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Fulltimers Helio Meza, Alon Day and Lanie Buice To Be Joined By TA-Class Points Leader Matthew Brabham In His TA2 Series Debut
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (June 25, 2026) – There may be no more fitting a place for the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series to spend the weekend before America’s 250th birthday than Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Known as America’s National Park of Speed, the mammoth 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course has long served as a showcase for some of the world’s most well-known drivers and most memorable moments. TeamSLR looks to add another chapter to that rich history as it arrives for the Cheese Capital Cup celebration riding the momentum of a 1-2 finish last Sunday on the hallowed grounds of Indianapolis Motor Speedway at the hands of race-winner Helio Meza and runner-up Alon Day.
This weekend, they and fellow fulltime driver Lanie Buice welcome Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli TA-class points leader Matthew Brabham to the lineup. The 32-year-old, third-generation racer and winner of five of this year’s first six TA races has eagerly awaited his first career TA2 Series race.
Meza, the 18-year-old from Houston and driver of the No. 28 Alessandros Racing/Chevrolet/SLR-M1 Racecars Camaro, fulfilled a lifelong dream last weekend when he led from pole to checkered flag in his first outing of any kind at Indianapolis. Afterward, he led the traditional celebratory kissing of the track’s Yard of Bricks by the entire TeamSLR organization that was onsite, then promptly climbed the fence at the start-finish line en homage to the legendary driving hero he was named after, four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves.
It was the sixth time in his first seven career TA2 races that Meza led from pole to checkered flag, dating back to his victory in his series debut during last November’s season finale at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. Sunday’s victory was also the 13th in a row for TeamSLR dating back to the June 2025 victory by 15-year-old Tristan McKee en route to last year’s TA2 Series championship.
TeamSLR’s current win streak has come at the hands of five different drivers, including Day, the 34-year-old from Ashdod, Israel, who ended Meza’s record five-race streak with a stellar drive Memorial Day weekend at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut. The driver of the No. 17 JSSI/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro and first-year TA2 Series competitor is on a streak of five consecutive podium finishes after his runner-up finish at Indianapolis – the third time Meza and Day have finished 1-2 in the last four races. Day finished third in the season’s second round March 14 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, and posted back-to-back runner-up finishes in the weekend doubleheader April 25-26 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. Day has previous experience at Road America, albeit 10 years ago, when he competed in the August 2016 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race for owner Carl Long.
Buice, the 19-year-old from Jackson, Georgia and driver of the No. 27 Sunoco/Guthrie’s Garage/Chevrolet/SLR-M1 Racecars Camaro, had a strong finish to her race Sunday at Indianapolis, rallying for a top-10 finish after maneuvering to avoid a midrace incident dropped her back to 16th. She arrived at Indianapolis on the heels of back-to-back fifth-place ARCA Menards Series finishes June 5 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, and June 12 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, where she became just the seventh female driver in series history to qualify on the pole. During the Sonoma weekend doubleheader in April, Buice became the first female race winner in TA2 Series Western Championship history with her sixth-place overall finish. She was entered in both the TA2 national and Western Championship fields, which ran concurrently.
The versatile Brabham, whose grandfather is three-time Formula One champion Sir Jack Brabham, and whose father is four-time IMSA GTP champion and IndyCar veteran Geoff Brabham, has longed to compete in the TA2 Series since his first taste of TA racing in 2021. The 32-year-old Australian-American will be behind the wheel of the No. 48 Roaring Pines Motor Club/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro this weekend while pulling double duty with his fulltime ride for 2026 in the No. 16 TA car for owner Chris Dyson. Brabham has won five of this season’s first six TA races in convincing fashion, and 13 of his 22 career TA starts, with 10 pole positions, dating back to his 2021 series debut at COTA, which resulted in victory. In his most recent TA outing at Road America, Brabham qualified on the pole and finished second to his team owner Dyson last June. He also drove to a top-10 finish at the track in an LMP2-class entry during the IMSA weekend last August. Past Road America outings for Brabham have featured an array of racing disciplines, including the INDY NXT series and Stadium Super Trucks.
