New Trans Am era at Brainerd International Raceway ends

By Jason D Searcy

The Trans Am road racing series has made the decision to not be returning to Brainerd (MN) International Raceway this year.  Here is the 2018 schedule Trans Am 2018

Here is a portion of the press release with quotes from Trans Am president John Clagett;  "the 2018 schedule was crafted to reduce the time teams spend on the road,” continued Clagett.  “We’ve reduced the number of events by two based on competitor feedback, but we’ve also focused on how we cut back the time commitment for each weekend.  Our goal is a three-day event wherever possible, including load-in and test day.  Over the course of the season, it should save teams over two weeks at the track in comparison to 2017.” 

The Trans Am road racing series had its "glory days" during a twenty year history of racing at Brainerd International Raceway from 1969-1989.  

The Donnybrooke 3 mile road course at BIR hosted some big purses and big name winners, like Parnelli Jones driving a Mustang for Bud Moore winning $3,300 in the inaugural event in 1969 and Mark Donahue in a AMC Javelin scoring $6,500 for his win in 1971.  

Peter Gregg won $2,560 in a Porsche in 1977 and actor turned road racer Paul Newman won $7,500 racing a Datsun 280ZX Turbo in a 41 car field in 1982.  Irv Hoerr in his Oldsmobile Cutlass edged Dorsey Schroeder in 1989 and won $12,000.


Brainerd International Raceway was an integral part of the resurrection of the historic Trans Am series that had dwindled down and finally ceased operations in 2005.  Jason Searcy and Dean Reller with Speed Talk on 1360 covered every Trans Am race at BIR from 2010-2017.   Included in the Race Stories are photos and audio interviews, here is recap:

In 2010 Brainerd International Raceway helped revive the series, they reconfigured a 2.5 mile competition road course and held a race on the Sunday just before Labor Day.  Only 7 cars were entered, Minnesota born racer Tony Ave (photo below with Jason) won the race by almost a full lap over Tomy Drissi and Legendary Minnesota driver Jim Derhaag raced for the 151st and final time of his career finishing 5th.



2010 Trans Am at BIR Race Story 
2010 TA results

In 2011, to help the series, BIR had a double header of races over Labor Day weekend.  Tony Ave won both races, Cliff Ebben finished second on Sunday (after wrecking his primary car the day before, photo below) and Dan Ramoutarsingh was runner-up on Saturday.  Only 12 cars raced.



2011 Trans Am Race Story
2011 TA Results Day 1
2011 TA Results Day 2

In 2012 the field increased to 17 cars and Tony Ave won his fourth consecutive race at BIR on Saturday and then Amy Ruman (photo below) won her first race at Brainerd International Raceway.



2012 Trans Am Race Story
2012 TA Results Day 1
2012 TA Results Day 2

In 2013 the race field increased to 22 and it was a thrilling race to the finish as the top four cars crossed the finish line just 1.356 seconds apart.  Doug Peterson won the race and Tony Ave was second.  Cameron Lawrence won the TA2 event.

2013 Trans Am race story
2013 TA Results

In 2014 Doug Peterson wins TA again with Amy Ruman second and Cliff Ebben third.  Ron Keith won the TA2 race with Tommy Kendall and Adam Andretti joining him on the victory podium. (below)

2014 Trans Am Race Story



In 2015 the race was moved off it's traditional Labor Day weekend to the Independence Day weekend.  Amy Ruman won the TA race over Doug Peterson and Dillon Machavern was the TA2 winner.  The car count went up to 39 with the addition of TA3 and TA4 cars.



2015 Trans Am Race Story

In 2016 Paul Fix (photo below) won the TA race when Cliff Ebben again had bad luck, he experienced mechanical problems on the last lap while leading the race.



2016 TA Race Story at BIR

Gar Robinson and his team (photo below) won a wild TA2 race, which was now run separately from the TA race.  Veteran Tommy Archer, who was fighting back cancer, finished second.



2016 BIR TA2 Race Story

Brainerd International Raceway made a sizeable investment in the facility before the 2017 race by adding curbing, a new paddock area, building a new three story scoring tower and expanding the tunnel by adding an extra lane for race control.

In what would be the final weekend of Trans Am racing in this new era Cameron Lawrence won the TA race and was very emotional in Victory Lane because his racing mentor Mel Shaw died earlier in the day.  We had a heart touching interview with Lawrence after the race.  Ernie Francis Jr led many laps but finished third of the 17 cars entered in the TA race.

2017 TA Race Story at BIR

Tony Buffomante won the final TA2 race at Brainerd, 12 cars entered the TA2 Race.



2017 TA2 Race Story at BIR

Brainerd International Raceway has not announced what will replace the Trans Am series on the race schedule for 2018 but they are looking into their options.  BIR is a wonderful road racing facility and has had incredible success with the BIR Performance Driving Schools and the Street Smarts Advanced Defensive Driving Course for Teens get more information HERE BIRPerformance.com

When events at BIR are announced it will be posted HERE.  2018 BIR Schedule

I hope you enjoyed our coverage of Trans Am at BIR, we want to thank Gary, Jed and everyone at Brainerd International Raceway for their hospitality, they were nothing short of professional at every turn.  The drivers and staff at Trans Am were wonderful to work with and cover.

Results (winner and 2nd place)

2010 Tony Ave, Tomy Drissi
2011 Tony Ave, Dan Ramoutarsingh
         Tony Ave, Cliff Ebben
2012 Tony Ave, Doug Peterson
          Amy Ruman, Simon Gregg
2013 Doug Peterson, Tony Ave
2014 Doug Peterson, Amy Ruman
2015 Amy Ruman, Doug Peterson
2016 Paul Fix, Cliff Ebben
2017 Cameron Lawrence, Vinnie Allegretta

*All photos property of Jason Searcy or Dean Reller Speed Talk on 1360 radio

Speed Talk on 1360 Special Podcast

 Jason and Dean have recorded a special Speed Talk on 1360 Podcast talking about the NASCAR final four race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  Also breaking the news that the ARCA National Tour will be returning to Elko Speedway (MN) on Saturday June 3rd 2017 and other local racing news.

CLICK on this LINK to hear the show on soundcloud  https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/speed-talk-special-edition-m4a

Big Thank you to our 2016 Sponsors:
Elko Speedway ElkoSpeedway.com
Performance Driving School at BIR - a gift card makes a perfect X-mas gift  BIRPerformance.com
Highway 55 Trailer Sales in Buffalo
Lou Fegers Racing Equipment in Delano LouFegersRacing.com

Speed Talk on 1360 is heard Saturdays 10-11am April-September on KRWC1360.com or search KRWC on the free Tunein app for your phone. 

Jason is the announcer at Elko (MN) Speedway - Minnesota's only NASCAR Track
Dean is the announcer at Princeton (MN) Speedway IMCA track

Photos
1-Jason and Dean during ARCA race
2- Jason interviewing Ken Schrader
3- Brennan Poole 2012 ARCA winner at ELKO
4- Dean Reller
5- Jason with now 2 time Trans-Am Champion Amy Ruman at BIR

Trans Am comes to Brainerd early

The Trans Am series will be racing Sunday July 5th in the Ryan Companies Independence Day Classic at Brainerd International Raceway.  This race has traditionally been held over Labor day weekend.

To preview this event, here is an interview we did with Gary Curtis, Director of the Performance driving school at BIR.


 https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/speed-talk-6-27-15-gary-curtis-bir

This series raced at BIR from 1969 to 1989 but then it just went away.  It was revived and brought back to BIR in 2010 and then acquired by Minnesota veteran driver Jim Derhaag who raced his 151st and final Trans Am event here in 2010.  That first race back saw only 7 cars on track and MN native Tony Ave won by 65 seconds, almost a full lap over 2nd place.

Things have changed for the better over the past 5 years, the race set for this weekend has 41 entries and the Trans Am series now has 3 different divisions all racing together.  12 drivers are entered in the top TA division sporting Corvette bodies and 800 horsepower.

 #23 Amy Ruman from Kent (OH) is the point leader and has won 4 of the 5 races so far in 2015.  She has done well at BIR, she won here in 2012 and finished 2nd last year.  Here is an audio interview we did with Amy Ruman in 2014 http://deanreller.podomatic.com/entry/2014-08-23T10_30_13-07_00

 #87 Doug Peterson from Bonita Springs (FL) is a veteran driver who has won the previous two years here at BIR.

