Coming off a third place overall and a Trans Am West coast win at Circuit of the Americas, Tomy Drissi will take the No. 8 ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ Tony Ave Racing Corvette to Daytona International Speedway, for round 13 of the 2017 Trans Am Championship. In a unique twist, the format for the final round will put all Trans Am classes on track running together. Saturday’s final event will be a 60 car shoot out as four classes of Trans Am cars battle it out for 75 minutes or 103 miles… whichever comes first.
“This is going to be a heck of a race,” said Tomy. “First, it’s Daytona… you’ve got high speed straights, the high banks and a twisty but quick infield. There’s enough technical challenge, for sure. But, the speed is going to be tremendous. And, where you really need to pay attention is the speed differential among the classes and your closing speeds on the slower cars. The track is certainly big enough to handle the traffic, but managing the speed differential falls squarely on the shoulders of the drivers. The TA cars run with TA3 and TA4 every week. We’re accustomed to being a bit more patient and respecting that a slower car in front may still be racing for class position. The TA2 guys are going to have to be patient.”
“I love driving on the speedway,” added Tomy. “I’ve finished 3rd and 2nd… twice.. at the Rolex 24 here. It is a track you can’t take for granted. It’s so fast. You come through NASCAR turns three and four… and your flat out. Plus it’s like you’re in a bowl… it’s a bit disorienting until you see the “tunnel” portion of turn four and you’re dropping down on the front stretch into the tri-oval. Your foot is all the way in it and you’re looking for more. It’s a wild ride. We should do well here!”
Official practice gets underway Thursday, November 9 with a 30 minute practice for all classes beginning at 11:00AM. A second practice will go out at 4:30PM for 40 minutes.
Friday, qualifying will be two 20 minute sessions with TA and TA2 running from 12:05PM to 12:25PM, then TA3 and TA4 running from 12:25PM to 12:45PM.
Saturday’s season finale will take the green flag at 10:15AM with classes combined. The race will be 29 laps/75 minutes/103.24 miles.
Murder on the Orient Express opens November 10, 2017, it’s a lavish train ride unfolds into a stylish & suspenseful mystery, from the novel by Agatha Christie. It’s about thirteen stranded strangers & one man’s race to solve the puzzle before the murderer strikes again. It stars Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer.
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
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.