ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (Sept. 16, 2026) – On a sunny Saturday afternoon in Canada two weekends ago, the TeamSLR story could hardly have been scripted better.
First things first, there was the closest finish in the 61-year history of the Trans Am Series. Teammates Helio Meza and Alon Day’s race-long battle around the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park circuit in Bowmanville, Ontario, culminated in a wild, side-by-side duel on the final lap that sent them across the finish line separated by a mere .025 of a second. It was Meza who prevailed for his seventh victory in 10 CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series races this season, but it was the runner-up Day who left Canada with a tight grip on his lead in the driver championship after scoring his ninth consecutive podium finish.
Then, joining Meza and Day on the podium in Canada for the first time this season and the first time in 11 career TA2 Series races was fellow TeamSLR fulltime driver Lanie Buice, who completed TeamSLR’s fourth 1-2-3 sweep of the podium in 2026.
Now, as the TA2 Series heads to Sunday’s penultimate race of 2026, the setting shifts south to Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in Alton, where Day, Meza and Buice will be joined for the second time this season by TA Series regular Matthew Brabham, and the celebration north of the border will give way once again to the fight for TeamSLR’s second driver championship in as many years.
Day, the 34-year-old driver of the No. 17 JSSI/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro from Ashdod, Israel, holds a 35-point advantage atop the driver standings. Meza, the 18-year-old driver of the No. 28 Alessandros Racing/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro from Houston, trimmed the gap from 41 points entering the Canada round. Only Sunday’s 31-lap, 75-minute race around the 3.27-mile, 17-turn VIR circuit and the Nov. 8 season finale at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, remain on the schedule.
Key to clinching the championship in his first year of TA2 Series competition for the veteran Day will be the ability to continue the consistency he’s maintained since a DNF (did not finish) in the season-opening event March 1 at Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway. Since then, the four-time NASCAR Euro Series champion has strung together nine consecutive podium finishes, including wins at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut, on May 23, and Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on June 28, and six runner-up finishes.
Meanwhile, Meza’s seven wins have been offset by a seventh-place finish at Lime Rock, and mechanical issues at Road America and the second race of the weekend doubleheader July 18-19 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International left him with results of 11th and 18th, respectively.
The third-place finish in Canada for Buice, the 19-year-old driver of the No. 27 Guthrie’s Garage/Sunoco/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro, made her the eighth driver this season to earn a podium finish in a TeamSLR M1 Racecars Chevrolet. The milestone result follows her sixth-place overall finish in the first race of the April 25-26 weekend doubleheader at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway that also was best among the TA2 Series Western Championship field that ran concurrently, making her the first female winner in Western Championship history. Buice has driven to three top-fives and six top-10s this season. She made her TA2 Series debut at VIR last September, qualifying sixth and vying for a top-five finish before an injector issue dropped her out of contention.
Through the first 10 races, TeamSLR has occupied 23 of the 30 possible podium positions, including 19 of 20 possible positions in the top-two. One of those runner-up finishes came at the hands of Brabham, the 32-year-old from Noblesville, Indiana, who’ll be back behind the wheel of the No. 48 Pintaric & Associates/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro. The dominant driver of this year’s TA Series championship, Brabham got his first taste of TA2 Series competition at Road America in June, and promptly qualified his TeamSLR Chevrolet on the pole before finishing second to Day in the race. As was the case at Road America, he’ll be backed by fellow TA Series competitor David Pintaric en homage to the legacy of the Pintaric family business.
“At 64, I can see the end of the driving part of my involvement with racing – at least the expectation of doing well,” said the owner of the Youngstown, Ohio-based Pintaric & Associates financial planning firm. “I’d be lost if I didn’t have racing in my life, so I’m asking myself, ‘What do I do next?’ Being able to help younger people is part of that. And it’s not just getting them in a racecar. It’s showing them the way in life and helping them develop the tools they need to be successful. Backing Matt is such an easy decision. He’s extremely talented, but he’s also a really good person, and everybody around him is good people. Then there’s my relationship with Scott Lagasse Jr., which has grown into a good friendship, so it was just a perfect connection. When Matt called and said he needed help to go race at Road America, I said yes in about 30 seconds. And when he finished second, I said, ‘OK, we’re going to have to do it again.’”
