New Fulltime Drivers Lanie Buice, Helio Meza, Alon Day Joined by Connor Mosack Determined To Build Upon 2025 Championship Sweep by TeamSLR, M1 Racecars
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (Feb. 23, 2026) – The results sheets have been wiped clean once again, but it’s with a boatload of momentum that the contingent of TeamSLR and M1 Racecars drivers head to Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway to help kick off the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s 60th anniversary season this weekend.
TeamSLR and M1 drivers look to build upon the success they enjoyed during a banner 2025 season, in which the team and carmaker powered their way to seven consecutive national series victories by four different drivers to close the season, and a sweep of all three CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series championships. Fifteen-year-old Tristan McKee led the victory parade in an unprecedented rookie season, scoring four of those seven victories en route to the national series driver, Young Guns, and Rookie of the Year titles. Veteran and former TA2 Series champion Mike Skeen was one of the three other drivers to occupy the top step of the podium for TeamSLR over the final seven races, with another victory apiece by teen drivers Carson Brown and Helio Meza.
Meanwhile, Troy Benner Autosport driver Jared Odrick piloted his M1 chassis to the TA2 Series’ Pro-Am Challenge-class championship behind four class wins and nine podium finishes. And M1 driver Brody Goble clinched his second career TA2 Series Western Championship title with five wins and six podiums in the eight-race campaign’s first seven events.
In all, TeamSLR and M1 Racecars competitors combined for 20 victories, 38 podium finishes and 23 pole positions in 2025.
With McKee moving on to a heavy mix of ARCA Menards Series, zMAX CARS Tour and other disciplines this season as part of the Chevrolet driver development program under Josh Wise, Scott Speed and Lorin Ranier, TeamSLR hits the 3.74-mile, 17-turn Sebring circuit this weekend with a revamped and hungry lineup. The team will field a trio of season-long competitors in 2026 featuring teen Chevrolet development drivers Lanie Buice and Meza, and veteran Alon Day, a four-time NASCAR Euro Series champion who will get his first taste of TA2 Series competition this season. Joining them for this weekend’s 27-lap, 75-minute season opener is former fulltime TeamSLR competitor Connor Mosack.
Buice, the 18-year-old from Jackson, Georgia, made her TA2 Series debut during a pair of outings for TeamSLR in last September’s race at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, and November’s season finale at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, showing solid speed at both events. She’ll take over the reins of the No. 27 Sunoco/Guthrie’s Garage/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro for the 12-race season. Buice has been a regular on the CARS Tour, finishing 11th in last year’s final Late Model Stock Car standings behind a pair of top-fives and six top-10s for Lee Pulliam Performance. Buice also made her ARCA Menards Series debut last season, driving part-time for Rev Racing. She finished in the top-12 in all five events she entered with best results of eighth at both Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway in February and Kansas Speedway in Kansas City in April.
Meza, the 18-year-old from Houston, burst onto the TA2 Series scene at last year’s finale at COTA with his pole-to-checkered-flag victory. This year’s fulltime driver of the No. 28 Alessandros Racing/Chevrolet/SLR-M1 Racecars Camaro came to TeamSLR last November after successful 2025 runs in both the NASCAR Mexico Challenge Series and Mazda MX-5 Cup. Driving for Alessandros Racing under the guidance of veteran Ruben Rovello, Meza was a two-time Mexico Challenge Series race winner. In Mazda MX-5 Cup , Meza earned Rookie of the Year honors behind a pair of runner-up finishes and another pair of top-fives that placed him fifth in the final standings. He’s also a three-time national karting champion.
Day, the 34-year-old from Ashdod, Israel, brings a diverse and highly successful racing background into his rookie TA2 Series season behind the wheel of the No. 17 JPPI/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro. He’s the winningest driver in NASCAR Euro Series history with 32 victories to go with his championships in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2022. He was on an open-wheel path at the start of his career, which featured an Israeli national karting championship and a Formula Renault Asian Championship title, followed by a six-race run in the North American-based INDY NXT Series in 2012 before the lion’s share of his attention turned to stock cars. Over the last decade, the former Athlete of the Year in his native Israel has also run a dozen races across NASCAR’s top three stateside series – Cup (two), O’Reilly Auto Parts (formerly Xfinity, four), and Craftsman Truck (two) – and the ARCA Menards Series (four). Six of those races took place at tracks he’ll visit during this year’s TA2 Series campaign.