Joining the TeamSLR contingent among this weekend’s field of 32 TA2 entries is a trio of fellow competitors in M1 Racecars equipment. Leading the way is defending CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Pro-Am Challenge champion Jared Odrick of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and his No. 00 Black Underwear/Helium Mobile Chevrolet Camaro for Troy Benner Autosport. Odrick won four of the season’s first five races but fell victim to a rare mechanical issue in round six at Indianapolis that ended his day early. Odrick’s newest teammate Jace Denmark, a 23-year-old from Phoenix, will be back in the No. 68 TRB Autosport entry he drove to a fifth-place overall finish Sunday in his first outing with the team. Meanwhile, Southern Californian Tim Carroll, a regular TA2 Western Championship competitor in recent seasons, will be back in the national series field for the second weekend in a row behind the wheel of his No. 46 CRD MFG Inc. Chevrolet Camaro, which he qualified on the Pro-Am pole and drove to a runner-up finish Sunday at Indianapolis.
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 last weekend at Indianapolis. 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 Cheese Capital Cup kicks off Friday with a pair of TA2 test sessions set for 11:25 a.m. and 4:25 p.m. CDT. Saturday begins with official TA2 practice at 10:25 a.m., followed by qualifying at 3:15 p.m. Sunday’s 25-lap, 75-minute race kicks off at 12:30 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).
Helio Meza, Driver, No. 28 Alessandros Racing/Chevrolet/SLR-M1 Racecars Camaro:
You’ve raced at Road America in the past. How would you describe your experience there?
“I won the Spec MX-5 shootout there in 2023 and a scholarship to run that series with them in 2024. In those cars, it’s not really as fun with how slow those little guys go. They made for great drafting, great pack racing, but I think our TA2 cars will be pretty quick. As for the track, there’s not quite as much going on as at other tracks – two corners and a long straight, then two more corners and another long straight. It’s definitely got technical aspects to it, but they’re separated by some pretty long straights. The team’s been quick there, and we just keep getting better every race.”
Where would you say the hot spots are as you make a lap around Road America?
“The Carousel (turn 10) and the Kink (turn 11). The Kink is a very high-commitment corner. I will say, from an adrenaline rush standpoint, that one’s pretty fun just because you’re always on edge. And as the race goes on, it gets more and more slick, so you’re just flirting with wrecking or not. It’s really important to get a run onto every straightaway because, if you make a mistake, you have to live with it all the way through those long straights. Straight-line speed is going to be important, so that may sacrifice a little handling getting through the corners, but as long as you have the straight-line to get down the straights, you should be OK. And I think it’s going to be important to prep well because you don’t really get a lot of time, a lot of practice laps, because the laps are so long.”
What do you think about the racing spirit in that part of the country?
“It is pretty neat. The facility is really nice, and in the town of Elkhart Lake, everyone there knows about racing, so anytime you go race there, anytime you have people around that go to the racetrack, they’re all really big fans because the racetrack’s right there. They have the racecars parade into town on Friday night for a cheese festival, so it’ll be really cool to be a part of moments like that. The people have such a passion or our sport.”
Alon Day, Driver, No. 17 JSSI/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
You got your first taste of Road America in your second career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts (formerly Xfinity) Series race back in 2016. What do you remember about that weekend?
“I came to Road America the week after a really strong NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Mid-Ohio, where I was leading the race at one point and finished 13th in an older, outdated racecar. At Road America, we ended up having to start from the back because of adjustments after qualifying, and the race result didn’t really reflect our performance. We were fighting our way toward the front for most of the race, but as often happens in NASCAR, things got pretty crazy on the final restart and I ended up getting dumped into the gravel.”
How would you describe the Road America layout?
“Road America has a lot of long straights, and the corners leading onto those straights are not easy, especially in places like the Carousel (turn 10) and the final corner (turn 14). So it’s really important to execute those corners well and carry as much speed as possible onto the straights. If you lose momentum there, you pay for it all the way down the straight. Otherwise, it’s a fast racetrack. I think it’s going to be a little similar to Indy, where you have to think about saving the brakes and tires, and also be careful not to sit in another car’s slipstream for too long. With the TA2 car, I think it will be a big challenge, but a fun one.”
You spend a majority of your time coaching young drivers, especially back home in Israel. What are your observations about your teenage teammates Helio Meza and Lanie Buice?
“They are both very hard-working drivers, and the results show that. The way they debrief after every session, chase every tenth of a second, and constantly try to improve the car shows that they are willing to go the extra mile to get results. That work ethic is clearly paying off. Helio is leading the championship right now and giving me a hard time, so they are definitely doing something right. I think the Josh Wise Chevy development program gives them a very strong structure. They come to each weekend prepared and focused, which is very important for young drivers. If they keep working this way, they both have a very strong future ahead of them.”