Joining the TeamSLR contingent among this weekend’s field of 29 entries is a trio of competitors in M1 Racecars equipment, including the carmaker’s newest addition, Graham Jacobson, and the No. 19 Skilled-Nation.org/Hertz Car Sales M1 Chevrolet Camaro. M1 has stepped up to support the 18-year-old from Marietta, Georgia, after the racecar he piloted at the previous nine rounds this season suffered heavy damage in a multicar accident two weekends ago at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. He’ll join M1 Racecars regulars Jared Odrick, the defending CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Pro-Am Challenge-class champion, and Pro-class competitor Jace Denmark, who both race for Troy Benner Autosport. Odrick and his No. 00 Pop Art Snacks/Black Underwear Chevrolet Camaro are currently second in the Pro-Am standings while Denmark and his No. 68 TRB entry are eighth in the Pro standings.
Riding along with TeamSLR drivers and their M1 Racecars this weekend are season-long partners Guthrie’s Garage, CUBE 3 Architecture and longtime supporters Franklin Road Apparel Company and Kallberg Racing.
TeamSLR also welcomed new partner Focal One® for the first time in the June race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Focal One® is the leading robotic focal therapy platform in prostate cancer, leveraging advanced imaging, intelligent treatment planning, robotic precision, and high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to deliver personalized, minimally invasive therapy. By enabling precise tissue targeting while helping preserve quality of life, Focal One is redefining the standard of care in focal therapy in prostate cancer. Focal One is developed and commercialized by FocalTherics, a medical technology company focused on expanding access to focused ultrasound-based robotic therapies worldwide through continuous innovation, clinical research, physician education, and strategic market development. For more information, visit FocalOne.com
This weekend’s event is a two-day show beginning with TA2 testing at 11:40 a.m. EDT Saturday, followed by official TA2 Series practice at 3:55 p.m. Qualifying is set for 9:20 a.m. Sunday, followed by the TA2 Series race 1:10 p.m. with live television coverage available at no charge at RacingAmerica.TV, as well as the official Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli YouTube channel (@gotransam).
Alon Day, Driver, No. 17 JSSI/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
“It’ll be the same as it’s been all season long. We’ll just keep looking at it race by race. There’s no reason to change our approach now. We just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
What are your observations about the track at VIR and what it takes to get around there quickly? Describe a lap around that track from your preparation for this upcoming race.
“I’ve never been there before, but from everything I’ve seen and heard, it’s an ultra-fast racetrack with a lot of tricky, high-speed corners. Precision and a stable car will be key at this track.”
You and Helio put on a good show in the most recent round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. at Mosport. Talk about how that race went from your perspective, and what if anything you think you might have wanted to do differently as you look back.
“We had almost the same pace throughout the whole weekend, swapping first and second place in almost every session, so I knew it would be extremely hard to pass, especially at that track. At the end of the day, the championship is the target, and staying clean and avoiding mistakes is the most important thing, and that was how I raced him from beginning to end.”
Both of Helio talked afterward about how respectful the racing was between the two of you. Talk about the importance of that.
“In Europe, contact is not really a thing. You will usually get penalized for it. So I’m used to racing fair and clean and not taking unnecessary risks for myself or for the team. Moving someone out of the way just to make a pass is a loser’s tactic, and I try to race as cleanly as I can.”
How would you describe the overall effort behind your run for the championship in this, your first career season in Trans Am?
“At the end of the day, it’s a team sport. Even though I’m the one driving the car, there are so many people behind the scenes working extremely hard to make TeamSLR as dominant as they have this year. Brian (Butler, crew chief) and I have a great connection. He does everything he can to give me the absolute best car possible and customize it to my needs, so I can get the maximum potential out of both the car and myself as a driver.”
