{"id":2021,"date":"2020-02-26T14:40:16","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T19:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/?p=2021"},"modified":"2023-05-04T13:40:56","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T17:40:56","slug":"young-guns-challenging-established-trans-am-by-pirelli-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/26\/young-guns-challenging-established-trans-am-by-pirelli-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Guns Challenging Established Trans Am by Pirelli Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEBRING, Fla. (26 February 2020) \u2013 Getting ready for its 54th season of competition, the Trans Am Series presented Pirelli is experiencing a youth movement as a number of\u00a0young\u00a0guns\u00a0have arrived to bring a new challenge to the series veterans.<\/p>\n

Ernie Francis, a 22-year-old South Floridian, leads the Trans Am youth movement \u2013 a mantle he has carried since joining the Trans Am at age 15. While still a\u00a0young\u00a0gun, Francis also has built the resume of a grizzled veteran, entering the 2020 season riding a streak of six consecutive Trans Am championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the youth movement is great,\u201d Francis said. \u201cWe need to get younger drivers into the series, that\u2019s the future of the sport. I think I started that when I came into the series when I was 15 years old. Now, I see a number of younger drivers, and it\u2019s great for the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see myself as a \u2018young\u00a0gun\u2019 anymore,\u201d Francis added. \u201cI\u2019ve been in Trans Am for so long that I feel like it\u2019s that place that I race in, I\u2019m just another one of the guys racing out there. It\u2019s nice to hear that I\u2019m still considered a\u00a0young\u00a0gun\u00a0\u2013 that means I still have a few years ahead of me!\u201d<\/p>\n

Francis wrapped up his sixth series\u2019 championship at Daytona International Speedway in the 2019 season finale. He won four races, giving him 19 overall triumphs among 43 career victories and is at the vanguard of a number of\u00a0young\u00a0and up-and-coming drivers racing in the championship.<\/p>\n

Lawless Alan,\u00a0a 20-year-old driver from Los Angeles,\u00a0was the TA2\u00ae\u00a0Powered by Infinity Rookie of the Year in 2019. Alan finished fifth in the TA2\u00ae\u00a0championship, taking his best finish (fourth) at three iconic circuits\u2013 Indianapolis, Daytona, Circuit of The Americas.<\/p>\n

\u201dIt\u2019s been really fun running in Trans Am,\u201d Alan said. \u201cThe competition is really stiff, and it\u2019s one of the more competitive series that I\u2019ve raced in so far. I think it\u2019s made me a better driver. In order to do well, I\u2019ve got to beat a lot of former IMSA drivers \u2013 people who\u2019ve been around the sport a lot longer than me, so it really speeds up my learning process. Also, I think of all the great drivers who have done Trans Am in its long history, and it\u2019s really cool. It\u2019s also a great stepping-stone to the highest levels of NASCAR, because these cars are as close to stock cars on a road course as you can get.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Alan\u2019s main focus in 2020 is\u00a0the ARCA Menards Series West,\u00a0the California native will compete in select TA2\u00ae\u00a0races with his season debut at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May.<\/p>\n

Sixteen-year-old Sam Mayer took time from his full time NASCAR K&N Pro Series East exploits to drive the No. 96 SLR\/Fields Racing\/M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro at Road Atlanta and Daytona last season. He captured the TA2\u00ae\u00a0pole for the finale and\u00a0staged a strong run at the front of the field late in the race before Thomas Merrill emerged with the victory.<\/p>\n

A four-time winner last year for GMS Racing in NASCAR competition, Mayer became the youngest champion in the K&N Series in 2019. Earlier this month,\u00a0Mayer walked away with another victory in the ARCA Menards Series East opener at New Smyrna Speedway. As a second-generation driver,<\/p>\n

His father Scott Mayer raced in IndyCar, Indy Pro and the Rolex Series, and the second generation racer Mayer utilizes the Trans Am series to develop his road racing skills in the high horsepower machines as part of his preparation for a career in NASCAR.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis series is so competitive that it\u2019s crazy,\u201d Mayer said. \u201cI raced Road Atlanta early last year, and then we had a heck of a race before encountering fuel pump problems, so hopefully we can get redemption there this year. It was awesome winning the pole at Daytona. I fell back to 12th, but it was awesome to be able to come back and run with the big boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

While not among the youngest drivers in Trans Am, Jacob Mosler is at the beginning of his driving career, and is slated to continue his Trans Am journey at select races this season under the eye of NASCAR veteran Scott Lagasse Jr.<\/p>\n

