Four-Car TeamSLR Effort Set for VIR

Pro-Am Leader Barry Boes Joined by the Returning Julian DaCosta, Thomas Ellis; 14-Year-Old Chevrolet Development Driver Tristan McKee Ready for TA2 Series Debut

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (Oct. 2, 2024) – Storylines abound throughout the four-car TeamSLR stable as it heads to the penultimate Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series round of the season at Virginia International Raceway in Alton for Sunday’s VIR SpeedTour.

Its 2024 fulltime driver Barry Boes arrives at the 3.27-mile, 17-turn circuit on the Virginia-North Carolina state line with a seemingly insurmountable lead in the Pro-Am Challenge standings with an eye on clinching the title with another strong result this weekend. Joining him in the TeamSLR camp are teenage rising stars Julian DaCosta and Tristan McKee, and veteran driver Thomas Ellis, who will be making his fourth TA2 appearance of the season.

Boes, driver of the No. 27 Accio Data/SLR-M1 Racecars Ford Mustang, hits town this weekend with a 129-point lead in the Pro-Am Challenge standings after scoring his sixth class win in 10 races this season Aug. 31 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario. In July, Boes scored his first career Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series Western Championship victory at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway. He also scored a fourth-place finish with co-driver Greg Biffle in the non-points SpeedTour All-Star Race July 20 at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut.

Joining Boes and TeamSLR in the M1 Racecars camp for the third time this season is the 16-year-old DaCosta, who enjoyed a solid, workmanlike TA2 Series debut April 13 at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, Louisiana. The teenage driving prodigy from Myakka City, Florida, who’ll be behind the wheel of the No. 17 Powered by Hixon/Austin Hatcher Foundation/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro this weekend, qualified ninth and fought his way to an 11^th-place finish after getting shoved off the track in the opening laps of the race at NOLA. DaCosta hopes to benefit from previous experience at VIR this weekend in the Mazda MX-5 Cup Series.

McKee, the driver of the No. 28 SLR-M1Racecars Chevrolet Camaro who turned 14 on Aug. 3., has shown his racing brilliance as a Chevrolet development driver this season. He’s been a regular in the Pro Late Model division of the popular CARS Tour, where in 2023 he became the series’ youngest winner at the age of 12. McKee added a win in the series’ July 3 round at Caraway Speedway in Sophia, North Carolina, and another in the Aug. 4 round at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. He co-drove a TeamSLR M1 Racecars entry with his Team Chevrolet mentor Scott speed in July’s SpeedTour All-Star Race at Lime Rock.

Ellis, the 29-year-old from Pompano Beach, Florida, is back behind the wheel of the No. 8 Averitt Express/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro this weekend for his fourth race of the season. Prior to this season, Ellis was last seen on the TA2 circuit running a slate of five events in 2018, three in his home state at Sebring International Raceway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, and Daytona International Speedway. The other two took place during the Streets of Belle Isle weekend doubleheader in Detroit. Ellis has also competed in various SCCA club racing classes, including Spec Miata and American Sedan.

Riding along with this weekend’s TeamSLR drivers and their M1 Racecars, as it has all season long, is Nashville, Tennessee-based Franklin Road Apparel Company, which has been a longtime team supporter. Also supporting the TeamSLR effort is Cube 3 Architecture.

M1 Racecars was represented on the podium at 12 of the 13 TA2 rounds in 2023, highlighted by a pair of victories by Rafa Matos for Peterson Racing. Team SLR’s Dillon Machavern and Thad Moffitt both scored podium finishes, as did Connor Mosack at the season-opening event at Sebring, when he qualified on the pole and led the first 19 laps of the race before finishing third. Evan Slater earned TeamSLR’s first podium finish of 2024 Memorial Day weekend with his second-place finish at Lime Rock, and Carson Kvapil followed with a TeamSLR podium in the series’ inaugural race at the Pittsburgh International Motorsports Complex in June. Austin Green of Peterson Racing added a podium finish of second for M1 Racecars Aug. 23 at Watkins Glen.

This weekend’s VIR SpeedTour kicks off with a pair of TA2 test sessions at 12:50 and 4:50 p.m. EDT Thursday. Official practice is set for 11 a.m. Friday, followed by qualifying at 4:35 p.m. Race time is 12:40 p.m. Saturday with live television provided by series partner MAVTV, augmented by live-streaming video on the Trans Am and SpeedTour channels on YouTube. MAVTV will air a 60-minute race show at 8 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 10.

Barry Boes, Driver, No. 27 Accio Data/SLR-M1 Racecars Ford Mustang:

Your overall thoughts as you head to VIR for this weekend’s penultimate TA2 Series round of the year?

“I’ve raced there a pretty good bit. A lot of times when people say, ‘What’s your favorite racetrack,’ it’s hard for me to answer, but VIR would definitely be on the list of one of my favorites, for sure. You have to be absolutely perfect to stay stuck to the track the whole way up through the esses. And it takes a lot of courage and it takes a lot of really good driving. And there are a couple of other places that are just really, really fiddly that you can spend thousands of laps and still be improving yourself. It’s just a very technical track, both in the lower-speed and in the faster sections. I’m looking forward to this weekend because, as has been the case this year, I get to go to VIR with the best car that I’ve ever driven there.”

What would you say are key places around the track that are most important to get right if you want to consistently turn good lap times?

“First off, at the exit of the lower esses, you absolutely have to get to full throttle just before your right-front tire hits the curb on the right. And it’s very difficult to do, but if you don’t, if you miss it by even a little bit, you’re going to lose half to three-quarters of a second on the way up the hill, and it’s a matter of feet. So to me, that is probably absolutely the most critical. There are also huge dividends to be paid in getting the exit of Oak Tree absolutely perfect, but it’s a little easier to get that one perfect. I’d say leaving the lower esses is the place where being just a little bit off is going to cost you the most lap time.”