Helio Meza, Driver, No. 28 Alessandros Racing/Chevrolet/SLR-M1 Racecars Camaro:
“The nice thing, the way I look at it, is they’re both tracks where I’ve raced at some point in MX-5 Cup or, in the case of COTA, where I won the TA2 race last year in my very first race. As was the case in Canada, I had gone there in an MX-5 Cup car so I had a pretty good grasp of what to expect and what I should do. Also, the first time I tested with TeamSLR was at VIR last year, a week or two out from the actual race there. So I actually have quite a bit of seat time at that track.”
Describe your observations of the track and what it takes to get around there quickly.
“One funny thing is that a lot of the tracks I’ve gone to and raced in MX-5 Cup, which feels super slow compared to the TA2 car, they almost feel like a superspeedway when you hop into a TA2 car. I would say VIR is one of those tracks where it’s a perfect fit for a TA2 car because the fast sections don’t last too long, everything is perfectly sized for a TA2 car – the track-car combo is really good.”
You were victorious for the seventh time this season two weekends ago at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, but you still trail your teammate Alon Day by 35 points atop the driver standings with two races to go. How will you approach these final two rounds?
“That race in Canada was by far the win that I had to work for the most in the TA2 Series this year. From that aspect, I really enjoyed it. I’m fortunate to be a part of TeamSLR, and their cars have been extremely dominant this year. It was so fun to be able to execute race craft-wise and respect-wise with Alon. I knew I could trust him. We raced each other hard but clean, hard and fair. Even before Canada, I knew what the situation was, points-wise – if I won every race from here on out and Alon finishes the way he has been, he’ll still win the championship. From that aspect, it’s one of those things where I can’t really overthink the outcomes, per se, because once I start doing that, then I start worrying about things that are out of my control. At the end of the day, looking back at this year so far, I’ve had a phenomenal year. Seven wins this year, eight wins total including COTA at the end of last season, is far more than I ever imagined. So if I fall short of the championship, I’ll still be super proud of everything this year because I’ve executed everything the best that I could have. With that being said, once again, we’re going to try and do what we did at Canada – maximize the points we can get, but at the same time, I know that I’m not going to go past that boundary or step over that line of trying to wreck a teammate, especially for a championship. We’re just going to keep doing the same thing that we do all the time. My crew guys Kyle and Evan (Bookmiller, father and son), they’ve done a tremendous job.”
You’ve got Matthew Brabham back with the team this weekend. The two of you raced each other almost the entire race at Road America in June. Does that add an element of excitement once again this weekend?
“I’m actually really excited to have him back. Road America was his first race in the TA2 Series, so that experience will definitely benefit him at VIR. I always love getting pushed because it just motivates me to be better. And I’m going to take what Matt told me at Road America to heart this weekend. He said, ‘I appreciate everything you did for me, but some important advice I would give you is to stop sharing so much information with your teammates.’ It’s good advice and I totally get it.”
Lanie Buice, Driver, No. 27 Sunoco/Guthrie’s Garage/Chevrolet/SLR-M1 Racecars Camaro:
“This will be the first track that I’ve been able to go back to for a second time, so I am excited about that, and excited about the progress and all the momentum we’ve been building over the past few races with TeamSLR. It’s been really good. It’ll be interesting to see what we can do at a place we’ve already been, and just use the momentum that we’ve been able to build to try and do even better this time.”
You’re coming off your first national podium in TA2 two weekends ago at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Does that give you an extra shot of confidence as you head back to VIR?
“Absolutely. I think when you get good finishes like that, it’s always super confidence-building and it also makes for some great momentum. But, just thinking about all that I’ve learned over the past few months and having been able to utilize those things and really focus on what I’m doing in the seat and just getting better every single weekend has been the biggest thing. With the progress I’ve been making on the racetrack, it’s so exciting to go back to VIR. It’s one of my favorites from last year and I hope I feel the same way again about it this year.”
