Rediscovering the legacy of American road racing with the venerable Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli.

The year was 1984. Apple released its first Macintosh computer, movie goers were asking, "Who you gonna call?" as "Ghostbusters" hit the silver screen, and a computer scientist in the Soviet Union had just developed Tetris. The year also saw the start of one of the most exciting eras of American motorsports, as a new wave of action began in the Trans Am Series.

According to sources at the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli, 1984 marked the first year Roush Racing entered the series. For the next six seasons, America saw Roush's Capris conquer the competition, "winning 46 of the 83 races, posting 97 top-three finishes, winning 40 poles, and recording 40 fastest laps," according to series' sources. The Roush Capris won 12 of the 15 races in the 1985 season with dominating performances by drivers like Willy T. Ribbs and Wally Dallenbach Jr., who were teammates and competitors alike.

The racing prowess that Ribbs and Dallenbach displayed was a sight to behold. But what made Trans Am one of the most exciting series in America at the time was the sanctioning body's rules package. Consider the following: Budweiser as the title sponsor, 1980s safety standards, no driver aids permitted, 800-plus horsepower, curb weights of no less than 2,500 pounds, and more than 30 drivers competing wheel-to-wheel for the checkered flag. The sights, the sounds, the smells of carbureted and raw race cars screaming through America's most famed tracks—Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, and the St. Petersburg Street Circuit. What a time to be alive.

Unfortunately, mullets eventually transformed into comb-overs, and Casio's calculator watches were shelved. Along the way, in the early 2000s, the Trans Am Series lost an audience. Make no mistake; Trans Am was still exciting. But costs rise, media shift attention, and manufacturers pull their resources in search of pioneering new ventures. This naturally led to reduced participation.

Recently named Trans Am President Andy Lally (center) won the inaugural SpeedTour All-Star Race at Lime Rock Park in 2024. The race, featuring CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series cars, paired Lally and 2023 TA2 Series champion Brent Crews (right). They won with their combined performance of Lally's second-place finish in the All-Star race and Crews' third-place finish against Trans Am competitors. Photo by Chris Clark.

The Trans Am Series is one of America's longest-running race series, starting in 1966, and has never changed its series identity from the originally named Trans American Sedan Championship.

More Traction

Today, the Trans Am Series is gaining more traction than ever, and it's not by happenstance. Competition among teams and drivers is as fierce as ever, more competition classes have surfaced, and—against all odds—mullets and calculator watches are trending again.

John Clagett, Trans Am's former president, jump-started the series' momentum during his tenure. In a most serendipitous fashion, Clagett started his journey in 1984, doing public relations under the "factory works" teams, specifically with Chevrolet. He witnessed the original golden era of Trans Am, where manufacturers like Ford, Chevy, Chrysler, and AMC aggressively competed for ultimate bragging rights.

While the modern era of motorsports leans more on the team's name rather than the manufacturer, the essence of Trans Am hasn't been lost. "For one, it's the absolute purity of racing. These are sprint races. It's you versus the other guy. It's your team versus their team. It's no gimmicks. It's no BoP. It's basically show us what you've got," said Clagett.

"You're piloting high-horsepower cars that are going to train you for just about anything," including NASCAR, he noted. "If you're planning to make this your career, then I think Trans Am is better training than just about any series."

The landscape has changed over the years for American motorsports, but Trans Am as a series has done a good job serving three purposes: creating driving careers, maintaining the rawness of motorsports, and providing a competitive series for drivers at any stage in their careers.

However, it's not just purpose that has Trans Am following through on its upswing of momentum. "It was really starting from the ground up. No staff, no website, no PR, nothing. That's kind of what I inherited in 2011," when Clagett became president and CEO of Trans Am Race Company.

Determined to remind the motorsports community of Trans Am's importance, Clagett set out to reinvigorate the series. "Let's generate enough revenue from year to year, make improvements, put more of the marketing platform in place that would be meaningful.

"So, that led to the website, that led to broadcasting, but a lot of that is just significantly more money," he added.

Trans Am was well on its way to revival, thanks to Clagett and five team owners who turned into investors to help reignite the famed series. However, investing in the series was only half the battle. Clagett knew from a driver standpoint that the series had to be more enticing so racers would want to compete.

"Improving the prize money and improving the points fund are very specific to the competitors and making it a more viable platform for them" explained Clagett. "But up until that point, we had addressed a lot of things. Rule packages that were interesting to competitors, a different kind of starting point with all the different classes that we had. It gave so many different people that were interested in it a place to see where they fit."

Trans Am Classes

Eight classes make up the 2025 Trans Am Series season, six of which fall under the umbrella of the TA race class: TA, XGT, SGT, GT, GT1, and TA Cup. Each carries its own unique set of build limitations and rules. The TA2 classes consist of CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series and CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Pro/Am Challenge.

Admittedly, the range of classes is a lot to consider. However, it can be simplified to the following: TA is Trans Am's fastest and most powerful class, using 850-plus-horsepower, previous generation ex-NACAR engines with zero electronic driver aids. XGT and SGT are categorized as a mix of OEM production vehicle conversions and limited-production track vehicles. XGT utilizes FIA GT3 factory-built race cars that originally competed in series that include International GT3, Ferrari Challenge, and Lamborghini Super Trofeo. SGT has a wider variety of makes and models, and the rules package largely aligns with the SCCA GT2-ST class.

Cole Moore's No. 99 Mustang, seen here during practice at Sonoma Raceway, races in TA Cup. These are high-performance, spec tube-frame cars with silhouette bodies. They're eligible to race in the Western Championship and in the National Championship under the Pick 6 Challenge. 

GT consists mostly of factory-built FIA GT4 cars and cars built for the SCCA Club Racing T1 class. The GT1 class focuses on SCCA Club GT1 class cars that often use ex-NASCAR engines that are two generations old. TA Cup, referred to as the Western Championship, are high-performance spec tube-frame vehicles with silhouette bodies and use a single builder—Chris Evans Inc.

TA2 is a semi-spec series, using spec silhouette Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, and Dodge bodies from Five Star Race Car Bodies. They use one of three approved chassis from Cope, Howe, and M1. Their 500-horsepower engines have spec intake restrictors and are built by a limited number of approved engine builders. They use sealed four-speed gearboxes with spec ratios and have the most rigorous technical inspections due to the nature of spec class racing.

TA2 Series Pro/Am Challenge has the same specifications as the TA2 Series, but championship points are determined based on the driver's nine highest finishes over the season.

Of all the high-octane classes in the Trans Am Series, CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series just may be the one attracting the most eyes as Trans Am continues its upward momentum. "It's just raw. It reminds me of when I was a kid, growing up racing," said Scott Lagasse Jr. of TeamSLR. Lagasse and his father are professional racers, and the TeamSLR garage is one of the few approved to build the M1 chassis used in the TA2 Series.

"They're just manual gearboxes, no ABS, no traction control, [and] Pirelli's done a great job with the tire where you literally just hustle the thing all race long. It's 'the guy that can drive it the hardest and make the least amount of mistakes,' and I think as a racer, that's what you want 100%," he added.

Lagasse said the TA2 Series is gaining traction with its audience because of its authentic nature, carrying on the tradition of the Trans Am Series' all-risk, all-reward style of racing,

New Horizon

The Trans Am Series continues its legacy with Andy Lally as the recently appointed president. He leads with 32 years of on-track racing experience, including being a three-time IMSA champion, plus earning five wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and four wins at the Six Hours of The Glen...

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Source

Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli
gotransam.com