Trans Am came to New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ (about an hour away from Atlantic City) on June 14, 2015 for The Weekend of Thunder presented by MPT Industries. If you’ve never watched Trans Am, it’s worth it to check them out the next chance you get. These are fire-breathing monsters, muscle cars with huge V8s that shake the ground when they go past at full throttle.


The grid is split into 3 classes: TA3, TA2, and TA. TA3 is supposed to be the affordable version, with cars based on production models. The TA3 field at NJMP contained Corvettes, Mustangs, and Camaros, with a Viper and an M3 rounding things out. Things get a little faster in TA2, with cars restricted to about 500 horsepower. These were all Camaros and Mustangs with one Challenger. In TA, horsepower reaches 850 bhp in cars that “...must maintain the recognizable external features of the manufacturer’s model...,” which means they are purpose-built for racing. That power comes from a 358 cubic inch carbureted V8 that costs about as much as your neighbor’s Honda Accord.


TA2 hit the track first.



How to spin in Turn 1. Step #1, come into the turn too fast and lock up the brakes.


Step #2, hit the grass, lose all traction.


Step #3, just generally be out of control for second or two until you come to a stop.


Step #4, before the dust clears, mash the throttle to whip the tail around and get pointed the right direction.


Step #5, rejoin the race, hope no one noticed.


Later in the day, the TA and TA3 cars hit the track together.




Simon Gregg in the Derhaag Motorsports Corvette had some contact and drove the last quarter of the race like this. No black flags were shown.


Mickey Wright in the Fan Rag Corvette deserves honorable mention. She actually offered to let my friend’s four-year-old son sit in her car while it was parked in the garage between races. She’s definitely a class act.


The full race results can be seen here: http://www.race-monitor.com/Results/Race/3….