By Dean Reller
BRAINERD, MN (July 2, 2017) – If there was such a thing as a "perfect race" for Tony Buffomante, this would have been it as Buffomante won the Trans Am TA2 Ryan Companies Muscle Car Challenge at Brainerd International Raceway.
After having been the fastest car in all of the practices and then qualified for the pole with a Track Record lap of 1:29.562 seconds, Buffomante led the field to the green in the 40 lap race on Brainerd International Raceway's 2.5 mile Competition Road Course. From the wave of the green, Buffomante took control of the race staying ahead of Gar Robinson and teammate Shane Lewis. The cautionless race played into Buffomante's favor as he held off every challenge that Robinson threw at him, leading every lap in taking the win.
"I don't know how much he had left," said Buffomante following the race. "We had a little bit left, but I didn't want to see that traffic at the end, but that's TA2 racing. It's hard to get away from people in this series. The series is so close, Ford vs Chevy this weekend and fortunately the Mustang ended up on top."
Click to listen to interview with Tony Buffomante
Points leader Robinson chased Buffomante from the start, but despite several challenges and a small opportunity to capitalize on some lapped traffic near the end, he would have to settle for second.
"He (Buffomonte) had a nice car today," said Robinson afterwards. "I think both our cars were equally matched. It came down to who made mistakes and Tony didn't make mistakes and I got to try and minimalize mine. It was a clean hard race all the way. I thought it was going to get interesting with lapped traffic, but we'll have to wait until Mid-Ohio to do it again."
Click to listen to interview with Gar Robinson
Shane Lewis started third and maintained that position the entire race, finishing a considerable distance behind the leaders.
This event will be televised on CBS Sports Network on Saturday August 12th at 11am
| POS | NO. | CLS | PIC | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | BEST LAP TIME | # | AVG SPEED | SPONSORS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 34 | TA2 | 1 | Buffomante | Mustang | 40 | 1:31.093 | 13 | 121.377 | Bestline Superior Lubricants |
| 2 | 74 | TA2 | 2 | Robinson | Camaro | 40 | 1:31.164 | 30 | 121.338 | PuraVida Tequila/74RanchResort |
| 3 | 72 | TA2 | 3 | Lewis | Camaro | 40 | 1:31.495 | 6 | 120.195 | PuraVida Tequila/74RanchResort |
| 4 | 5 | TA2 | 4 | Loshak | Camaro | 40 | 1:32.287 | 13 | 119.628 | Pennzoil / ETE Reman |
| 5 | 19 | TA2 | 5 | Lawrence | Camaro | 40 | 1:32.637 | 6 | 118.699 | Class Auto Centers |
| 6 | 9 | TA2 | 6 | Prociuk | Camaro | 40 | 1:33.136 | 31 | 118.407 | HP Tuners |
| 7 | 97 | TA2 | 7 | Sheehan | Camaro | 40 | 1:32.993 | 16 | 118.395 | LTK Insulation Technologies |
| 8 | 12 | TA2 | 8 | Ivey | Challenger | 39 | 1:34.672 | 11 | 115.495 | Hawk Performance |
| 9 | 60 | TA2 | 9 | Gray | Mustang | 35 | 1:36.899 | 5 | 104.966 | Ryan Companies US Inc |
| 10 | 29 | TA2 | 10 | Neveau | Camaro | 34 | 1:35.263 | 5 | 101.711 | Class Auto Centers |
| 11 | 24 | TA2 | 11 | Machavern | Mustang | 23 | 1:31.887 | 19 | 116.379 | Heritage Motorsports |
| 12 | 87 | TA2 | 12 | Smith | Camaro | 19 | 1:33.832 | 3 | 106.438 | 3Dimensional Services Group |
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