Trans Am Series Race Preview: Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma SpeedTour

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Track Facts:

Opened: 1968

Length: 2.52 Miles

Layout: 12-Turn Road Course

Entry List: View

Qualifying:

Saturday, April 26

3:40-4:05 p.m. PT

Race:

Sunday, April 27

10:35-11:50 a.m. PT

Race Length: 40 Laps/75 Minutes

Broadcast:

LIVE on SPEED SPORT 1

LIVE on YouTube

@TheTransAmSeries

Qualifying:

Friday, April 25

3:40-4:15 p.m. PT

Race:

Saturday, April 26

12:40-1:55 p.m. PT

Race Length: 40 Laps/75 Minutes

Broadcast:

LIVE on SPEED SPORT 1

 LIVE on YouTube

@TheTransAmSeries

West Coast Swing

The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli is heading across the country for the first of two races in a West Coast Swing. First, the National Championship and Western Championship will hit the track together for the Sonoma SpeedTour at Sonoma Raceway before heading to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca next weekend.

The first Trans Am Series event ever held at Sonoma Raceway was in 1969, with Trans Am Hall of Famers Mark Donohue and Parnelli Jones battling until the checkered flag, which was ultimately taken by Donohue. 26 National Championship events have been previously held at Sonoma, and the Western Championship has held 11 races at the track. While the Western Championship has been visiting wine country every year since 2018, this is only the second time that the National Championship has taken on the hilly 12-turn course in the last two decades, with the most recent visit coming in 2022. Prior to that event, the last National race held at Sonoma was in 2004.

Wine Country Winners

Five drivers on this weekend’s entry list have driven to GYM WEED Winners Circle at Sonoma Raceway. The only driver with multiple victories at the track is Chris Dyson, who won in a Pro/Am exhibition at the track in 2021 and took the win from the pole when Trans Am’s National Championship competed at the track in 2022. Ken Sutherland, who will be driving the No. 85 Kallberg Racing Dodge Challenger in TA Cup, has also won at the track in SVRA and SCCA.

TA

Chris Dyson, No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang: 2022, 2021 (Pro/Am Exhibition)

CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series

Rafa Matos, No. 57 Concord American Flagpole/SHR Chevrolet Camaro: 2022

TA Cup Western Championship

Michelle Nagai, No. 27 Nagai Racing/Berkeley Jet Drive Chevrolet Camaro: 2024 Race 1 (XGT)

Chris Evans, No. 92 Central Welding Supply/Pinnacle Alloys Ford Mustang: 2022 (SGT)

CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Western Championship

JC Meynet, No. 28 B-Bar Ranch/Killer Shrimp/RTR Chevrolet Camaro: 2023 (GT)

California Dreaming

15 drivers in this weekend’s race will be taking the green flag in their home state of California. The driver from closest to Sonoma Raceway is Western Championship competitor Tim Lynn, who is from 21 miles away in Kentfield. Also nearby is Bob Accardo from Livermore, Michelle Nagai in Newcastle, and father and son John Moore and Cole Moore, from Roseville and Orangevale, respectively.

TA

Tomy Drissi, No. 8 Trench Shoring Co./Motul Chevrolet Camaro (Los Angeles)

TA Cup

John Moore, No. 27 JM Environmental Ford Mustang (Roseville)

Michelle Nagai, No. 72 Nagai Racing/Berkeley Jet Drive Chevrolet Camaro (Newcastle)

SGT Western Championship

JD Koos, No. 12 Nicole Douglas Design Porsche GT3 Cup 991.1 (Murrieta)

Yousuf Nabi, No. 03 CTOHAIMIP.com/DC Racing Ferrari 458 Challenge EVO (Chino Hills)

CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series

Boris Said Jr., No. 60 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry (Encinitas)

CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Pro/Am Challenge

Bob Accardo, No. 39 Guthrie’s Garage/Race Marketing USA Ford Mustang (Livermore)

CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Western Championship

Tim Lynn, No. 17 RoofOptions Ford Mustang (Kentfield)

JC Meynet, No. 28 B-Bar Ranch/Killer Shrimp/RTR Chevrolet Camaro (Woodland Hills)

Michael LaPaglia, No. 31 Papini’s Garage/F.A.S.T. Auto/Howe Ford Mustang (Murrieta)