\u201cI only got my racing license four years ago, and started out running a bunch of club stuff using my dad\u2019s cars,\u201d said the driver from St. Augustine, Fla., son of veteran car builder Scott Mosler. \u201cI was hanging out with Scott [Lagasse Jr.] and asked about running one of these, and he said, \u2018Let\u2019s do it!\u2019 So I jumped in with both feet. I\u2019d never run against competition like this, so it\u2019s definitely been challenging. But it\u2019s been fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mosler went on to earn runner-up honors in the TA2\u00ae\u00a0Rookie of the Year battle in 2019. His best finish was fourth at VIR, and he also placed sixth at Road America and seventh at Indianapolis Motor\u00a0Speedway.<\/p>\n

\u201cRelative to my level of experience, I feel like I\u2019ve had a pretty solid year,\u201d Mosler said. \u201cEverybody who\u2019s in front of me has been doing this since they were five years old. I was around race cars with my father my whole life, on the build side, but never behind the wheel until four years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Paul Southern Jr. celebrated his 18th birthday at Daytona International Raceway last year by qualifying the No. 83 Stevens Miller Racing Dodge Challenger. It was the first time he raced with a roof over his head. With a strong top-10 showing in his TA2\u00ae debut, Southern Jr. is making the jump from single-seaters to sports cars this season, campaigning for the Southern Cup Championship title.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time ever in a closed-cockpit car, coming from open-wheel and go-karts,\u201d said Southern, a four-time winner in SCCA Formula Atlantic competition and competitor in F3 Americas Championship. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a challenge for us, but I was ready to get going. The cars are definitely awesome, and up there on the horsepower scale. It\u2019s a whole new beast that I\u2019m facing, and I\u2019m enjoying every second of it. It\u2019s a very good program, and it was awesome to come in with them for the last race of the 2019 season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adrian Wlostowski drove the No. 96 F.A.S.T. Auto Ford Mustang in SGT in five of the 11 SGT races in 2019. The 29-year-old New York City resident\u2019s best finish were thirds at Lime Rock and Circuit of The Americas. He went on to finish 10th\u00a0in the final standings.<\/p>\n

\u201cRacing in Trans Am is great,\u201d Wlostowski said. \u201cLast year we were new to Trans Am, so we built a new car. We had a few issues with the car throughout the year, and we seemed to finally figure it out for the season finale at Daytona. I think that our third-place finish at Lime Rock was a miracle \u2013 we were surprised that the car lasted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wlostowski is slated for a full campaign with his Mustang in SGT for 2020, although he\u2019s also considering running select TA2\u00ae\u00a0races.<\/p>\n

Jett Noland will strap into the seat of the No. 99 Cope Race Cars house car as he gets his feet wet in the Trans Am Series TA2\u00ae division. At just fifteen-years-old, the Florida-native will be the youngest driver on the starting grid at Sebring. \u00a0 Noland is switching lanes after coming off a weeklong oval track racing event at the notorious New Smyrna Speedway- Speed Weeks 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very excited for the opportunity to get behind the wheel of one of Mike Cope\u2019s TA2\u00ae race cars,\u201d said Noland. \u201cEveryone in the paddock knows the Cope name is synonymous with speed. I can\u2019t wait to get down to Sebring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other notable\u00a0young\u00a0drivers to keep are series sophomores Matthew Butson, 18, in the TA2\u00ae West Coast Championship and\u00a0James Pesek, 21, in the National SGT class. Twenty-one-year-old rookie Jeffrey Birdwell will also run select TA2\u00ae events starting at Laguna.<\/p>\n

The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli is proud of its long heritage dating back to 1966. Now, with the number of\u00a0young\u00a0drivers competing in Trans Am, a bright future is ensured for America\u2019s Road Racing Series.<\/p>\n

The 2020 season kicks off February 29-March 1 at Sebring International Raceway.<\/p>\n

Each of the five Trans Am classes will have testing sessions on Friday to open on-track activities. Saturday begins with practice at 11:00 a.m. ET, followed by qualifying for each of the classes beginning at 4:55 p.m. Sunday features two 60-minute races with the mixed class of TA\/XGT\/SGT\/GT taking the green at 11:10 a.m. followed by a massive TA2\u00ae powered by AEM field lining up at 1:25 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

An autograph session will be held at noon on Saturday. Location updates will be released on the series social media channels (@gotransam). Fan will get another chance to meet their favorite drivers during the fan walks that will happen on Sunday prior to each race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SEBRING, Fla. (26 February 2020) \u2013 Getting ready for its 54th season of competition, the Trans Am Series presented Pirelli is experiencing a youth movement as [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2022,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2021","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=2021"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2023,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2021\/revisions\/2023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}