{"id":2008,"date":"2020-02-20T14:09:30","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T19:09:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/?p=2008"},"modified":"2023-05-04T13:41:07","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T17:41:07","slug":"trans-am-returns-to-where-it-all-started-in-1966","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/20\/trans-am-returns-to-where-it-all-started-in-1966\/","title":{"rendered":"Trans Am Returns to Where It All Started in 1966"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Trans Am Series Opens 2020 Season at Sebring<\/em><\/p>\n

SEBRING, Fla. (20 February 2020)- Next weekend, the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli will build on a proud tradition of racing at Sebring International Speedway, headlining the SVRA Sebring Vintage Classic February 28-March 1 for its 15th showing since the series first-ever race in 1966.<\/p>\n

In 1966, a brand-new series featuring entries by Detroit\u2019s Big Three auto manufacturers made its debut at Sebring International Raceway with the running of the Governor\u2019s Cup, the first race for the Sports Car Club of America-sanctioned Trans American Sedan Championship.<\/p>\n

That inaugural event included the then two-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt, driving a Ford Mustang, and Alfa Romeo\u2019s Jochen Rindt, who would win the 1970 Formula One World Championship.<\/p>\n

Foyt led the opening 13 laps before dropping back following a long pit stop. Later in the four-hour event, tire issues, brake problems and overheating hit many of the competitors on the over-two-liter class, made up of Mustangs, Chevrolet Corvairs, Plymouth Barracudas and Dodge Darts.<\/p>\n

Bob Tullius won the larger class in a Dart, finishing second overall. Meanwhile, Alfas dominated the under-two-liter category, led by overall winning Rindt, who recovered from a roll-over in pre-event practice. The race was held the day before the 12 Hours, attracting a 40-car field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat race was held at Sebring in its original form \u2013 long (5.2 miles) and bumpy,\u201d Tullius recalled. \u201cI was instructed by our Chrysler team manager to follow the two Barracudas, because they wanted those cars to win and I was going to be a nice guy. But they didn\u2019t count on A.J. Foyt, who went into the lead in a Mustang. I ran around for awhile, and then decided to pick it up. I passed\u00a0both of the Barracudas, and then caught Foyt and passed him for the lead. Eventually, his car bailed and I wound up winning the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trans Am returned\u00a0in 1967 as the Four-Hour International, drawing a then-record 61 entries. Jerry Titus won in a Ford Mustang, lapping the second-place Camaro Z-28 of Mark Donohue. Peter Gregg and Sam Posey took honors in the Under two-liter class, driving a Porsche.<\/p>\n

The historic 17-turn, 3.74-mile airport-based circuit also hosted Trans Am in 1968, running concurrently with the 12 Hours of Sebring.\u00a0 Mark Donohue and Craig Fisher took Trans Am honors with a third-place overall finish, one position ahead of Roger Penske-entered Camaro teammates Joe Welch and Bob Johnson.<\/p>\n

With the series moving to shorter races, the next Trans Am race at Sebring was not until 1999, with a stand-alone weekend serving as the season finale. Paul Gentilozzi capped his championship season by winning in a Ford Mustang. Trans Am ran as part of the Twelve Hours of Sebring events the following two years, as Brian Simo won the 2000 season opener in a Qvale Mangusta, while Boris Said won the following year in a Ford Mustang.<\/p>\n

Since 2013, Trans Am has been a major component of the SVRA Sebring Vintage Classic, held two weekends prior to the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours. Doug Peterson scored the 2013 and 2014 overall victories in a Corvette, while Cameron Lawrence began a three-year TA2\u00ae winning streak in a Camaro. The two drivers went on to win their respective titles in both seasons. For 2020, the two drivers will team for Peterson Racing in TA2\u00ae powered by AEM, driving a pair of 3Dimensonal Services Group-sponsored entries.<\/p>\n

\u201cReturning to Sebring is definitely like going back home,\u201d said Lawrence, a native of nearby Orlando. \u201cIt gives a real good shot at starting out strong with a new car and a new team. I have a good idea of what the car needs to do to win at Sebring, and if we get the setup right we should be running up front again. I\u2019m excited to be teamed up with Doug. I\u2019ve had a lot of respect for him for a long time, and it\u2019s real neat to team up with him and his resources. He had a strong run at Sebring last year (fourth), and it would be great to have both of us up on the podium together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sebring\u2019s status as a Trans Am championship-launching race is further bolstered by the record of Amy Ruman, who won the 2015 season opener on her way to becoming Trans Am\u2019s first female champion.<\/p>\n

For the 2020 opener, testing begins on Friday (February 28) for the 60-car entry, with practice and qualifying on Saturday. Sunday includes the TA\/XGT\/SGT\/GT feature race at 11:10 a.m., with the TA2\u00ae\u00a0Race Powered by AEM at 1:25 p.m.<\/p>\n

Visit\u00a0http:\/\/gotransam.com<\/a>\u00a0for additional details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Trans Am Series Opens 2020 Season at Sebring SEBRING, Fla. (20 February 2020)- Next weekend, the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli will build on [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2009,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2008"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2010,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008\/revisions\/2010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}