Drissi wins Jed Copham Tribute race at BIR

July 12, 2020

By Jason D Searcy

Tomy Drissi #8 from Los Angeles (CA) won the Jed Copham tribute Trans Am series race at Brainerd International Raceway.  Jed Copham died last year in a swimming accident, he was a former competitor in the Trans Am series and the owner of  BIR, his family still owns and runs the racetrack.

Ernie Francis Jr #98 was the fast qualifier and led the first 20 laps.  He gained a big lead over the rest of the field while #23 Amy Ruman and #8 Tomy Drissi engaged in a furious battle for the second position.  Ruman edged ahead of Drissi at the start and the two competitors, with a history of contact, raced hard and clean nose to tail for over a dozen laps before Drissi emerged as the runner up.  Francis then had mechanical problems and dropped from the race handing Drissi the top spot, a position he would not relinquish all the way to the finish.  It was his first win of the season and fifth TA National race win.

Tomi Drissi then extended his lead and won by an impressive 46.612 seconds, Ruman is a two-time winner at BIR and held onto second place even though she struggled with fading power steering the second half of the race.  Veteran driver #59 Simon Gregg raced solidly to round out the podium finishers.

Humaid Al Masaood #21 pressured Gregg most of the race and finished fourth, #19 Kerry Hitt fifth followed by #98 Ernie Francis Jr and #20 Chris Dyson who was out on lap 8 with mechanical problems.  It was a small field of TA cars during this time when the Covid-19 scare has dominated the sports landscape worldwide.  The fans enjoyed free admission and were urged to watch the race at Brainerd International Raceway from their cars in drive-in style as all Grandstands were closed.

The Trans Am race was completed in 1 hour and 35 seconds.

The TA2 winner was #77 Mike Skeen.

Here is a video of the TA2 field TA2 Field 2020 at BIR

Here is a video of the Trans Am series Rollout from the grid 2020 TA rollout at BIR

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

BUFFOMANTE DOMINATES TRANS AM TA2 RACE AT BRAINERD

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

CAMERON LAWRENCE WINS AT BIR

By Jason D Searcy

The driver whose name had to be written in by hand with a sharpie on duct tape won the Ryan Companies Independence Day Classic Trans Am series race presented by Pirelli at Brainerd (MN) International Raceway.  Twenty-four year old Cameron Lawrence from Dania (FL) won his first career TA series race in just his second career start.

The number 6 car is not the usual ride for Cameron Lawrence, Mickey Wright has driven that car for Shakopee (MN) based Derhaag Motorsports for the last few years, but Lawrence was in that seat for the Indianapolis race and now the win at BIR.  Lawrence had to start the 100 mile, forty lap event at the back of the pack in 8th on the grid because a busy racing schedule elsewhere prevented him from qualifying this car on Saturday.

The crew members of the #6 car cheered as Cameron Lawrence crossed the finish line at BIR in first.  The 40 lap race saw the lead swapped numerous times as pole sitter #41 Vinnie Allegretta and current point leader #98 Ernie Francis Jr battled for the top spot.  Allegretta finished as the runner-up and was all smiles after the race "It was hard trying to hold off Ernie, the kid is fast and he always has a good car for the long haul and our car got a little loose," said Allegretta "I had an absolute blast out there Ernie and Cameron are true sportsmen and great racers, it's an honor to be running with these guys."

Here is our exclusive interview with Vinnie Allegretta https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/allegretto-p2-in-ta-at

It looked like #98 Ernie Francis Jr was going to win the race at BIR, he had a nice lead until a shocking moment happened with just three laps remaining.  "When I came around turn 12 and when I got off the throttle to get on the brakes the throttle just stuck to the floor, it was something random, don't know what happened yet" said Francis "we had a good race going, we had a fast car, we will get it at the next one."

