The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli heads into the penultimate round of the 2025 season at a track the series has never visited in its 59-year history: Barber Motorsports Park. Located in Birmingham, Alabama, the 2.38-mile road course opened in 2003 and is known for being a challenging and scenic track, with technical corners, rapid transitions and rollercoaster-like elevation changes. The beautifully maintained facility is also known for its world-class Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. Fans attending the race and watching at home will be treated to a Trans Am doubleheader, as both the TA/GT classes and CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series will compete on Sunday in an action-packed day of racing. With no testing and few drivers with past experience, adapting quickly is crucial on a weekend when championships are on the line.
Schedule:
This weekend’s races at Barber Motorsports Park will see the Trans Am Series debut of four different drivers. In the GT class, Jake Latham (No. 27 Coffey Motorsports/Traffic Grafix Maserati MC GT4) will join the series as a third entry on Chris Coffey’s Norwood Auto Italia team.
In the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series, three drivers will be making their first-career start. Jake Bollman (No. 75 Guy M. Turner/Waukegan Farms Chevrolet Camaro) joins Silver Hare Racing, while Ethan Ayars (No. 80 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang) will make his debut with Nitro Motorsports. Finally, Norwegian driver Andreas Nilsson will make his first-career start in the No. 93 TeamTrysil.com Chevrolet Camaro. This weekend will be the first National Championship effort for Team Trysil, which recently began competing in the Western Championship earlier this year with driver Stein Frederic Akre.
Meet the TA2 Drivers
Fans attending the race this weekend will have the opportunity to meet the stars of the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series at an autograph session on Saturday from 3:00-3:30 p.m. local time. The meet and greet, which will be held at the SpeedTour Sim Trailer in the paddock near the frontstretch, will be one of the last opportunities this season to pick up the 2025 Trans Am Series poster.
Join the Checkered Flag Challenge
The SpeedTour Sim Trailer will be on site at Barber Motorsports Park, and drivers and fans alike can test their driving skills in the Checkered Flag Challenge, a sim racing face-off. With the experience free to all spectators and participants, everyone is invited to stop by the SpeedTour Sim Trailer to try the SimShop racing simulators and spin the prize wheel to win free swag. It will all be happening in the SpeedTour Town Center in the paddock near the frontstretch.
The Championship Race Continues
The TA championship race this season has been the tightest in recent history, with Paul Menard (No. 3 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford Mustang) and Adam Andretti (No. 17 TOP LINER Chevrolet Camaro) still neck and neck. Just 46 points separate the 2024 champion and current points leader Menard from Andretti, who has been racing in Trans Am since 2013 but has yet to win a title. While the race remains close, Menard has the clear edge when it comes to statistics, as he has five victories, while GYM WEED Winners Circle has eluded Andretti this season. But with a brand-new track on deck this weekend, anything can happen.
Dyson Matches Mark Donohue
When Chris Dyson (No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang) drove from last to first in Trans Am’s last outing at VIRginia International Raceway, the three-time champion earned his 29th victory, tying him with fellow Trans Am Hall of Fame inductee Mark Donohue for the second most TA class wins. He now sits just two victories away from win-list leader Paul Gentilozzi, who has 31-career victories. With two races remaining this season, a strong finish to the season could tie him at the top of the list by Circuit of The Americas.
Dyson has an advantage in his favor, as he is one of only a handful of competitors who have previous experience at Barber Motorsports Park, racing there twice in his career. He has a 2003 start in the Grand-Am Cup, and in 2015, he represented Bentley in the Pirelli World Challenge Series at the Alabama track.
Father and Son Experience
With more than 500 races completed in his career, there aren’t many places that 2022 SGT champion Milton Grant (No. 55 Sentry Self Storage/Springhill Suites Porsche 991.1) hasn’t driven. Coming into this weekend, Milton and his son Carey Grant (No. 6 Grant Racing 2 Porsche GT3 Cup) both bring past Barber experience. The Alabama track is just three and a half hours away from their Tennessee home, and in 2008, the pair shared a Porsche GT3 Cup ride in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.