Troy Ermish, No. 38 Ermish Racing Ford Mustang (Tracy)

Tim Carroll, No. 46 CRDMFG.com Chevrolet Camaro (Santa Ana)

Kyle Kelley, No. 80 UPR.com/PKK Motorsports Ford Mustang (Huntington Beach)

Cole Moore, No. 99 Moore Motorsport/JM Environmental Ford Mustang (Orangevale)

John Moore, No. 127 Moore Motorsport/JM Environmental Ford Mustang (Roseville)

Watch LIVE

There are two great free streaming options for watching this weekend’s TA/GT and CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series races. The events will stream live on Trans Am’s YouTube channel, @TheTransAmSeries, as well as on SPEED SPORT 1. SPEED SPORT 1 is the first network dedicated to free, live motorsports, presenting hundreds of live events and thousands of hours of premier motorsport content and lifestyle programming from around the globe annually. SPEED SPORT 1 can be watched on Amazon Prime Video, Roku, PlutoTV, Sling Freestream and more. For more information on how to watch, click here.

Andretti on Top

After piloting his No. 17 Top Liner Chevrolet Camaro to second-place finishes in the season-opening races at Sebring International Raceway and Road Atlanta, Adam Andretti comes into the West Coast Swing with the points lead in the TA class. Having made his series debut in 2013, this is the first time in his career that Andretti has led the standings in any Trans Am class, and marks the first time since the 2023 season finale at Circuit of The Americas that anyone other than Paul Menard (No. 3 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford Mustang) has held the top spot, as the 2024 champion sat atop the standings for the duration of last season.

Dyson’s Sonoma Streak

Chris Dyson returns to action after sitting out Round 2 at Road Atlanta to heal from a crash sustained in the season opener at Sebring International Raceway. Dyson comes into this weekend’s race with back-to-back victories at Sonoma, as he drove to the win in a Trans Am Pro/Am Challenge and Western Championship combo event at the track in 2021, and won the race from the pole in the 2022 National Championship race. Sonoma holds fond memories for Dyson, as he also earned a podium finish at the track in 2003 on his way to winning the American Le Mans Series driver title.

Dyson’s teammate, Humaid Masaood (No. 21 allgram Ford Mustang) finished second to Dyson in the 2021 event, earning the CD Racing team a 1-2 finish in that race, which the team hopes to replicate this weekend.

Ride Change for Crews

Brent Crews’ TA ride will look a little different than it did in the opening two events of the season, as the 2023 CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series champion will get behind the wheel of the No. 2 Weaver Concepts/Mobil 1 Dodge Challenger as he continues his first full-time season in the TA class. Crews showed speed in the opening two races of the season, leading 29 laps between the two events, but suffered catastrophic mechanical failures, relegating him to seventh-place and ninth-place finishes, respectively. Crews knows how to make it to Victory Lane in Pancho Weaver’s Dodge Challenger, as he did it last season at Road America in his first-career TA class start. This is the first start of the season for the No. 2 car.

Crews is pulling double duty this weekend, also making his first TA2 start of the 2025 season in the No. 10 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry. Crews comes into this weekend’s race on a high after winning the ARCA Menards Series East race at Rockingham Speedway last weekend.

Drissi Feeling at Home

2009 Trans Am Champion Tomy Drissi (No. 8 Trench Shoring Co./Motul Chevrolet Camaro) is excited for the return of the National Championship to his home state for the first time since 2022, and the Los Angeles native enters the West Coast Swing fifth in the TA standings. When he last visited Sonoma, Drissi earned a second-place finish, and his hope is to return to the podium this weekend. In addition to Trans Am, Drissi also has NASCAR experience at the track, making his Cup Series debut at Sonoma in 2012 and taking the green flag there four times in the series.

