Trans Am at Mid-Ohio

Friday, June 26, 2020 9:00 AM 09:00
Sunday, June 28, 2020 5:00 PM 17:00

Mid-Ohio Race Circuit 7721 Steam Corners Rd, Lexington, OH 44904 United States (map)

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Hat’s off to Tony Ave: Starts from pole, finishes second in Trans Am at Mid-Ohio

# 4 - 2020 TA Tony Ave at Mid-Ohio 01a.jpg

# 4 Tony Ave gave way to Ernie Francis Jr about 20 minutes shy of a one-hour flag-to-flag caution-free race at the 2.4-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington OH.

# 4 - 2020 TA Tony Ave at Mid-Ohio 03.jpg

Ave, a Trans Am stalwart, car-constructor, owner, team manager and pretty quick driver age 52 lost out to Francis Jr, an exceptional talent about half his age gunning for his fourth straight TA championship.

# 98 - 2020 TA Ernie Francis Jr at Mid-Ohio 02.jpg

Francis worked his way up from 5th on a drying track, passed Ave and cruised to his 7th straight win in his # 98 Ford Mustang sponsored this year by South Florida Wealth Advisors.

History Repeats itself exhibit A. Ironically the same outcome for the GT1 class race at the SCCA Runoffs last year at VIR on Oct 15. (car specs same as TA)

Observation exhibit A. The No.29 on the side indicates Tony rented this car to the family of teenager Natalie Decker. It stands for an investment company that sponsored her Nov 2018 ride at Daytona.

Observation exhibit B. Tony raced another car that day (shown in white) and nearly won until his axle broke on re-start on next to last lap.

# 28 - 2020 TASGT Lou Gigliotti at Mid-Ohio 03.jpg

# 28 Lou Gigliotti, another prolific car-constructor, manufacturer and top driver in his day finished last in the SGT Class, dashing his comeback attempt.

# 28 - 2019 SCCA GT2 Lou Gigliotti at VIR Runoffs (Mark Webber photo) 01a.jpeg

History Repeats itself exhibit B. Lou also struggled in GT2 at the 2019 SCCA Runoffs. (same specs as TA SGT).

# 23 - 2020 TA Amy Ruman at Mid-Ohio 03.jpg

# 23 - 2020 TA Amy Ruman at Mid-Ohio 01.jpg

# 23 Amy Ruman finished a disappointing 7th after scoring a 3rd at the Sebring opener.

# 30 - 2020 TA Richard Grant at Mid-Ohio 02.jpg

# 30 Richard Grant, another series regular was a DNS.

# 59 - 2020 TA Simon Gregg at Mid-Ohio 02.jpg

The ranks of Corvette drivers are thinning with Simon Gregg, driving Jim Derhaag Corvettes since 1998 abandoning his C7 Corvette body for current styled Camaro. Another C7 body available to SCCA GT1 club racers.

The 2020 Trans Am series schedule now extends to Dec 2-4 at Laguna Seca in CA after a nearly 4-month hiatus since early March. Two (2) races, Road Atlanta and Indy were lost to the pandemic.

Photos thanks to Chris Clark, Larry VanScoy, Mark Webber

Results compiled by Wayne Ellwood.

Next race is July 10-12 at Brainerd MN