Polesitter Mike Skeen Leads Every Lap in ‘Visit Palatka’ Tribute Car;
Tristan McKee, Corey Day Complete TA2 National Series Podium;
Barry Boes, Jared Odrick Finish 1-2 in Pro-Am Challenge Class
Overview
Date: June 29, 2025
Event: Road America SpeedTour (Round 7 of 12)
Series: Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli
Division: Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series
Location: Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Layout: 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course
Format: 25 laps or 75 minutes
Weather: Sunny, upper-80s
TA2 Winner: Mike Skeen of TeamSLR/Guthrie’s Garage
TeamSLR:
- Tristan McKee – Started 5th, Finished 2nd (Running, completed 23/23 laps)
- Corey Day – Started 2nd, Finished 3rd (Running, completed 23/23 laps)
- Barry Boes – Started 9th, Finished 7th (Running, completed 23/23 laps)
M1 Racecars:
- Mike Skeen – Started 1st, Finished 1st (Running, completed 23/23 laps)
- Jared Odrick – Started 14th, Finished 8th (Running, completed 23/23 laps)
Noteworthy:
- Skeen was fastest in every TA2 session this weekend – two tests Friday, practice and qualifying Saturday, and all 23 laps of Sunday’s race. His pole qualifying effort was his second of the season, the first coming for TeamSLR in February at the season-opening race at Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway, where he finished second. Skeen’s racecar this weekend paid special tribute to the city of Palatka, Florida, the hometown of TeamSLR and M1 Racecars co-owner Scott Lagasse Sr. The tribute was made possible by the support of Franklin Road Apparel and Cube 3 Architecture.
- In addition to the race win, Skeen earned the Omologato Fastest Lap of the Race award in his No. 2 Guthrie’s Garage/Visit Palatka SLR-M1 Racecars entry. It was his third consecutive race winning the award, the first coming May 3 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, then on May 24 at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut.
- The 14-year-old McKee drove to his fifth consecutive podium finish and solidified his lead atop the TA2 driver championship standings. Last weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, he became the second-youngest winner in series history at 14 years, 10 months and 19 days. Only Brent Crews, who won the June 2022 race at Road America at the age of 14 years, three months and four days, was younger.
- Day, the 19-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver, earned his first career TA2 podium in his fourth career start. He started on the front row for the second weekend in a row, earning his first career TA2 pole last weekend at Mid-Ohio and qualifying second this weekend.
- Boes, the defending Pro-Am Challenge champion, rebounded from last week’s seventh-place class finish at Mid-Ohio with his second class win of the season. He entered the weekend with a one-point lead over Jared Odrick in the Pro-Am driver standings.
- M1 Racecars driver Odrick of Troy Benner Autosport followed up last weekend’s Pro-Am Challenge win at Mid-Ohio with the runner-up finish Sunday, his fourth class podium in the last five races.
Mike Skeen, Driver No. 2 Guthrie’s Garage/Visit Palatka/SLR-M1 Racecars Entry:
“It was a great weekend. We had a great car, a great lead there for a while – I didn’t want to see all those restarts, but fortunately we had our teammates behind us. We knew they’d run us clean, so that helps. But just so happy that this weekend we unloaded so fast. The TeamSLR guys brought me a great hot rod. This M1 chassis was so fast and I just knew it was my job not to screw it up. I’m happy that we could manage that and bring this thing home. We knew we had the package to win this weekend, and it’s awesome to have a sweep of the podium for the team. Big thanks to Guthrie’s Garage, Visit Palatka, Franklin Road Apparel and Cube 3, all these guys for making this possible.”
Tristan McKee, Driver, No. 28 Spire Gainbridge/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
“We made a lot of gains throughout the weekend after starting really far off. This was a really tough track for me – I don't know why I struggled quite a bit. So thanks to Mike (Skeen) and all the SLR guys for helping me get better and better, and also helping with the car. We were able to go from fifth to second today, so that was good. I’ve just got to thank everybody at Spire, Gainbridge, Josh Wise, and Scott Speed at Chevrolet for preparing me for coming here.”
Corey Day, Driver No. 17 HendrickCars.com/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
“I was taking it easy there through turn one – I didn’t want to have a repeat of last week. To be honest, I ran the second lane through turn one all weekend, so I wasn’t going to go put that to the test on the first lap. A big thanks to all these TeamSLR M1 Racecars guys for bringing fast racecars for all three of us. It definitely shows when you finish top-two in Pro Am and top-three in the national series that we’ve got good pieces.”
Barry Boes, Driver No. 27 Accio Data/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
“I feel fantastic. For most of the race, we had a pretty good gap until we got really close on the restarts, but it was a really great race. I was starting from not the best position where I knew that the start was going to be really challenging. At Road America, we’ve got such a long run before we get into the first turn, so I knew it was going to be hard-fought every restart, but it was a lot of really clean driving from the guys around me. I love Road America. You’ve got to drive part of it like a circle track, part of it is horsepower point-and-shoot, part of it like you’re driving a Spec Miata, and you’ve just got to be smooth. It’s the only track on the circuit where you’ve got to be three kinds of racecar driver to do well and it’s a super challenge for me, but I just love it. I’m so proud of the team – one-two-three in the national series and me being number one in Pro-Am with Jared (Odrick) right behind me. Odrick is absolutely fantastic this year.”
Jared Odrick, Driver No. 00 Black Underwear/CoolBoxx/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
“It was a little unfortunate to end under yellow because I wanted another shot to get at Barry and see what we could do in the last couple of laps. I was really hoping for that. Barry’s been strong, he’s been on another level this year and he’s really asking all of us to step it up, and that’s what we’re doing. So, uh, I’m excited to be here. I want to thank Troy Benner Autosport and M1 Racecars, and Black Underwear and CoolBoxx. I can’t wait for the next time to get a shot at it.”
Scott Lagasse Jr., TeamSLR and M1 Racecars Co-Owner :
“I’m extremely proud of this group, and the things that stand out if seeing Tristan McKee and Corey Day, never being at this place before and what they did all weekend, putting their heads down and working. We found some speed every session in the data and they went to work, and every time they were prepared. You saw them out helping fix the signs on the racetrack, you saw them walking the racetrack. That’s what they do because they see how hard our group works, and I’m proud of that.”
Next Up
Round eight of the 2025 Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series campaign is the Watkins Glen SpeedTour two weekends hence (July 11-12) at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. The two-day event begins Friday (July 11) with a pair of TA2 test sessions at 11 a.m. and 2:10 p.m. EDT, followed by official TA2 practice at 5:05 p.m. TA2 qualifying is set for 8 a.m. Saturday (July 12), with the 30-lap, 75-minute race capping off the weekend at 1:05 p.m. Live video will be provided by series partner Speed Sport 1, augmented by simulcast coverage on the Trans Am channel on YouTube.
-TeamSLR-