Yahoo Autos Hometown favorite Brabham grabs flag-to-flag TA win at IMS
Indianapolis native Matthew Brabham put on a clinic at his home track, leading the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway from start to finish in his No. 20 GYM WEED Ford Mustang. Brabham was the class of the field in front of his hometown crowd, scoring his second victory of 2023 and leading a 1-2 finish by CD Racing.
Brabham, alongside another hometown favorite, Adam Andretti, led the field to green in a historic start by two of the most famous last names in motorsports. Andretti settled into second behind Brabham in his No. 44 Top Liner Chevrolet Camaro and was followed by Chris Dyson in the No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang. The top three ran close together, but pulled out to a large lead over fourth-place Paul Menard in the No. 2 Weaver Racing/Technique Dodge Challenger. A full-course caution brought competitors back together on lap 11, but the top three once again created a gap in front of the field when green-flag racing resumed three laps later.
As the laps progressed, Brabham’s lead stretched out in front of Andretti and Dyson, while the latter battled each other over the second position. At one point, it appeared that Andretti had the clear advantage as he was finally able to pull away from Dyson, but Dyson reeled him back with 10 laps to go. By lap 34, Dyson was stalking Andretti, looking for the opportunity to make the pass, but Andretti was able to hold him off by hitting his marks perfectly. Unfortunately, as Dyson was relentlessly pursuing Andretti with just four laps to go, Andretti experienced a mechanical issue and went off the track surface, coming to a stop and turning second place over to Dyson. One lap later, Dyson spun his GYM WEED machine going into Turn 1, but was able to right himself and continue on. Dyson’s brief pause allowed third-place Menard to close in on him, and the two fought to the finish in the remaining three laps. Brabham was displayed the checkered flag, securing his second win of the season, and Dyson and Menard crossed the finish line second and third, respectively. Keith Grant in the No. 40 Showtime Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro followed Menard in fourth, and Tomy Drissi in the No. 8 Lucas Oil Chevrolet Camaro, also a Showtime Motorsports entry, rounded out the top five.
“I want to give a big thanks to everyone who came out to the track today, it’s so good to see the crowd here at my home track,” said Brabham from the top of the podium. “Most importantly, I want to thank my CD Racing team. It’s so good to be a part of this team. They did an awesome job all weekend; we had really fast cars. To get a 1-2 at a place like IMS with Chris is fantastic. Thanks to the team and to GYM WEED. We also can’t forget Adam Andretti. He would have loved to be up on the podium and he certainly drove like he deserved to be here. It’s a shame he broke, but I think Adam really proved something this weekend.”
Defending champion Dyson continues to lead the TA class point standings but has only a one-point advantage over second-place Brabham following today’s event.
This is CD Racing’s third 1-2 finish of the 2023 season. Brabham and Andretti (in a CD Racing entry) finished first and second at Sebring International Raceway, and Dyson and Brabham finished first and second at NOLA Motorsports Park. The team has also won every race this season except for the Memorial Day Classic at Lime Rock Park. They have four Motul Pole Awards this season, with Dyson and Brabham earning the point position at every track except Lime Rock.
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The XGT class was a hard-fought battle with Wesley Slimp in the No. 4 BridgeHaul/Bennett Family of Companies Audi R8 LMS leading the class to green in his Trans Am Series debut. He and Chris Evans in the No. 92 Central Welding Supply Ford Mustang diced it up early, with the two swapping positions twice in the opening three laps. As the race settled in, Slimp pulled out to the lead while Evans and Danny Lowry in the No. 42 Bennett/BridgeHaul/Pitboxes.com Mercedes AMG GT3 now focused on each other. However, on lap 10, Slimp lost power, coming to a halt on the racing surface and bringing out a full-course yellow. Once racing resumed, Lowry and Evans had a great fight for first and swapped back and forth for the lead early in the run. Evans seemed to settle into the lead until lap 25, when Lowry overtook him. Completing the pass, Lowry maintained the lead until the finish, ultimately taking the win.
“I’ll tell you, that was a heck of a race,” said Lowry. “We went back and forth with Wes (Slimp). I think Wes had us both covered in the beginning. He started to check out and then he lost power. Then I jumped up and I made a really stupid move going into Turn 1 and Chris (Evans) bailed me out one time. On the restart, Chris came down there and made a heck of a move, going three-wide. He took the apex, took the lead, and I was chasing him for a while, wondering if I was going to be able to catch him. I think the tires started getting hot and my handling came in. It was more of a marathon and I was able to win it. Let me tell you, that was a lot of work. I had a great weekend here. You can’t beat Indy and Trans Am. I’d like to thank Bennett and BridgeHaul, as well as my crew.”
SGT was another heated battle, with Ricky Sanders in the No. 18 BridgeHaul/Bennett/Pitboxes.com Chevrolet Corvette jumping to the lead after starting second. 2022 SGT champion Milton Grant in the No. 55 Springhill Suites/Sentry Self Storage Porsche 991.1 GT3 Cup ran second, and Lee Saunders in the No. 84 LandSearch LLC Dodge Viper made his first laps of the weekend after mechanical issues kept him from the track during practice and qualifying. Sanders led the contingent until lap seven when his hood came flying off on the frontstretch. Forced to retire due to the damage, Grant then took the lead, maintaining it until lap 23, when Saunders was finally able to make the pass. Once Saunders took the lead, he never looked back, and led Grant to the checkered flag.
“I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for this beautiful day and this fantastic free country we live in,” said Saunders. “Thank you to Trans Am for bringing us to such a wonderful venue to race. It’s my first time here and I’m just blown away by how much fun it is and seeing all the fans. It was a tough race, seeing who was going to lose the tires first. Unfortunately, Ricky (Sanders) lost a hood. That was pretty crazy watching that go over the top of me. I hate that for him. Milton [Grant] and I had some great battles today. Both of us raced each other clean, we went back and forth a couple times, so that makes it a ton of fun. I want to thank my crew; they did a fantastic job getting me running. We had a leaking fuel rail and they worked until last night to get it fixed. Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there.”
2022 GT Champion Billy Griffin led the class to green in his No. 14 Griffin Auto Care/Sheehan’s Towing Ford Mustang, followed by series newcomer Florian Eyme in the No. 11 Racing Hive Porsche Cayman GT4 CS and Michael Attaway in the No. 91 Bennett/BridgeHaul/Pitboxes.com Audi R8. Eyme took over the lead on lap eight and seemed destined for victory in his Trans Am debut. Unfortunately, Eyme received contact from another competitor on lap 27, which caused major damage to his suspension and forced his retirement from the race. With Eyme out of contention, Griffin inherited the lead and held it for the remaining laps, earning the victory.
“Well, if (Florian Eyme) didn’t get hit, I wouldn’t have won; he was wonderful,” said Griffin. “Right at the beginning of the race, I was doing everything I could to keep ahead of him. I blew my tires off trying to keep up with him. He had a brilliant pass on me on the inside there, and I thought maybe it was over, but he got hit and here I am. It’s a special weekend for me, my daughter is here with me for Father’s Day.
The Trans Am Series TA/XGT/SGT/GT classes return to the track next weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
