2011 Trans-Am Series Explained

The 2011 Trans-Am Series was the 43rd season of the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series, a class of racing that straddles the line between sports car and stock car auto racing.

The 2011 schedule consisted of races on 8 road courses and one temporary street circuit. It was the first season that utilized the new multi-class format. The TA1 class is for the previous spec of Trans-Am cars. The TA2 class was added for cars that meet SCCA GT2-class specifications. These cars were primarily stock cars, some of which have been rebodied with pony car bodywork. A third class, TA3, for cars meeting SCCA GT3-class specifications was announced, which mainly consisted of smaller and lower-powered sports cars than TA1. However, there were no TA3 entries in 2011. For the final race of the season, a new class, Global GT (GGT) was introduced for production-based sports cars.

2010 champ Tony Ave won 6 of the 9 races to repeat as champion. Bob Stretch won the TA2 class in 5 of the 7 races he contested to win the inaugural TA2 championship.

Although she was not the first woman to compete in the Trans-Am Series (Janet Guthrie, 1978[1]), Amy Ruman became the first one in the series' 45-year history to win a race, accomplishing the feat in the season finale at Road Atlanta.[2]

The event at Miller is thus far the only post-hiatus Trans Am event in the Western United States.

Schedule

RndDateCircuitDistanceTA1 Winning CarTA2 Winning CarGGT Winning Car
TA1 Winning Driver(s)TA2 Winning Driver(s)GGT Winning Driver(s)
1March 18Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida103.5milesChevrolet CorvetteChevrolet Camaro
R. J. López Gregg Rodgers
2May 1Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, Utah100.584milesChevrolet CorvetteChevrolet Camaro
Tony Ave Gregg Rodgers
3May 15Virginia International Raceway, Danville, Virginia101.37milesChevrolet CorvetteChevrolet Camaro
Tony Ave Bob Stretch
4May 22Mosport International Raceway, Bowmanville, Ontario100.819milesChevrolet CorvetteChevrolet Camaro
Tony Ave Bob Stretch
5August 7Circuit Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Quebec92.781milesChevrolet CorvetteChevrolet Camaro
Tony Ave Bob Stretch
6August 20Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin101.2milesFord MustangPorsche 997
Cliff Ebben Scott Tucker
7September 3Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, Minnesota100milesChevrolet CorvetteChevrolet Camaro
Tony Ave Bob Stretch
8September 4Chevrolet CorvetteChevrolet Camaro
Tony Ave Bob Stretch
9September 30Road Atlanta, Braselton, GeorgiaChevrolet CorvetteChevrolet CamaroFerrari F430
Amy Ruman Mike Skeen Scott Tucker
[3] [4] [5]

Driver standings

TA1

PosDriverStartsPoints
1 Tony Ave91122
2 Simon Gregg9893
3 Amy Ruman8763
4 David Jans9738
5 Doug Harrington8712
6 Daniel Ramoutarsingh7671
7 Cliff Ebben5546
8 John Baucom6470
9 Carlos de Quesada6386
10 Denny Lamers4302
11 Doug Peterson5298
12 R. J. Lopez3295
13 Blaise Csida2208
14 Glen Jung3180
15 Kenny Bupp2160
16 Bob Monette2160

TA2

PosDriverStartsPoints
1 Bob Stretch7893
2 Bill Prietzel7695
3 Ricky Sanders6642
4 Greg Rodgers4465
5 Tom Sheehan3304
6 J. Thomas Graham2184
7 Mel Shaw2176
8 Mike Skeen1137
9 J. Kurt Roehrig1116
10 Tony Amico1110

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Janet Guthrie Career Highlights. Janet Guthrie – Auto Racing Legend. 23. Erickson. Keith. May 1, 2017.
  2. Web site: 2016 Amy Ruman Highlights Tear Sheet. Ruman Racing. Erickson. Keith. May 1, 2017.
  3. Web site: Provisional Race Results SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Champshp Rnd 1. Sports Car Club of America. 19 May 2011.
  4. Web site: Final Race Results SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Champshp Rnd 2. Sports Car Club of America. 19 May 2011.
  5. Web site: Final Race Results SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Champshp Rnd 3. Sports Car Club of America. 19 May 2011.