Tony Ave started on the pole of today’s SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series race at Road America and led every lap to win the 23-lap, 92-mile event.
Ave took the checkered flag 1.4 seconds ahead of R.J. Lopez, while Amy Ruman came back from spinning off course in Turn 14 on lap two to finish third.
Most of the race Ave was much farther in front than the final interval indicated as the race finished under yellow.
When the green flag flew to start the race, polesitter Ave jumped into the lead in Turn 1.
At the end of the first lap, Ave was leading, followed by Tomy Drissi, R.J. Lopez, Mike Skeen and Amy Ruman.
Ave quickly moved away from the rest of the field and already held a 3.8 second lead over Drissi by lap two.
All of the race action was behind Ave as he continued to build his lead over the field.
On the third lap, Skeen was moving up, passing Lopez for third and was in hot pursuit of Drissi for second.
By lap four, Skeen had moved up to second and Drissi, running third, was under pressure from Lopez. Meanwhile, defending race champion, Cliff Ebben, who was running fifth, encountered mechanical problems and was out of the race.
As Ave continued to stretch his led, corner workers reported smoke and gear oil coming from the rear of Skeen’s car. Despite the apparent problem, Skeen was still running second.
Skeen’s time on the track was short-lived however, as he pulled off course in Turn 5 on lap 8, retiring with a mechanical problem.
At the end of lap eight, Ave had built up an 18.5 second lead over Lopez, with Drissi third, Rick Dittman fourth and Simon Gregg rounding out the top five.
While the field was working lap nine, Terry Giles got into the gravel at Turn 12, necessitating a full-course yellow.
The top five under yellow on lap 11 were Ave, Lopez, Drissi, Dittman and Gregg.
The track went green again at lap 14. Ave immediately started to again pull away from the field, leaving the best battle on the track the one between Drissi and Lopez, who were racing for second.
As the laps clicked off, Ruman was steadily making her way back through the field, and by lap 15 had moved up to fifth place.
The battle between Drissi and Lopez continued for several laps, with Lopez finally taking the second position while the field was working lap 19.
With no one threatening his position, Ave slowed his pace and by lap 21, his lead shrunk to 6.7 seconds.
Things started to get a bit crazy on the track as Ave took the white flag. Kevin Rich had coasted to a stop on the front stretch and the car sat motionless on the track.
On the final lap, Drissi, who had been competitive the entire race, encountered mechanical problems on the way up the hill to Turn 6 and began to slide back down the hill, right in the middle of the preferred racing line.
Because of all the cars stopped on course, Ave took the checkered and the yellow flag at the same time.
At the line, Ave’s margin of victory was just 1.474 seconds. Lopez was second with Amy Ruman making a sensational comeback from her lap two spin to finish third. Rick Dittman was fourth and John Schaller rounded out the top five.
It was Ave’s second straight win as he had scored his first career Trans-Am victory at Miller Motorsports Park two weeks earlier.
The Hurley, Wis. Native was happy about the win at his favorite race track.
“It’s my favorite place,” he said. “I have raced here so much. My car is good. The guys do all the work. I just get all the attention,” he added with a laugh.
Ave, the current point leader, will try for the hat trick when the series make its next stop at the fabled Lime Rock Park on July 3.
SUMMARY Fin Start Car # Driver Laps Running/Reason out 1 1 4 Tony Ave 23 Running 2 4 6 R.J. Lopez 23 “ 3 6 23 Amy Ruman 23 “ 4 8 24 Rick Dittman 23 “ 5 16 08 John Schaller 23 “ 6 7 59 Simon Gregg 23 “ 7 15 66 Denny Lammers 23 “ 8 3 5 Tomy Drissi 22 Mechanical 9 9 8 Daniel Ramoutarsingh 22 Mechanical 10 13 01 Jim Bradley 22 Running 11 11 95 Kevin Rich 21 Mechanical 12 17 96 Daniel Parr 21 Running 13 18 75 Buddy Cisar 20 Running 14 14 00 Doug Harrington 16 Mechanical 15 10 85 Terry Giles 9 Mechanical 16 2 81 Mike Skeen 7 Mechanical 17 12 05 David Fershtand 7 Mechanical 18 5 36 Cliff Ebben 5 Mechanical
19 19 3 Kyle Kelley 0 DNS
Mary ChampionRoad America