Connor Mosack, Boris Said Jr., and Jake Drew Take On Historic 1.48-Mile Circuit in Search of Team’s Second Victory of 2024 at the TA2 Memorial Day Classic
HIGH POINT, N.C. (May 22, 2024) – The shortest track on the Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series calendar plays host to one of America’s longest-running sportscar racing traditions once again when the Silver Hare Racing driver trio of Connor Mosack, Boris Said Jr., and Jake Drew join their fellow competitors at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut, for Saturday’s Memorial Day Classic.
Every Memorial Day Weekend since 1972, the thundering sounds of everything from racing prototypes and exotic sportscars, to the American muscle cars of the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli have echoed from the lush, New England hillside that is home to the historic 1.48-mile, seven-turn road course. Silver Hare Racing is on a mission this weekend to be the latest team to etch its name into the iconic track’s record books behind its one-two-three punch of Mosack, Said and Drew.
It will be a triple-duty weekend for Mosack, the 25-year-old driver of the No. 77 Silver Hare Racing/PRG Chevrolet Camaro who’s in the midst of his third full TA2 Series season while also running a mixed bag of NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series and zMAX Cars Tour events for the second year in a row. Saturday’s 75-minute, 68-lap Memorial Day Classic at Lime Rock will be his third race in an 18-hour stretch beginning Friday night at his hometown Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
First, he’ll pilot the No. 28 Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet Camaro, sponsored by Silver Hare Development, in Friday’s 6 p.m. EDT ARCA race on the 1.5-mile Charlotte oval. He’s the most recent ARCA National Series winner, having captured the checkered flag in the May 4 race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, the weekend prior to his sixth-place finish for Silver Hare in the May 11 TA2 race at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR) near St. Louis. Once the dust settles on the Charlotte ARCA race, Mosack will hop into the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Silverado for the NASCAR Truck Series race that follows at 8:30 p.m. Friday before an early morning flight to Western Connecticut for the 1:10 p.m. Memorial Day Classic. The two-time TA2 Series winner will start his final race of the weekend at Lime Rock from the rear of the 22-entry field as his duties at Charlotte will keep him from taking part in Friday afternoon’s TA2 practice and qualifying sessions. He faced a similar situation during last October’s TA2 race weekend at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, when his participation in a Saturday Xfinity Series race on the Charlotte Roval kept him from practicing and qualifying for the Sunday TA2 feature. Undaunted, he charged from his 32nd starting position to a sixth-place finish in the TA2 race.
Said, the 20-year-old son of veteran NASCAR and sportscar racer Boris Said and driver of the No. 75 HendrickCars.com/Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro, will be making his second career Lime Rock start this weekend. Last Memorial Day weekend, he was on his way to a finishing position deep inside the top-10 in his Peterson Racing entry before getting caught up in a multicar accident on the race’s final restart in the closing laps. The native of Escondido, California, scored his second-best career TA2 finish of eighth two weekends ago at WWTR.
Meanwhile Drew, the 24-year-old from Fullerton, California, will be making his fourth career TA2 start this weekend and has shown flashes of brilliance in his first three outings behind the wheel of the No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro. After narrowly missing a podium finish in his TA2 debut March 24 at Road Atlanta, Drew qualified third and methodically raced his way to a second-place finish April 14 at NOLA. The veteran of a half-dozen NASCAR Truck Series events in 2023 and a 23-race slate of ARCA outings from 2021 to 2023 that featured three road-course victories in 2022 finished 10th at WWTR two weekends ago.
Memorial Day Classic weekend kicks off with a TA2 test session at 11:25 a.m. EDT Friday, followed by official TA2 practice at 2:25 p.m. and qualifying at 5:20 p.m. Saturday’s 1:10 p.m. TA2 race will be televised live by series partner MAVTV, augmented by live-streaming video on the Trans Am and SpeedTour channels on YouTube. MAVTV will air a 60-minute race show at 8 p.m. EDT on Thursday, May 30.
Silver Hare Racing leverages its Trans Am effort to promote its arrive-and-drive program, where aspiring racers and even tenured professionals hone their road-racing skills on some of the most revered tracks in North America. NASCAR Cup Series drivers Daniel Suárez, Christopher Bell, William Byron and Harrison Burton have all wheeled Silver Hare Racing-prepared cars to burnish their road-racing abilities in top-flight equipment.
