Road America Practice Qualifying Recap

March 14, 2026

Road America Practice Qualifying Recap

As the garage closes on Saturday evening at Road Atlanta, the field is officially set for Sunday’s Trans Am Series Presented by Pirelli event, the second of the 2026 campaign.

The 23-driver field, which is spread across six different classes, tackled the 12-turn, 2.54-mile road course in Braselton, Georgia on Saturday, following the running of the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series contest, to set the field for Sunday’s 40-lap (or 75-minute) event.

Matthew Brabham (No. 16 Gymweed Ford Mustang), winner of the season-opening event at Sebring International Raceway, launched to the top of the speed charts in the final minutes of Saturday’s qualifying session at Road Atlanta, after waiting out the session to let others hit the track.

The 32-year-old driver laid down a blazing time in qualifying, bettering Trans Am veteran Paul Menard by three-quarters of a second, earning his first official pole of 2026. Brabham started first last time out at Sebring after inclement weather cancelled time trials.

Paul Menard (No. 3 Pittsburgh Paints / Menards Ford Mustang) was second, with Martin Ragginger (No. 7 Top Liner Chevrolet Camaro) rounding out the top three.

TA Class Qualifying Top Five:

  1. #16 Matthew Brabham – Gymweed Ford Mustang (1:17.746)

  2. #3 Paul Menard – Pittsburgh Paints / Menards Ford Mustang (1:18.515)

  3. #7 Martin Ragginger – Top Liner Chevrolet Camaro (1:18.960)

  4. #8 Tomy Drissi – Trench Shoring Chevrolet Camaro (1:19.870)

  5. #17 Adam Andretti – Top Liner / Service Partners Chevrolet Camaro (1:20.221)

TA Class Practice Top Five:

  1. #16 Matthew Brabham – Gymweed Ford Mustang (1:18.782)

  2. #3 Paul Menard – Pittsburgh Paints / Menards Ford Mustang (1:19.039)

  3. #7 Martin Ragginger – Top Liner Chevrolet Camaro (1:19.694)

  4. #8 Tomy Drissi – Trench Shoring Chevrolet Camaro (1:19.889)

  5. #57 David Pintaric – Birds Eye View Project Ford Mustang (1:20.063)

Billy Griffin (#14 Griffin Auto Care Mercedes Benz AMG GT3) will start from the pole in the XGT Class on Sunday, and from 11th overall on the Trans Am Series Presented by Pirelli grid, after a strong pickup from practice to qualifying on Saturday.

Griffin was 11th-quickest in Saturday morning’s practice from Road Atlanta but managed to improve his best time by nearly a second and a half when it came time to leave it all on the line for qualifying.

XGT Class Qualifying:

  1. #14 Billy Griffin – Griffin Auto Care Mercedes Benz AMG GT3 (1:22.760)

XGT Class Practice:

  1. #14 Billy Griffin – Griffin Auto Care Mercedes Benz AMG GT3 (1:24.198)

Cole Moore (No. 32 Chris Evans Race Cars / JM Environmental Ford Mustang) will be leading the TA Cup field to green in Sunday’s 40-lapper from Road Atlanta. Moore, the winner in the series’ inaugural event at Sebring International Raceway, managed to improve upon his best lap from practice to take the pole position.

Jim Guthrie (No. 62 Guthrie’s Garage Ford Mustang) was penalized during Saturday’s qualifying session for leaving the pit lane without permission, which resulted in the loss of his fastest lap time.

GT1 Challenge Qualifying:

  1. #11 Jordan Bupp – Hamilton Safe & Security Systems Chevrolet Camaro (1:23.414)

  2. #98 Brent Goforth – Big Dog Racing Chevrolet Camaro (1:25.223)

GT1 Challenge Practice:

  1. #98 Brent Goforth – Big Dog Racing Chevrolet Camaro (1:27.394)

  2. #11 Jordan Bupp – Hamilton Safe & Security Systems Chevrolet Camaro (No Time)

Chris Coffey (No. 97 Traffic Grafix / NAI Racing / GTE Eng Ferrari 458 Challenge) has put a sizable margin on the field this weekend at Road Atlanta in the SGT Class. The advantage after practice was 1.3 seconds from Coffey to his closest adversary, but after qualifying, that gap has shrunk to just over three tenths of a second.

Coffey is looking for the 20th Trans Am victory of his career.

SGT Class Qualifying:

  1. #97 Chris Coffey – Traffic Grafix / NAI Racing / GTE Eng Ferrari 458 Challenge (1:26.174)

  2. #72 Zach Arnold – Arnold Machine Porsche GT3 Cup (1:26.508)

  3. #49 Patrick Utt – RaceQuip / Driven Racing Oil Chevrolet Camaro (1:28.576)

  4. #15 Milton Grant – Sentry Self Store / Springhill Suites Porsche 992 (1:29.811)

  5. #60 Tim Gray – Ryan Companies Ford Mustang (1:44.106)

SGT Class Practice:

  1. #97 Chris Coffey – Traffic Grafix / NAI Racing / GTE Eng Ferrari 458 Challenge (1:25.982)

  2. #49 Patrick Utt – RaceQuip / Driven Racing Oil Chevrolet Camaro (1:27.212)

  3. #72 Zach Arnold – Arnold Machine Porsche GT3 Cup (1:27.285)

  4. #15 Milton Grant – Sentry Self Store / Springhill Suites Porsche 992 (1:30.645)

  5. #60 Tim Gray – Ryan Companies Ford Mustang (1:39.324)

Derric Carter (No. 24 PortableHeist.com Ford Mustang) will roll from 20th in Sunday’s 40-lapper at Road Atlanta. Carter didn’t make any laps in Saturday morning’s practice session, meaning his first official laps of the weekend came during qualifying.

GT Qualifying: 

  1. #24 Derric Carter – PortableHeist.com Ford Mustang (1:28.711)

GT Practice:

  1. #24 Derric Carter – PortableHeist.com Ford Mustang (No Time)

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