Franklin, TENNESSEE – May 17, 2021 – Currently sitting in fifth place in the 2021 Trans Am presented by Pirelli Championship drivers classification, it’s fair to say that the start of the season has exceeded TA class rookie Ken Thwaits’ expectations. A podium P3 finish the last day at Laguna Seca garnered the Franklin Road Apparel driver 25 Championship points, propelling him up the table and placing him above former Champions Amy Ruman and Simon Gregg, among others. Next stop for Ken is picturesque Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut for Round 4 of this year’s schedule.
“I must admit I’m still on something of a high after making the solid run out in California,” said Ken when we spoke to him this week at his impressive Showtime Motorsports headquarters where the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro is stabled. “Laguna Seca turned into a messy race, but we avoided the worst of it and ended up being well rewarded. Now the challenge is to follow up that result and see what we can do at Lime Rock. I’ve never raced there before so I’m excited to see it and I anticipate being able to pick up the course quickly.”
The No. 5 Showtime Motorsports Franklin Road Apparel Chevrolet Camaro will be the beneficiary of a new 850 BHP plus ECR engine at Lime Rock while Ken will be further helped in his bid by an enhanced brake setup on the Camaro. The team have upgraded the stopping equipment with a new high performance Brembo brake kit. “The aim of the changes is to make the car go faster and stop quicker,” said Ken. “We’ll see how we get on but I’m really enjoying myself in the TA Class and I hope we can be competitive.”
The Memorial Day weekend at Lime Rock is always a unique event, with local noise restriction covenants preventing any racing on the Sunday. On this occasion it’s the TA2 Class event being held on the Monday, with a nice quiet car show scheduled for the Sunday. This means the practice, qualifying session and the race for the top tier TA Class are held on Friday and Saturday. Ken’s first taste of the circuit is likely to be the optional testing session scheduled for 11:35 a.m. on Friday, May 28, with official practice at 2:20 p.m. the same afternoon and the key qualifying session at 5:40 p.m. The grid for the race forms up at 12:50 p.m. on Saturday lunchtime with the race itself going green at 1:20 p.m. ET local time.
Now owned and operated by Skip Barber, the 1.53-mile Lime Rock track was originally conceived of in 1956 by Jim Vaill, who, along with John Fitch and Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, built the track utilizing state-of-the-art road and highway safety principles of the time. For years the track was listed as being 1.53 miles in length – the story goes that right after it was built, somebody used the odometer in a Chevrolet to measure the track length – and 1.53 was taken as gospel. Following the 2008 reconstruction Lime Rock’s operations staff measured all four possible configurations, and as it turns out, each was 1.5 miles long, plus or minus a few hundred feet.
Ken’s involvement with Trans Am is underscored by his flagship partner Franklin Road Apparel presenting some terrific Trans Am branded gear for 2021. Franklin Road has super high quality t-shirts, polo shirts, button shirts and caps bearing smart renditions of the famous Trans Am logo. Go and find them at https://www.franklinroad.com/search/trans+am/
Meanwhile tickets including Camping tickets for the beautiful Lime Rock Park for the weekend are available here: https://tickets.limerock.com/
Visit the team’s website for Showtime Motorsports, showtimemotorsports.net. Learn more about the Showtime Motorsports team partner, Franklin Road Apparel, at franklinroad.com and keep up to date with the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli at gotransam.com. #GoTransAm
Check out the Showtime Motorsports Facebook page: facebook.com/showtimemotorsp/ and @ShowtimeMotorsp on Instagram.
About Showtime Motorsports:
The Showtime Motorsports brand includes Ken Thwait’s racing team and racecars, and an outstanding classic Camaro collection. Showtime Motorsports brings together a dynamic staff who employ diverse talents and share a passion for cars, racing and caring for clients like they are our own family members.
