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34-Year-Old Veteran Capitalizes in Closing Laps for Second TA2 Series Win; Matthew Brabham Finishes Second in TA2 Debut, Lanie Buice Fourth; Broken Axle on Final Lap Foils Dominating Victory Bid by Helio Meza
Overview
Date: June 28, 2026
Event: Cheese Capital Cup (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: High overcast, mid-70s
Winner: Alon Day of TeamSLR
TeamSLR:
● Alon Day – Started 3rd, Finished 1st (Running, completed 25/25 laps)
● Matthew Brabham – Started 1st, Finished 2nd (Running, completed 25/25 laps)
● Lanie Buice – Started 7th, Finished 4th (Running, completed 25/25 laps)
● Helio Meza – Started 2nd, Finished 18th (Running, completed 25/25 laps)
M1 Racecars:
● Jace Denmark – Started 16th, Finished 9th (Running, completed 25/25 laps)
● Jared Odrick – Started 19th, Finished 11th (Running, completed 25/25 laps)
● Tim Carroll – Started 24th, Finished 13th (Running, completed 25/25 laps)
TA Sprint Race No. 1 (Saturday):
● Jim Guthrie – Started 2nd, Finished 3rd (Running, completed 13/13 laps)
● Naz Olkhovskyi – Started 7th, Finished 6th (Running, completed 13/13 laps)
TA Sprint Race No. 2 (Sunday):
● Naz Olkhovskyi – Started 7th, Finished 4th (Running, completed 13/13 laps)
● Jim Guthrie – Started 4th, Finished 6th (Tire puncture, completed 2/13 laps)
Noteworthy:
● Day, the 34-year-old from Ashdod, Israel, scored the victory for the second time in three races. His first came Memorial Day weekend at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut. After holding down the third position behind race leader Meza and second-place Brabham until the race’s one and only caution period, Day passed Brabham for the second spot on the restart with five laps to go. He then took the lead when Meza slowed with a broken axle on the final lap. It was Day’s fifth consecutive podium finish. His Lime Rock victory and back-to-back runner-up finishes at Sonoma were preceded by a third-place finish March 14 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, and was followed by his runner-up finish to Meza last Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
● Brabham, the 32-year-old, third-generation racer from Indianapolis and winner of six of this year’s first seven TA-class races, including this morning’s, made his first CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series start of his career this weekend. He qualified the No. 48 Focal One/Roaring Pines Motor Club/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro on the pole Saturday.
● Buice, the 19-year-old from Jackson, Georgia, posted her best finish in 10 TA2 Series outings. Her previous best was a sixth-place finish in the first race of the doubleheader weekend April 25-26 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. That finish among the race’s TA2 national series competitors, was best among the TA2 Series Western Championship entrants, which ran concurrently, making her the first female driver to win a Western Championship race.
● Meza, the 18-year-old from Houston, did not occupy the top step of the podium for only the second time in his eight career TA2 Series starts dating back to last year’s season finale at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. He narrowly qualified second to Brabham Saturday, but got by Brabham on the opening lap of Sunday’s race and led every lap until the last one, when a broken axle foiled his victory bid.
● Day’s victory Sunday was the 14th in a row for TeamSLR, dating back to 15-year-old Tristan McKee’s triumph at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington last June en route to the 2025 TA2 Series championship.
● Denmark, the 23-year-old from Phoenix, was the highest finisher among the three other M1 Racecars competitors in the field. Today’s ninth-place finish in the No. 68 Troy Benner Autosport M1 Racecars entry followed his fifth-place run in his first race with the team last Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
● Odrick, the 2025 TA2 Series Pro-Am Challenge champion, rebounded from an early race incident to score his fifth class win in seven events this year in his No. 00 Black Underwear/Helium Mobile Chevrolet Camaro for Troy Benner Autosport.
● Carroll, a regular on the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Western Championship, made his second consecutive appearance as a national Pro-Am Challenge entrant in his No. 46 CRD MFT M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro. He qualified on the pole and fought for the class win in the closing laps en route to his runner-up finish last weekend at Indianapolis, and battled his way to a third-place finish in class today.
● A pair of TeamSLR M1 Racecars competed in this weekend’s twin, 13-lap TA Sprint races. Jim Guthrie drove the No. 8 Guthrie’s Garage/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro to a podium finish of third from his second starting position in the Saturday race, then retired after two laps in the Sunday race with a punctured tire. Naz Olkhovskyi was behind the wheel of the No. 18 Stand With Ukraine/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro, finished sixth in the Saturday race and fourth on Sunday.
