Braselton, GEORGIA – March 27, 2023 – Tom Sheehan and the No. 97 LTK Insulation Technologies Damon Racing Ford Mustang team approached Round 3 of the 2023 Machine Vodka SPIKED Coolers TA2 Series season with grit, determination and guile. The 2023 running of The Bennett/BridgeHaul Classic TA2 race held at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta warranted those indelible qualities considering the changing track conditions.
Prior to the third race of the season, Tom and the team tallied finishes of P22 at Sebring and P19 at NOLA Motorsports Park. The pride of New Hampshire focused on building consistency while keeping out of trouble.
Prior to Sunday’s race, Tom registered a time of 1:27.192 during qualifications for the race. This resulted in a P23 starting position for the LTK Mustang.
In the two opening laps, Tom slipped to P26 before a caution on Lap 6. Restarting in P20 on Lap 8, Tom worked his way up to P18 on Lap 9, his highwater position at Road Atlanta.
Clearly, Tom’s car was fast and competitive around the 2.54-mile road course. However, a double yellow and black flag with 15 minutes left in the race added a prevailing urgency to maximize on results.
Once the race resumed, Tom gained a position, provisionally placing in P20 once the race ended with heavy rain. A post-race penalty was assessed to one of Tom’s competitors, boosting the Granite State native to place P19.
Following the race, Tom reflected on a respectable race and result at the renowned road course.
“The guys did a great job,” Tom said. “We rolled off, worked hard and made the right changes. We got the car where I was happy with it. The race was truly exciting. It was fun.”
Tom added, “We were really conservative and kind of figured it would be caution filled. If we could just keep the car under us, keep it on the racetrack and have something for the end, we could have a decent day on the pace that we kind of established for the weekend. We did that.”
The resiliency displayed by Tom and the team were evident in the challenging, slick conditions. Likewise, he looks forward to a homecoming TA2 race following the two-month break.
“We have our chin up,” Tom said. “I thought we ran well. We fired off really good on that last restart and I had a lot of car and tire left. I thought we were the better car than the two or three cars in front of us. The team is looking forward to going back to Lime Rock and racing there again.”
Before Tom and the team made the trek back home, he offered his well wishes and thoughts to Scott Borchetta, a driver and team owner involved in a Lap 24, Turn 1 accident.
“Our thoughts are with Scotty who got hurt in that wreck,” Tom said. “It looked like a pretty big shunt. I’m hoping he heals up and I’m wishing him well for a quick recovery. You hate to see that.”
“He’s been running strong, and he works so hard,” Tom added. “He does a lot for the Series. We’ll welcome him with open arms when he recoups and hopefully it’s pretty speedy.”
Following the season’s three opening races during the Series’ Southern swing, Tom and the Damon Racing team will have some time off before preparing for the Trans Am Memorial Day Classic at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut from May 26 – 29.
This year, Trans Am races are available for live streaming on Trans Am and SpeedTour’s YouTube channels with full playbacks immediately available after the race. Also, the races can be seen in edited, 60-minute features broadcasted on MAVTV’s Thursday night primetime slot at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Follow Tom’s social media channels via his Facebook page, Damon Racing, Instagram account, TomSheehanTA97, and Twitter account, TomTA2_97.
For more information on LTK Insulation Technologies, please visit the website online at https://ltkinsulationtechnologies.com.
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