The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli returned to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the first time in a decade and put on an exciting race in front of legions of Canadian race fans. Paul Menard led the TA class for a majority of the race, but it seemed that Chris Dyson would take the checkered flag following a late race overtake. However, a spin by Dyson with two laps to go handed the race back to Menard, who earned his fifth victory of the season.
In the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series race, Rafa Matos led the field from flag to flag, holding off an ultra-fast Thomas Merrill and skillfully navigating through traffic in the multi-class affair, claiming his fifth win of the year and bringing him closer to his third TA2 championship.
Menard secured the pole position for the race in Saturday’s qualifying session with a blazing-fast lap, and when the green flag waved, he showed the same speed in his No. 31 Menards/Masterforce Tools Ford Mustang. However, Dyson was never far behind him in his No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang. Lap after lap, the distance between the two drivers was never more than a second and a half, and as the two contenders battled through traffic, the gap dwindled at times to just inches.
On lap 34, Dyson was finally able to use the traffic to his advantage, taking the lead from Menard and opening up a gap in clean air. It appeared that Dyson would drive away with the victory, but with two laps to go, Dyson’s rear end kicked out on him, and he did a full spin. Although his car righted itself and Dyson was able to continue, he was slowed just enough for Menard to retake the lead. Dyson had the speed to catch Menard, but not enough time. Menard crossed the finish line first, followed by Dyson. Tomy Drissi in the No. 8 Drissi Motorsports/Lucas/Mission Chevrolet Camaro claimed the third podium spot.
“We had a fast car all weekend,” said Menard on the podium. “This track is all out. It takes a lot of commitment. Our guys worked really hard getting the car comfortable going through Turn 2 and Turn 4. Chris [Dyson] and I, we’re just so close on speed. Last week, this week, it’s like whoever’s in front has the advantage. These cars make a lot of downforce, so clean air is a big advantage. And we just got to run. I boogered up 5B, and he got a run all the way down the back straight. I didn’t want to challenge him too hard in Turn 8. I stuck to his bumper, he made a little mistake, and I was able to capitalize.”
The CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series field kicked off the race with the top three cars on the grid in the same order in which they sat in the points, with Matos first in his No. 60 Concord American Flagpole/Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang, Merrill second in his No. 26 HP Tuners/Cope Race Cars Ford Mustang, and Ben Maier third in his No. 80 BOE Marine/Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang. With valuable championship points on the line, every lap and every position counted for the trio. Matos got a clean start and led Merrill and Maier until a full-course caution was deployed on lap two. When racing resumed on lap 10, Matos and Merrill continued to lead the field, but Maier got shuffled back, dropping to sixth in the running order. This allowed Tyler Gonzalez in the No. 40 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang to take over third, and he was followed by Thomas Annunziata in the No. 90 Bayshore Mortgage/Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang and Josh Hurley in the No. 20 Greenlight Simulation/BCR Ford Mustang.
With conditions remaining green for the remainder of the race, competitors fought both each other and the racetrack, which offered limited passing opportunities, all while dealing with traffic from other classes. As the laps ticked away, Merrill remained tight on Matos’ rear, but never had quite enough to challenge for the lead. When the checkered flag waved, Matos took the victory, followed by Merrill and Gonzalez in the final podium position. Annunziata and Hurley rounded out the top five.
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“I think today was about managing traffic,” said Matos in GYM WEED Winners Circle. “The car was really good. I was able to build up that gap and manage my distance to Thomas [Merrill]. I think the track was really slick, maybe because of the rain this morning and the NASCAR cars that ran a little bit earlier and took off some of the rubber, but the car was fantastic, indeed. I want to thank Nitro Motorsports for prepping six very fast racecars. We got Tyler [Gonzalez] on the podium; he definitely had a really good pace all weekend long. Hats off to Concord American Flagpole for trusting and believing in this project. Thanks to Chris Dyson, a big supporter of ours. Just an amazing weekend overall. Twenty years ago, I was here at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. I had a pole position in the Star Mazda Series and finished second. Today, I changed my luck around and we won the race. This is a great moment for us and a huge step towards our third championship here.”
Kaylee Bryson in the No. 02 Logical Systems Inc./Sam Pierce Chevrolet Corvette led the SGT class to green and was untouchable for the 41-lap event. She held a considerable advantage over David Hampton (No. 14 AR Motorsports/Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport) and Milton Grant (No. 55 Sentry Self Storage/Springhill Suites Porsche 991.3 GT3 Cup), who was battling transmission issues. Without having to watch her mirrors for her SGT competitors, Bryson was able to mix it up with CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series cars, holding her own with the faster vehicles. As the race concluded, Bryson led Hampton and Grant over the finish line, claiming her second win of the 2024 season.
“This feels good; it was fun to bring the GT car out here and race with the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series cars and TA cars,” said Bryson. “They’d really kill me on the straightaway, but I had something for them in the corners, which made it a little bit of fun. We were racing around quite a bit with the TA2 cars and passed a couple of them, which made it really exciting for us and our team. We want to come out here and race and put down really quick laps. I’m so thankful to have a car that makes it all 100 miles, and I’m really thankful for the whole crew for all the work they put in. It’s fun to be back on the top step.”
The highlight show of Saturday’s race will air on MAVTV on Thursday, September 5 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
The Trans Am Series will next hit the track at VIRginia International Raceway for the penultimate race of the season, October 3-6.