The team offers six, professionally built and maintained TA2 chassis from Howe Racing for both competition and private testing. Silver Hare Racing has a dedicated, fulltime crew and operates out of a state-of-the-art facility in High Point, North Carolina. At the track, two 53-foot Featherlite transporters serve as the team’s base, each outfitted with a lounge and smart TVs for data and video review, as well as for hospitality.
To further Silver Hare Racing’s driver development capabilities, the team’s race shop in High Point is now equipped with a SHOCKWAVE Simulator, a tool specifically developed for drivers to accelerate racetrack familiarity, improve car control and confidence, and build stamina. SHOCKWAVE has been involved in racing since 1965 and is currently actively participating in NASCAR, ARCA, Trans Am, Late Models, and Sprint cars. Its Trans Am package replicates a Howe Racing TA2 chassis, complete with cockpit controls and sounds.
“With NASCAR having so many more road-course races, it’s our goal for Silver Hare Racing to be the preferred team for drivers to get that road-course experience,” said Laura Hull, Silver Hare Racing co-owner and team manager. “We want to be that important step in the ladder for the young, up-and-coming drivers. We want people to know we have an arrive-and-drive program, where for people who want to run this track or another, we provide the opportunity to do that and be successful.”
Connor Mosack, driver, No. 77 Silver Hare Racing/PRG Chevrolet Camaro:
In the spirit of Kyle Larson running the Double this weekend – Sunday’s Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 – you’ll be running a Triple of your own. Your thoughts about running Friday night’s ARCA and NASCAR Truck Series races at Charlotte, then Saturday’s Memorial Day Classic at Lime Rock Park?
“Thankfully they’re not all three on the same day, that would be tough. I’m definitely looking forward to the two races on Friday in Charlotte. I had the same two races at Kansas a few weeks ago and I feel like they went well. If anything, it’ll help me be ready to go on Saturday, but obviously not in the same way as if I would have the chance to practice and qualify well at Lime Rock. I think Jake (Drew) and I like our cars set up fairly similarly, so if he gets his car where he wants it and he’s happy, the team can put what he likes into my car and I’m confident I’ll like how it drives.”
This will be your third career TA2 start at Lime Rock. What can you bring from your previous two appearances in 2021 and 2022 to this weekend?
“I like Lime Rock – a lot, actually. It’s a cool little place we go to. I feel like in 2022 we had a lot of speed, and it was a race I also had to start from the rear because I was racing at Charlotte that Friday night, as well. But we were pretty much the fastest car on track the whole race. That was the race that started in the rain, then went dry, and then went back to rain, so we were one of the teams that pitted for tires twice and I think we ended up two laps down. Passed the leader at least once in that cycle. But the top-five were the ones who never changed tires and they were fortunate the rain came back. The weather looks like it’ll be pretty dry this weekend. It is one of the more difficult tracks to pass on – they’re all difficult to pass on, as competitive as TA2 is these days – but you can make up ground at Lime Rock with a good car.”
Describe what the racing is like at Lime Rock.
“You have one straightaway, so you’re in the corner a lot, you’re loading the tires a lot, so I feel that keeps the field a little bit closer. If there’s somebody who’s a little off the pace, it can really stack up the field, and there’s usually always a caution or two there just because if you go off there, you’re usually going to hit something. And with the field staying close together, that also increases the odds of people running into each other. I think we’ll see a couple of restarts, which give us opportunities to make up ground.”
With three iconic events – Monaco, Indy, and the Coke 600 – highlighting the racing calendar on Memorial Day weekend each year, what are your thoughts about participating in sportscar racing’s own Memorial Day tradition at Lime Rock, which dates all the way back to 1972?
“Obviously, the most important thing is what Memorial Day is all about and honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice for us, allowing us to do what we love, which is racing. You have three of the most iconic races in the world going on that weekend. It’s just a special weekend overall.”
Boris Said Jr., driver, No. 75 HendrickCars.com/Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro:
You’re coming off your second-best career TA2 finish of eighth two weekends ago at World Wide Technology Raceway. Your thoughts about heading to Lime Rock this weekend for round five of 2024?