Wlostowski Doing Double Duty
This weekend, the Trans Am Series is holding both its TA/GT class and CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series races on the same day, with just a few hours separating the end of the first 100-mile race and the beginning of the second. Despite the challenge, one driver on this weekend’s entry list is brave enough to do double duty: Adrian Wlostowski. Wlostowski will get behind the wheel of the No. 9 CMI/F.A.S.T. Auto/Howe Racing Howe HR6 for his GT class debut, then pilot his regular entry in the No. 3 CMI/Spot-On Services/AMT Motorsports Ford Mustang in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series.
Kaylee Bryson About to Make History
By taking the green flag this weekend, Kaylee Bryson will clinch the 2025 XGT championship. As the 2024 SGT champion, the XGT title will make her the first female driver to win championships in two different classes, and just the second woman in series history to claim two championships. TA’s Amy Ruman (No. 23 McNichols Co./Valley Automotive Group Chevrolet Corvette) was the first, winning back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016. Bryson has earned two victories this season at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Road America, and has finished on the podium in all but one start this season.
GT and SGT Championships Clinched
As of the series’ last outing at VIRginia International Raceway, both the SGT and GT championships have both been decided for 2025. SGT’s Joshua Carlson (No. 36 Enseva/Diercks Ltd./TC Fab Ford Mustang) clinched his first-career Trans Am title, and Chris Coffey (No. 97 Norwood Auto Italia/Traffic Grafix Maserati MC GT4) earned his second-consecutive GT championship. Both drivers have had stunning displays of dominance this season, with Carlson claiming seven-consecutive victories and Coffey tallying six wins in just seven starts.
TA2 news
Sunoco to Sponsor Young Gun Award
It was just announced that Sunoco Race Fuels, the Official Racing Fuel Sponsor of SpeedTour, will sponsor the 2025 Young Gun Award. The Sunoco Race Fuels Young Gun Award will reward the season’s top points earner under the age of 25 in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series with a $20,000 cash prize at Trans Am’s year-end awards gala. The Young Gun Award was introduced in 2022 as a way to foster competition between the series’ young, up-and-coming drivers, and it has since become one of the most highly-contested titles in the series, as the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series is a proving ground for young talent.
TeamSLR’s Win Streak Continues
TeamSLR enters this weekend’s race at Barber on a five-race win streak, with the team standing atop the podium at every CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series race since Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in June. Championship points leader Tristan McKee (No. 28 Spire/Gainbridge/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro) started the winning spree at Mid-Ohio, while also taking the checkered flag at Watkins Glen International and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Mike Skeen drove to victory at Road America in a podium sweep for the team, while 17-year-old Carson Brown earned his first-career win in the series’ last outing at VIR.
This weekend’s race will see the return of 19-year-old Corey Day to the TeamSLR stable, as he gets back behind the wheel of the No. 17 HendrickCars.com/SLR-M1Racecars Chevrolet Camaro for the fifth time this season. Day would like nothing more than to be the fourth different driver to visit Victory Lane and extend the team’s winning streak this weekend. Day is coming off of back-to-back NASCAR Xfinity Series races at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finishing a career-best fourth at the latter track.
McKee’s Chance to Clinch and Make History
With a 152-point advantage coming into this weekend’s event, CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series points leader Tristan McKee (No. 28 Spire/Gainbridge/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro) has the opportunity to clinch the title at Barber. With an eighth-place finish or better, McKee can claim the championship regardless of where title rival Sam Corry (No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry) finishes in Sunday’s event. Earning additional points for qualifying or leading laps offers McKee even more flexibility with his result.
Should McKee claim the title, he would become the youngest champion in the history of the Trans Am Series at 15 years, two months and 16 days old, besting current record holder Brent Crews by more than four months. He would also become the first driver to capture the championship, Sunoco Race Fuels Young Gun Award and Rookie of the Year honors in the same season.
