Trans Am Series Race Preview: Circuit of The Americas

Qualifying:

Saturday, November 1

5:10-5:45 p.m. CT

Race:

Sunday, November 2

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

Race Length: 30 Laps/75 Minutes

Broadcast:

LIVE on SPEED SPORT 1

LIVE on YouTube

@TheTransAmSeries

Qualifying:

Saturday, November 1

5:50-6:25 p.m. CT

Race:

Sunday, November 2

9:15-10:30 a.m. CT

Race Length: 30 Laps/75 Minutes

Broadcast:

LIVE on SPEED SPORT 1

LIVE on YouTube

@TheTransAmSeries

Everything’s Bigger in Texas

The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli wraps up its 2025 season deep in the heart of Texas at Circuit of The Americas for the Mission Foods COTA SpeedTour. Always the biggest weekend of the year, in both stakes and car count, a field of 51 competitors from the National and Western Championships will take the green flag in Sunday’s two 100-mile feature races. Multiple titles are yet to be clinched, including the TA, GT1 Challenge and CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Pro/Am Challenge crowns. Fans won’t want to miss a lap of the action. Tickets are available here.

COTA Trophies

Twelve drivers on this week’s entry list have previously celebrated in GYM WEED Winners Circle at Circuit of The Americas. Among the past victors, two racers have stood on the top step three times, tying the all-time record for most wins at the track: Adam Andretti earned a TA2 win in 2015, a TA victory in 2019 and a TAH triumph in 2022. Chris Coffey, making his SGT debut this weekend, has scored GT wins in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Success at COTA isn’t limited to Trans Am competition. Coffey has also won at the Austin circuit in both NASA and SCCA events, while Bryan Scheible is an SCCA winner, and Jon DeGaynor has claimed victories in SVRA.

TA

Tomy Drissi, No. 8 Trench Shoring Co./Motul Chevrolet Camaro: 2017 (TA Western)

Chris Dyson, No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang: 2022, 2024

Adam Andretti, No. 17 Top Liner Chevrolet Camaro: 2015 (TA2), 2019, 2022 (TAH)

SGT

Joshua Carlson, No. 36 Enseva/Diercks Ltd./TC Fab Ford Mustang: 2024

Chris Coffey, No. 97 Norwood Auto Italia/Traffic Grafix Ferrari 456 Challenge: 2022 (GT), 2023 (GT), 2024 (GT)

GT

Joe Bogetich, No. 65 Bogie Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro: 2019 (GT Western)

CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series

Thomas Merrill, No. 26 HP Tuners/Franklin Road/Cope Chevrolet Camaro: 2022

Boris Said Sr., No. 60 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry: 2020 (TA)

Sam Corry, No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry: 2024 (TA2 Pro/Am)

CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Pro/Am Challenge

Jim Gallaugher, No. 6 Regulator By Waypointe/Cope Race Cars Ford Mustang: 2020 (TA2 Western)

CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Western Championship

JC Meynet, No. 128 B-Bar Ranch/Killer Shrimp/RFR Chevrolet Camaro: 2023 (GT Western)

Kyle Kelley, No. 80 UPR.com/PKK Motorsports Ford Mustang: 2024

Home on the Range

Eight drivers in Sunday’s races call the Lone Star State home. The closest to his hometown is Bryan Scheible from Georgetown.

SGT

Chris Coffey, No. 97 Norwood Auto Italia/Traffic Grafix Maserati MC GT4 (Murphy)

Rene Molina Jr., No. 09 Rene Molina Racing Dodge Challenger (Mission)

GT

Casey Jones, No. 28 8Twelve Wheels/Quasar Data Chevrolet Corvette (Conroe)

Colin Cohen, No. 38 Norwood Auto Italia/Traffic Grafix Maserati MC GT4 (Southlake)

CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series

Helio Meza, No. 27 Alessandros Racing/Chevrolet/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro (Houston)

CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Pro/Am Challenge

Frank Widmoser, No. 22 Xline Race Cars Ford Mustang (Frisco)

Bryan Scheible, No. 53 MBS Racing Chevrolet Camaro (Georgetown)

John Atwell, No. 02 XRC/DFW Concrete/A&J Lab Portal Ford Mustang (Azle)

Howdy, Partner!

