After a disappointing premature end to his race Saturday, Tim Barber bounced back in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli Western Championship’s race two at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch. Taking the green flag in fifth place, Barber took the lead early and never looked back, dominating for 26 laps and earning his third CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series victory.
Barber started the race from the fifth position, but as soon as the green flag waved, he was on his way to the front. He navigated his No. 33 DIG Motorsports Ford Mustang into the third position by the conclusion of the first lap, passing fourth-place starter Tim Carroll (No. 46 CRDMFG.com Chevrolet Camaro) and third-place Michael LaPaglia (No. 31 Papini’s Garage/F.A.S.T. Auto/Howe Ford Mustang). On the third lap, Barber began to battle with Barry Boes, who took the green flag from the second position in his No. 32 Accio Data/TRB Autosport Ford Mustang, claiming the runner-up spot by lap four. From there, it only took him one lap to claim the lead from Kyle Kelley in the No. 80 PK+k Properties/UPRacing.com Ford Mustang, putting Barber in the point position by lap five.
Behind him, Kelley remained within striking distance for a while, but on lap 17, smoke was seen coming from the No. 80, and Kelley felt his steering become heavy, indicating that he had lost power steering. Able to use the track’s berms to muscle his car through the turns, Kelley’s lap times slowed, allowing Boes to take away the second position by lap 21. Once in second, Boes was able to chip away slightly at the large gap Barber had opened, but it wasn’t enough. When the checkered flag waved, Barber took the victory, followed by Boes. Kelley was able to hold on to third, with LaPaglia and Carroll crossing the line in fourth and fifth.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1479]
“We had a little bit of bad luck yesterday,” said Barber. “The car’s been pretty good all weekend. We were towards the front of the timesheets all weekend. Of course, I’ve got to thank Jeremy, Dave and Paula, who worked some late nights. It was really nice to have Chas Howe here, bouncing things off him. The Howe car worked great. The Katech motor worked great. I’ve got to thank Wheeler for coming over and always checking on us and helping. I had all four gears and the car felt great. I was glad to get away from these guys and not have to battle, because I didn’t get to run the race yesterday to know how greasy it would get, so I just kind of ran scared and held on. It worked.”
David Hampton in the No. 14 AR Motorsports Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport was the sole competitor in his class, but much like yesterday, he was still dicing it up with competitors in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series. Hampton battled hardest with JC Meynet in the No. 28 B-Bar Ranch/Killer Shrimp Chevrolet Camaro, holding him at bay until relinquishing the position in the closing laps. Hampton ultimately finished seventh overall and earned his third SGT victory in just four starts in the class.
“Well, I’m just trying to stay ahead of those guys,” said Hampton. “They’ve got so much horsepower, and they’re just driving so fast. They do not want me to be ahead of them. I just do what I can, and that’s what you get. [My car] turned pretty darn good. I turned my fastest lap times here today; super awesome, into the 2:17s. The guys dialed the car in, so I’ve got to thank my AR Motorsports guys, Martin, John, all the crew. It’s just been a whole bunch of fun this weekend.”
The Western Championship next heads to Circuit of The Americas for the season finale where all of this year’s champions will be crowned on November 3.