When the Historic Trans Am Challenge takes to the streets of Long Beach, Trans Am Champion, Tomy Drissi, will be driving his spectacular 1970 Jim Hall Chaparral factory Camaro.
“This is going to be a lot of fun,” said Tomy, 1999 Trans Am Rookie of the Year. “This is such an amazing car, and to bring it to Long Beach where I had my first Trans Am win (2000), is pretty sentimental.”
“When Roger Penske jumped to AMC,” noted Tomy, “Jim Hall built 3 Chaparral Camaro’s to compete in Trans Am. The car finished in the top 10 in every race it entered, including four 4th place finishes with Jim Hall behind the wheel. The car had its solo victory at Watkins Glen, at the hands of Vic Elford .”
“The Chaparral Camaro is producing around 475 horsepower and weighs 3,375lbs,” added Tomy. “It can do the 1/4 mile in just over 10 seconds. Depending on gearing, it’s capable of speeds of up to 200 mph.”
“I think the Long Beach fans are going to be blown away by the sight of these historic cars,” said Tomy. “These are not replicas. These are the cars that ran in the hay day of the “pony wars” when Trans Am was “the” road racing series in America.”
The Historic Trans Am Challenge, includes American muscle cars from the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Series came into being in the early 1990s when racing enthusiasts found the old Trans Am cars and began restoring them. The series, which features about 50 racers, has race at several of the country’s top venues; Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen International Raceway, and Laguna Seca.
The Long Beach Grand Prix will be the first time the series will compete as part of a major racing series event. Twenty-eight competitors are expected to race on the streets of Long Beach. They will practice and qualify on Friday before racing for 20 minutes Saturday.
Keep up with Tomy at http://www.tomydrissi.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tomydrissi/ – Catch Tomy’s Twitter feed at https://twitter.com/tomydrissi
Tomy Drissi is an American driver and Trans Am Champion.
His driver experience includes ALMS, Trans-Am, NASCAR and Speed World Challengea
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.
Tomy’s 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
• 2000 Trans-Am Long Beach Champion
• 2009 Trans-Am Champion.
• 2010 ALMS (one off race) Prototype LMP1 3rd. at Mid Ohio
• 2011 saw Tomy’s return to the American Le Mans 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.
• 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.
• 2013 NASCAR CUP/Nationwide. Best result at Mid Ohio starting 38th and finishing 19th.
• 2014 IMSA LMPC at Daytona 3rd.
• 2014 NASCAR CUP/Nationwide. Finished 19th at The Glen
• 2015 TUDOR Series. 2nd Place Rolex 24 at Daytona
• 2016 WeatherTech Series. 2nd Place Rolex 24 at Daytona
• 2017 WeatherTech Series. 1st Place Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta
• 2017 Trans Am Series. 3rd place at Circuit of the Americas
• 2017 Trans Am Series West. 1st place at Circuit of the Americas