This weekend, the Trans Am Series will welcome three new drivers in its TA/GT race. Derric Carter (No. 24 PortableCarHoist.com Ford Mustang) and Casey Jones (No. 28 8Twelve Wheels/Quasar Data Chevrolet Corvette) will both make their debuts in the GT class, while Rene Molina Jr. (No. 09 Rene Molina Racing Dodge Challenger) will be making his first-career start in the SGT Western class.

The CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series race will also see two new faces, welcoming Helio Meza (No. 27 Alessandros Racing/Chevrolet/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro) to Pro and Frank Widmoser (No. 22 Xline Race Cars Ford Mustang) to the Pro/Am Challenge.

Making Wishes Come True

This weekend at COTA, CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series competitor Bob Accardo (No. 39 Guthrie’s Garage/Race Marketing Ford Mustang) and his team will be hosting a 17-year-old Michael and his family from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Michael was a very athletic and active kid growing up, who was never sick. In seventh grade, he started getting sick with recurring pneumonia. After two years of continuous illness, Michael visited a doctor to see if he had an autoimmune disorder, and after several tests, it was discovered that he had stage 4 Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. It was also discovered that he had developed cancer from Tularemia, a rare bacteria found in rodents. For more than two years, he went through chemo treatment, also receiving a stem cell transplant in the summer of 2024. During this whole process, Michael has managed to stay in the top 10 of his class, play basketball, football and run track.

Join the Checkered Flag Challenge

The SpeedTour Sim Trailer will be on site at Circuit of The Americas, and drivers and fans alike can test their driving skills in the Checkered Flag Challenge, a sim racing face-off. With the experience free to all spectators and participants, everyone is invited to stop by the SpeedTour Sim Trailer to try the SimShop racing simulators and spin the prize wheel to win free swag. It will all be happening in the SpeedTour Town Center in the lower paddock near the Media Center and podium.

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.

The TA championship fight has been an exciting one, shaping up as the closest battle in recent class history. Paul Menard (No. 3 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford Mustang) holds a slim 43-point edge over Adam Andretti (No. 17 Top Liner Chevrolet Camaro) heading into the season finale. Andretti made a valiant effort at claiming his first Trans Am title, capturing his first win of the season in Trans Am’s inaugural race at Barber Motorsports Park. However, with the current points discrepancy and the number of entrants in Sunday’s event, the title is out of Andretti’s grasp if Menard takes the green flag. Once Menard starts the race, he will officially become a two-time champion in the TA class.

The Fight For Third

With first and second all but decided in TA, the biggest battle still remaining in the class is the fight for third in the standings. 2009 TA champion Tomy Drissi (No. 8 Trench Shoring Co./Motul Chevrolet Camaro), who has won at COTA in the Western Championship, currently occupies the third spot, but three-time champ Chris Dyson (No. 16 Gym Weed Ford Mustang) lurks just two points behind, and has two National wins at the Austin circuit. While Drissi has been consistent throughout the season, claiming three podium finishes and nine top fives, Dyson has made a dramatic comeback from a crash in the Sebring season opener, which took him out of the car at Road Atlanta, and bounced back from the bottom of the standings to score three wins on his way up to fourth. Drissi has finished in the top three in points every year since 2020, while Dyson’s top-three streak dates back to when he first started racing full time in 2018. Whoever breaks their streak will be decided when the checkered flag falls on Sunday.

An Old Friend Returns

For the first time since 2022, 2012 TA champion Simon Gregg returns to the Trans Am Series. A fixture in the series for a decade and a half, Gregg will get behind the wheel of the No. 59 Drissi Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro owned by fellow title winner Tomy Drissi. Competing full time in the TA class from 1998 until 2021, Gregg has earned four victories in 206 starts. Gregg has seven previous starts at COTA, with a best finish of fourth in 2016.