“I ran at Lime Rock last year for the first and only time, but I really like it, it’s a lot of fun, one of the cooler tracks we go to. I’m happy to be back on a natural road course. At Lime Rock, you get to see each corner a lot, and I feel like you can get really good at the corners because it’s a short lap and you get to see each corner so many times. It’s difficult to get around people, but you can do it in certain places, like turn one.”
How was your learning experience at Lime Rock in last year’s first visit there?
“Last year was a pretty good race, but I ended up getting wrecked on the last restart while I was running seventh. We had mechanical problems in the first practice session, so the first time I actually got to drive the track was in qualifying. But it turned out pretty good. I’m excited to go back. Hopefully I can qualify further up front so we can stay away from any wrecks. It’s a unique track. It’s like a smaller Road Atlanta in terms of the driving style, where you really need to keep your momentum up. Dad (Boris Said) has definitely given me a lot of useful information about this place and other places like it.”
What has stood out about how your racing has progressed through the first four rounds this season?
“I feel like, at tracks that I know, I’ve done pretty well this year and keep improving, like Road Atlanta and Sebring. So, just need to keep doing what I’ve been doing and hopefully we can get a good result at another of those kinds of tracks this weekend.”
Any special thoughts about racing on Memorial Day weekend?
“It’s always really, really cool that we race this weekend, when there’s the Indy 500 and Monaco and the 600 at Charlotte. It’s always been one of my favorite weekends to be racing, especially at a place like Lime Rock, which has a long history, itself, when it comes to racing sportscars on Memorial Day weekend.”
Jake Drew, driver, No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro:
It’ll be your first visit to Lime Rock, which has been the case everywhere you’ve raced in TA2 so far. What are your impressions of the track after studying it, and talking to other drivers?
“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to drive, for sure. It’ll definitely be important to qualify well because it looks like it’s going to be quite the task to make any sort of passes. And even if you’re up front, lapped traffic could be a situation, but everybody’s got to deal with it, right? It’s a very iconic racetrack – I’ve known about it since I was a little kid. I’ve done 9 million laps on it on iRacing and I’m hoping to apply some of that this weekend.”
What would you identify as some of the key elements of laying down a good lap at Lime Rock?
“The uphill section, where the car gets really light, is a critical part of the racetrack. The car getting light is going to be a new experience for me, even having some wheels come off the ground will be different. It’s definitely critical to make sure you have everything under control every time you go through there. I don’t think there’s much room for error at this track. I’ll definitely have to be aware of situations and surroundings at all times, and definitely keep all four tires on the track.”
With finishes of fourth, second and 10th in the first three TA2 races of your career, what kind of momentum do you feel you’re carrying with you to Lime Rock?
“Even though Gateway (WWTR) wasn’t the finish everybody wanted, we still take a lot of positives out of it, starting with all three of our cars finishing in the top-10. I’ve run three races in a very tight and competitive series and brought home three clean cars with minimal to no damage, and I take that as a huge win. On a team where everybody’s always trying to get better and we’re always working hard to make cars better, if we don’t have to fix things, it makes their job easier and it makes my job easier. We’ll move on from Gateway and try to keep having finishes like we had at Road Atlanta and NOLA.”
About Hendrick Automotive Group:
Representing 131 franchises and 25 manufacturer nameplates from the Carolinas to California, Hendrick Automotive Group is the largest privately held automotive retail organization in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the company employs more than 10,000 people in its 94 dealership locations, 21 collision centers and four accessories distributor installers in 13 states. For more information, please visit HendrickCars.com.
About HendrickCars.com:
HendrickCars.com is the online home for everything Hendrick Automotive Group. Visitors can shop thousands of new or pre-owned vehicles, locate centers for service and collision repair, receive a value to sell or trade their car, chat online with customer service, discover career opportunities, learn more about vehicle protection programs, and explore how the company gives back to the community.
About Silver Hare Racing:
Silver Hare Racing is a fulltime competitor in the TA2 division of the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli. The multicar team has won the TA2 masters class championship three times (2018, 2019 and 2020) with driver and team co-owner Maurice Hull. Under the leadership of Hull’s wife, co-owner and team manager Laura Hull, Silver Hare Racing provides a variety of services that includes private testing and arrive-and-drive programs. The team offers six, professionally built and maintained TA2 chassis from Howe Racing and operates from a state-of-the-art facility in High Point, North Carolina. For more information, please visit SilverHareRacing.com.
