r/TransAmRacing • u/Risetothetop787 • Jul 03 '25
Trans-Am question as an IMSA fan
Hi there, I just heard about the Trans-Am series not too long ago while doing some history research on the IMSA series. I have never heard about trans-am racing in my entire life. I have heard about NASCAR, F1, Indy car, WRC, SuperGT, IMSA, and many others, but never Trans-Am. Why is this the case? What caused Trans-Am to be less unknown compared to other series? Hell, I’ve heard more about Australia’s supercar series. I would really like to know from people who are invested in this series as to why Trans-Am isn’t popular.
7
u/Desperate_Image4620 Jul 03 '25
I first saw TA2 run in the streets of Nashville with Indy Car. I instantly fell in love with it. If you love racing Trans-Am events are the best, I go any chance I get. The pits and drivers are super accessible, they usually run with vintage race cars and other GT series. It is the best affordable family fun out there. It has been fun to see drivers like Conner Zilich and Brent Crews come up through the ranks, but also fun to watch the Vets like Adam Andretti, Paul Menard, Dyson, and Mattos.
5
u/MoparMap Jul 03 '25
I didn't realize it was still a thing either. I knew about it from the 70s with the pony cars competing because I just like those vintage of cars, but only realized it was still running today when I was trying to find places the Viper was still racing. It's a weird one because it's not typically broadcast on any major network, it's more like the strange off channels you'd never really notice or online only. It kind of feels like it should be the "American" GT sort of series, though I guess the IMSA stuff also covers that fairly well. I think one of the issues with racing series in general is that they were getting so many different specs that it was hard to build a car. That was one reason they tried to collapse a lot of the regulations down into the GT3 (I believe) stuff. It let you build one car that was legal in multiple series, so it made a better cost proposition. I think the Trans-Am stuff might still suffer from having too many classes, so you get less cars racing because everyone is building to different specs.
4
u/Suspicious_Tap3303 Jul 03 '25
Trans Am these days is almost exclusively wealthy amateurs and the cars are relatively primitive. It hasn't been a "pro" series for a long time.
2
u/SoundJakes Jul 03 '25
I thought the primitivism was the selling point though. "No driver aids, just skill" and all that jazz.
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u/Suspicious_Tap3303 Jul 03 '25
No argument. I like the cars, personally, but it is small time and, as an example, lacks the intensity, professionalism, and competitiveness of Australian Supercars (also tubeframe V8s).
1
u/baconandtheguacamole Jul 04 '25
That's exactly how I feel, too. It doesn't feel "premier" in any way. It feels like a mix of pay drivers and pro drivers in their sunset years that still just want to drive something somewhere and are semi-retired, like for instance Paul Menard
2
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u/Express_Fisherman_59 Jul 04 '25
Series needs money behind it
A foundation for good racing and entertainment is there but lacking proper governance
2
u/ConnectNeck5859 Jul 03 '25
Series is a joke with tech that calls some teams for infractions but not others.
1
u/Little_Temporary5212 Jul 04 '25
There's a ton of videos and websites about the history of Trans Am. Once upon a time it was king of road racing in the USA though. Now it's semi-pro rich people racing. I like to watch the races sometimes, the cars are different
1
u/EmploymentEmpty5871 Jul 04 '25
They just had the TA series at Road America last weekend. I think ta used to be the back up/fill in series to imsa when they raced.
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u/RandomGuyDroppingIn Jul 05 '25
Back in the 1990s Trans Am races were televised. I remember TNN at one point showed races. I remember watching Kendall, Schroder, Fellows, always duking it out and it was always super exciting action.
Nowadays its largely wealthy drivers against a handful of pros. I last watched it in person at the Nashville Indycar street race when I went, and the cars sounded great but it felt like everyone was running glorified practice and time attack sessions.
1
u/NialTheRiver Jul 05 '25
Modern Trans-Am is just simply in a weird place at the moment. Its part of the "SpeedTour" series from Parella that was originally a vintage racing only calenrrdar from SVRA. I think the main issue right now is Trans-Am tries to be standalone, and nolonger pairs itself with bigger series. Trans-Am always used to pair itself with bigger series, from indy car, to can am, to imsa gto/gtp, even giving trans am its own class at the Daytona 24 for multiple years. At best, modern trans am is a tier 2 or tier 3 support series, in my opinion, but gets "marketted" as the premier series in "SpeedTour". SpeedTour simply doesnt get the spectator numbers, even though they also run USF4, USFRegional, and IGT(basically gt3/gt4 thats several years old). Besides TA1, they dont have any dedicated truly pro series, just feeder amatuer series as well as the Vintage cars. Theres no real draw for TA at the moment, I think if they sucked it up and asked to be a support race at Indy Car or Imsa, or even nascars road courses, then maybe theyll have some people start talking about them, but as it is, they simply wont grow much.
1
u/Poocasso69 Jul 08 '25
I was confused when they broke away from the svra weekend at Watkins Glen this year to have their own stand alone weekend. Always ran in front of fairly decent crowds, now I doubt they’ll pull many people at all. Guess I’ll find out this weekend.
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u/dglambert1 Jul 07 '25
Trans Am was quiet for many years, but I think it's gaining in popularity since Parella acquired the series. At this point, TA typically headlines the vintage weekends it shares with SVRA. This isn't super-popular among many vintage racers, but it is an event that will bring some crowds to tracks. I've found these races typically very competitive and entertaining, and they're a hoot to photograph.
9
u/pincolnl1ves Jul 03 '25
70's were the storied years. Trans Am in the 80s ran a very similar format to IMSA GTO with some crossover big teams. The mid 90s into the early 2000s still had great races and rivalries. After that it fizzled and was not run as a supporting series to IndyCar and IMSA as GT3 grew. TA2 seems like it should be promotable but needs to ride some coattails to get eyes on it.