trans-am

Jessi Lang meets a vintage T/A Chevy

August 14, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Driving an Infiniti. To a Mazda sponsored track. To drive a Chevy. Gotta love the little ironies that working in automotive media throws at us sometimes!

After spending a year in rehab following a devastating car accident, Jessi Lang takes the bull by the horns so to speak with her first automotive assignment. As part of Motor Trend’s lead up to the Monterey Historics, Lang had the opportunity to take a couple of hot laps around Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in a full on ’69 Camaro Z/28 from the glory days of the Trans Am series. Sadly, a couple was all she got in, as the beast clocked in at 113 db, which is above the sound limits at the track.

Even though my Dad raced an AMX and not a Camaro, I am oh so jealous!

Source: Motor Trend via Youtube

Tommy Kendall returns to Trans Am

August 14, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

This morning’s news comes out of the Trans Am paddock, where it has been announced that four time T/A series champion Tommy Kendall will be returning to the iconic racing series, at the wheel of a bright green Dodge Challenger SRT in the TA2 category. The first outing for the Miller Racing prepared Challenger will be this weekend at Mid-Ohio.

The timing is perfect to put guys like Paul Tracy, Tony Stewart, Montoya and even Villeneuve in to showroom based cars. Mustang, Camaro, Challenger: all are back (or still) in showrooms. Bring on BMW’s 1 series and Nissan’s 370Z for a bit of nostalgic spice to the group. Run the cars in a showroom stock configuration again so the fans can relate. Think those drivers above won’t add enough excitement? How about bringing in guys like Michael Andretti, Little Al, David Donohue to add in a bit more historic star power? If memory serves, I think Unser may have driven the tubie cars at some point in the Eighties. The time couldn’t be better for auto manufacturers to be involved in a series like this. Indeed they could once again benefit from Win on Sunday….

I wrote those words back in 2008, when the T/A series had just been re-launched after a bit of a hiatus. Six years later, it looks like they are finally beginning to pull the package together.

The T/A folks are understandably chuffed to have the entry in the field for a number of reasons. Kendall spent some time away from the driver’s seat and while he may not offer the immediate name recognition as a driver with a name like Andretti, many younger fans know his personality as a motorsport color commentator and host of a few television shows on Speed, which certainly gives the driver more star power than anyone else in the field.
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Classic Player’s Challenge Racing in the rain

April 28, 2014 by Gary Grant 2 Comments

Few who were around to experience the Player’s GM Challenge will argue that there has never been a more exciting racing series in North America. The cars were stout, fast and came out of a showroom. The drivers were talented, fast and tenacious. The fans were drunk and rabid.

As the series took place from the late Eighties to early Nineties, before the age of digital cameras, there is a sad lack of media material available from the series. Hopefully, more fans will start scanning their old photos soon.

Through a friend on Facebook, I just came across this fantastic (for the era) in car video from a race at Shannonville in the rain. The driver is not identified. Do you know who is driving this machine?

Update: Canadian racing legend and top competitor in the series, Ron Fellows, has weighed in on the video. Ron believes that this is one of the Motomaster cars, which he drove himself at Shannonville in 1987. That was a dry race, so Fellows thinks this is David Empringham in the ’88 race.

Alice In Chains Trans Am For Sale

June 13, 2013 by Tom Williams 4 Comments

For fans of The Garage, myself and Founding Editor Gary Grant are card carrying members of Generation X, and we both share an interest in alternative music in addition to our passion for all things automotive. The 1990’s ushered in the age of the Grunge movement, whose epicenter was Seattle, Washington. At the top of the food chain was the seminal band Alice In Chains. With their album ‘Dirt’ from 1992, it went quadruple platinum, selling four million copies. Sadly, front man Layne Staley suffered from a crippling heroin addiction, but it was this addiction that was his source for the poignant, and oftentimes painful lyrics. Co-leader Jerry Cantrell headed an incredible band to boot, and the music was intense. Since my college days in the mid-1990’s, I have loved watching the last lap of Steve McQueen’s ‘LeMans’ to the music of Alice in Chains ‘Would?’. You have YouTube and iTunes. Try it. It works brilliantly, the grueling music against Layne Staley’s driven, tense vocals.

In MTV’s 1996 airing of Alice In Chains ‘Unplugged’, it was clear Staley was frail, and heartbreaking to watch. The death of his fiance from a drug related overdose was the final nail that pushed Layne over the edge. The commercial success of Alice in Chains was immense, but Staley’s addiction put a damper on capitalizing on it. Following the death of his fiance, Layne Staley purchased a penthouse condo in Seattle, and essentially became a recluse. The only people he would meet were his drug dealers and a small group of friends.

So the story of Layne’s Trans Am are a bit mysterious. There is no question this is his car, and it is for sale. Hit the link if you are interested. It is a 2000 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am with the high performance WS-6 package and a six-speed manual. The ad reads that Layne personally ordered the the car, optioned to the hilt. What I do not get is the car has 26,000 miles on it. Layne Staley was a recluse after 1997, never leaving his penthouse. When the police found Layne Staley dead, he was 6’1″ and weighed 86lbs. With a man that ill, how could he possibly muster the energy to drive a top-spec Trans-Am? Even so, the chance to own a car owned by one of the most iconic, and tragic singers of the Seattle grunge scene is tempting.

