The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli is going international, heading to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) in Bowmanville, Ontario in Canada. The longest-running professional road racing series in North America has a long history at CTMP, with 30 events held at the track since 1970. However, this will be the first time in a decade that the series has visited the track, also known as Mosport, with the last event held in 2014. Now a co-owner of the circuit, Trans Am driver and Canadian racing legend Ron Fellows won the race in Trans Am’s last visit to CTMP.
This weekend’s event will be a little different than the rest this season, with TA/XGT/SGT/GT and the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series competing in the same race, just like they did 10 years ago. We are guaranteed a first-time winner this weekend, as none of the drivers entered in Saturday’s event have previously driven to GYM WEED Winners Circle at the 2.459-mile road course in a Trans Am race.
Schedule:
All Classes
Qualifying:
Friday, August 30
3:50-4:10 p.m. ET
Race:
Saturday, August 31
2:15-3:30 p.m. ET
Race Length: 41 Laps/75 Minutes
TV Broadcast:
LIVE on MAVTV
Highlights Show:
MAVTV
Thursday, September 5
8:00 p.m. ET
CTMP winners
Although there will not be any previous Trans Am winners in the field, there are multiple entrants in this weekend’s event who have driven to Victory Lane at CTMP in other series. Canadian driver Aaron Pettipas has victories in the CASC Ontario Pirelli Super Touring Championship GT1 class in 2023 and 2024. Three-time champion Chris Dyson had a 2003 American Le Mans Series victory in the LMP675 class. Milton Grant won the NASPORT East championship there in 1995.
Meet the drivers
Fans attending the CTMP SpeedTour will have the opportunity to meet all the drivers racing this weekend at an autograph session on Saturday morning at 11:00-11:45 a.m. ET. The autograph session will be held by the Trans Am Series hauler in Paddock F.
New numbers
With the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series and TA/XGT/SGT/GT classes combining in this weekend’s race, there will be a few number changes in the field to avoid duplicates. Paul Menard’s Menards/Masterforce Tools Ford Mustang will sport the No. 31 since Adrian Wlostowski will claim the No. 3 for his CMI/Spot-On Services Ford Mustang. Jim Gallagher will run the No. 6 Regulator by Waypointe Ford Mustang in lieu of his traditional No. 16, which will be utilized by Chris Dyson on his GYM WEED Ford Mustang.
Feels like home
There are two drivers in this weekend’s field who hail from country of Canada.
TA2
Leroy Micallef, No. 10 BC Race Cars Ford Mustang (Brampton, Ontario)
Aaron Pettipas, No. 78 DQ Chevrolet Camaro (Bedford, Nova Scotia)
TA/XGT/SGT/GT
Dyson carries momentum to CTMP
Chris Dyson (No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang) absolutely dominated last weekend at Watkins Glen International, earning the Pole Award with a new track record and leading every single lap in a thrilling battle with points leader Paul Menard (No. 31 Menards/Masterforce Tools Ford Mustang). The victory shook Dyson out of a four-race winless streak, which is almost unheard of for the three-time TA champion.
Dyson has never driven at CTMP in a TA car, as the series hasn’t visited the track since he started competing full time in 2018. However, the legendary Ontario circuit is featured in Dyson’s career and in the history of his family team, Dyson Racing, with multiple IMSA/American Le Mans Series wins at the venue to their account. Dyson himself drove to a 2003 American Le Mans Series victory in the LMP675 class. He last competed at the track in 2015 in the Pirelli World Challenge.
“Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is a place that just takes your breath away as a driver,” Dyson noted. “It is very fast and very demanding, but also very rewarding to lap quickly. The team and I have loved racing there over the years and reconnecting with our Canadian fans. It has been a while since we have competed there, and I’m excited to be coming back.”
Experience on Drissi’s side
Very few drivers in this weekend’s field have experience driving Trans Am cars at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, given that the last event the series held at the track was in 2014. However, Tomy Drissi (No. 8 Drissi Motorsports/Lucas/Mission Chevrolet Camaro) has the most TA class experience at the track of anyone on the entry list. The 2009 TA champion took the green flag at the track in 2009 and 2010, earning a second-place finish in 2009.
