Andy Lally – Syndication Server

Lally/Crews duo score SpeedTour All Star Race win at Lime Rock Park

The first event of its kind, the SpeedTour All-Star Race at Lime Rock Park was a spectacular combination of motorsports’ biggest legends and the stars of the Trans Am Series by Pirelli behind the wheel of CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series race cars. The pairing of All-Star driver Andy Lally and 2023 TA2 Series champion Brent Crews took the top step of the podium in the two-part race that combined points based on finishing positions to crown the ultimate driving duo. A second-place performance by Lally in the All-Star portion of the race set the stage for Crews, who earned a hard-fought third-place finish against his Trans Am competitors. Together, the two tallied 35 points to win a $50,000 prize.

The All-Star drivers drove the first race stint, and Scott Speed in the No. 17 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro took the green flag after winning the pole in Friday’s qualifying session. With Andy Lally’s No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang starting beside him on the front row, Speed got a good, clean start, protecting the point position. Lally ran on Speed’s tail, followed by Adam Andretti in the No. 44 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang. The double yellow first waved on lap seven for the No. 97 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang driven by Geoff Brabham, who was forced to retire due to a mechanical issue.

The lap 11 restart allowed for a shakeup in the running order, as Paul Menard passed Andretti, taking the third spot in his No. 3 F.A.S.T. Auto Racing Ford Mustang. Just in front of him, Lally had his sights set on Speed, but despite a late-race challenge, Speed was able to hold the lead until the first checkered flag waved at the 25m mark, ending the first half of the race. Menard finished third, followed by Andretti and Bobby Labonte in the No. 26 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang. Greg Biffle in the No. 27 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Ford Mustang was scored sixth, followed by Ryan Newman in the No. 90 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang and Casey Mears behind him in the No. 38 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro. Boris Said finished ninth in the No. 33 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, and Mike Skinner in the No. 892 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro rounded out the top 10.

All-Star stint 1 finishing order and points:

1. Scott Speed: No. 17 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro (19)

2. Andy Lally: No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (18)

3. Paul Menard: No. 3 F.A.S.T. Auto Racing Ford Mustang (17)

4. Adam Andretti: No. 44 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (16)

5. Bobby Labonte: No. 26 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang (15)

6. Greg Biffle: No. 27 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Ford Mustang (14)

7. Ryan Newman: No. 90 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (13)

8. Casey Mears: No. 38 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (12)

9. Boris Said: No. 33 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (11)

10. Mike Skinner: No. 892 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (10)

11. Hailie Deegan: No. 80 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (9)

12. Ron Fellows: No. 07 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (8)

13. Davey Hamilton: No. 6 FPEC Racing Ford Mustang (7)

14. Amy Ruman: No. 02 XLINE Race Cars Ford Mustang (6)

15. Ron Hornaday Jr.: No. 16 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang (5)

16. Danny Sullivan: No. 11 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (4)

17. Ken Schrader: No. 8 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro (3)

18. Davy Jones: No. 69 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (2: OUT)

19. Geoff Brabham: No. 97 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang (1: OUT)

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Following a competition break to change drivers, the race restarted for the second stint, with the Trans Am pros taking the wheel in the same positions their All-Star teammates finished in. This put young Tristan McKee in the lead in the No. 17 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro, followed by Crews in his No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang, Wlostowski in the No. 3 F.A.S.T. Auto Racing Ford Mustang, AJ Henriksen in the No. 44 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang, and Thomas Merrill in the No. 26 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang.

The action began as soon as the green flag waved, with Crews overtaking McKee for the lead and Merrill jumping up to third after making contact with Wlostowski. Thomas Annunziata, who started seventh in the No. 90 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang, also navigated all the way up to fourth, all before the conclusion of the first lap. Ben Maier in the No. 80 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang was picking his way through the field, going from 11th to fifth in the first four laps. Connor Mosack in the No. 8 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Ford Mustang went on a tear, starting the second stint in 17th and cracking the top 10 on lap eight.

Crews held the lead until lap eight, when he was impressively challenged and overcome by Annunziata. Mosack continued his march to the front, taking over the fourth position on lap 19. Crews lost one more spot to Merrill on lap 20, while McKee struggled, dropping out of the top 10 and bringing the race to a yellow condition when his left-rear tire went flat. With the 25m clock ticking down, racing was unable to resume, and cars crossed the finish line in the order they were scored when the caution period began. Annunziata led Merrill, Crews, Mosack and Maier over the finish line.

When the points were tallied, it was the pairing of Lally and Crews who were scored first with a combined 35 points, while Labonte and Merrill took second with 33 points, and Newman and Annunziata rounded out the star-studded podium with 32 points. Following the race, Crews and Lally were awarded with a $50,000 check, gold Bell helmets and Omologato bespoke timepieces, in addition to custom trophies.

