Chris Dyson of Poughkeepsie, New York, started from the pole and led all 63 laps of today’s Trans Am presented by Pirelli Gateway SpeedTour at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. Dyson also is the current Trans Am points leader.
Chris Dyson and Connor Zilisch Each Earn Fourth Win of 2023 at World Wide Technology Raceway
Richard Forsythe Celebrates First-Career Trans Am Victory
MADISON, Ill. (September 23, 2023) ― The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s inaugural race at World Wide Technology Raceway was a thrilling event combining the speed and muscle of the TA and GT classes with the excitement and youth of the Big Machine Vodka SPIKED Coolers TA2 Series. Both Chris Dyson in the No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang and Connor Zilisch in the No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro dominated their respective classes, while a tight SGT battle showcased close racing and crowned a first-time winner in Trans Am’s first visit to the St. Louis area in 38 years, with Richard Forsythe taking home the SGT win in his No. 58 Sambuca Restaurant/GSpeed Chevrolet Corvette.
Notes of Interest:
Both Chris Dyson and Connor Zilisch earned their fourth wins of 2023. Dyson has the most TA wins of any driver this season, while Zilisch is tied with Brent Crews for the most victories in TA2 this year.
The TA2 podium consisted entirely of Young Guns: 17-year-old Zilisch, 15-year-old Crews and 22-year-old Austin Green.
St. Louis-native Grant Palmer finished 11th in class in his first-career Trans Am Series start.
SGT winner Richard Forsythe earned his first-career Trans Am win in only his second-career series start and first of the season.
Chris Dyson led from flag to flag in the TA race, but he was not without his challengers in the 63-lap shootout. After the wave of the green, third-place starter Tomy Drissi in the No. 8 Lucas Oil Ford Mustang passed second-place AJ Henriksen in the No. 79 ECC/Anchor Bolt & Screw Dodge Challenger, with Drissi defending his runner-up spot for the first 10 laps of the race. After that, Henriksen made his move on Drissi and homed in on Dyson. With Drissi behind him, Henriksen had no issue tailing Dyson, cutting Dyson’s lead to less than half a second. By lap 20, he and Dyson were nose-to-tail, with Henriksen making several pass attempts that he couldn’t quite complete.
The three ran in that order until a late-race caution bunched up the field, forcing a restart on lap 50. Just one lap later, Henriksen once again was hunting down the two-time champion, but Drissi made contact with Henriksen’s rear bumper, sending him spinning. While Drissi took over the second position and crossed the finish line behind Dyson, he was assessed an avoidable contact penalty, which reverted him back to third. Henriksen was credited with the second-place finish at his home track, while Dyson visited GYM WEED Winners Circle for the fourth time in 2023.
“Sweet St. Louis, man,” said Dyson in GYM WEED Winners Circle. “I’ve got to tell you, I grew up a Cardinals fan and it’s amazing to come back here to see all the folks here with St. Louis Cardinals hats on. It brings back lots of great memories. Racing today was just thrilling. We were expecting this race to be really hard and physical, but I knew from following AJ [Henriksen] yesterday that he was really good and on his marks here. I didn’t realize this is his home track, but he was driving like a real champ there. I was good in clean air with the GYM WEED car, we could run great when we had a clear track ahead of us, but you get that for about 30 seconds around here. Every time I looked back, he was all over me. He drove great.
“We’ve had a season to remember here,” continued Dyson. “We’ve had amazing race results and we’ve scored a lot of points and a lot of wins, but it’s been a lot of work along the way. I want to take my hat off to everybody here on the CD Racing team for making sure we had not just one, but two great racecars all the time. It’s been a hustle between switching cars and jumping around, and these guys have stepped up to every challenge we’ve given them. I’m excited about what’s coming at VIR. I’m hoping that we can take it down to the wire there.
“I’ve got to dedicate this win to my son Nicholas. He and I put in a lot of work on the simulator over the last couple weeks. I’m not going to say which one of us was faster, but he knows, and he taught me a lot out here,” Dyson concluded.
TA Results:
1. Chris Dyson, No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang
2. AJ Henriksen, No. 79 ECC/Anchor Bolt & Screw Dodge Challenger
3. Tomy Drissi, No. 8 Lucas Oil Ford Mustang
Connor Zilisch in the No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro dominated the Big Machine Vodka SPIKED Coolers TA2 Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway, earning the Motul Pole Award in qualifying and leading every lap before securing his fourth win of the 2023 season.
Once the green flag waved, Zilisch immediately opened up a gap in front of second place and maintained it the entire race
while the competitors behind him jockeyed for position. Taylor Gray in the No. 60 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang made an early run at Zilisch, advancing up to second from his third-place starting spot. By lap nine, Austin Green in the No. 89 3-Dimensional Services Group Ford Mustang reclaimed his second-place starting position, attempting to hunt down Zilisch, but on lap 25, Brent Crews in the No. 70 Franklin Road Apparel/Mobil 1/Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang took over the runner-up spot. Crews and Green remained second and third, respectively, until the checkered flag waved, leading to an all-Young Gun podium.
Behind the podium-finishers, Thad Moffitt in the No. 43 Safety-Kleen/SLR-M1 Race Cars Chevrolet Camaro had an impressive run, moving up from 11th to fifth by taking fresh tires during the late-race caution. Championship contender Rafa Matos was forced to retire due to mechanical issues on lap 10, resulting in a disappointing 27th-place finish. Thomas Merrill, however, rebounded from issues at Watkins Glen by finishing fourth in his No. 26 Bennett/HP Tuners/Cope Race Cars Ford Mustang, keeping his championship hopes alive and earning the COOLSHIRT Cool Move of the Race. Gray, who held the fourth position for much of the race, ultimately finished 19th due to a suspension issue.
“This feels really good,” said Zilisch. “We’ve been through some adversity lately and we had to overcome some issues on our side, so to get this win is really special to me. It’s really exciting to come to a place that this series hasn’t raced at in 38 years, get the win and just dominate the race. We led every lap. When I was out front there in the early stages, I was just begging every lap, ‘tell me the gap, tell me the gap.’ I wanted to know how much I had to save tires in the beginning stages and just wanted to manage at around a five-second gap, and I was able to do that. I had a really good Chevrolet Camaro. Silver Hare Racing has worked hard to give me a really good car the last few races and it shows. We’ve been fast everywhere we’ve gone. To come here and capitalize on it and get ourselves our fourth win of the year is really cool. I’m looking forward to moving on to the last two races of the year. Hopefully, we can make that six wins and keep up this momentum.”
TA2 Top 10:
1. Connor Zilisch, No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro
2. Brent Crews, No. 70 Franklin Road/Mobil 1/Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang
3. Austin Green, No. 89 3-Dimensional Services Group Ford Mustang
4. Thomas Merrill, No. 26 Bennett/HP Tuners/Cope Race Cars Chevrolet Camaro
5. Thad Moffitt, No. 43 Safety-Kleen/SLR-M1 Race Cars Chevrolet Camaro
6. Thomas Annunziata, No. 90 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang
7. Jace Denmark, No. 87 3-Dimensional Services Group Ford Mustang
8. Adrian Wlostowski, No. 3 Hawk Performance/AMT Motorsport Ford Mustang
9. Darin Mock, No. 51 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang
10. Josh Sarchet, No. 77 LIQUI MOLY/CUBE 3 Ford Mustang