 #59 Simon Gregg from Ponte Verde (FL) is the 2012 Trans Am series Champion, but he has not won at BIR.


 #4 Paul Fix from Williamsville (NY) is 2nd in points and he is the only driver other than Ruman to win a race this year.

 #07 Jed Copham is our local Brainerd racer, plus he owns the track.  He does have a shot, nobody has more experience at this track, in 2013 he finished 5th.

 #36 Cliff Ebben from Appleton (WI) has been so close to winning here at BIR, but has come up just short.  He has had some bad luck too, including when he destroyed a car here back in 2011.


Qualifying will be Saturday July 4th at 2:20pm with the 40 lap 100 mile race on Sunday July 5th at 1:50pm, the race usually takes between 60 and 90 minutes to complete.  If the past races are any indication you can expect one or two cautions during the race.

The Brainerd International Raceway competition road course is 13 turns and 2.5 miles, I recommend trying more than one location to watch the action.  You can bring a chair or stand on the bridge, you can see the tightest and slowest corner on the track just past the pit lane and the drivers will race right underneath you.  I also recommend going into the infield and checking out the action on some of the high speed locations.  Bleachers are set up in numerous locations.  The race paddock and pit lane is also open for fans, it is a very active place during pre race and post race festivities.

The track was repaved two years ago, this Spring curbing was put in and the track work is complete.

Single day tickets are only $25 and kids 12 and under are free.  Get more information at www.brainerdraceway.com or www.gotransam.com

Modern Trans Am history at BIR:
2010    Tony Ave  (7 cars)
2011    Tony Ave  (12 cars)
            Tony Ave (12 cars)
2012    Tony Ave  (17 cars)
            Amy Ruman (17 cars)
2013    Doug Peterson (23 cars)
2014    Doug Peteson  (29 cars)
2015   ?   (41 cars entered)

For a full recap of the Trans Am action at BIR including interviews with the winners listen to Speed Talk on 1360 Saturday morning 10-11am on KRWC1360.com or search #BIR on Twitter.

This race will be broadcast on a tape delay on CBS Sports Network at a later date.

Peterson wins Trans-Am again at BIR

Doug Peterson from Bonita Springs (FL) won the 100 mile Trans-Am series race at Brainerd International Raceway for the second consecutive year, "it was awesome," said Peterson "we were definitely working out there."

Peterson started on the pole because rain washed out qualifying and the field was set via point standings.  Peterson held that advantage the entire race but it was not a easy win as lapped traffic racing with each other caused some uneasy moments, "I wanted to let them race," said Peterson "we are so much faster then them in the straight away but in the turns we are pretty darn close."

With his 5th win of the season in 8 races Peterson extended his point lead to 39 points with only 3 more events on the schedule.

Peterson was impressed with Brainerd International Raceway "Its a great track, it has a lot of heritage, slow speed and high speed and you really have to drive this thing" said Peterson.

Amy Ruman from Kent (OH) finished second 7.3 seconds behind Peterson and had a great battle back and forth with Cliff Ebben for the second position.  "He seemed to be faster in the corners, we were having a little issue with grip," said Ruman "so I set him up out of (corner) 13 and got a good run down the straight away and passed him back."

Ruman moved back into the second position in the point standings with her runner up finish, "with all our bad luck lately, I'll take the second" said Ruman. 

Cliff Ebben finished third only 1 second behind Ruman.  Simon Gregg finished 4th and he was 36 seconds behind Peterson at the finish line in this caution free race.

The 40 lap race took only 1 hour and 2 minutes to complete the 100 miles with and average speed of 96.277 mph.

Ron Keith (middle) from Shawnee (KS) won the TA2 division finishing just ahead of a hard charging Tommy Kendall (right) for the win, Adam Andretti (left) made it to the podium with a third place finish.

Jerry Greene from Minnetonka (MN) won the TA3 division.   29 cars competed in this event and that is the largest number of cars since Trans-Am returned to BIR in 2010 and there was a noticeably larger crowd of spectators for this event than previous years.

For full results to go www.gotransam.com

Speed Talk on 1360 Radio will broadcast interviews with Trans-Am drivers Doug Peterson and Amy Ruman and also post race interviews with Tommy Kendall and Ron Keith on Saturday September 6th between 10-11am while we are on-location at the Classics by the Lake car show in Buffalo.

Listen on 1360 am radio, on the "Tune-In" app or at www.krwc1360.com

Peterson wins Trans Am at BIR

                                  

Doug Peterson (photo above) from Bonita Springs (FL) lead the entire 40 laps to win on the newly paved 1.5 mile road course at Brainerd International Raceway, its his fifth win of the season in the Trans Am series.

   

Peterson won qualifying and set a new track record in the process with a lap of 126.851, over 103 mph average speed.    22 cars took the green flag in the race, the largest field of cars since Trans Am returned to BIR in 2010.  Peterson held the lead in the race and never looked back.  

"We've had a spectacular weekend," said Peterson "the new track is amazing, much faster than last year."  It was not an easy run for the win, Peterson had to wait out a long 11 lap double caution period and then have an 8 lap shootout to the checkered flag.  He was pressured by four time BIR winner Tony Ave, 2012 winner Amy Ruman and defending champion Simon Gregg, the top four drivers were just 1.356 seconds apart at the finish line.

Amy Ruman (bottom photo) dropped back to 6th position on the first lap, "I spun in turn four, I got in those pebbles just a little bit," said Ruman.  She then had a furious drive through the field to catch the leaders, "we needed about three more laps," she said "I was trying to make some moves at the end but Tony (Ave) drives a really wide car."  Ruman posted the fastest lap of the race at 1:28.974 averaging 101.153 mph.   

 BIR track owner Jed Copham (on left below) raced the Derhaag Motorsports #40 car and finished 5th.  "That is a hell of a car, a wild ride," said Copham "I stayed on the lead lap and finished the race, those were my goals so I am happy."

Cameron Lawrence was the winner in the TA2 division, its his fifth win of 2013.  David Seuss was the winner in the TA3 division.  Get full results at www.gotransam.com

Trans Am Results: September 1, 2013 Brainerd International Raceway
1-Doug Peterson
2-Tony Ave
3-Amy Ruman
4-Simon Gregg
5-Jed Copham

Listen for full interviews with Doug Peterson, Amy Ruman and Jed Copham on Speed Talk on 1360 radio, Here is the audio from KRWC https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/bir-trans-am-recap-2013

Ave and Ruman win at BIR

Tony Ave (above) won his fourth straight Trans-Am race Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway with a dominating performance, won his 13th straight pole award, lead all forty laps and won by an impressive 29 seconds.

Trans-Am returns to BIR

 The Trans-Am series returns to the 13 turn 2.5 mile competition road course at Brainerd International Raceway with races on both Saturday and Sunday September 1st and 2nd.  Jason and Dean from Speedtalk on 1360 radio will be broadcasting LIVE at the track and interviewing drivers from 10-11am, listen on KRWC 1360am radio http://www.krwc1360.com/

Left turns and right turns still equal great racing

Dean & Jason Talkin Racin... as printed in the Midwest racing connection

By Dean Reller
Co-host of Speed Talk on 1360

Growing up, I was always a fan of racing no matter what form it was. That however was limited to watching NASCAR and the action at my local dirt track.  Over the years I became a fan of asphalt racing.  No matter the type, the basic premise was always go fast, turn left.

Now after 20 years being involved in racing in one capacity or another I’m finally developing a following for road racing, where the premise is go fast, turn left AND right.  A recent trip to Brainerd International Raceway’s 2.5 mile Competition Road Coarse to watch the SCCA Trans-Am Series gave me an up-close look at racing in a whole new light.  First off, unlike most race track’s that I go to, there isn’t a massive grandstand for fans to sit and watch the action.  Rather, race fans watch the race from the area INSIDE the track and that allows the racing to literally surround you.  With a variety of left and right hand turns and speeds as high as 140 MPH to as low as about 30 MPH, road racing has a little bit of everything.  Trading paint isn’t common and really isn’t encouraged, but that doesn’t mean that it does happen though.
 
One of the unique things is that the races start at the line between turn 13 and turn one, in an area mostly surrounded by trees for the wandering spectator, like me.  The Trans-Am cars start their races with a rolling start, but other classes use a standing start, which to me was rather interesting to see.  As I mentioned, that’s where the races start, but that is not where they finish.  The checkered flag waves from the stand that is located between turns 11 and 12, which is right in front of pit road.

