No. 15 Audi after the race, "It's a shame for Josh. He got pushed wide by some of the SGT cars on the second lap and met the tire wall but it's only body damage [to the car] and he's okay which is the main thing."
While the full live streaming experience wasn't available at Road America, users of the Trans Am by Pirelli Racing App were able to gain exclusive access to the new beta test feature. By logging onto the app, fans were able to access five on-boards that were live streamed from the driver's point of view. Ken Thwaits was one of five drivers to have cameras on-board and it provided some spectacular angles for the action.
Download the new Trans Am App and watch the race events live from the Google PlayStore or Apple, click here.
Visit the team’s website for Showtime Motorsports, showtimemotorsports.net.
Learn more about the Showtime Motorsports team partner, Franklin Road Apparel, at franklinroad.com and keep up to date with the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli at gotransam.com. #GoTransAm
Check out the Showtime Motorsports Facebook page and @ShowtimeMotorsp on Instagram!
About Showtime Motorsports:
The Showtime Motorsports brand includes Ken Thwait's racing team and racecars, and an outstanding classic Camaro collection. Showtime Motorsports brings together a dynamic staff who employ diverse talents and share a passion for cars, racing and caring for clients like they are our own family members.
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