In a surprise appearance, seven-time Trans Am champion and four-time TA class champion Ernie Francis Jr. returned for the first time in two years to fill in for an under-the-weather Brent Crews and shot to the top of the speed charts, claiming the pole award for the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s season opener at Sebring International Raceway. Francis Jr.’s last pole with the series was won at Circuit of The Americas in the 2021 season finale, a year in which he earned the top qualifying position five times.
“Winning the pole is pretty cool; this was unexpected for this weekend,” said Francis Jr. “I was just going to be running our old Trans Am car in the SVRA class, and then we got out here and ECC was in need of a driver. I’ve driven for them before, so it kind of worked out pretty well. I was able to hop in their car, and man, it’s fast. I’ve never driven a Weaver chassis, never driven a Dodge Challenger, but it’s a pretty good car. I’m enjoying it, it’s pretty fast out here. I think it was the fastest I’ve been around this track for sure, so I’m really liking it. I’ve just got to give a big thanks to the guys from ECC and from Weaver. They gave me a really good car, really fast, and hopefully we can just take it home tomorrow.”
The TA/XGT/SGT/GT race will be contested Sunday at 11:15 a.m. ET. The race will be broadcast live on MAVTV and streamed live here. The TV broadcast replay of the race will air on MAVTV on Thursday, February 29 at 9:00 p.m. ET.