SONOMA, Calif. — The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli is heading across the country for the first of two races in a West Coast Swing.
First, the National Championship and Western Championship will hit the track together for the Sonoma SpeedTour at Sonoma Raceway before heading to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca next weekend.
The first Trans Am Series event at Sonoma Raceway was in 1969, with Trans Am Hall of Famers Mark Donohue and Parnelli Jones battling until the checkered flag, which was ultimately won by Donohue.
Twenty-six National Championship events have been previously held at Sonoma, and the Western Championship has held 11 races at the track. While the Western Championship has been visiting wine country every year since 2018, this is only the second time that the National Championship has taken on the hilly 12-turn course in the last two decades, with the most recent visit coming in 2022.
Prior to that event, the last National race held at Sonoma was in 2004.
Wine Country Winners
Five drivers on this weekend’s entry list have driven to GYM WEED Winners Circle at Sonoma Raceway. The only driver with multiple victories at the track is Chris Dyson, who won in a Pro/Am exhibition at the track in 2021 and took the win from the pole when Trans Am’s National Championship competed at the track in 2022.
Ken Sutherland, who will be driving the No. 85 Kallberg Racing Dodge Challenger in TA Cup, has also won at the track in SVRA and SCCA.
California Dreaming
Fifteen drivers in this weekend’s race will be taking the green flag in their home state of California. The driver from closest to Sonoma Raceway is Western Championship competitor Tim Lynn, who is from 21 miles away in Kentfield.
Also nearby is Bob Accardo from Livermore, Michelle Nagai in Newcastle, and father and son John Moore and Cole Moore, from Roseville and Orangevale, respectively.
Andretti on Top
After piloting his No. 17 Top Liner Chevrolet Camaro to second-place finishes in the season-opening races at Sebring Int’l Raceway and Road Atlanta, Adam Andretti comes into the West Coast Swing with the points lead in the TA class.
Having made his series debut in 2013, this is the first time in his career that Andretti has led the standings in any Trans Am class, and marks the first time since the 2023 season finale at Circuit of The Americas that anyone other than Paul Menard (No. 3 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford Mustang) has held the top spot, as the 2024 champion sat atop the standings for the duration of last season.
Dyson’s Sonoma Streak
Chris Dyson returns to action after sitting out Round 2 at Road Atlanta to heal from a crash sustained in the season opener at Sebring International Raceway.
Dyson comes into this weekend’s race with back-to-back victories at Sonoma, as he drove to the win in a Trans Am Pro/Am Challenge and Western Championship combo event at the track in 2021, and won the race from the pole in the 2022 National Championship race.
Sonoma holds fond memories for Dyson, as he also earned a podium finish at the track in 2003 on his way to winning the American Le Mans Series driver title.
Dyson’s teammate, Humaid Masaood (No. 21 allgram Ford Mustang) finished second to Dyson in the 2021 event, earning the CD Racing team a 1-2 finish in that race, which the team hopes to replicate this weekend.
Ride Change
Brent Crews’ TA ride will look a little different than it did in the opening two events of the season, as the 2023 CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series champion will get behind the wheel of the No. 2 Weaver Concepts/Mobil 1 Dodge Challenger as he continues his first full-time season in the TA class.
Crews showed speed in the opening two races of the season, leading 29 laps between the two events, but suffered catastrophic mechanical failures, relegating him to seventh-place and ninth-place finishes, respectively.
Crews knows how to make it to victory lane in Pancho Weaver’s Dodge Challenger, as he did it last season at Road America in his first-career TA class start. This is the first start of the season for the No. 2 car.
Crews is pulling double duty this weekend, also making his first TA2 start of the 2025 season in the No. 10 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry. Crews comes into this weekend’s race on a high after winning the ARCA Menards Series East race at Rockingham Speedway last weekend.
Feeling At Home
2009 Trans Am Champion Tomy Drissi (No. 8 Trench Shoring Co./Motul Chevrolet Camaro) is excited for the return of the National Championship to his home state for the first time since 2022, and the Los Angeles native enters the West Coast Swing fifth in the TA standings.
When he last visited Sonoma, Drissi earned a second-place finish, and his hope is to return to the podium this weekend. In addition to Trans Am, Drissi also has NASCAR experience at the track, making his Cup Series debut at Sonoma in 2012 and taking the green flag there four times in the series.
Moore Wants More
John Moore, who earned his first-career Trans Am win in the season-opening race at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in the TA Cup class, returns to not only defend his victory in his No. 27 JM Environmental Ford Mustang, but he will be pulling double duty, chasing a win in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series. Moore will pilot the No. 127 Moore Motorsport/JM Environmental Ford Mustang in the Western Championship, competing against his son, Cole Moore, in the No. 99 Moore Motorsport/JM Environmental Ford Mustang.
Carlson & Coffey
SGT competitor Josh Carlson (No. 36 Enseva/Diercks Ltd./TC Fab Ford Mustang) and GT driver Chris Coffey (No. 97 Traffic Grafix/Chillout Motorsports Maserati MC GT4) are two-for-two going into this weekend’s race, having both won the season-opening National Championship events in their classes at Sebring and Road Atlanta.
Carlson is looking for his fourth-consecutive victory this weekend, as he is undefeated going back to last year’s season finale at Circuit of The Americas. Coffey is currently on a six-race win streak, with victories in every race dating back to Road America last June.
Nabi Debut
This weekend at Sonoma, Yousuf Nabi will make his Trans Am Series Western Championship debut in the SGT class, piloting the No. 03 CTOHAIMIP.com/DCRacing Ferrari 458 Challenge Evo.
The Chino Hills, California native is a seasoned Ferrari racer who uses go-karting to sharpen his skills. His two sons, seven-year-old Idris and 14-year-old Aiden, are following in their father’s footsteps and already carving out a name for themselves in the karting world as members of Italcorse America in Rome, Italy.
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