Tony Ave captures his first Trans Am win of the year, Peterson takes 2013 Championship

 

Ave would set a track record en route to his first victory of the 2013 Trans Am season, a 1:20.404, despite having spent most of the 2013 Season on the sidelines, managing Tony Ave Racing, showing little rust in his return.  He began the race on pole and never looked back, leading all 40 laps of the 101.6-mile race, most of which with Skeen right behind him, and being forced to defend his lead after a full-course yellow concluded with only two laps left in the race.

 

“It was a lot of fun to get back behind the wheel,” Ave said.  “I love this track and it’s always fun when someone like a Skeen shows up and you really have to run hard.  Skeen’s one of the best, if not the best, road racers in the country right now.  The victory was a real testament to our cars and our machinery, because I haven’t run a lot this year and Skeen is just an outstanding road racer.”

 

Mike Skeen would finish second in his Trans Am return, having not raced in the Series since 2011 in the TA2 class here at Road Atlanta; he finished only half a second down to Ave.   Cliff Ebben in the #36 Stumpf Ford/ McMahon Group Ford Mustang would come in third, his fourth podium placement of the year. 

 

Ave was not the only member of Tony Ave racing to celebrate at the conclusion of the race, as Doug Peterson, despite suffering his worst performance of the season due to power steering issues that forced him into the pits only one lap into the race, became the 2013 Trans Am Champion. 

 

“It really hasn’t set in,” Peterson said.  “We’ve had different little things go wrong with the car this weekend, and then in the race the power steering hose went, so while it’s not the finish I wanted, they say I won, so it may not seem like it but it’s a great accomplishment and I’ll get a chance to enjoy it later.”

 

Peterson’s Championship was the result of eight straight podium placements and a streak of remarkable consistency.  

 

“I learned the consistency from Simon (Gregg) last year.  Simon (the 2012 Trans Am Champion) was very methodical and made sure he finished each race, and I decided I could do that as well.  So I brought the throttle back a little bit, and the car has been excellent this year—last year we were sorting out a few things.  Now I just drive at my pace, at a speed I can go without making a mistake, and this is the result.”

 

TA2 featured a continuation of Cameron Lawrence’s six-race winning streak, a TA2 record.  He captured the 2013 title at Virginia International Raceway in Round 8, but still came out with the same drive and purpose as he always has this year.  He set a track record of 1:28.258 on his way to today’s victory. 

 

“We always want to win,” Lawrence said. “You don’t come out to a race or a track if you don’t want to win.  We still want to run hard, and we’re always working on the car.  So if nothing else, we’re working on developing the car for next year as well—trying to go faster—trying to get better.” 

 

Lawrence started on pole and led every lap of the race, building up a large lead until the track went under a full-course caution near the end of the race.  When the course went back under green, he managed to fend off Gregg Rodgers, in the #33 Pinnacle Autosport Chevrolet Camaro, for the final two laps of the race. 

 

Rodgers would finish second, his fourth podium in a row; enough to vault him into second place in the TA2 points, leapfrogging Bob Stretch.   Tom West would finish third, leaving him a close second to Robert Huffmaster in the TA2 Rookie of the Year chase.  

 

TA3 experienced an exhilarating day of Chevrolet versus Ford racing courtesy of Todd Napieralski, in the #39 TPR/SKF/ Tremec/ Backstreet Performance Ford Mustang, and Steve Kent, Jr., in the #17 XLR8Diesel Trucks/SKS Equipment Ford Mustang, in the American Muscle subgroup. 

 

Napieralski would begin the race on pole and was able to hold off Kent for four laps before being overtaken by the #17 Mustang.  The duo would go back and forth throughout the race, for a total of eight lead changes in the American Muscle Group—with multiple reports of contact coming from around the track. 

 

Steve Kent would hold the lead going into the full-course caution; and with only two laps under green at the end, Napieralski made a move to overtake Kent and succeeded, only to be overtaken immediately.   On the very last lap of the race Napieralski managed to just barely power the #39 Camaro past Kent for the victory; and although he came away with a victory, he was not thrilled with the process. 

 

“I’ve got to keep my emotions in check right now,” Napieralski said.  “It was certainly an interesting battle.  I’ll leave it at that.  Once he made it clear that that kind of a game was on, you have to defend yourself.  It definitely wasn’t gentleman racing out there, but we just dealt with what we had and managed the car.  The race was a battle; and before the contact started it was a great battle and a clean race, and after the contact it changed the demeanor of it all.”

 

“There were spots where he was faster, but there were spots where I was faster. It was just a matter of being consistent and smooth; after the caution we had two laps and I knew I was faster coming down the hill and had to make a move and was fortunate to hold on.  But that’s racing and you just have to learn what your competitors do and go from there.”

 

The victory was Napieralski’s second in two Trans Am appearances. 

 

Also victorious was David Seuss in the #9 Northern Light Porsche 996 GT3, his sixth of the year, and also enough to clinch the 2013 TA3 International Group Championship.

 

“I had not done the math,” Seuss said, surprised by his title.  “It’s a great feeling and I’m very proud of it, but let me tell you, Steve (Kent) and Todd (Napieralski) put on a great show today, it was one of the best races I’ve seen in a long time.  And that’s the potential of this TA3 class—real production-based racing that puts on a great show.  I’m proud to be a part of it and to help build it in the future.  This is a great Series and a great class, and I can’t wait to see it grow.” 

 

Trans Am also featured a well attended memorial service in the paddock for former Trans Am competitor Phil Simms, who passed away earlier this year, on Saturday.  On site were Simms' wife, Donna Sims, and crew.  Simms had 12 Trans Am starts including eight top ten apperances.  

 

Trans Am will now head further South to Daytona International Speedway for the NorthStar Battery Ctek Chargers 100 for the 2013 Trans Am Season finale on Sunday November 17, 2013, as drivers put it all on the line for one last chance at silverware for the 2013 Trans Am Season.  Keep up with all things Trans Am at www.gotransam.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/gotransam and on Twitter at @gotransam.