Grant comes with CTMP experience
Currently in his 50th year of racing, there are few places that SGT competitor Milton Grant (No. 55 Sentry Self Storage/Springhill Suites Porsche 991.1) hasn’t been before. The 2022 SGT champion has previous experience at CTMP, albeit not in a Trans Am car. Grant raced at the Bowmanville, Ontario track twice in 1991, and won the NASPORT East championship there in 1995.
Merrill back on top in TA2
2022 CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series champion Thomas Merrill was back on the top step of the podium last weekend, earning his first pole of the 2024 season and leading every lap of the race in his No. 26 HP Tuners/Cope Race Cars Ford Mustang to win at Watkins Glen International. With his second victory of the year, Merrill continues to sit second in the championship standings and narrowed leader Rafa Matos’ advantage to just 112 points. With 110 points available in a single race and three events remaining, this year’s title is nowhere near settled. That means this weekend’s international event at CTMP is going to be crucial for both Merrill and Matos (No. 60 Concord American Flagpole/Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang).
Sheehan brings experience
Trans Am’s Iron Man Tom Sheehan (No. 97 Vixen Motorcycles/LTK Insulation Ford Mustang) has nearly 150 starts in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series, and is one of the only competitors in the class with experience racing a TA2 car at CTMP. Sheehan has taken the green flag in the last three events held at the circuit (2012-2014), earning a best finish of sixth in class in 2012.
Hailie Deegan making debut
After getting behind the wheel of a CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series car for the first time in the SpeedTour All-Star Race at Lime Rock Park in July, Hailie Deegan will be making her Trans Am Series debut this weekend at CTMP in the No. 30 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang. A three-time champion in the Lucas Oil Off Road Pro Series, Deegan is the only female driver to accomplish the feat, and is also the only youth driver to win the Lucas Oil Off Road Pro Series Driver of the Year award, an honor she took at the age of 15.
Since 2018, she has been climbing up the stock car and sports car ladder. Winning in the ARCA Menards Series West, Deegan recorded top fives and top 10s as she moved through the ranks in the ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. She kicked off the 2023 season by leading laps en route to her first sports car podium in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. By 2024, she moved up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, where she recorded a career-best 12th-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway.
Pettipas family reunion
Aaron Pettipas will make his first and only start of the 2024 season this weekend at CTMP in the No. 78 DQ Chevrolet Camaro. The native of Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada has five previous starts and two top-10 finishes in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series, but is yet to hit the track this year. He is driving for Pettipas Racing with Sensory Motorsport, a combined family effort. This weekend is an especially significant event for Aaron Pettipas, as CTMP is the first track where he and his brother Leigh Pettipas, who owns Sensory Motorsport, watched a Trans Am event together at seven and eight years old, respectively. The boys’ father, Eugene Pettipas, was sponsoring driver Dave Smith, who was making his Trans Am debut that weekend. 40 years later, the brothers will be chasing a Trans Am win together, and Smith will be in attendance to watch.
Sensory Motorsport is coming off a dominant weekend in July at CTMP in the GT1 class of the CASC Ontario Pirelli Super Touring Championship. The team earned the pole and wins in each of the three sprint races between Aaron in his TA2 Camaro and Leigh, driving his TA2-based GT1 Camaro. Aaron also won the same race in 2023.
Canadian team welcomes Canadian driver
BC Race Cars, a longtime CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series team based in Cavan, Ontario, welcomes Canadian driver Leroy Micallef to their stable this weekend to pilot the No. 10 BC Race Cars Ford Mustang. The Brampton, Ontario driver has driven TA2-style and other tube-frame racecars at CTMP in the past, some prepared by BC Race Cars. Micallef joins the team’s full-time driver, Josh Hurley, who pilots the No. 20 Greenlight Simulation/BCR Ford Mustang.
“I am so happy that Leroy is willing to take this step into pro racing,” said team principal Blaise Csida. “It is one thing to drive against a variety of GT1 cars at the regional level, but TA2 is a spec class, and arguably one of the most competitive series in North America.”