Mosack, the 27-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina, returns to TeamSLR for the fifth time since graduating to the NASCAR and ARCA ranks after fulltime TA2 Series seasons in 2021 and 2022. He’ll be behind the wheel of the No. 48 Guthrie’s Garage/Roaring Pines Motorclub/M1 Racecars entry this weekend looking for a measure of redemption after his promising run at Sebring in the 2023 season opener slipped away in the latter stages of the race. He qualified on the pole and was in control of the race until a mishap on a late-race restart, leaving him to rebound for a third-place finish.
Mosack scored a pair of victories for TeamSLR in 2021 and 2022, both at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, and finished top-four in the championship both years. His schedule this season includes a dozen NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races for Spire Motorsports, including Saturday’s event on the Streets of St. Petersburg circuit two hours to the west. He plans to arrive at Sebring just in time for TA2 Series qualifying Saturday.
Riding along with TeamSLR drivers and their M1 Racecars once again this season are Guthrie’s Garage, CUBE 3 Architecture and longtime supporters Franklin Road Apparel Company and Kallberg Racing.
The season-opening weekend kicks off Friday with a pair of TA2 test sessions set for 12:05 and 5:45 p.m. EST. Saturday begins with official TA2 practice at 12:10 p.m., followed by qualifying at 5:40 p.m. Race time Sunday is 1:30 p.m. with live television coverage available at no charge at RacingAmerica.TV, as well as the official Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli YouTube channel.
Lanie Buice, Driver, No. 27 Sunoco/Guthrie’s Garage/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
You got a taste of CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series racing at VIR and COTA late last year. What’s on your mind as you arrive at Sebring to tackle the full season in 2026?
“I’m just super excited and grateful for the opportunity to represent Chevrolet and be a part of TeamSLR, with all they’ve accomplished over the past few years, and to be surrounded by such a great group of people under Scott Lagasse and his dad, and to continue to learn from the whole group. I’m also excited about the teammates that I’m going to have and the opportunity to learn from them and just become better and better at perfecting my race craft. The TA2 Series is a great place to be in helping me get better all around because I’m still so new to the road-course world. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s going to be really good for me, to help continue to build for what I want in the future. I’m always thinking about being the best that I can be in every situation that I’m in and continuing to develop, be in contention for wins and just set myself up well for the future.”
You had two full days of testing at Sebring in January. How will that help your efforts as you return there for this weekend’s opening race of the season?
“The test at Sebring was super beneficial, getting us back in the swing of things for the new year. I got to learn from Helio and really focus on being prepared for coming back for race weekend. And since then, I was able to use all the data that I collected over the two days back at the shop with the Wise (Optimization) people and really work with Scott Speed and Josh Wise and Dan Jansen to better prepare myself for the race weekend. So I’m feeling super prepared – it’s going to be interesting – and I’m hoping that all of the effort that I’ve put into preparing for Sebring will really just set up a really good baseline for the rest of the year and all the other tracks that we’ll go to. I probably won’t get quite as much time at the other places versus how much we’ve gotten at Sebring. It’s going to be interesting to see how all that plays out because I think Sebring is a very technical place, but I tend to thrive a little bit more at more higher-grip racetracks, and as we know, Sebring is super flat.”
How would you describe getting around the track?
“Sebring is definitely one of the more technical places I’ve been to. You can always say a track is technical, but Sebring just has its own challenges that sometimes can make it more technical in my eyes versus a track like COTA, or VIR or Road Atlanta. Sebring is just so flat and it’s bumpy and it’s kind of harder to feel the tire there because you don’t really have anything to lean on, like banking. So you have to be very disciplined there just trying to figure out what that certain feel is that you’re searching for. That’s something I’ve been super focused on, just being able to use my tools and my feel inside of the racecar to try and be the best there that I possibly can be.”
