race car in motion on a track featuring a sleek design and sponsorship decals

At 56 years old, former IndyCar Series great Paul Tracy has found yet another racing life in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli.

Tracy, who won 31 times in Indy cars in a career that lasted from 1991 to 2011, won his first XGT class race in the Trans Am Series on Sunday at Sebring International Raceway in Florida.

Tracy, driving the No. 10 Race Cars For You Innovation IRC GT, led from start to finish and held off runner-up Kaylee Bryson on a mid-race restart to cement the win.

“Today was great,” said Tracy. “Thanks to the guys from IRC for inviting me out here to come test this car for them. We’re really just trying to get it up to speed and get used to it and see how it performs at these Trans Am races.

“What a great event Tony Parella has put on. He’s built this series up, and you see the amount of cars here and the enthusiasts and the people racing everything from the big TA cars all the way down to the sportsman stuff, and it’s just great to see. We’re looking forward to Road Atlanta.”

race car in motion on a racetrack with an airplane in the background

In other classes from Sebring, defending season champion and former NASCAR Cup star Paul Menard kicked off the season with the win from the pole in the TA class on Sunday. Menard was aided by a little misfortune suffered by 2023 TA2 series champ Brent Crews, who passed Menard five laps into the race only to fall victim to mechanical issues.

The win was Menard’s second consecutive win at Sebring. He won here a year ago on his way to an eventual TA class championship.

“Today was eventful,” said Menard. “I had a fast car all weekend. We finally put it all together for qualifying and had the track position to start up front and lead some laps. Brent Crews was just really, really quick, and after five laps, he ran us down.

“We had a little battle and he got by me clean. Then, Adam [Andretti] started running me down. We got that caution and it kind of saved me from him. We had short-run speed; we’ve got to work on a little long-run speed, but we know what we’ve got to do. I’m really proud of the guys. We had two cars this weekend and the guys busted their tails all weekend long, bouncing back and forth between Brandon Jones and myself and keeping us running strong. It’s so great to be back at Sebring. Hell of a way to start the year.”

TA Top Five:

1. Paul Menard, No. 3 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford Mustang
2. Adam Andretti, No. 17 Top Liner Chevrolet Camaro
3. Amy Ruman, No. 23 McNichols Co./Valley Automotive Group Chevrolet Corvette
4. Tomy Drissi, No. 8 Trench Shoring Co./Motul Chevrolet Camaro
5. Humaid Masaood, No. 21 allgram Ford Mustang

In action on Saturday, Thomas Annunziata held on for his third career win in the ultra-competitive TA2 class.

CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series National Championship Top 10:

1. Thomas Annunziata, No. 90 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang
2. Mike Skeen, No. 48 CUBE 3/Franklin Road/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro
3. Austin Green, No. 89 3-Dimensional Services Group Ford Mustang
4. Adrian Wlostowski, No. 3 CMI/Spot-On-Services/AMT Motorsports Ford Mustang
5. Noah Harmon, No. 7 Streetside Classics/Flanigan’s Chevrolet Camaro
6. Boris Said Jr., No. 60 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang
7. Tristan McKee, No. 28 Spire Gainbridge/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro
8. Carson Brown, No. 8 Pay Café/Ebb Logistics/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro
9. Sam Corry, No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang
10. Julian DaCosta, No. 30 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang