SCCA Pro Racing's Trans-Am Series returns to BIR

Labor Day weekend event is combined with Muscle Car Shootout drag race

Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Pro Racing is returning to Brainerd International Raceway when the 2010 Trans-Am Series headlines a race Sept. 4-5 on BIR's new 2.5-mile, 13-turn Competition Road Course.

Details of the event will be announced later, but fans can expect the same thrilling wheel-to-wheel road racing that has made the series so popular over the last 42 years and attracted some of the greatest names in motorsports. The event will be combined with the 22nd Annual Coca-Cola Muscle Car Shootout, which will be on BIR's drag strip that same weekend. A single event ticket can get fans into BIR where they can go back and forth between both events, at no extra cost. And for those who may be concerned with the weather (rain delays drag racing instantly), the Tran-Am Series will go on rain or shine.  

The Trans-Am Series features a wide variety of high-performance sports cars, including exotic cars such as the Qvale Mangusta, Panoz Esperante and Jaguar XKR, which won six of the last seven series championships. But fans will also see muscle cars, such as Mustangs and Camaros, as well as imports like Audis and Nissans.

“We are very excited to have the Trans-Am Series back at BIR,” said Gary Curtis, BIR Racing Series Director. “The series has a very colorful and storied history at BIR that dates back to the late 1960s during the series’ glory days. We still have a lot of race fans who remember those events and have asked us over the years when we’re bringing back Trans-Am Series racing. Well, that time is now.”

The last year that BIR hosted a Trans-Am Series event was 1989, but it was an annual attraction for 15 years prior. BIR’s 1974 series event, called the Uncola Nationals, attracted 17,000 people. Household names like NASCAR’s Ken Schrader and Jimmy Spencer were among those who raced in the series at BIR, as did Indy 500 racers Tom Sneva, Bobby Unser and Al Unser. Actor Paul Newman set a lap record at BIR during the 1977 Uncola Nationals and then won races in 1978 and 1979. He won his first professional race during the 1982 Trans-Am Series race at BIR.

“The Trans-Am Series has played a major role in making BIR what it is today, a world-class racetrack,” Curtis said. “It’s wide-open racing with high-powered cars that are piloted by extremely talented drivers. And they’ll be competing on a very challenging road course that promotes a lot of passing. That’s a recipe for some outstanding racing.”

BIR was able to attract the series after completing an SCCA track certification, which opens the door for future SCCA events. “We hope that now BIR will become the preferred destination for a wide variety of professional and amateur SCCA events,” Curtis said. “We have worked very hard to not only certify the track but also to develop an SCCA training school to provide certification for all levels of drivers to compete in SCCA-certified events.”

BIR also uses its road course for instructional purposes, having developed a Performance Driving School for drivers of all skill levels, StreetSmarts, an advanced defensive driving course for teenagers, and SafePursuit, an emergency vehicle operators course for law enforcement.

Photos courtesy of SCCA/Mark Weber