Family Grief for Tom Sheehan Puts Racing in Perspective en route to Indianapolis Showdown
July 25, 2019
Indianapolis, IN - July 25, 2019 - The fiercely competitive Trans Am TA2 Class presented by Pirelli returns to action the weekend of August 3 - 4 at America's most famous racetrack - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - but sometimes events off the track can put motorsports into stark perspective. After the loss earlier in the season of legendary engine builder and personal friend and supporter Carl Wegner, Tom Sheehan has had to endure the loss of his own Mother in the break between Detroit and Indianapolis.
Events at Detroit would themselves have left the No. 97 Damon Racing LTK Insulation Technologies Ford Mustang pilot with a bittersweet taste. When on course for a top-five finish in the second of the two races that weekend, an incident in the final laps and a yellow flag cost him several finishing positions and championship points. This after the first race around the streets of Detroit had seen the Granite State driver notch his first top ten placing of the year - P7 in the Muscle Car Challenge. Results in Detroit left Sheehan just outside the top ten in the championship points standings, in 11th place out of a total of 42 competitors. However when he spoke to us earlier in the week his first thoughts were naturally on the recent passing of his Mother.
"The break from Detroit to Indy was a well timed blessing for me,” stated Tom Sheehan driver at Damon Racing. “I lost my mom over the break. She had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in December. Over the past six months we've been visiting regularly and checking in on her at her home. My mom didn’t ask for a lot. She just wanted to stay in her home as long as possible. Thankfully for everyone Mom passed at her home."
"Mom believed she had just had the best week of her 79 years. She loved the way family and friends rallied around her. She loved to watch the sunrise from her bed. She watched the sunrise on June 22nd and passed. My brother and sister were present."
Our thoughts and prayers are with Tom and his entire family.
Of events on the track in the Motor City, Tom added, "Returning from our last race in Detroit we were a little battered and sore, but it all gets put into perspective. The upcoming Indy race will be our next outing again and I am looking forward to life and returning to racing."
The LTK Damon Racing team has been getting quicker with every race as the team has been getting accustomed to working on a Ford Mustang, rather than the Chevrolet Camaro they raced in 2018, and they certainly haven't been letting the grass grow under their feet during the mid-season break. Sheehan pinpointed the hard graft when he added, "The team has been working nonstop. The LTK Ford Mustang will be ready for duty. I am rested and ready."
The scene of the upcoming action is the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which was originally constructed way back in 1909, and was at the time only the second banked oval racing circuit in the world after the now dismantled Brooklands in the U.K. A modern, FIA Grade One infield road course was completed in 2000, incorporating part of the oval, including the main stretch and the southeast turn, measuring 2.605 miles (4.192 km). In 2008, and again in 2014, the road course layout was modified to accommodate motorcycle racing, as well as to improve competition. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
No fewer than 28 cars are entered in the TA2 class at Indianapolis where the TA2 drivers get two testing sessions on Friday, August 2, one in the morning and one in the afternoon - with official practice on Saturday morning and the all important qualifying session shoehorned into a fifteen-minute slot on Saturday afternoon. Grid for the TA2 race powered by AEM Infinity is at 2:20 p.m. and the race goes green at 2:55 p.m.
Go ahead and can keep up with Trans Am driver Tom Sheehan on social media – Facebook page is Damon Racing; Instagram is TomSheehanTA97 and Twitter give us a follow @TomTA2_97. For more information on LTK Insulation Technologies please visit the website online at https://ltkinsulationtechnologies.com/.
About LTK Insulation Technologies:
Putting LTK insulation jackets & covers to work on your project saves your firm real money and time. The LTK Insulation products are so fast and easy. Installation is as fast as identification. Our carefully designed products line allows; fast, sure fit, 100% clean, no tool installation. Product designed for; balance valves, control valves, flex hoses, in line specialties, couplings, quick connects, unions, zone pumps. Your imagination is the only limit….GO LTK!
