Vincent Allegretta joins with Tony Ave Racing for 2016

February 9, 2016

 TEAM RELEASE - Vincent Allegretta is joining Tony Ave Racing as a driver for the 50th Anniversary season of the legendary Trans Am Road Racing Series. Allegretta will be driving a Tony Ave prepared Corvette in the featured TA class for the full 12 race schedule from Sebring to Daytona. He will contend for the championship and for the 2016 TA Class Rookie of the Year Award.

“I love the cars. I love the big power.” Allegretta said. “It’s exciting to get hooked up with Tony Ave for this season. He’s just been so helpful and all the people over there have so much experience and know so much about these cars and how to make them go fast. Another reason I went to Tony was my wife. She said that, if you want the best, you need to go to the best.”

Allegretta got his feet wet with three Trans Am starts in 2014 and 2015. One start in the TA class in 2014 and then two last year in TA3i. Before that he cut his teeth in racing with high horsepower cars in NASA Club racing. “We ran American Iron Extreme and Super Unlimited in NASA. Good fast cars.” Allegretta added, “Mostly in the northeast. New Jersey Motorsports Park, Watkins Glen, and Lime Rock.”

For 2016 Allegretta will be breaking in a brand new Tony Ave build C7 Corvette. The car is still in production and won’t be available for the first couple of races. To get the season started Vincent will be driving one of Ave’s current Corvettes. “It will probably be just for the first two races at Sebring and Atlanta, but we are already really comfortable in the car we will start the year with.” Said Allegretta.

Allegretta and his team took that car to Sebring for the SCCA Majors races in January to get familiar with the car and the track and the process. The results were somewhat breathtaking. With former Trans Am Champions Simon Gregg in the field and running front of the pack lap times, Allegretta used a late pass on Gregg to win the Saturday race. He then was leading the Sunday race when they had a mechanical failure that forced an early retirement from the race.

“Compared to what I am used to driving this car exceeded all of my expectations. The car is just so powerful and handles so well. This was my first ever event with the SCCA and I will remember it for a long time.” Said Allegretta. This was also Vincent’s first time at the famed Sebring International Raceway. With this experience under his belt Allegretta is primed and ready for his first full season in professional racing. “I am certainly looking forward to driving these cars on race tracks that I know well like New Jersey and the Glen. Learning a new car and a new series along with a new track is a big learning curve.”

Allegretta will be running both of the TA class cars this season under the #41 banner and will be running with the Tony Ave.

Vincent Allegretta is a native of Long Island, NY and will be competing for the Trans Am class Rookie of the Year in the series 50th Anniversary year.