Trans Am Pro stint 2 finishing order:

1. Thomas Annunziata: No. 90 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (19)

2. Thomas Merrill: No. 26 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang (18)

3. Brent Crews: No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (17)

4. Connor Mosack: No. 8 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro (16)

5. Ben Maier: No. 80 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (15)

6. Barry Boes: No. 27 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Ford Mustang (14)

7. Edward Sevadjian: No. 38 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (13)

8. Ethan Barker: No. 07 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (12)

9. John Atwell: No. 02 XLINE Race Cars Ford Mustang (11)

10. Jim Gallaugher: No. 16 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang (10)

11. Boris Said Jr.: No. 33 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (9)

12. AJ Henriksen: No. 44 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (8)

13. Paul Ruth: No. 11 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (7)

14. Alan Davison: No. 6 FPEC Racing Ford Mustang (6)

15. Adrian Wlostowski: No. 3 F.A.S.T. Auto Racing Ford Mustang (5)

16. Tristan McKee: No. 17 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro (4)

17. Livio Galanti: No. 892 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (3)

18. Sam LeComte: No. 69 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (2: DNS)

19. Tom Sheehan: No. 97 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang (1: DNS)

“This is a special moment,” said Lally. “I’ve had a handful of race wins at Lime Rock, but this is really cool. To share this track with some of my heroes and guys that I look up to and respect at the highest levels of the sport is amazing. And then, to also share it with tomorrow’s stars is incredible. This race is the brainchild of Tony Parella; there’s so much that he put on the line for this and risked. We got a really good show out of it. [Ryan Newman and Bobby Labonte], on both ends of our podium here, are guys that I’ve respected since I was really young, and they’ve accomplished so much. But then the guys that I’m standing right next to, both Thomases [Merrill and Annunziata] and Brent [Crews] here, are just monster future stars, and it’s really cool to be up here with them.”

“This feels incredible,” said Crews. “I just want to say thank you to all of the fans. Goodness, this is probably the biggest crowd I’ve seen, and I’ve been to a lot of racetracks. I’m really happy to have y’all here and to be able to race with these stars, both the people that I race every week, as well as guys like Ryan [Newman] and Bobby [Labonte]. This is just so cool. There’s so many guys that I remember watching on TV when I was five years old, and I got to race with them. I just want to thank everybody at Nitro Motorsports and Nick Tucker, who has done so much for me growing up, from racing go-karts to winning championships with this race car. Being able to share the top step with Andy [Lally] is great. You see how much stuff he gets to win, and being able to win with him feels really great. So, I’m happy to be here. The Nitro Motorsports No. 70 Franklin Road Apparel car was pretty [awesome], and I just want to say thank you to Toyota Racing. I’m happy to be here.”

The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli next hits the track at Watkins Glen International for the Mission Foods Watkins Glen Speed Tour, August 21-25. Tickets can be purchased here on SpeedTour.net.

RESULTS

Speed on pole for SpeedTour All Star Race at Lime Rock Park

Legendary racers from all disciplines of motorsports converged at Lime Rock Park for the SpeedTour All-Star Race, where they’re paired with the stars of the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli in a CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series car. Scott Speed in the No. 17 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro was the fastest in qualifying with a best time of 52.657s, claiming the pole for himself and his driving partner, Tristan McKee.

Starting beside him on the front row is Andy Lally in the No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang, who laid down a lap time of 52.845s. Lally is paired with 2023 CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series champion Brent Crews. Their No. 70 car was the fastest in the weekend’s only practice session.

“These CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series cars are really fun,” said Speed. “A lot of our young drivers get to drive these as part of their development, so it’s fun to get in one and drive it at speed and get a feel for them. They’re great cars for these kids to develop in; it’s a great series. I’m happy to be able to come out here and race with Tristan — obviously super young, one of the new, hot up-and-comers. It’s cool to be able to get in the car and get a real experience of what they’re feeling.”

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“I’m excited,” said McKee. “Scott gets to do the first half and I get to do the last, so hopefully I’m in a good position and I can stay there. I feel pretty good about it. I feel comfortable in these cars and on this track, so I feel good.”

SpeedTour CEO Tony Parella offered his thoughts on the event thus far.

“I’m so grateful for all the All-Stars that came out,” said Parella. “When you consider this field, there’s over 8,000 NASCAR starts, almost 600 sports-car racing starts, 40-plus Formula 1 starts, IndyCar championships and everything in between gracing us with their presence. I think it’s like old home week for these guys. They’re having a family reunion, and, you know, these drivers look a little older. They’ve got a little more gray, maybe a couple more pounds, but when you look at the speeds, they’re still racers. To bring this platform to the young up-and-coming drivers that have aspirations to race on the biggest stages, this is a perfect conduit for that, so, for that, I’m grateful. We got blessed with good weather. I want the fans to have a ball. Heck, we had an autograph session that lasted over an hour. If we let it, the line would have gone two hours.”

