Yahoo Autos Lally/Crews duo score SpeedTour All Star Race win at Lime Rock Park
The first event of its kind, the SpeedTour All-Star Race at Lime Rock Park was a spectacular combination of motorsports’ biggest legends and the stars of the Trans Am Series by Pirelli behind the wheel of CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series race cars. The pairing of All-Star driver Andy Lally and 2023 TA2 Series champion Brent Crews took the top step of the podium in the two-part race that combined points based on finishing positions to crown the ultimate driving duo. A second-place performance by Lally in the All-Star portion of the race set the stage for Crews, who earned a hard-fought third-place finish against his Trans Am competitors. Together, the two tallied 35 points to win a $50,000 prize.
The All-Star drivers drove the first race stint, and Scott Speed in the No. 17 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro took the green flag after winning the pole in Friday’s qualifying session. With Andy Lally’s No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang starting beside him on the front row, Speed got a good, clean start, protecting the point position. Lally ran on Speed’s tail, followed by Adam Andretti in the No. 44 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang. The double yellow first waved on lap seven for the No. 97 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang driven by Geoff Brabham, who was forced to retire due to a mechanical issue.
The lap 11 restart allowed for a shakeup in the running order, as Paul Menard passed Andretti, taking the third spot in his No. 3 F.A.S.T. Auto Racing Ford Mustang. Just in front of him, Lally had his sights set on Speed, but despite a late-race challenge, Speed was able to hold the lead until the first checkered flag waved at the 25m mark, ending the first half of the race. Menard finished third, followed by Andretti and Bobby Labonte in the No. 26 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang. Greg Biffle in the No. 27 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Ford Mustang was scored sixth, followed by Ryan Newman in the No. 90 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang and Casey Mears behind him in the No. 38 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro. Boris Said finished ninth in the No. 33 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, and Mike Skinner in the No. 892 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro rounded out the top 10.
All-Star stint 1 finishing order and points:
1. Scott Speed: No. 17 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro (19)
2. Andy Lally: No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (18)
3. Paul Menard: No. 3 F.A.S.T. Auto Racing Ford Mustang (17)
4. Adam Andretti: No. 44 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (16)
5. Bobby Labonte: No. 26 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang (15)
6. Greg Biffle: No. 27 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Ford Mustang (14)
7. Ryan Newman: No. 90 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (13)
8. Casey Mears: No. 38 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (12)
9. Boris Said: No. 33 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (11)
10. Mike Skinner: No. 892 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (10)
11. Hailie Deegan: No. 80 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (9)
12. Ron Fellows: No. 07 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (8)
13. Davey Hamilton: No. 6 FPEC Racing Ford Mustang (7)
14. Amy Ruman: No. 02 XLINE Race Cars Ford Mustang (6)
15. Ron Hornaday Jr.: No. 16 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang (5)
16. Danny Sullivan: No. 11 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (4)
17. Ken Schrader: No. 8 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro (3)
18. Davy Jones: No. 69 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (2: OUT)
19. Geoff Brabham: No. 97 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang (1: OUT)
Following a competition break to change drivers, the race restarted for the second stint, with the Trans Am pros taking the wheel in the same positions their All-Star teammates finished in. This put young Tristan McKee in the lead in the No. 17 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro, followed by Crews in his No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang, Wlostowski in the No. 3 F.A.S.T. Auto Racing Ford Mustang, AJ Henriksen in the No. 44 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang, and Thomas Merrill in the No. 26 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang.
The action began as soon as the green flag waved, with Crews overtaking McKee for the lead and Merrill jumping up to third after making contact with Wlostowski. Thomas Annunziata, who started seventh in the No. 90 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang, also navigated all the way up to fourth, all before the conclusion of the first lap. Ben Maier in the No. 80 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang was picking his way through the field, going from 11th to fifth in the first four laps. Connor Mosack in the No. 8 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Ford Mustang went on a tear, starting the second stint in 17th and cracking the top 10 on lap eight.
