Tomy Drissi will join the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli at Road Atlanta this weekend, as the series prepares for round three of the 13-event championship. Fresh off his win in TransAm West at Auto City Speedway, Tomy is excited to be back racing at one the world’s best road courses.
“This is such a great track,” noted Tomy. “When you’re behind the wheel of a TransAm car negotiating the esses at Road Atlanta, you’re living the dream. It’s just cool. It’s a track that you can settle in and drive with rhythm. You’ve got nice long straights, elevation changes, nice sweeping curves… and the esses. You come down the hill into the esses and it’s like no other track. Then you crest the hill and dive down into the final turn and onto the front straight… and all you can hear in your head is; ‘the fast guys don’t lift… ‘ It’s amazing.”
Tomy will be back in the No. 8 Ave Racing prepared Corvette for the Arthritis Foundation. Tomy has partnered bringing awareness to the Foundation for Fontana and the Road Atlanta race. The Arthritis Foundation leads the fight for the arthritis community. The Foundation helps conquer everyday battles through life-changing information and resources, access to optimal care, advancements in science and community connections. Their goal is to chart a winning course, guiding families in developing personalized plans for living a full life – and making each day another stride towards a cure.
“I’m really happy we could keep the Arthritis Foundation on the car in Atlanta,” added Tomy. “The Foundation means a lot to my wife Lacey and I. Our family has experienced this disease, dealing with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis first hand. The Foundation provides trusted information, powerful health tracking tools and ways to connect with others. This is extremely important work and we’re proud to have them on the car and that we can be a part of it. Although, I want to put everyone on notice, watch out for the No. 8 car when we hit Detroit. It’ll be all box office Hollywood when we arrive in the Motor City!”
“Tony’s guys have done a great job with the car,” said Tomy. “We keep improving every race. I think with this track, we’ll really hit our stride. It’s such a good race track, we’ll be able to pick up a lot of data and give good feedback to the engineers. It’ll be a great weekend.”
Trans Am will hold two separate 101.6-mile races, the equivalent of 40 laps around the iconic 2.54-mile Grand Prix course, with the TA, TA3 and TA4 classes combining for a multi-class showcase and while TA2 holds another Trans Am Muscle Car Challenge independently. The weekend will start off with a promoter test day on Thursday May 11th. Two official TA practices and a qualifying session will take place on Friday May 12th. Saturday will feature two Trans Am races – the TA/3/4 race at 8:55am followed by the TA2 at 11:30am, both at 40-laps (101.6-mi) – all times listed are ET. Visit gotransam.com or roadatlanta.com for ticket, full schedule, and all other weekend information.
Round 3 of the 2017 Trans Am Championship Schedule:
Friday May 12, 2017
8:00 AM – 8:22 AM TA/TA3/TA4 Practice 1
8:23 AM – 8:45 AM TA2 Practice 1
10:00 AM – 10:22 AM TA/TA3/TA4 Practice 2
10:23 AM – 10:45 AM TA2 Practice 2
Saturday May 13, 2017
8:55 AM – 10:10 AM TA/TA3/TA4 Race
11:30 AM – 12:45 PM TA2 Muscle Car Challenge powered by AEM Infinity
Fans of the Trans Am Series by Pirelli can follow along every race weekend at www.gotransam.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/gotransam and on Twitter at @gotransam. Live Timing and Scoring can be found throughout all sessions on gotransam.com and on RaceMonitor.
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
About TransAm
The Trans Am Series is America’s Road Racing Series and dates back to 1966. Throughout the years, some of the greatest names in motorsports have participated in the Trans Am Series. Names like Tommy Kendall, Mark Donohue, Peter Gregg, Bob Tullius and Wally Dallenbach, Jr. have all won multiple championships under the Trans Am name.
While Trans Am will always be dedicated to honoring its history and legacy, it is far from simply living in the past. Since the addition of the Trans Am Race Company, LLC in late 2011, Trans Am has experienced unprecedented growth as a new class based model has been implemented. Now, three distinct classes take center stage; TA, TA2 and TA3, Trans Am is positioned to power into the future, not live in the past.
The iconic Trans Am Series – America’s Road Racing Series – is operated by the Trans Am Race Company, LLC. Through a five-year agreement, the Trans Am Race Company manages the marketing rights to the series and is responsible for Trans Am Series public relations and promotions. SCCA Pro Racing sanctions Trans Am events and provides event operations services to the series.
For more on the Series visit www.gotransam.com, “like” Trans Am on Facebook at www.facebook.com/gotransam, or follow Trans Am on Twitter at @gotransam.