You arrive at VIR with a 129-point lead in the Pro-Am Challenge standings. What are your goals for these last two races of the regular season?

“Nothing is guaranteed as far as the Pro-Am championship. The way the formula works, you get to drop your three worst races, and then the more Pro-Am cars that show up, the more points there are to be gained, and there will be more Pro-Am cars at VIR and COTA. So we basically have to continue to have strong finishes and we’ve got to be really careful if we want to win the Pro Am championship. There are only two races left, so I can’t just go for broke as far as overall finishes. If everything falls into place and we get a top-five, that’s great. We’ll just do whatever is reasonably doable without taking too many risks with regard to the Pro-Am championship.”

Julian DaCosta, Driver, No. 17 Powered by Hixon/Austin Hatcher Foundation/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:

You have past experience at VIR driving in the MX-5 Cup Series and in Spec Miatas in SCCA competition. What are your thoughts about racing there for the first time in TeamSLR M1 Racecars equipment?

“I’m really looking forward to VIR. First of all, I love the M1 Racecars equipment. It’s an amazing car, and so is the team and the series. The team does a great job with the car, so that definitely makes a huge difference in my abilities and what I’m capable of. Track-wise, I definitely have some experience at VIR. It’s a super fun track and I’m really excited.”

Do you feel your experience at VIR in MX-5 Cup and Spec Miatas can help with subtleties that you can put to use in the TA2 car this weekend?

“I’m a really strong believer in the fact that any car you drive, you can learn from. The TA2 obviously has a ton of power, and you have to know how to control all that power. But I think carrying the speed and momentum like you have to do in an MX5-Cup car is still quite a big thing.”

You had a solid weekend in the last round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, qualifying sixth and finishing eight in just your second TA2 race. How do you assess that weekend and what it does for your confidence heading to VIR?

“I went to CTMP feeling pretty confident coming off of a second-place finish there in MX-5 Cup. That’s also a great track, a super fun track, and it was very fun in the TA2 car. The team did a great job with the car all weekend. I kept it on track, kept it in one piece and brought it home, so that was the main thing for CTMP. We did the best we could and we learned a lot. So, expectations-wise this weekend, I’m going into VIR pretty confident. I have a lot of laps on that track and I’m always pretty strong there. I think now with the experience that I have in the TA2 car – it’s going to be my third race in it, not a ton of experience – I’m starting to really understand almost every dynamic of the car and how to drive it. So I’m going in with some pretty good confidence. But like we did at CTMP, we’re going to go in and try to keep the car in one piece all weekend and do the best that we can.”

Tristan Mckee, Driver, No. 28 SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:

You’re heading to VIR for your first regular-season start in the TA2 Series. Your overall thoughts after having had your first taste in race conditions at the exhibition All-Star Race at Lime Rock Park in July?

“I get to do it all by myself this time without Scott (Speed) or anybody else, so I’m looking forward to it. I’ve tested at VIR twice in the TA2 car, so I think I’m pretty prepared. I’ve got some things to work on, to clean up, when we go back, but I think we’ll have some good speed. I’m originally from Williamsburg, Virginia, so it’s kind of like a home road course for me, which makes it cool.”

What have you learned about VIR during your test sessions there?

“I like the track a lot. It’s probably one of my favorite tracks that I’ve been to. Sebring is probably my first favorite, but VIR is probably a close second. It’s going to be important to get good runs off the corners because the straights are so long, so there are good passing zones if you get good runs off the corners. There are definitely some draft effects down the long straightaways and things like that, and it just adds to the character of racing there. The laps feel super long, so that means there’s a lot of opportunity.”

How has your experience been working with Team SLR as part of the Chevrolet driver development program so far this year?

“It’s been great. Working with the Lagasses and everybody on the team, learning from them as far as driving and looking at the data has helped me a lot. I’ve also been working with Scott Speed a lot on the sim. He’s been helping me a bunch with all the little things about getting around the track that add up to a lot. I’m super thankful for all of that. The All-Star Race gave me a little doorway to come in and do some actual racing, but I’m still going to be new to it this weekend. It’ll be my first TA2 race by myself and it’s going to be different than the All-Star Race and everything about it. But I’m looking forward to it. I think it’s something new for me to learn and, hopefully, we can have a good run and see where we end up.”

Thomas Ellis, Driver, No. 8 SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:

Your overall thoughts as you head back to VIR this weekend for your fourth TA2 race of the season with TeamSLR?

“I’m excited just to get back in the racecar. Throughout the races we’ve done this season, we’ve seemed to have good pace that just hasn’t translated over into a race results, but that makes it exciting going into this one. I’ve been to VIR a couple of different times, and every time I go there, I feel very confident. I really enjoy the track, so that’s a bonus.”

What do you like about VIR in particular, and why?

“I think it’s the wide range of corners, and every driver can benefit from a different section of the track because you have slow-, medium-, and high-speed opportunities in different sections. If you’re good on heavy braking, then you’ve got those parts of the track. If you like high-speed stuff, boom, there’s plenty of that.”

What would you consider the most crucial areas of the track to get right if you want to turn fast laps?

“I think there are two sections of the track that you need to get right every time. They would be going into the esses, and coming off of the Oak Tree turn to get a run down the back straightaway. Those two sections are where you can really get killed on lap time by other people who might just have a little bit more confidence. So you’ve got to position yourself to be able to keep your momentum going if you’re running with people and not have it ruin your lap. Like, going into the Oak Tree corner, getting your car positioned in the right place is a major benefit for getting that run down the back straightaway.”

-TeamSLR-