Chris Dyson won TA class Trans Am Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway. He was the pole-sitter and led the entire race.
“Sweet St. Louis, man,” said a smiling Dyson. “I grew up a Cardinals Fan and it’s amazing to come back here to see all the folks here with St. Louis Cardinals hats on.”
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Dyson born in Poughkeepsie, New York and he said he would wear his Cardinals hat to Mets baseball games growing up.
This is the first time the Trans Am series returned to World Wide Technology Raceway since 1985, prior to current configuration of the oval and road course.
“This track is really demanding, physically,” said Dyson. “There’s no letup anywhere. The infield has a completely different surface than the oval, so the infield is much more aggressive, much bumpier.”
Dyson’s dominating performance made it look easy with his wire-to-wire finish.
“I’ve got to dedicate this win to my son Nicholas,” said Dyson. “He and I put in a lot of work on the simulator over the last couple weeks. I’m not going to say which one of us was faster, but he knows, and he taught me a lot out here”
Chris Dyson # 16 and AJ Henriksen # 79 lead the field to start the 65 lap feature race on the 1.6 mile road course. Photo by Don Figler
AJ Hennriksen finished second and Tony Dissi finished third in TA. Hennriksen who was born and lives in Chicago, considers World Wide Technology his home track but does not consider himself a Cardinals fan but he did give a Dyson a battle throughout the race but could never pass him.
“He [Hennriksen] was driving like a real champ out there,” said Dyson.
Like Dyson, Connor Zilisch in TA2 class, won the pole and led every lap to his victory. It is the fourth win of the year.
“It’s really exciting to come to a place that this series hasn’t raced at in 38 years,” said Zilisch “and get the win and just dominate the race.”
Because Zilisch was so dominating, the race for second place was more dramatic. Taylor Gray started third but moved to second but on lap 9 Austin Green got back 2nd where he originally started the race. Then on lap 25 Brent Crews took over second place as was able to hold on to the very end. Austin Green finished in third.
“We’ve been fast everywhere we’ve gone,” said Zilisch. To come here and capitalize on it and get ourselves our fourth win of the year is really cool. I’m looking forward to moving on to the last two races of the year. Hopefully, we can make that six wins and keep up this momentum.”
Race Results (all classes):
| Pos | No. | Class | Driver/Hometown |
| 1 | 16 | TA | Chris Dyson/Poughkeepsie N.Y. |
| 2 | 79 | TA | AJ Henriksen/Dundee IL |
| 3 | 8 | TA | Tomy Drissi/Los Angeles CA |
| 4 | 7 | TA2 | Connor Zilisch/Mooresville NC |
| 5 | 70 | TA2 | Brent Crews/Charlotte NC |
| 6 | 89 | TA2 | Austin Green/Concord NC |
| 7 | 26 | TA2 | Thomas Merrill/Salinas CA |
| 8 | 43 | TA2 | Thad Moffitt/Trinity NC |
| 9 | 90 | TA2 | Thomas Annunziata/Colts Neck N.J. |
| 10 | 87 | TA2 | Jace Denmark/Phoenix AZ |
| 11 | 3 | TA2 | Adrian Wlostowski/Maspeth NY |
| 12 | 51 | TA2 | Darin Mock/Mooresville NC |
| 13 | 77 | TA2 | Josh Sarchet/Scottsdale AR |
| 14 | 29 | TA2 | Nathan Herne/Lismore Australia |
| 15 | 10 | TA2 | Grant Palmer/St Charles MO |
| 16 | 32 | TA2 | Barry Boes/Austin TX |
| 17 | 48 | TA2 | Jade Buford/Nashville TN |
| 18 | 25 | TA2 | Chris Durbin/Cameron W.Va. |
| 19 | 30 | TA2 | Michele Abbate/Las Vegas Nev. |
| 20 | 58 | SGT | Richard Forsythe/Cresson TX |
| 21 | 80 | TA2 | Dean Thompson/Mooresville NC |
| 22 | 55 | SGT | Milton Grant/Germantown Tenn. |
| 23 | 83 | TA2 | Boris Said Jr/Escondido CA |
| 24 | 60 | TA2 | Taylor Gray/Mooresville N.C. |
| 25 | 52 | TA2 | Travis Cope/Weeki Wachee FL |
| 26 | 17 | TA2 | Dillon Machavern/Charlotte VT |
| 27 | 88 | TA2 | Rafa Matos/Boca Raton FL |
| 28 | 97 | TA2 | Tom Sheehan/Auburn NH |
Dyson and Zilisch Polesitters for TA and TA2 class Races
Chris Dyson in the No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang took the Motul Pole Award for the TA class with the fastest time overall (57.459). Connor Zilisch in the No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro earned the pole for the Big Machine Vodka SPIKED Coolers TA2 Series with a time of 59.057, and Milton Grant in the No. 55 Springhill Suites/Sentry Self Storage Porsche 991.1 GT3 Cup was fastest in the SGT class with a 1:05.730.
Story by Kevin Proot
Photos by Don Figler and Kevin Proot