Drivers, teams alike look for momentum in Round 2 of 2017 Championship
Homestead, Fla. [April 6, 2017] – The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli will return to the Florida sun once more this weekend as it takes to the challenging 2.27-mile modified road course at Homestead-Miami Speedway for Round 2 of the 2017 Trans Am Championship.
The ever-competitive TA2 class will also be in attendance, holding an independent 100-mile race of their own, showcasing the modern reinvention of the pony wars. Once more, just as in the TA class, the spotlight will be, deservedly so, on a pair of Florida residents—Shane Lewis and Cameron Lawrence. Together they have combined to win every TA2 race at Homestead-Miami.
In 2016, Shane Lewis, of Jupiter, Florida, in the No. 72 Pura Vida Tequila/ 74 Ranch Resort Chevrolet Camaro, cruised to victory on the South Florida track—capturing pole and leading every ensuing lap and building up a generous gap before passing the checkered flag for his first career TA2 victory.
Lawrence, absent in 2016, is now back in TA2 this time behind the wheel of the No. 19 Class Auto Centers Chevrolet Camaro; he won TA2 at Homestead-Miami in both 2015 and 2014, setting pole in both as well. Lawrence, a Windermere, Florida, native and 2013, 2014 TA2 Champion, has never lost a Trans Am race at Homestead in which he was entered.
Still, the talent in the TA2 class goes far deeper than just the prior years’ victors. Dillon Machavern, in the No. 24 Heritage Motorsports Ford Mustang, enters the weekend on a streak of three consecutive podium finishes dating back to last season, including wins at Circuit of The Americas and the 2017 season opener at Sebring. Machavern has a history of strong finishes at Homestead as well—never passing the checkered flag outside the top five.
Gar Robinson, teammate of Lewis and driver of the No. 74 Pura Vida Tequila, 74 Ranch Resort Chevrolet Camaro, will also be in attendance. Robinson, the 2015 TA2 champ, ran up front with Machavern for the entirety of the Sebring opener, qualifying second and finishing second. Robinson will look to improve upon his history at Homestead-Miami, where he’s never finished higher than seventh, a rarity for a talent expected to be one of the primary contenders for this year’s championship.
Machavern’s Mike Cope Racing Enterprises teammates will also be out in full force, despite the absence of defending TA2 champ Tony Buffomante. The Cope paddock will feature the talents of Lawrence Loshak, Keith Prociuk, Louis-Philippe Montour, Matt Parent and Justin Haley— making the largest, and potentially deepest, team in the TA2 paddock all under the Clearwater, Florida, based team’s tent.
Scott Lagasse Jr., in the No. 18 Screen Your Machine Chevrolet Camaro, will also be representing the home state contingent, ready to build on a career best eighth finishing position at Sebring just a month ago.
The TA2 field will also feature Carlo Falcone, Ray Neveau, Adam Andretti, Tim Gray, Jordan Bernloehr, and Tom Sheehan. Moses Smith will make his Trans Am and TA2 debut in the No. 87 3-Dimensional Services Group Chevrolet Camaro.