TA Cup Meets National Championship

This weekend, the National Championship will race for the first time against the new TA Cup class. TA Cup utilizes high-performance spec tube-frame vehicles with silhouette bodies produced by Chris Evans Inc., owned by two-time Western Championship title winner Chris Evans, who also competes in the class. The 600 rear-wheel horsepower vehicles have been competing in the Western Championship’s XGT class since 2023, but with the growing number of current and prospective car owners, the cars are now being separated into their own class to allow for greater competition and differentiation between the single-builder cars and the production class. This weekend, the class has six entries, including Jim Guthrie, who is making his first-career start in the class:

Ken Thwaits, No. 9 Franklin Road Chevrolet Camaro

John Moore, No. 27 JM Environmental Ford Mustang

Jim Guthrie, No. 62 Guthrie’s Garage/CEI Ford Mustang

Michelle Nagai, No. 72 Nagai Racing/Berkeley Jet Drive Chevrolet Camaro

Ken Sutherland, No. 85 Kallberg Racing Dodge Challenger

Chris Evans, No. 92 Central Welding Supply/Pinnacle Alloys Ford Mustang

John Moore Looking for More

John Moore, who earned his first-career Trans Am win in the season-opening race at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in the TA Cup class, returns to not only defend his victory in his No. 27 JM Environmental Ford Mustang, but he will be pulling double duty, chasing a win in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series. Moore will pilot the No. 127 Moore Motorsport/JM Environmental Ford Mustang in the Western Championship, competing against his son, Cole Moore, in the No. 99 Moore Motorsport/JM Environmental Ford Mustang.

Carlson and Coffey Win Streaks

SGT competitor Josh Carlson (No. 36 Enseva/Diercks Ltd./TC Fab Ford Mustang) and GT driver Chris Coffey (No. 97 Traffic Grafix/Chillout Motorsports Maserati MC GT4) are two-for-two going into this weekend’s race, having both won the season-opening National Championship events in their classes at Sebring and Road Atlanta. Carlson is looking for his fourth-consecutive victory this weekend, as he is undefeated going back to last year’s season finale at Circuit of The Americas. Coffey is currently on a six-race win streak, with victories in every race dating back to Road America last June. Carlson is currently in pursuit of his first SGT title, while Coffey is on a mission to defend his 2024 GT championship.

JD Koos Collecting Sonoma Trophies

Although he now lives in SoCal, Western SGT competitor JD Koos considers both Sonoma Raceway and Laguna Seca to be his home tracks after growing up in the San Francisco Bay area. Koos is no stranger to this weekend’s venue, as he has won four times at Sonoma in NASA competition. Koos made his Trans Am debut last month at Buttonwillow, taking the class victory. This weekend, he will face off against Western competitors Rudy Revak (No. 7 XYNGULAR Pontiac Grand Prix) and Yousuf Nabi (No. 03 CTOHAIMIP.com/DCRacing Ferrari 458 Challenge EVO), as well as National SGT driver Joshua Carlson (No. 36 Enseva/Diercks Ltd/TC Fab Ford Mustang).

Yousuf Nabi Debut

This weekend at Sonoma, Yousuf Nabi will make his Trans Am Series Western Championship debut in the SGT class, piloting the No. 03 CTOHAIMIP.com/DCRacing Ferrari 458 Challenge Evo. The Chino Hills, California native is a seasoned Ferrari racer who uses go-karting to sharpen his skills. His two sons, seven-year-old Idris and 14-year-old Aiden, are following in their father’s footsteps and already carving out a name for themselves in the karting world as members of Italcorse America in Rome, Italy.

2. Paul Menard (191)

3. Amy Ruman (181)

4. Humaid Masaood (168)

5. Tomy Drissi (163)

2. Danny Lowry (154)

3. Kaylee Bryson (151)

4. Mustafa Bakir (73)

2. Patrick Utt (135)

3. Milton Grant (70)

4. Lee Saunders (65)

2. Mike Fitzpatrick (65)

1. Rob Dickey (50)

2. Jeff Lindstrom (55)

Complete National Championship Standings: View

2. Ken Sutherland (102)

3. Derek Thorn (93)

4. Ken Thwaits (90)

5. Michelle Nagai (87)

Complete Western Championship Standings: View

Annunziata 2-For-2

Thomas Annunziata has known nothing but the top step of the podium so far in 2025, scoring back-to-back victories in both of the season’s opening rounds at Sebring International Raceway and Road Atlanta. The 19-year-old driver of the No. 90 Gazoo Racing/Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry comes into Sonoma Raceway leading the standings in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series by 37 points over second-place Mike Skeen (No. 2 Guthrie’s Garage Chevrolet Camaro). He also leads the Young Gun Award standings by 55 points ahead of Tristan McKee (No. 128 Spire/Gainbridge/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro) and PMH Powering Diversity Scholarship recipient Julian DaCosta (No. 30 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang), who are tied for second.