Here is our Speed Talk exclusive interview with Ernie Francis Jr https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/francis-jr-p3-in-ta-at

Brainerd Track owner Jed Copham #44 did a great job to finish just off the podium in fourth even though he struggled with some mechanical problems and two time defending Trans Am Champion #23 Amy Ruman finished fifth.  Minnesota born driver and four time winner at BIR Tony Ave lost power steering, pitted and finished fourteenth.

Even though it was the first career TA victory for Cameron Lawrence he is no stranger to winning, he is a two time TA2 Champion and has won 20 races in his ever growing Trans Am career.  Lawrence was subdued in Victory Lane and mentioned thoughts about a fellow racer and friend who died at the track during a regional SCCA race held at BIR just a few hours earlier, the start of the Trans Am race was delayed by more than an hour because of that accident.  Victory lane had more hugs than high-fives and the mood was somber and reflective.

Speed Talk on 1360 had an exclusive interview with Cameron Lawrence, he mentions the recent death of fellow racer Mel Shaw who died at Brainerd International Raceway earlier that day while racing in an SCCA race.  https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/cameron-lawrence-wins-ta-at



The Results can be found HERE http://gotransam.com/news/Cameron-Lawrence-Captures-Trans-Am-Win-at-Brainerd-International-Raceway/66922

The Ryan Companies Independence Day Classic TA race was televised and can be seen on CBS Sports Network on Saturday July 22nd at 11am (CDT).

The Ryan Companies Muscle Car Challenge TA2 race was also televised and can be seen on CBS Sports Network on Saturday Aug 5th at 11am (CDT).


A full audio recap of the race can be heard Saturday morning 10-11am (CDT) during Speed Talk on 1360 radio on KRWC1360.com or search KRWC on the free Tunein app.

Paul Fix Wins Trans Am race at BIR

By Dean Reller

Paul Fix was more than excited as he climbed from his car following the Ryan Companies Independence Day Classic for the Trans Am Series at Brainerd International Raceway.

Fix looked like as though he was destined for a solid second place finish, but some late race events shuffled things in his favor allowing him to take the Trans Am TA1 win.  Pole sitter Cliff Ebben started at the front of the field for the third straight race and he appeared poised to finally take his first win of the season.  Ebben took the lead from the start, but the race would be slowed on lap two, when TA4 driver Trevor Janke hit the wall in turn one.  After a few caution laps, the red flag was displayed for several minutes as track crews made repairs to the wall.

When the green waved again, it was Ebben still in command as David Pintaric held second while Fix now moved to third.  Fix did not have a good qualifying run and was originally scheduled to start last after Saturday’s Fast Five qualifying.  He was the lone driver to make a run during Second Chance qualifying and turned in the fastest time of the day, but was forced to start sixth due to his second round attempt.

Fix quickly moved to second behind Ebben and the front pair slowly began to pull away from the others.

Defending race winner Amy Ruman had power steering problems and was forced to pit for lengthy repairs which put her 4 laps down and an eventual 9^th place finish.

Meanwhile, Ebben and Fix showed the way at the head of the field.  Fix would use lapped traffic to gain ground, only to see the margin grow again when the speedy front pair got into clean air.  With a little more than a lap remaining, smoke began to pour from the right rear of Ebben’s car as he clung to the lead.  On the final lap, Fix made his move in turn four as he moved past to take the lead and hang on for the win.

“I caught a wisp of smoke about a lap before that,” said Ebben.  “It kept getting worse and worse, but with one lap to go, I’m not going to pull in.  I just kept going.”

https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/cliff-ebben-takes-2nd-in-trans

Fixx was elated as he received congratulations from his crew and wife Lauren following the race.  “We had a fast car,” said Fix.  “We waited and waited and waited, it’s a waiting game sometimes.  Cliff had a fast car and he knows this track like the back of his hand.  I just capitalized on his mistakes and kept closing in and finally took it with one lap to go.”

https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/paul-fix-wins-trans-am-at