 The racing at BIR was a two-day event with separate races on both days, which ended up providing two distinct types of racing.  The first day of racing saw plenty of action as drivers tried to find grip on the track that combines the old pavement of the original Donnybrooke Road Course and the new pavement of the Competition Road Course.  Veteran driver Tony Ave, winner of last year’s race, picked up where he left off as he took the lead from the start and wasn’t challenged much as he rolled to the win.  The driver to watch was Amy Ruman who tangled with another car on lap one in the fast part of the track.  After getting back on track and making a stop to repair her car, she put on a show as she passed some of the other cars and ended up finishing fourth.

The second day of racing looked to be just as fast as Ave set a track record in qualifying with Ruman not far behind.  Drama would be the story of this race as a shower dampened the track before the race took the green.   Ave’s slipping clutch gave him problems on the opening lap as he spun in front of the field in the slowest and tightest areas of the track, which is where I just happened to be at the time.  Ruman ceased the opportunity as she took the lead and really began to pull away as Ave struggled to get back to the front.  Whenever a fast car has to come from the back, no matter what kind of racing you are watching, always makes for a fun race to watch.  Ave put on a show as he worked his way through the field.  While this was going on, dark clouds moved over the track and started out as drizzle, but quickly turned to a light rain.  Normally this is where I would see a Red Flag, the race would be stopped and I would run for cover.  But this is road racing and the race goes on.  I dawned my raincoat and didn’t do what my mother always taught me, I stayed out in the rain.  Several drivers would take off course adventures, but despite the very wet conditions, none of the drivers would go to the pits for rain tires which would have provided a lot more grip.  The wet track forced drivers to run the “Rain Line” which is a totally different way to run around the track.  Ruman ended up surrendering the lead to Ave as he didn’t seem to be phased by the wet conditions and went on to take the win.  Ruman would go off track three times during the race, but wound up finishing third.

Once thought of as some other kind of racing, road racing has really taught me a new appreciation for those who compete at it.  No wonder NASCAR has a couple events on road courses every year.  It’s truly a test of skill not only to compete, but to do it with the finesse and make it something that literally surrounds its fans.

Listen to our pod-cast from the Brainerd International Raceway road course (below), Trans-Am stars Tony Ave and Amy Ruman are featured in part one.



Podcast Powered By Podbean

Dean Reller and Jason Searcy have over 40 years combined experienced in motorsports.  They host the weekly program Speed Talk on 1360, Saturdays on KRWC AM 1360 April through September.  The program covers NASCAR and devotes a good portion of the show to local and regional racing as well.

Ave sweeps at BIR

Minnesota born driver Tony Ave (photo above) wins both the SCCA Trans-Am races from Brainerd International Raceway (MN) on Labor day weekend and clinches the 2011 series championship. 

Ave lead all forty laps of the Saturday race, Dan Ramoutarsingh finished second and Derhaag driver Simon Gregg got third.  Amy Ruman (photo below) survived an opening lap wreck and two flat tires to come back and finish fourth on Saturday, she lead some laps on Sunday in the rain and finished on the podium in third.

Cliff Ebben (photo below) was involved in that lap 1 crash with Amy Ruman on Saturday, his car was not able to continue in the race, he finished in 13th place.  He came back on Sunday and finshed in second place racing Denny Lamers car on a rain soaked track.

Bob Stretch (photo below) was the top finisher both days in the new TA-2 series, which raced on the track at the same time as the Trans-Am cars.

The Playboy Mazda MX-5 cup races where exciting.  Michael Cooper (photo above with Dean) won both days, he and Jason Saini were nose to tail the entire 45 minute race on Saturday.  Kevin Kopp (photo below) was in a bad wreck as he hit the wall hard in the corner just before the bridge, he was able to walk away from this crash. 

Click on this link for more photo's of this event http://www.flickr.com/photos/speedtalkon1360

Get more detailed results on www.trans-amracing.com

We will broadcast interviews with Tony Ave, Amy Ruman and Mike Cooper Saturday 10-11am on Speedtalk on 1360 radio, listen live at www.krwc1360.com