The SpeedTour All-Star Race will be contested Saturday at 1:00 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast live on MAVTV and streamed live here beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET. The All-Stars will take the green flag for the race, then hand over their TA2 cars to the Trans Am pros following a mid-race competition break for a driver change.

RESULTS

Embrace the bumps: Drivers’ love-hate relationship with Sebring

We’ve all been in a love-hate relationship with something or someone. Sometimes that comes from hating part of it, but loving another aspect. Other times it’s something that makes you so miserable that you can’t help but love it. Sebring? Yeah, for …

Sebring International Raceway is legendary for its bumps and its surface that alternates between concrete and asphalt. During next week’s Twelve Hours of Sebring for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as well as the WEC 100 Miles of Sebring the day before, there will be a time when the position of the sun entering a couple of the critical turns is almost unbearable. Then there is the darkness — darkness unlike most endurance racers encounter at any other circuit.

“It is the most unique track that we go to on the schedule at least,” explains Andy Lally, fresh off a GTD podium finish in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage at Daytona (and pictured above at Sebring last year). “There aren’t too many places where we combine asphalt and concrete racing surfaces. In fact, I think it’s probably the only one with the exception of some places with small patches. The fact that we know there’s problems with the track and we don’t want to fix it, we know that there’s some treacherous corners and we know that there’s bumps and and cliffs and holes and stuff … that is all part of the historical value of Sebring and what it brings. As it is fairly grueling on a driver and it’s barely ever really nice weather there, that’s what makes it satisfying if you do well.”

There’s also the way the circuit changes over the course of the race — set the car up to be fast for the finish, and in the middle of the day it will be an absolute handful.

“Understanding the unique challenge of that is that the track gets good and bad at different points in the day, so and then even some of the asphalt corners get good and bad in different points in the day. So Sebring, in particular, you know your morning goodness is worn off and you’re going to the afternoon sliminess as soon as you get a little too sideways coming out of (Turn) 5, and you know, pretty much on that lap, that Turn 16 is going to start to be horrible,” says Lally, who ran his first race at Sebring in 1996. “And every bit of feedback and everything that you do for the rest of the day until about 4:30 or 5:30 p.m. is useless to make 5 and 16 good. And then gradually some of the other corners drop off; you get some corners like 11 that stays shaded with the trees there but you get a lot of different corners that progress from good to bad differently.

“The challenge is not being fooled by the temperature change during the day,” he explains. “You know, there’s other tracks around the U.S. that do this. But as far as what’s on the IMSA calendar, nothing changes like Sebring. If you drove out at 9am and threw down a lap and then left the car alone, put another set of stickers on it and drove out at noon, just three hours later, your time difference would put you from qualifying first on the grid to last on the grid. It’s such a change throughout the day. That afternoon part is just so potentially treacherous. And you can also chase something that sets you down the wrong path for the night.”

Sebring’s sunsets can be spectacular, and the photographers carefully plan their location to be in the right place at the right time to capture that beauty as a stunning backdrop to the cars. But there’s half an hour during the race until the sun goes below the horizon that is treacherous for the drivers. Unlike the photographers, they’re hoping the sun goes down behind some clouds.

“Sunset … definitely going into (Turns) 17 and 7, you’re hoping to get any clouds,” says Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia. “If it’s a full bright sky, you know it’s going to be really, really tough. That also goes into the point that, at times, I got into the car with three-hours-and-something to go. So that means that you get the sunset, and then you go full into the dark. So you need also to pick the right visor, everything needs to be perfect.

“I have had every single condition there and every single moment of different weather. But, yeah, for sure the sunset, if it’s full bright, is tricky. That’s something you don’t want to be fighting too much with somebody, or traffic gets very, very tricky in those conditions because somebody might not see you. It’s only 20, 25 minutes; but it’s it’s very tricky.

Garcia, though, confesses he loves the track in darkness, while also admitting that that can depend on one’s position in the field: “I love the racetrack, the whole lap at night. So when it’s full dark, and you know it’s coming to the end of the race, that’s the more joyful time of the of the race. No matter how tired you are, if you’re up in contention for the race, especially, that’s when the whole magic of Sebring comes.” Garcia has been there, most recently last year when the No. 3 Corvette team won the Twelve Hours of Sebring, its only victory of the season, but also three GTLM wins before that.

There’s no passion for the track when Sebring brings an end to a team’s race before the 12 hours is up. But make it to the finish, make it to the podium, and the torture is worth it.