Alon Day, Driver, No. 17 JSSI/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
“This is not exactly the kind of victory I wanted to have, especially when it’s because something happened to my teammate, but I will take it. Sometimes you need some luck, and I’m just happy and grateful it was on our side. It’s nice to have JSSI in victory lane again. It will bring us some good points for the championship and we will take it to Watkins Glen and fight hard there. I’m glad TeamSLR still took first and second. Matt (Brabham) was pretty hard to pass. I saw the opportunity in turn five and went after it. What can I say, but again, I’m very happy. Thanks to JSSI for giving me the opportunity to be here, to TeamSLR for working so hard to give us such a good car. I can’t wait to go back home to my wife and kid in Israel after two weeks on the road. My wife’s the real winner. She’s there now with our 6-month-old daughter.”
Matthew Brabham, Driver, No. 48 Focal One/Roaring Pines Motor Club/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
“I think with just a little bit of experience with these cars and these tires, I was a little bit slow on the restart. Usually I’m the guy on the restarts in TA, but it was the other way around. Still have a little bit to learn off these guys. They’re really good, they’re really talented, and I just am so thankful to be out here racing with these guys. I mean, it’s awesome. Thanks to Focal One, Roaring Pines, Scott Lagasse Racing, everyone that got me in the car this weekend, And thanks to David Pintaric for helping me get in, as well. So cool race against these guys. I obviously feel bad about what happened to Helio at the end there. I think he had a little bit on us, and then Alon got me into turn five, so I’m a little bit livid at myself that I let him through, but I know he deserved the win. Congrats to everyone, and thanks again, Scott Lagasse Racing.”
Lanie Buice, Driver, No. 27 Sunoco/Guthrie’s Garage/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
“I feel really good about the progress that we’ve made this weekend here at Road America, and super grateful for TeamSLR, Chevrolet, Sunoco Race Fuels, Guthrie’s Garage, Roaring Pines, everyone who makes this happen. My teammates were really helpful this weekend, and all the prep that I did coming into this weekend with Scott Speed and Josh Wise was super helpful. All that kind of set me up for success coming here, and this being my first time here, you’ve got to prep a lot to be able to perform. Wish we had one more position closer to the front, but it is what it is, and I’m super excited about the progress that we’ve made.”
Helio Meza, Driver, No. 28 Alessandros Racing/Chevrolet/SLR-M1 Racecars Camaro:
“Well, I got the start I wanted. I kind of visualized that in my mind multiple times last night and this morning, and it kind of all worked out. So I knew my best shot was going to be getting a good launch off the start to Matt (Brabham), and then hopefully getting a run around the outside, and I was able to outbrake him, and I think I cleared him by the apex. So it worked out, and then I was able to just kind of control and manage the pace. I was surprised by the amount of green-flag laps we had there. Then we had a late-race restart where I got away cleanly, and then on the last lap, the axle broke. So that’s just unfortunate, but I’m so proud of the team. I mean, if you look back, we’ve done eight races now and this is our first mechanical. So that just goes to show you, this can happen to anyone. But with TeamSLR, they work really hard, and we just raced at Indy last weekend, so we’ve had a lot of wear and tear on these cars. But I’m still really happy. Missed it a little bit in qualifying, which I’m still bummed about thinking back, but super happy to have Matt on board and just have another guy up there to run with us in this competitive field. And kudos to Alon for being there at the end. Looking forward to Watkins Glen. I’ve never been there before. Like they say, it’s on to the next one. That’s something I always like to think about.”
Next Up:
The next stop for the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series is Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International for rounds eight and nine during the second and final doubleheader weekend of the season (July 16-19). The event kicks off with a pair of TA2 test sessions around the 3.4-mile, 11-turn circuit Thursday (July 16) at 11:25 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. EDT. Official TA2 practice is set for 10:20 a.m. Friday (July 17), followed by TA2 qualifying at 3:05 p.m. The first 30-lap, 75-minute race is set for Saturday (July 18) at 1 p.m., with the second set for 11 a.m. Sunday (July 19). Live streaming video will be provided at no charge by RacingAmerica.tv and the @GoTransAm page on YouTube.
-TeamSLR-