Bowmanville, ON – Trans Am presented by Pirelli returned to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) for the first time in a decade, where former NASCAR Cup Series driver Paul Menard scored the overall victory in the 41-lap race.
Track co-owner and Canadian Motorsport Hall of Famer Ron Fellows visited victory lane in the last Trans Am race at CTMP, in 2014, and had the honour of giving the command to start engines.
Menard (TA), Rafa Matos (TA2), Roberto Sabato (TA2 ProAm) and Kaylee Bryson (SGT) led their respective classes to the green flag. Two Canadians joined the field in the TA2 ProAm class, with Bedford, NS’ Aaron Pettipas making his sixth career Trans Am start and Brampton, ON’s Leroy Micallef making his Trans Am debut. Pettipas started fifth in class, while Micallef started eighth.
On Lap 3, full course caution for a wreck in turn eight; Sabato spun following contact from Boris Said Jr., with Pettipas also involved, as his car stopped off track with significant damage. Barry Boes took over the lead in TA2 ProAm, while an extensive clean-up took place due to oil on track.
Chris Dyson stayed within a second of Menard following the Lap 11 restart, before that margin grew slightly as the leaders worked through lapped traffic. The gap closed again nearing 10 to go, with a lapped car allowing Dyson to close right up on the front straight, with 8 to go, ultimately taking the lead later that lap.
Dyson remained up front until 3 to go, when he spun on his own in turn five. Menard took the lead and went on to claim the TA victory. Matos (TA2), Boes (TA2 ProAm) and Bryson (SGT) also recorded victories. Micallef finished fifth in class, while Pettipas finished last with the early DNF.
“Our cars are just so close, they were last week and they were again this week,” said Menard. “It’s kind of like whoever’s out front had the advantage. We set the pace kind of early, (Dyson’s) car got a little bit better. I just missed turn 5b and I didn’t get launched down the back straight and he did and he was able to get inside of me in turn 8 and I figured (I’d) keep pressure on him and see what happens.”
Lapped traffic was a constant for the TA class leaders but it wasn’t a major issue according to Menard.
“There’s some guys who are really good, actually look in their mirrors, and there’s two or three guys who are totally oblivious to what’s going on around them,” said Menard. “You know that, you expect it, so you adapt to that. But, for the most part, all the TA2 guys, especially the fast guys, were really good about it.”
Matos led throughout the race en route to the TA2 win, but it wasn’t without some pressure from Thomas Merrill.
“It was all about traffic strategy, I tried to build up a gap that I could manage the distance to him,” said Matos. “The very last lap I caught some really slow guys and he was able to catch me a lot but I managed to stay up front. I love this track; my last time here was exactly 20 years ago, with the Star Mazda series, I had the pole position but finished second. Today I turned my luck around and we won the race.”
Menard leads the TA standings by 65 points over Dyson, while Matos leads the TA2 standings by 120 points over Merrill. Boes and Bryson also lead their respective points battles. Next up for Trans Am is Virginia International Raceway on October 3-6.