TA1 Results Ryan Companies 100

1.     Paul Fix

2.     Cliff Ebben

3.     David Pintaric

4.     Jim McAleese

5.       Simon Gregg

6.       Kerry Hitt

7.        Claudio Burtin

8.      Tim Rubright

9.      Amy Ruman

           10.   Mickey Wright

Here is an audio recap of the entire weekend from Jason and Dean from Speed Talk on 1360 https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/speed-talk-7-9-16-trans-am-recap

Self Wins Second Straight at BIR

For the second year in a row, Michael Self found himself in the lead in the late stages of the race and once again he came out on top in the NAPA Know-How 125 for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West at Brainerd International Raceway.  Andrew Ranger established the Track Record in Qualifying to with a lap of 96.330 MPH to claim the Coors Light Pole Award. 

Brainerd International Raceway

Preview:  NASCAR K&N Pro Series West

The  NAPA Know-How 125 is coming up on Saturday May 25^th at Brainerd International Raceway.  The 50 lap race (125 miles) will be run on BIR’s 13 turn Competition Road Course.  Practice is slated from 9:45 to 11 AM, with Qualifying scheduled for 1:45 and the Race set to start at 4:40 PM.

Speed Talk’s Dean Reller will be there with a LIVE update during this week’s show and will be providing updates throughout the day on the web, facebook and Twitter.  Here’s a list of drivers to watch.

Returning Drivers

#24 Michael Self (Golden Gate Meat/Bay Bio Diesel/RCR Chevrolet)

            The Park City, UT driver scored his first career win in last year’s inaugural race at Brainerd.  Self would go on to record 2 more wins in 2012.  Self started racing in karts on road courses, so turning left and right is natural for this Richard Childress developmental driver.

#26 Greg Pursley (GPM/Star Nursery/Real Water Ford)

K&N race news and notes

The NASCAR K&N stock cars raced 50 laps on the Brainerd 2.5 mile course, that was 10 laps more than the Trans-Am series cars, most cars stopped between lap 25 and 30.  The race took 1 hour and 32 minutes to complete.

A nice field of 19 cars raced and only one accident, Anthony Giannone spun just before the bridge in turn 12 and was stuck in the sand trap, numerous other cars skimmed that trap after over running the turn with no major trouble.

16 yr old point leader Dylan Kwasniewski (photo above) spent most of his free time before the race kicking a soccer ball in the pits and acting like a teenager.  Once he strapped into the car he was very impressive, setting fast time in practice, even with very limited experience on a road course.  He was set to win the race until they lost second gear and lost the lead coming to the white flag lap.

Much of the passing on this day was made in corners 4 & 5 after the big high speed swooping corners 2 & 3.  BIR added brand new bleacher seating in this area and at the end of pit road, just before the bridge.

The old asphalt section of the course will be replaced before the K&N series race in 2013, much of this tar was laid down in 1968 and has lost grip, this means the high speed turns in 2 and 3 will be even faster next year.

The lead swapped between team mates Kwasniewski and Pursley 3 different times, Pursley was better at the start of the race, after the restart and after his pit stop then his car would tighten up and Kwasniewski would pass him making for exciting racing up front.

Eventual winner Michael Self was so excited in victory lane after his first career win, he jumped up on the roof of his car, to the dismay of the tech officials.

The storm clouds stayed around all day on Saturday with a heavy downpour cancelling qualifying, the race weather was fine but, shortly after the victory lane celebration it started raining again. 

BIR track owner Jed Copham (in photo above with winner Michael Self) said in victory lane that he would like to make this race an annual event.

Here is a video of the full field taking the green flag http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u97Fx75Xqw&feature=youtu.be

Here are radio interviews with numerous drivers just before the race including:  Cameron Hayley, Bret Thompson, David Mayhew, Eric Holmes, Greg Pursley also Gary Curtis and Jed Copham.  https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/bir-kn-2013 

Listen to Speedtalk on 1360 Saturday mornings 10-11am on KRWC 1360 AM and www.krwc1360.com