Paul Newman’s race winning Vette sells for $275,000

March 12, 2012 by Gary Grant 1 Comment

Over the years we’ve seen more than a few actors who have taken their fortune and gone racing. Some of them were even pretty good at it. Guys like James Garner, Steve McQueen and new school guys like Patrick Dempsey have all been regarded as talented racers. Possibly the most successful of the bunch was none other than Paul Newman, who raced for decades, right up into his Eighties. Racing under the name PLN, Newman scored wins in both IMSA and Trans-Am racing.

Using his home track, Lime Rock Park, as a base, Newman raced this Riley & Scott Corvette Trans Am car from 2003 onwards, scoring his final win a year to the day before his death. Think about that, in 2007 at age 82, Newman won a GT1 race behind the wheel of a 700 horsepower TA car! This was that car.

It was in this car that Paul Newman took his final laps of Lime Rock, at 83 years of age, just one month before passing away from cancer.

The car was offered up for auction at Amelia Island recently by Canadian auction house, RM Auctions. When the bidding came to a close, the final sale was made for $275,000.

Head past the jump to read the full press release and catch a glimpse of the freshly restored #83.

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Amy Ruman becomes first woman to win a Trans Am race

October 3, 2011 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Having come oh so close to winning her first Trans Am series race several times, Amy Ruman finally took top spot on the podium this weekend at Road Atlanta. Ruman got the jump on Mike Lewis on the 5th restart, when the race went yellow once again due to contact between Glen Jung and John Baucom. All Ruman had to do then was cruise for 3 laps under yellow to became the first woman to win in 45 years of TA racing.
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Going Fast: Gateway Racing number 07 Corvette is up for sale

June 10, 2011 by Gary Grant 1 Comment

That’s right, Blaise Csida’s magnificent Corvette Trans Am car could be yours. Quite possibly one of the most attractive cars on the Trans Am circuit and certainly one of the best prepared, the Gateway Racing Vette is leaving the stable to make room for the next new build. For the experienced driver looking to move up to GT1 or go pro in the Trans Am series, this is the perfect vehicle. Meticulously built and maintained, this car is reliable and fast and comes with a comprehensive spares package.

Full details:
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Tony Ave wins rain soaked Trans Am crash fest at Mosport

May 26, 2011 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

While the Trans Am cars sat on the mock grid, the World Challenge teams were circling Mosport International Raceway under a full course yellow. The reason? A damp track that deposited 5 cars into the tires between corners 9 and 10. Typical of Mosport’s weather patterns, the rain stopped and started a couple of times. As the TA cars made their way out on the track, the skies opened.

One quick lap behind the pace car and the field went green. For about 30 seconds.
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Mosport Victoria Day Speedfest heats up a rainy week!

May 20, 2011 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Andy Pilgrim hauls ass in the EVIL CTS-V Coupe!

Day 1 of the Victoria Day Speedfest at Mosport has wound down and I’m having a chance to put together a few images to share with our readers. There is so much to talk about from today, but I’m too burnt out to get into all of it so I’ll just give you a few highlights.

K-Pax Racing has brought the new S-60 World Challenge GT racer out to play for the first time and it is nothing short of magnificent. They only have one car ready, so Randy Pobst is playing ambassador for the team this weekend while Alex Figge runs his new ride. K-Pax is also running a pair of C-30’s in the Touring class for Rob Holland and Canadian Aaron Povoledo, who won at Miller Motorsports Park a few weeks ago. In the second practice session today, Povoledo led the lap charts.

Long time friend of The Garage, Mike Skeen, dominated the Pirelli World Challenge GT class practices today, in the same Corvette that Ron Fellows won with in this race last year. Interesting to note that his fastest lap time was a 1:19.705 which was quicker than all but one of the Trans Am cars. In a production based car!
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Mosport’s Victoria Day SpeedFest On Track In Two Weeks

May 11, 2011 by Media press release 1 Comment

Mosport press release

In just two weeks, Mosport International Raceway will kick off its 2011 season with the sights and sounds of thundering GT and Touring car racers on the Victoria Day SpeedFest Weekend, May 20-22.

Some of North America’s best road racing sedan championships – the Pirelli World Challenge Series, the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series, the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship, the classic Sundown Grand Prix endurance race into darkness and new to Mosport in 2011, the SCCA Pro Spec Racer Ford and SCCA Pro Formula Enterprises – take to the 3.96 km circuit for MosportÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s traditional holiday season-opener.

Headlining the three-day weekend is a Pirelli World Challenge doubleheader, with combined class races for GT, GTS and Touring cars. The Ã¢â‚¬Å“Sports Car WarsÃ¢â‚¬Â entry list is full of popular brands such as Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Corvette, Honda, Mazda, Porsche, Viper, Volkswagen and Volvo. The 2010 GT Rookie of the Year Fred Roberts of Toronto, coming off an eighth place finish at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, placing him 11th in points, will have his work cut out for him as he battles against the brand new Cadillac CTS-V one-two punch of Johnny OÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Connell and Andy Pilgrim. RobertsÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ Viper teammate Jason Daskalos is coming off a win and currently sits third in the driverÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s championship. Two-time defending American Le Mans Series GT champion and Porsche factory driver, Patrick Long will look to take back the points lead after missing the last race. Long got his 2011 campaign off to a hot start, winning the first two races of the year.
[Read more…]

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