Accardo and Guthrie Making Wishes Come True

Bob Accardo recently announced that he has teamed up with Jim Guthrie to drive the No. 39 Guthrie’s Garage/R.A.C.E. Marketing USA Ford Mustang. Guthrie’s support, coupled with Accardo’s 501(c)3 R.A.C.E. Marketing USA and a few local sponsors, will allow Accardo to bring a child and their family from the Make-A-Wish Foundation to the remainder of the races on the 2025 schedule. “It’s an honor and privilege to share our passion of motorsports with some very amazing people, creating smiles and memories that will last a lifetime,” said Accardo.

This weekend, Accardo will be hosting 14-year-old Kris at Sonoma Raceway. Kris was born with the congenital heart disease Tricuspid Atresia. He has undergone three open-heart surgeries, with the first one at just one week old. Kris has gone through a lot in his young life, mostly hospitalized for his heart condition at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. He had a stroke just two months short of his second birthday and was hospitalized for a month at UCSF. This past year, he was diagnosed with epilepsy, but has been a warrior through all he has endured. April is World Wish Month, which celebrates the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s mission of granting life-changing wishes to children with critical illnesses.

TeamSLR Drivers Return with Trophies

Three of the drivers in TeamSLR’s stable head into Sonoma Raceway with new trophies and new experiences under their belt. Since last month’s race at Road Atlanta, Tristan McKee (No. 128 Spire/Gainbridge/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro) won the Pro Late Model race at the season-opening CARS Tour event at Cordele Motor Speedway. When McKee first started competing in the series in 2023, he became the CARS Tour’s youngest winner in the Pro Late Model division as a 12 year old.

Corey Day returns to the No. 117 HendrickCars.com/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro for the first time since his TA2 debut at Sebring. Since his last outing, Day scored a thrilling victory over fellow Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson in a Kubota High Limit Racing Sprint Car Series event on The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Day is a native of Clovis, California, which is located on the outskirts of Fresno in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley.

Carson Brown hops back into the No. 8 PayCafe/Ebb Logistics/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro after finishing eighth in his Trans Am debut. Since we last saw Brown, he made his ARCA Menards Series East debut and drove to an impressive fifth-place finish at Five Flags Speedway.

Boes and Lovell Comfortable Out West

Mia Lovell (No. 40 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang) and Barry Boes (No. 27 Accio Data/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro) will both feel at home competing in this weekend’s combined National and Western Championship event, as the two have already raced against the West Coast drivers this year, scoring podiums at the season-opening Western Championship event at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. Boes ran full time in the Western Championship last year in addition to competing for the Pro/Am Challenge championship, which he ultimately won. In this week’s event, Lovell has entered to earn points towards both championships, allowing her to pursue the title in both series.

Two Past Champions Face Off for Second Title

The 2023 and 2024 CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Western Championship title winners are both looking to repeat the feat in 2025, and it’s likely they will be each other’s biggest competition this season. 2023 champion Brody Goble (No. 69 Brown Bros. Ford Lincoln Ford Mustang) had the perfect start to the year, winning both the pole and the race at Buttonwillow Raceway Park, and he enters this weekend’s race with the points lead. Last year’s title holder, Michael LaPaglia (No. 31 Papini’s Garage/F.A.S.T. Auto/Howe Ford Mustang), faced both illness and mechanical issues in the season opener, so he’ll have a steeper hill to climb as he chases back-to-back titles. However, LaPaglia does have the edge as it pertains to experience at Sonoma Raceway. Goble has just one start at the track, finishing third in 2023. LaPaglia has three TA2 starts at Sonoma, with a best finish of second in Race 2 of last year’s doubleheader, in addition to an SGT start in 2022, in which he earned a runner-up result.

Pro/Am Challenge Points Battle

The 2025 Pro/Am Challenge is already shaping up to be a great battle. Keith Prociuk (No. 9 HP Tuners/Cope Race Cars Ford Mustang) has won both of the season’s opening two races, but 2024 Champion Barry Boes (No. 27 Accio Data/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro) is just seven points behind him, with runner-up finishes in both events. Third and fourth place are also close, as just one point separates third-place Cale Phillips (No. 99 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang) and fourth-place Jared Odrick (No. 100 Black Underwear/CoolBoxx Chevrolet Camaro).