A Home Race and a Step Up

For the second season in a row, Chris Coffey has handily clinched GT title, locking up the championship this season with multiple races to spare. The Murphy, Texas native is also one to watch this weekend, as he has won every GT race that he has entered at his home track since his Trans Am debut in 2022, in addition to driving to Victory Lane at COTA in NASA and SCCA events. But this weekend will look a bit different for Coffey, as he leaves behind his GT-class Maserati and steps into the No. 97 Norwood Auto Italia/Traffic Grafix Ferrari 458 Challenge to make his SGT debut. Only time will tell if this leads to him stepping up into the class full time next year, but it will be exciting to watch him take on the new challenge.

XGT and SGT Champs Crowned

In addition to GT, the XGT and SGT champions have already been crowned, with Kaylee Bryson clinching her first XGT championship in the penultimate round at Barber Motorsports Park, and Joshua Carlson (No. 36 Enseva/Diercks Ltd./TC Fab Ford Mustang) wrapping up his title even earlier at VIRginia International Raceway. For Carlson, it’s his first-career championship, while Bryson became the first female driver to win titles in two different Trans Am classes. Carlson scored his first-career victory one year ago at COTA, so he hopes to finish his season on a high note, capping off a year in which he has already tallied seven wins.

GT1’s Winner

Jon DeGaynor will clinch the inaugural GT1 Challenge title when he takes the green flag in his No. 04 Speed Dream’n Racing Ford Mustang on Sunday. DeGaynor is also a past-winner at COTA, claiming a previous victory at the track in the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA), earning one of the series’ coveted Bell Gold Helmets in 2018. In addition to his Trans Am duties, DeGaynor will once again be competing in SVRA this weekend, piloting the No. 111 1960 Devin Evolution in Group 6.

TA Cup Wrapped Up

Following the Western Championship doubleheader at Thunderhill Raceway Park, the first-ever TA Cup championship has been decided. Coming off of a five-race winning streak, Ken Sutherland (No. 85 Kallberg Racing Dodge Challenger) has clinched the title for the class, which is in its first season of competition. John Moore, who won in the TA Cup’s debut at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in his No. 27 JM Environmental Ford Mustang, finished second in the points, and Ken Thwaits (No. 9 Franklin Road Chevrolet Camaro) is third in the standings.

2. Adam Andretti (1042)

3. Tomy Drissi (956)

4. Chris Dyson (954)

5. Amy Ruman (933)

2. Danny Lowry (219)

3. Paul Tracy (177)

4. Erich Joiner (120)

5. Mustafa Bakir (73)

2. Milton Grant (265)

3. Ray Mason (135)

3. Patrick Utt (135)

3. Patrick Paul (135)

2. Adrian Wlostowski (70)

3. Mike Fitzpatrick (65)

3. Ryan Szyjakowski (65)

2. Rob Dickey (115)

3. Colin Comer (80)

4. Ray Kobs (70)

2. James Beaton (100)

2. Tim Gray (125)

3. David Melnick (55)

2. Todd Napieralski (83)

3. Jack Rinke (77)

4. Rich Rinke (72)

5. Jake Latham (65)

Complete National Championship Standings: View

2. John Moore (537)

3. Ken Thwaits (414)

4. Michele Nagai (393)

5. Chris Evans (235)

2. JD Koos (50)

1. Rudy Revak (115)

3. Simon Asselin (50)

Complete Western Championship Standings: View

The Youngest and the First

A victory in the Trans Am Series’ inaugural visit to Barber Motorsports Park was enough for Tristan McKee (No. 28 Spire/Gainbridge/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro) to clinch the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series championship in the penultimate round, making him the youngest title holder in Trans Am history at 15 years, two months and 16 days. The clinch also earned him Rookie of the Year honors and the Sunoco Race Fuels Young Gun Award, which comes with a $20,000 prize, making him the first driver to earn all three titles in the same season.

