Road course specialist and Trans Am Champion, Tomy Drissi, will pull double duty this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. No stranger to this legendary circuit, Tomy will be entered in the No. 70 NEMCO-JRR Toyota for the NASCAR Nationwide race and the No. 4 Tony Ave Racing Corvette in the 100 mile Trans Am event.
Both cars will feature the upcoming movie, The Counselor. The Counselor is scheduled for release in theaters October 26.
No stranger to the Mid-Ohio podium, with his most recent visit coming in the American Le Mans Series prototype division, Tomy feels well suited to this weekend’s challenge. He is becoming more and more acclimated with the NASCAR stockers, and having spent a good portion of his career in the Series, he’s right at home in a Trans Am car.
“This is an exciting weekend for me,” noted Tomy. “Our outing at The Glen got cut short last week, so I’m anxious to pick up where we left off and show what the No. 70 Toyota and the NEMCO-JRR team can do. I appreciate the confidence “Front Row Joe”, Jay Robinson, Tom Legeman and the No. 70 Team have in me. It’s going to be great wrestling the Toyota around this beautiful track.”
Tomy has a long and lengthy list of accomplishments in the Trans Am Series. He was Rookie of the Year in 1999, Most Improved Driver in 2000 and a Trans Am Champion in 2009. Drissi has placed in the Top 5 in an outstanding 47% of all Trans Am races he’s partaken in and won plenty of them—and now, for the first time since 2010, he’s back.
“Since I left the Trans Am Series I’ve driven a lot of great cars,” Drissi said. “And you always remember just how great these Trans Am cars are. Ask all the Trans Am greats, they’ll say the same thing. I think these cars will go down in history as legends—they’re some of the best driver’s cars in the world and I’m looking forward to getting back into the seat of one.”
“Tony Ave put this deal together to have me run the Trans Am race and I’m thrilled,” continued Tomy. “I love Trans Am cars and Trans Am racing. This is kind of like a homecoming. Tony Ave Racing is probably the premier team in the Trans Am paddock and he’s put me in a proven winner in the No. 4 car. Plus my teammate, Doug Peterson, is the current points leader… I know we’re going to be fast.”
“The fans are really going to love seeing The Counselor movie on the No. 70 Toyota and the No. 4 Corvette,” added Tomy. “The movie is an edge of your seat ride from start to finish… just like racing on a road course. It’s going to be a fantastic weekend.”
The Nationwide Children’s Hospital NASCAR weekend gets underway with Trans Am and Nationwide Series practice on Friday, August 16th. The 100 mile Trans Am race will take the green flag at 12 Noon Saturday followed by the Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at 2:30PM. All times are EST.
Friday
10:00 – 10:45 a.m.
Practice – Trans Am
11:00 – 12:00 p.m.
Practice – NASCAR Nationwide Series
12:30 – 1:15 p.m.
Practice – Trans Am
1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Practice – NASCAR Nationwide Series
3:45 p.m.
Qualifying – Trans Am
4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
NASCAR Nationwide Series Autograph Session
Saturday
9:30 – 11:00 a.m.
Qualifying – NASCAR Nationwide Series
9:45 – 10:30 a.m.
Trans Am Autograph Session
11:45 a.m.
Trans Am Prerace
12:00 p.m.
Trans Am Race
2:00 p.m.
NASCAR Nationwide Series Prerace
2:30 p.m.
Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200
NASCAR Nationwide Series Race (90 laps)
*Tentative schedule. Subject to change without advance notification.
Tomy will resume his regular American Le Mans Series drive with BAR1 Motorsports at Baltimore for the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by Tequila Patron, Saturday August 31. Tomy will join co-driver Rusty Mitchell in the No. 7 Prototype Challenge car.
The Counselor [movie] opening in theaters, October 25, 2013.
Legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott and Pulitzer Prize winning author Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men) have joined forces in the motion picture thriller THE COUNSELOR, starring Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, and Brad Pitt. McCarthy, making his screenwriting debut and Scott interweave the author’s characteristic wit and dark humor with a nightmarish scenario, in which a respected lawyer’s one-time dalliance with an illegal business deal spirals out of control.
Tomy Drissi is an American driver and Trans Am Champion. His driver experience includes ALMS, Trans-Am, NASCAR and Speed World Challenge.
Born December 9 in Hollywood, California, Tomy owns an advertising firm that produces upcoming film displays for cinemas. Drissi’s first racing experience in motorsports was street racing on Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills.
His professional racing career highlights include; 1999 Trans-Am Rookie of the Year, 2000 Trans-Am BBS Most Improved Driver, 2000 Trans-Am Crew of the Year and Trans-Am Champion. He also competed in the American Le Mans Series LMP1 class at Mid-Ohio finishing 3rd. 2011 saw Tomy’s return to the American Le Mans Series, LMPC division. He scored a 2nd at Long Beach, 3rd at Lime Rock, 1st at Mid Ohio,1st at Inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix and second at Road Atlanta -Petit Le Mans. In 2012, Drissi teamed with Bruno Junqiera for finishing 2nd at Laguna Seca, a win at Mosport (Canadian Tire Motorsports Park), 2nd at Baltimore and second at the season finale, Petit Lemans.
Tomy is married to Lacy Livingston Drissi.