Lanie Buice, Driver, No. 27 Sunoco/Guthrie’s Garage/Chevrolet/SLR-M1 Racecars Camaro:
You’ll be seeing Road America for the first time this weekend. What have you learned about the circuit from your preparation?
“It’s really unique. I feel like Road America is another one of those bucket-list places. It looks like it’s a lot of fun to drive, so I’m excited to go there for the first time. It’s got a lot of really unique corners, lots of sweeping corners. But then you have a lot of stop-and-goes. I’m really excited for the different types of corners we’re going to see this weekend versus last weekend at Indy, where it was more straightforward. I think Road America will be a lot of fun. There are lots of challenges and different things to learn, things that I can apply from what I learned at other tracks I’ve run.”
You had a solid, fifth-place run in the ARCA Menards Series race at Pocono two weekends ago, which has some similar characteristics as Road America with its three, distinct corners. Will that help you this weekend?
“Continuing on that theme of long straights leading into a slower corner or a really fast corner, yeah, I think that’s what I’m super excited about. It’s kind of funny, there’s a corner at Road America that’s kind of like the Tunnel Turn at Pocono, in a sense. So it’s cool to have that reference. I’m excited for the long straights, the technical corners here and there.”
How would you assess how far you’ve come as a road racer through your first seven TA2 Series starts?
“I see the progress I’ve made on and off the track. I think this is one of the most important things to work on at this point in my career. I feel confident about the progress that I’ve made on the road-course side of things, but it’s definitely still my weakest point, so I’ll just continue to work hard on the road-course stuff. Thankfully, it’s been really great with TeamSLR because I’ve been provided so much help and so much coaching. It can be frustrating at times. Obviously, I want to be finishing inside the top-five and I want to be competitive every single weekend, but it’s a learning curve, and I think I just have to be patient in the process and just continue putting in the work every single week.”
Matthew Brabham, Driver, No. 48 Roaring Pines Motor Club/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
What brings you to TeamSLR for your first career CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series race?
“For many years, really ever since I joined Trans Am, in general, I’ve always wanted to have a go at a TA2 race. Obviously, I think the TA cars are by far the most fun to drive, and I still stick by that – I mean, the TA class, in terms of just the driving experience, nothing can beat it. But what is really appealing and attractive to me when I’ve looked at TA2 is the competition and the size of the field and the racing aspect seem stronger. It’s just more cars and it seems like they can run closer and side-by-side. I’m a racecar driver at the end of the day, so the big attraction for me is the competition and racing side-by-side. I just looked at who the top team was and it was TeamSLR. I spoke to Scott (Lagasse Jr.) at Road Atlanta and he was super open to the idea and trying to make it work, so here we are.”
What are your impressions of the TA2 car, in general?
“The TA2 obviously has less horsepower, smaller tires, less grip, and is probably more of a challenge to drive because you’ve got less grip. It’s definitely more like a stock car or like a NASCAR feel, and that’s kind of a newish world to me. It’ll be a new challenge for me and I don’t know how it’s going to go, whether I’m fast or not, but I’m very open-minded.
It’ll be more so just doing it to have a go and have some fun with a new challenge. The plan is to try and adapt as quickly as possible. Every time I drive a racecar, I’m trying to win. But at the same time I understand that I haven’t raced those cars, and those guys are all very good. It’s hard to come in and beat people at their own game. Fortunately, I’ve adapted to a lot of other different racecars around the world, so I’m used to kind of being in that situation.”
You’ll be pulling double duty between the TA class car you’re driving for the full season, and the TeamSLR car. How challenging will it be to bounce back and forth multiple times each day, both mentally and physically?
“I think I’m good at that part. I think the mental side and adapting my driving style between the two cars on the same day, I have no problem with that because I’ve had bigger extremes in the past. I’ve done Stadium Super Trucks and Indy Lights in an open-wheel car on the same weekend. So, if anything, I’m used to that big swing and change of driving styles, and I’ve always been pretty good at that, and I feel like that’s no problem. But I’m 32, so the challenge is going to be staying hydrated enough and fit enough to do every session properly. That’s going to be my challenge. It’s going to be tough, and hopefully it’s not too hot. I think the challenge for me is just going to be making sure I’m hydrated and physically in it. I know for sure I’ll be OK mentally, it’s just definitely going to be a big physical weekend for me.”
-TeamSLR-