Two-Time Goble

With a victory in Race 2 at Thunderhill Raceway Park, Brody Goble (No. 69 Brown Bros. Ford Lincoln Ford Mustang) clinched his second-career title in the Western Championship’s CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series, becoming the first driver to claim two TA2 titles since the West Coast series’ inception in 2017. This weekend, he’ll make his National Championship debut, officially competing against National drivers for the first time since joining the Trans Am Series in 2022. While he’s never been scored against them before, Goble has shown that he has what it takes to compete against the big boys, as he finished second overall in the combination event held earlier this year at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, outrunning every National competitor besides race winner Rafa Matos.

Pro/Am Challenge Down to the Final Laps

With the National and Western Championship title winners already decided, the most exciting CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series championship hunt of the season is the Pro/Am Challenge. HP Tuners co-owner and CEO Keith Prociuk (No. 9 HP Tuners/Cope Race Cars Ford Mustang) leads former NFL player Jared Odrick (No. 00 Black Underwear/CoolBoxx Chevrolet Camaro) by just nine points heading into this weekend’s race. Only a driver’s top-nine finishes contribute to the title, so the scoring is more complicated than whoever scores more points. With their lowest finishes thus far already dropped coming into COTA, their next worst result will be eliminated depending on the finishing order of Sunday’s race. As it stands, if Prociuk finishes third or better, his next dropped race would be a third-place finish, worth 93 points, while if Odrick finishes fifth or better, his next worst result would be fifth, worth 90 points. Both drivers come into the weekend with three victories this season.

TeamSLR Doing Double Duty

Two TeamSLR drivers will be doing double duty this weekend, commuting between COTA and the NASCAR and ARCA season finales at Phoenix Raceway. Tristan McKee and Carson Brown (No. 2 PayCafe/Ebb Logistics/SLR-M1 Toyota Camry) will begin the weekend in Phoenix, competing on Friday and Saturday in the ARCA Menards Series West finale in a pair of Chevrolets. McKee will be behind the wheel of the same Spire Motorsports No. 77 that he drove to Victory Lane in his ARCA debut at Watkins Glen, while Brown will be in the Pinnacle Racing Group No. 28. Racing on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. CT, they will then hop on the Spire jet for the two-hour flight from the Goodyear (Ariz.) Airport to Austin Bergstrom in an attempt to make it in time for TA2 National qualifying at 6:10 p.m. CT. While McKee made a TA2 start at COTA in 2024, this will be a particular challenge for Brown, who will make his first laps at the track in time trials.

A New Face Paying Tribute

This weekend will see the debut of another TeamSLR driver from the Chevrolet driver development program, 17-year-old Helio Meza (No. 27 Alessandros Racing/Chevrolet/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro). The Houston native comes from Mazda MX-5 Cup, where he just closed out his rookie season, finishing fifth overall in the standings and claiming Rookie of the Year. The three-time national karting champion is also a two-time winner in the NASCAR Mexico Challenge Series this year, victorious in Monterrey and Mexico City. Meza is driving the No. 27, the car number left behind by the late Barry Boes, as the team pays tribute to the driver. It’s a perfect fit, as Meza utilized the same number in MX-5 Cup.

Corry a COTA Winner

With the current number of entrants this weekend, Sam Corry (No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry) has all but clinched second in the standings over third-place Adrian Wlostowski (No. 3 CMI/Spot-On Services/AMT Motorsports Ford Mustang). While his finish this weekend won’t change where he sits in the standings, he does have one goal for this weekend: Going back to back. Corry made his Trans Am Series debut last season in the COTA finale, competing in the Pro/Am Challenge for Nitro Motorsports. He impressively claimed the victory in his debut, beating out veterans like Barry Boes, Keith Prociuk and Tom Sheehan. With one win this season at Lime Rock Park and consistent results all year, nothing would be better than closing out 2025 the same way he did in 2024: With a win.