Since your TA2 debut at VIR last year, you’ve had a whole year to really get dialed in with the team and its processes, the team has gotten dialed in as far as working with you and keeping your car fast and reliable and getting you to the finish. How does that contrast with when you arrived at VIR last year?
“I am really hopeful that I can get the job done this time and finish strong. We had an electrical issue in the race last year and I didn’t get the opportunity to finish, so missed out on a good number of race laps. But I feel really confident in the work that TeamSLR is putting in for me every single weekend and providing a really fast racecar for me, and I just hope that we can take advantage of that this weekend and come out with a good finish.”
So you earned your first national series podium two weekends ago. Is there a race victory now within reach for you?
“I think that would be really difficult at this point. The good side of that is I do have some incredible teammates to be able to learn from. And, not only are they really good, they’re also willing to help me be better, so that experience this year has been phenomenal. It’s going to be hard to beat them, but I think we’re starting to really close that gap and getting closer and closer to running consistently with them. And I think that’s the next big step, just because this road-course stuff isn’t easy. So the process is hard, but I’m just excited with the progress and the way that I’ve been closing the gap, and hopefully that’ll take us to getting our first win.”
Matthew Brabham, Driver, No. 48 Pintaric & Associates/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
“It’s good to be back. It’s fun for me. It’s a challenge for me, a goal to try and win in both series in the same weekend, so it’s good to have another opportunity. It was pretty close last time, so hopefully I can come back and have a good shot. Going into Road America, I had no idea where I was going to stack up as I hadn’t really driven a TA2 car, and so there were a lot of just unknowns. And then, afterwards, it was good to know I could be competitive, I can start on the pole, I can compete. The competitive part begins with just trying to beat my teammates within TeamSLR, which is definitely tough. They’re really great teammates, and they were super welcoming. Helio and Alon helped me a lot, but I don’t expect them to keep helping me now (laughs). It’s going to be a fun battle. We got along well, and I think that’s a part of why the team is doing so well this year – they all work together, there are no secrets, and they all get along, too.”
You started on the pole, but young Helio was able to get by you at the start of the race. What did you learn about that experience?
“Yeah, he got me on the start. I mean, it’s a learning curve. Even though I’m the older guy coming in, I still have to kind of learn the cars and the series and the tire and how it all plays out. I should hopefully be a little bit better off this time.”
What are your observations of racing at VIR, and your expectations of how it should be in the TA2 car?
“VIR’s great. I ended up winning my first championship there ever in the ’States with F2000, so I’ve got special memories there. It’s a great track and a great facility, and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun in the TA2 car with the high-speed stuff, and the racing should be pretty good, as well. I love the track, it’s pretty cool, and it seems to race relatively well, so it should be exciting.”
With one race under your belt with the team, how has your experience been with TeamSLR?
“They do a great job. After working with them, I can see why they’ve been so good and so dominant this year. To me, it’s a lot like what I see when I coach in the Road to Indy program. You study a lot of data and video and do a lot of sim work – there’s a whole process. Then, there’s an expectation of what you have to do as a young driver, and that’s exactly how they do it at TeamSLR. I don’t see a whole lot of that elsewhere, at least in a Trans Am paddock. TeamSLR definitely has the driver development process down. Teaching the techniques of road-course racing is something that they’re doing the proper way, and the results show.”
One of your concerns going into the Road America race was how pulling double duty would wear on you, physically. What did you learn in that regard that will come into play this weekend?
“I think I was surprised at how well I did. I’m definitely physically fit, it was just a matter of keeping the fluids up because, especially in the TA2 cars, it’s like being in a sauna all day. So the biggest thing is hydration, but I think it’ll be easier for me at VIR because it’s only a two-day show. The TA2 race is actually before the TA race this time, too, which I think is going to help me because I think the TA2 car is just a little bit more physical for me just because it’s hotter inside the car.”
-TeamSLR-