Doug Peterson tops 28-car field at CTMP for third straight win

Tony Buffomante wins TA2 class, edging out points leader Cameron Lawrence

As the Trans Am Series returned to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the Victoria Day Speedfest Weekend, the 28-car field made a mad dash through the 41-lap sprint; and, at the end of the day, Doug Peterson won his third straight race. 

Peterson and the #87 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet Corvette began the session in P3, behind pole setter Simon Gregg and the #1 Gregg Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette and teammate Tony Ave in the #4 Lamers/PME Engines/RPX Chevrolet Corvette.  Peterson overtook Gregg, who had fallen to second after a charge from Ave right after the green flag, during the 11^th lap of the session. 

Peterson followed teammate Ave throughout much of the session, and through the full course yellow that laster from lap 23 to 28.   However he preasured Ave going through much of lap 32 and overtook the #4 car during the 33^rd lap.  Peterson managed to hold Ave off till the checkered flag, finishing just .489 ahead of his teammate and former champion. 

“It feels awesome to have another win,” said Peterson. “I love this track.  It’ll chew your tires up if you let it.  I started out very conservative, for the first 10, 12 laps.  Then I just had to make the call, it’s time to get Simon, and I was able to overtake him.   I didn’t know where Tony was, and I figured we’d get a yellow sooner or later.  I think it really paid off to save the tires, but the car was really just spot on.  It’s great to have the three race streak, and I want to keep it going.”

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Three classes, three track records for Trans Am at CTMP qualifying

Defending champion Simon Gregg leads the way with time of 1:15.614

When the dust settled after a rampant qualifying session, defending Champion Simon Gregg finished at the top of the field and will start in pole position for the Trans Am race tomorrow afternoon.  Gregg and the #1 Gregg Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette put in the fast lap, and track record, time of 1:15.614 minutes and topped out at 117.073 miles per hour.  The previous track record was 1:15.952.  Following Gregg was Tony Ave in the #4 Lamers/PME Engines/RPX Chevrolet Corvette with a time of 1:16.056 and Ave’s teammate Doug Peterson in the 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet Corvette.  Needless to say, Gregg was thrilled with the result.

“It was an exciting session, I really gave it all I had,” said Gregg.  “The car was running great, and I’ve really come to love this track after racing here since ’96 almost every year.  This track can be very fast, adrenalin pumping and can actually be frightening at times and doesn’t have a lot of runoff area—and that makes it very unique and one of my personal favorites.” 

When asked, Gregg revealed that being the defending Champion does contribute some added pressure to his racing routine, but does not serve as his greatest motivation. 

“I do feel some pressure as defending champ; it can be tough to maintain my edge and keep on racing at a high level— nothing is easy.  But this is what racers do” commented Gregg. “I’m always motivated to do my best, to drive the car to its maximum potential, to make the team proud, to make my family proud and follow in my father’s (Peter Gregg’s) footsteps.” 

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Ave leads practice with time of 1:17.258, edges out defending champ Simon Gregg

Robert Huffmaster paves the way for ultra-competitive TA2 class with Stretch close behind

Tony Ave showed the Trans Am field exactly why he’s won the Trans Am Series twice in the past by beating out current Champion Simon Gregg by the slimmest of margins in the last few minutes of today’s practice at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.   Ave and the #4 Lamers/PME Engines/RPX/Chevrolet Corvette clocked in a lap of 1.17.258 on the 2.459-mile track, edging out Gregg and the #1 Gregg Motorsports/Chevrolet Corvette’s time of 1:17.261. 

Following Gregg and Ave were Canada’s own Blaise Csida and Allan Lewis in Gateway Racing Chevrolet Corvettes.  The teammates put in times of 1:18.688 and 1:18.942, respectively, showing that they will not be quick to relinquish their home track and bragging rights north of the border.    

After the session, Ave was unaware of just how close his time was to Gregg’s.

“I really had no idea what Simon had run.”  Said Ave.  “This car has been sitting and we still have some work to do on it.  We were off a fair bit and we changed a lot last night, and I feel like we’re still a second or so off from where I’d like to be.  To be honest, I wasn’t even looking at the times." 

While Canadian Tire Motorsport Park has made a plethora of changes on site and has laid down some additional pavement, Ave does not feel that the changes have made any major impact on to the way he drives the course.

“The changes here haven’t really seemed to effect me.” Said Ave. “I lost a few landmarks, but where they’ve added a lot of pavement is where we really don’t run.  I think it may make things easier for people who don’t have their line buttoned down yet, but it hasn’t really changed the fast line.” 

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