The Sweet Taste of a Weekend Sweep for M1 Racecars at Portland

Barry Boes Goes from Last to First Saturday, Tim Carroll Leads Every Lap Sunday To Give Chassis Maker Both Ends of TA2 Series Western Championship Doubleheader

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (Aug. 1, 2024) – Last weekend’s Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series Western Championship victories by Barry Boes and Tim Carroll at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway might have come from opposite ends of the starting grid, but the drivers shared everything else in common. It was the milestone first career TA2 Series win for each, and both came in M1 Racecars equipment.

Boes, the driver of the No. 32 Accio Data/TRB Autosport Ford Mustang from Ooltewah, Tennessee, had to start his from the back of the 21-car field in the Saturday race around the 12-turn, 1.967-mile circuit after an issue during qualifying necessitated a change of all four tires. But just six laps into the 50-lap event, Boes methodically worked his way into the top-10, and by lap 17 up to sixth place. From there, he held position in the top-five and, by lap 40, was running third and in prime position to take the lead when the two frontrunners tangled. Boes led the next three tours of the circuit before another incident led the race to end under caution. The victory came in Boes’ ninth career Western Championship start dating back to 2023, and his sixth in M1 Racecars equipment, all of which have come this season. Boes also joined TeamSLR this season as fulltime driver of the No. 27 Accio Data/SLR-M1 Racecars Ford Mustang in the Pro-Am Challenge division of the Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series National Championship, in which he’s won four times in eight races this season and sits atop the Pro-Am standings.

“It was an incredible feeling to get that first overall TA2 win. I don’t know what else to say other than it’s the biggest accomplishment of my racing career,” said Boes, who followed up his victory by posting a fifth-place finish in the Sunday race at Portland for his third top-five in six events this season and fifth in nine career starts. “Having to come from the back, it was all about not making any mistakes and keeping my head down. The amazing thing about an M1 is that it’s a fantastic long-run car. On Saturday, I got to demonstrate that by running from the back to the front with a car that worked great the entire race.”

For Carroll, the driver of the No. 46 CRDMFG.com Chevrolet Camaro from Southern California, victory in the Sunday race was sweet redemption for an eventful Saturday outing in which he started second and laid down the fastest race lap but had to settle for a 12^th-place finish thanks to a flat tire after contact while battling with the leaders. With the grid for Sunday’s race set according to Saturday’s fastest race laps, Carroll started on the pole for the first time in his 16 Western Championship races. He took a commanding lead from the wave of the green flag, opening up an eight-second margin in the middle stages of the race, and held off a hard-charging Michael LaPaglia, the series points leader, by a .3-of-a-second margin at the checkered flag. It was his first victory of any kind since scoring a GT2-class win in a 2022 SCCA Regional event at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. It was Carroll’s best Western Championship finish since he was runner-up to LaPaglia in the 2023 season finale at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas.

“It’s been years and a lot of races since we won one,” Carroll said. “We’re in year one-and-a-half of Trans Am and it’s gotten us our first victory. I’d say last year we were chasing our tail a bunch and basically getting our learning year out of the way. Since we partnered with the M1 guys at the beginning of this year, it’s really elevated us and allowed me to become a better driver by having a car that I wouldn’t have to fight so hard, let’s just say. And for me, what Alex (Brennan, M1 Racecars engineer) helped with over the weekend as far as having M1 there for support, that made a huge difference. From a driver’s perspective, I think I’m able to interpret and understand the requirements of the driver a little more when I don’t have to do all the work on the car. We spent all of last year working on the car and I didn’t really get to spend much time as a driver. This year, with the coaching I’ve gotten from Scotty (TeamSLR co-owner Scott Lagasse Jr.) and the support I’ve gotten from Alex, it was all the right puzzle pieces for the weekend.”

The weekend doubleheader sweep for M1 Racecars, an Official Chassis Supplier to the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli, was all the sweeter for Lagasse, who co-owns and runs TeamSLR with his father, Scott Lagasse Sr., as it produced the first career Western Championship victories for both drivers in their first seasons running M1 Racecars equipment.  TeamSLR also serves as exclusive supplier of M1 Racecars worldwide.

“Barry and Tim have worked incredibly hard to get to where they are, and they’re surrounded by some really good people, so it’s really neat to see both groups be able to celebrate their first victories together at Portland,” Lagasse said. “Barry and his driving coach, Scott Adams, have worked tirelessly both on the Western Championship side with Troy Benner and the TRB Autosport team, and with our TA2 National Championship program. The same goes for Tim and his crew chief Scott Barnett and the entire Carroll Racing Development organization in the short time they’ve competed in the Western Championship. This is pretty special, and it’s fun to be able to play a small part in it. And anytime this kind of thing happens in an M1 car is obviously very cool. That’s a lot of why I keep doing what I’m doing, I’m enjoying doing a small part to help people be more successful than they think they can become. There’s a lot of personal joy in that, a lot of emotional capital invested, you could say. It was cool to stay in the loop from home while our engineer Alex was there to offer our support to both teams. It was a good weekend and I’m proud of both groups.”

The next event on the TA2 Series Western Championship tour is Oct. 18-20 at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada. Boes and TeamSLR resume the TA2 Series National Championship tour Aug. 21-25 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

-M1 Racecars-

 About M1 Racecars:

M1 is an Official Chassis Supplier to the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli. M1 Racecars are professionally engineered for the Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series, SCCA Competition, and Track Day events. We offer chassis only, rolling chassis and complete race-ready builds in Camaro, Mustang, and Challenger body styles. We utilize only the highest quality materials and our race-winning technology to produce the most stable and predictable racecar on the track today. The proprietary chassis design by M1 has been CAD-perfected by our engineering staff to ensure that each completed chassis is identical and performs as expected. Our chassis materials are CNC Mandrel bent and cut to our exacting standards, which results in the most precise and cost-effective build. M1 has selected Scott Lagasse Racing to be the exclusive distributor for M1 Racecars worldwide. The race team also provides M1 with vital technical assistance and on-track feedback to support our performance development efforts. This combination is a powerful asset to M1 and to every M1 customer.

 About TeamSLR:

TeamSLR (Scott Lagasse Racing) competes fulltime in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli in a multifaceted effort that includes dedicated entries in the TA2 division, customer programs, driver coaching and car construction. Its history dates back to 1985 and covers a wide spectrum of motorsports, including NASCAR, IMSA, SCCA, ARCA and ASA. TeamSLR is a family-owned organization run by Scott Lagasse Sr., and Scott Lagasse Jr. The father-and-son duo have combined to win more than 120 races and seven championships across a variety of series and styles of racecars, from paved ovals to road courses to dirt tracks. For more information, please visit us online at www.TeamSLR.com, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram and on LinkedIn.