Helio Meza, Driver, No. 28 Alessandros Racing/Chevrolet/SLR-M1 Racecars Camaro:
You and the team had a solid two days of testing at Sebring in January. What is your mindset as you head back there this weekend to open the 2026 CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series season?
“We’re feeling good. The test we did last month went really well. We tried a bunch of things, and by the end of the test I felt really comfortable, just getting to know the team and the car even more, getting acclimated. So I’m excited to head back and get the first race weekend of the season started. Obviously, now that I’m running the full season, it’s pretty exciting, so I just can’t wait to get started.”
What are your expectations this weekend based on the things you learned at the test?
“Like I said, we went through a lot of stuff during the test and I felt like we ended at a pretty good baseline. I took a bunch of notes during the two days and during the time since the test I’ve looked at data and watched video and came up with some more ideas of different things I could try. It’s not really anything too different, but I’m just curious about trying different stuff. Expectation-wise, for me personally, I try not to put any expectations on myself because I feel like it just leads to unnecessary pressure. I just always try and focus on getting the most out of every session. And it’s funny because, growing up racing karts, my dad would always tell me, whether it was a practice or qualifying or the race, to treat everything like a practice session. I didn’t really understand it then, but since I’ve gotten older, I understand how the mindset of a practice session involves no pressure, you’re just out there running laps, trying different things.”
You’re the most recent TA2 Series race winner. Looking back, how was that magical weekend at COTA last November where you scored the victory from the pole in your series debut?
“I knew going into it that weekend that TeamSLR had kind of found its magic, or whatever it was, winning the previous six races, so I knew I was going to be in good equipment. I didn’t really know exactly how myself as a driver was going to do compared to the others, so I just kind of went into it not thinking much. Obviously I didn’t really have any expectations because I’d only tested the car once at VIR and there really weren’t any other drivers to compare myself against, so I really had no idea how I was going to stack up against the field. I did the rookie test on Thursday and I felt pretty comfortable in the car. Then, every run after that, I just kept getting more and more comfortable. And then obviously we started on the pole, which to me, that was super cool getting to start on the front row for my first start in Trans Am. Coming away with the win, it all really didn’t hit me until I crossed the line and pulled into victory lane and I remember parking the car and it all hit me. If we can get through Sebring weekend and stay undefeated after my first two TA2 races would really be something, but I’m not thinking about it that way. I’ll just run my race and just make the most of it and learn and get better. I’d be happy with that.”
Alon Day, Driver, No. 17 JPPI/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
You have decades of experience in numerous racing disciplines, and you’re a four-time NASCAR Euro Series champion. Yet, you arrive at Sebring as a CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series rookie for 2026. What are your expectations as you kick off the season?
“I’m a professional, so my initial approach this weekend is I’m not looking at the whole season, I’m looking to take things step by step. The first race is going to be extremely challenging for me coming in new to the series, new to the car. But in the last two years or three years since my last full season in 2022, I’ve driven in a number of races in the NASCAR Xfinity (now O’Reilly Auto Parts) Series and ARCA, so I’m used to jumping into a new car, a new team, a new track. It’s been single races. So I’ve been putting in as much preparation as I can, working on my fitness as hard as possible, doing everything I can to learn about TeamSLR, the series, every piece of information I can get my hands on to prepare myself in the best way in order to come as ready as possible. And then after this weekend, for the next race at Road Atlanta, I hope to be totally familiar with the car and everything. Still, I hope I will be able to get a good result at Sebring, but I’m trying not to look at the whole picture, not looking at the whole season, but step by step starting with the first race. I’m doing everything I can to be ready for the first race.”
What kind of tools are you using to get up to speed as quickly as possible?
