Early-Lap Mishaps Bring Abrupt End to Victory Bids By Dillon Machavern, Connor Mosack and Carson Kvapil
Overview:
Date: July 9, 2023
Event: 3-Dimensional Services Group 100 (Round 8 of 13)
Series: Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli
Division: Big Machine Vodka Spiked CoolersTA2 Series
Location: Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Layout: 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course
Format: 25 laps or 75 minutes
Weather: Partly cloudy, mid-70s
Winner: Brent Crews of Nitro Motorsports
TeamSLR:
● Thad Moffitt – Started 17th, Finished 8th (Running, completed 25/25 laps)
● Dillon Machavern – Started 2nd, Finished 28th (Cut Tire, completed 7/25 laps)
● Connor Mosack – Started 5th, Finished 32nd (Accident, completed 4/25 laps)
● Carson Kvapil – Started 3rd, Finished 35th (Accident, completed 0/25 laps)
Noteworthy:
● Thad Moffitt, who climbed to an eighth-place finish from his 17th starting position, was awarded the COOLSHIRT Cool Move of the Race Award during Sunday’s podium festivities.
● M1 Racecars has been represented on the podium at all eight races this season after today’s third-place finish by Jade Buford of Big Machine Racing. Rafa Matos of Peterson Racing, who led all 45 laps at the previous round June 25 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, gave M1 Racecars its second win of the season and third pole position. TeamSLR’s Dillon Machavern joined Matos on the Mid-Ohio podium with his third-place-finish there. M1 Racecars swept the podium at the season-opening race at Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway Feb. 26 with the race-winning Matos, his Peterson Racing teammate Austin Green in the runner-up position, and TeamSLR’s Connor Mosack finishing third after qualifying on the pole and leading 20 of the 27 race laps. Matos scored back-to-back third-place finishes in rounds two and three at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, Louisiana (March 11), and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (March 26), respectively, also earning the pole at the latter event. Mike Skeen drove his Peterson Racing entry to a runner-up finish May 27 at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut. At the Detroit street-race doubleheader June 3-4, Matos scored the runner-up finish in the Saturday race while TeamSLR’s Moffitt finished second in the Sunday race.
● In Saturday’s TA2 qualifying session, M1 Racecars entries scored four of the top-five positions and six in the top-10, led by TeamSLR’s Machavern (second), Kvapil (third) and Mosack (fifth). Peterson Racing’s Matos was fourth with his teammate Austin Green 10th, and Big Machine Racing’s Buford was sixth.
Thad Moffitt, Driver No. 43 Safety-Kleen/Victory Impact Chevrolet Camaro:
“I feel like we struggled a bit with rear grip and rear drive at the end of the race, but I think all in all, by just not hitting anything we came out with a good finish. Eighth after struggling all weekend learning this track, starting 17th, that means we got by nine cars somehow or another, whether we passed them or they went off. So for us to make it through the race and get a top-10, that gives us something to build on rather than rebuilding in between races. That’s really big for us. We’re headed to Nashville next, and we got our first podium in a street race at Detroit, so hopefully we can build on that, too, and have a good, solid outing. We’ve got a little bit of confidence to carry into Nashville after putting one of these races together and not being part of all the mishaps. It was a really good effort by TeamSLR all weekend. I know our other guys are really disappointed, but they were fast and they have nothing to hang their heads about. They were really, really fast all weekend. Me, on the other hand, I struggled and struggled, so for me to come out of here with a P8, I say get me home and then let’s go to Nashville and see what we can do next.”
Dillon Machavern, Driver No. 17 Heritage Automotive/Unifirst/SLR-M1 Racecars Ford Mustang:
“Our SLR/M1 Racecars Ford was running pretty good. It was super greasy offline at the start, which we knew. I was pushed out off the line and lost some spots because it was just so slick, it was like driving on ice. I was able to recover down in turn five because one of the other competitors found the same issue and knocked a couple of cars off when he did. We were running pretty good and the car was starting to come to me a little bit. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but a tire definitely went down. It was pretty violent when it happened. Then I couldn’t get the car to move again, so that’s what ended our day.”
Connor Mosack, Driver No. 28 First Supply/SLR-M1 Racecars Entry:
“It was kind of a long weekend, but I thought we had everything worked out for the race and we had a really good car. We just immediately had an issue with a supplied part that is no fault of anybody on the team. I got stuck in the sand in turn five and luckily got away with no damage despite getting stuck in the sand there. We lost a lap getting pulled out, but the car was still fine and we were going to see if we could learn anything and just race our race. But I was catching a lapped car that decided to hit the brakes in the middle of a straightaway, ran into the back of him and tore up the car to the point where it wasn’t worth being out there anymore, especially with us not running for points. I hate it. We had First Supply on the car for the second year in a row, hate it for those guys, hate it for our team, TeamSLR. They worked hard all weekend and I feel like we deserved a better finish, but that’s how racing goes, unfortunately.”
Carson Kvapil, Driver No. 8 SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
“It’s really a pretty unfortunate ending to my second TA2 start. I feel like we had a pretty good qualifying session, ended up third. Started third in the race, and turn one through three we were able to clear for second. We went into (turn) five and a guy who I guess just doesn’t have a brake pedal used us up. He came in hot, doored me, and we both went into the gravel. I had a flat left rear (tire) and bent the rear end, so we had to call it a race. It’s unfortunate. We had a really fast car, I thought we were better than at Mid-Ohio, even, but we just got cut short by something out of our control.”
Next Up:
Round nine of the 2023 Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers TA2 Series takes TeamSLR to the downtown streets of Nashville, Tennessee, Aug. 4-5, for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix. A pair of TA2 practice sessions kick off the weekend on the 2.17-mile, 12-turn street circuit Friday, Aug. 4. TA2 qualifying takes place Saturday morning, Aug. 5, with the 46-lap, 75-minute race set for 3:45 that afternoon. Live television coverage of Saturday’s race will be provided by MAVTV, and live-streaming video coverage will be provided by the Trans Am Series and SpeedTourTV channels on YouTube.
About TeamSLR:
TeamSLR (Scott Lagasse Racing) competes fulltime in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s newly renamed Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers TA2 Series in a multifaceted effort that includes dedicated entries in the TA2 division, customer programs, driver coaching and car construction. Its history dates back to 1985 and covers a wide spectrum of motorsports, including NASCAR, IMSA, SCCA, ARCA and ASA. TeamSLR is a family-owned organization run by Scott Lagasse Sr., and Scott Lagasse Jr., The father-and-son duo have combined to win more than 120 races and seven championships across a variety of series and styles of racecars, from paved ovals to road courses to dirt tracks. For more information, please visit us online at www.TeamSLR.com, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram and on LinkedIn.