In addition to preparing for this weekend’s event at Barber, McKee has stayed busy since the checkered flag waved at VIR. The Chevrolet Motorsports development driver, who is under contract with NASCAR’s Spire Motorsports, won a Late Model Stock heat race during the NASCAR Regional Series event on September 28 at Martinsville Speedway, and finished third in the ARCA Menards Series season finale at Toledo Speedway on October 4.
Corry Comes with Barber Experience
At a track where the Trans Am Series has never raced before, Sam Corry (No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry) heads into Barber Motorsports Park with something most drivers don’t have: experience. The 17 year old raced at the track in USF Juniors in 2022, earning a second-place finish in Race 1. Corry is the only driver in Sunday’s field who can come between Tristan McKee and the 2025 championship. Sitting 152 points behind McKee, Corry, who scored one race win this season at Lime Rock Park, will have to gain the maximum points available and hope that the bad luck McKee experienced at VIRginia International Raceway carries through to Barber.
Matt Griffin a Winner
Another driver with experience on his side this weekend is CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Pro/Am Challenge contender Matt Griffin. The driver of the No. 67 Griffin Concrete Construction Chevrolet Camaro has a past victory at the track in SCCA.
Jake Bollman Joins Silver Hare
Silver Hare Racing is adding 18-year-old Jake Bollman to their roster for this weekend’s inaugural event at Barber Motorsports Park. Bollman will pilot the No. 75 Guy M. Turner/Waukegan Farms Chevrolet Camaro after recently testing with the team at VIRginia International Raceway. Bollman competes in the ARCA Menards Series West with Bill McAnally Racing, and also races in the CARS Tour. He recently made history as the first Armenian-American stock car racer to win a NASCAR-sanctioned event, capturing his first-career ARCA victory earlier this season at Colorado National Speedway.
Silver Hare Racing recently tested at Barber with Noah Harmon (No. 7 Streetside Classics/Flanagan’s Chevrolet Camaro) to prepare for this weekend’s event. Harmon scored his first-career podium finish in Trans Am’s last outing at VIR, an especially emotional moment for the team after the loss of hauler driver Mark “Rocket” Metcalfe, who passed away prior to the race.
Tyler Kicera in Champion’s Seat
Tyler Kicera returns to the driver’s seat this weekend at Barber, but he won’t be in the Nitro Motorsports ride he drove for two starts this season, including a runner-up finish at Watkins Glen. Kicera will be driving the No. 26 HP Tuners/Franklin Road/Cope Chevrolet Camaro for Mike Cope Racing, getting behind the wheel of the car that has primarily been driven by 2022 champion Thomas Merrill this season. When he isn’t driving, Kicera serves as a driver coach at Nitro Motorsports, which utilizes Mike Cope chassis, making him a perfect fit for the ride.
Annunziata Returns
When he started off the season with back-to-back victories, Thomas Annunziata immediately became the favorite for the 2025 title. But while sitting second in the standings, Annunziata took a two-race hiatus to focus on his NASCAR and ARCA efforts. Annunziata returns to Trans Am this weekend to race with Nitro Motorsports, but he’ll have a new number, getting behind the wheel of the No. 10 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry instead of his familiar No. 90.
Pro/Am Challenge Title Hunt Tightens
Jared Odrick (No. 00 Black Underwear/CoolBoxx Chevrolet Camaro) continues to lead the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Pro/Am Challenge standings, but his advantage over Keith Prociuk (No. 9 HP Tuners/Cope Race Cars Ford Mustang) has tightened to just six points now that one of his starts has been eliminated from his points total. Only a driver’s top-nine finishes contribute to the title, and now that Odrick has completed 10 events, his 11th-place finish at Watkins Glen has been eliminated. This puts him on even ground with Prociuk, who missed the race at Laguna Seca earlier this season and has only made nine starts. Now that both competitors, who each have three victories this season, are narrowed to nine races, the closeness of the race is evident and every point counts in the final two events.