“I’ve basically been watching videos. I watched every TA2 race from the last couple of years. And I’m a big simulator guy. This is how I actually got into racing 25 years ago, racing on video games. I have a pretty good simulator at my home. You can say I’m kind of a video game junkie. When it comes to racing, I don’t consider it a game, I consider it a tool, it’s work. Even the F1 guys like Max Verstappen, they rely so heavily on video games and simulation even at that level. I have some familiarity with the track at Sebring. When I raced in Indy Lights (now INDY NXT) back in 2012, I turned hundreds of laps testing on a shorter version of the track there. So I have a good idea of what it feels like to get around there.”
What have been your observations as you’ve studied the TA2 Series?
“It’s very competitive, a lot like the flavor of the NASCAR Euro Series, where it’s stock cars on road courses. There’s a good mix of very young and talented drivers and experienced veterans and champions like Rafa Matos. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m very happy to be competing with TeamSLR after their very successful season last year. I know I’ll be in good equipment and surrounded by really good people. We’re going to give it everything we have.”
Connor Mosack, Driver, No. 48 Guthrie’s Garage/Roaring Pines Motorclub/SLR-M1 Racecars Entry:
You’re back with TeamSLR for the first time since your lone CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series race of 2025 at Lime Rock. Thoughts about this weekend’s race at Sebring?
“It’s always good to get back with that group. It’s some of the most fun racing I get to do. I know I’m going to have a shot to win every time I’m with them, and the cars have been really good. Especially after what they did the second half of last year, I think it’ll be just a good opportunity to run well and have a good shot at a win. The last time I was with the team at Sebring, I was on the pole, led every lap until the last restart, and then I made my own mistake that ended up costing us the win. We still finished third, but we definitely had that one in the bag, so I’m looking to kind of redeem myself for that, as well.”
You’re pulling double duty by also racing in Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in St. Petersburg, which will limit your practice time at Sebring this weekend. Safe to say you’ll be banking on your previous seasons racing with the team at Sebring?
“Yeah, I’ll practice and qualify the truck on Friday, race on Saturday. and then I should be able to get to Sebring in time to qualify. The only problem would be if I can’t make qualifying, I’ll have to start in the back on Sunday. But I think one way or another we’ll get it figured out. I’ve run there with the team a handful of times, and the cars are better now than they’ve ever been, so it should be a good weekend.”
Looking in from the outside last year during the team’s seven-race winning streak and championship run, what were your observations of how the team was performing?
“Scotty’s got some really good people working on the cars and he’s just continued to develop his program. Obviously, Tristan (McKee) did a good job, as well, along with the other drivers that he had. Sometimes you just kind of hit on something and you go on a streak like they did. It just seemed like the cars were really, really good. That’s got me feeling really good about this weekend. I’m going there to win, and I’d be disappointed with anything but that.”
About TeamSLR:
TeamSLR (Scott Lagasse Racing) competes fulltime in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli 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 130 races and 10 championships across a variety of series and styles of racecars, from paved ovals to road courses to dirt tracks. TeamSLR would like to thank its supporters CUBE 3 Architecture, Franklin Road Apparel, Kallberg Racing, and Guthrie’s Garage. For more information, please visit us online at www.TeamSLR.com, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram and on LinkedIn.
About M1 Racecars:
M1 is an Official Chassis Supplier to the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli. M1 Racecars are professionally engineered for the Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series, SCCA Competition, and Track Day events. We offer chassis only, rolling chassis and complete race-ready builds in Camaro, Mustang, and Challenger body styles. We utilize only the highest quality materials and our race-winning technology to produce the most stable and predictable racecar on the track today. The proprietary chassis design by M1 has been CAD-perfected by our engineering staff to ensure that each completed chassis is identical and performs as expected. Our chassis materials are CNC Mandrel bent and cut to our exacting standards, which results in the most precise and cost-effective build. M1 has selected Scott Lagasse Racing to be the exclusive distributor for M1 Racecars worldwide. The race team also provides M1 with vital technical assistance and on-track feedback to support our performance development efforts. This combination is a powerful asset to M1 and to every M1 customer.