Crews held the lead until lap eight, when he was impressively challenged and overcome by Annunziata. Mosack continued his march to the front, taking over the fourth position on lap 19. Crews lost one more spot to Merrill on lap 20, while McKee struggled, dropping out of the top 10 and bringing the race to a yellow condition when his left-rear tire went flat. With the 25m clock ticking down, racing was unable to resume, and cars crossed the finish line in the order they were scored when the caution period began. Annunziata led Merrill, Crews, Mosack and Maier over the finish line.
When the points were tallied, it was the pairing of Lally and Crews who were scored first with a combined 35 points, while Labonte and Merrill took second with 33 points, and Newman and Annunziata rounded out the star-studded podium with 32 points. Following the race, Crews and Lally were awarded with a $50,000 check, gold Bell helmets and Omologato bespoke timepieces, in addition to custom trophies.
Trans Am Pro stint 2 finishing order:
1. Thomas Annunziata: No. 90 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (19)
2. Thomas Merrill: No. 26 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang (18)
3. Brent Crews: No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (17)
4. Connor Mosack: No. 8 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro (16)
5. Ben Maier: No. 80 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (15)
6. Barry Boes: No. 27 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Ford Mustang (14)
7. Edward Sevadjian: No. 38 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (13)
8. Ethan Barker: No. 07 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (12)
9. John Atwell: No. 02 XLINE Race Cars Ford Mustang (11)
10. Jim Gallaugher: No. 16 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang (10)
11. Boris Said Jr.: No. 33 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (9)
12. AJ Henriksen: No. 44 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (8)
13. Paul Ruth: No. 11 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (7)
14. Alan Davison: No. 6 FPEC Racing Ford Mustang (6)
15. Adrian Wlostowski: No. 3 F.A.S.T. Auto Racing Ford Mustang (5)
16. Tristan McKee: No. 17 Team SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro (4)
17. Livio Galanti: No. 892 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (3)
18. Sam LeComte: No. 69 Concierge Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro (2: DNS)
19. Tom Sheehan: No. 97 Mike Cope Racing Ford Mustang (1: DNS)
“This is a special moment,” said Lally. “I’ve had a handful of race wins at Lime Rock, but this is really cool. To share this track with some of my heroes and guys that I look up to and respect at the highest levels of the sport is amazing. And then, to also share it with tomorrow’s stars is incredible. This race is the brainchild of Tony Parella; there’s so much that he put on the line for this and risked. We got a really good show out of it. [Ryan Newman and Bobby Labonte], on both ends of our podium here, are guys that I’ve respected since I was really young, and they’ve accomplished so much. But then the guys that I’m standing right next to, both Thomases [Merrill and Annunziata] and Brent [Crews] here, are just monster future stars, and it’s really cool to be up here with them.”
“This feels incredible,” said Crews. “I just want to say thank you to all of the fans. Goodness, this is probably the biggest crowd I’ve seen, and I’ve been to a lot of racetracks. I’m really happy to have y’all here and to be able to race with these stars, both the people that I race every week, as well as guys like Ryan [Newman] and Bobby [Labonte]. This is just so cool. There’s so many guys that I remember watching on TV when I was five years old, and I got to race with them. I just want to thank everybody at Nitro Motorsports and Nick Tucker, who has done so much for me growing up, from racing go-karts to winning championships with this race car. Being able to share the top step with Andy [Lally] is great. You see how much stuff he gets to win, and being able to win with him feels really great. So, I’m happy to be here. The Nitro Motorsports No. 70 Franklin Road Apparel car was pretty [awesome], and I just want to say thank you to Toyota Racing. I’m happy to be here.”
The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli next hits the track at Watkins Glen International for the Mission Foods Watkins Glen Speed Tour, August 21-25. Tickets can be purchased here on SpeedTour.net.
