Franklin, TENNESSEE – September 3, 2021 – The 2020 Trans Am XtremeGT Class Champion Ken Thwaits is enjoying a dream rookie season in the TA Class with a string of fine performances in the Trans Am presented by Pirelli Series. Currently Ken sits in an impressive P4 out of 20 starters in the Drivers’ Championship standings. The stunning black and red No. 5 Franklin Road Apparel Chevrolet Camaro is becoming increasingly familiar on the grid at TA events but never one to rest on his laurels, Ken is always keen to improve his performance and that of the car. We spoke to Ken ahead of the double-header weekend, billed as the Watkins Glen Speed Tour, which will see two all-class races and a total of up to 46 cars on the track simultaneously and which also features a fan walk on the grid ahead of Saturday’s race.
“I went testing a few weeks ago up there at Watkins Glen and sadly it rained most of the time,” said Ken from his superb Franklin base. “Nevertheless we were able to learn about the circuit and get some laps in both the TA and TA2 car.” Perhaps surprisingly for someone as experienced as Ken, this was his first trip to upstate New York venue. “This was my first time at this track and driving here – the track is amazing, very smooth and has a lot of grip! I am confident that we can hit the ground running. I haven’t had much time in the TA car recently, so this is a car that I still need to get used to and we want to get ahead of the curve.”
That curve has seen Ken garner 127 Championship points so far this season with a podium third at Laguna Seca being the highest point to date. Ken has also had a fantastic spin in the spectacular Franklin Road sponsored TA2 race in the inaugural Music City Grand Prix weekend in his home city of Nashville. The race last month was where he climbed 17 places over the course of the very intense street race.
Reminder for all Trans Am fans to check out the Franklin Road event special t-shirt from the Music City Grand Prix. All sizes in the black and white versions of the first class commemorative shirts from that tremendous event are available on the Franklin Road website along with other great Trans Am apparel by following this link: https://www.franklinroad.com/trans-am/ .
Frequently dubbed America’s greatest circuit and known as the Mecca of North American road racing, Watkins Glen began life when public roads in the upstate New York Finger Lakes were used for a motor race course. In 1956 a permanent circuit was built and 1968 saw the first six hour race, the legendary 6 Hours of Watkins Glen. While the older of those chicanes has since been removed, the circuit’s current layout has more or less been the same since 1971, with minor modifications after the fatal crashes of François Cevert in 1973 and J.D. McDuffie in 1991. Formerly the home of the United States Grand Prix, the circuit is a very popular venue among fans and drivers and the facility is currently owned by NASCAR.
Since the inaugural Trans Am event at the track in 1968, Trans Am has raced 32 times at ‘The Glen’ and Ken’s first sight of the track will be testing at 11:20 a.m. on Thursday, September 9 with an additional testing session the same afternoon and official practice the following day at 11:45 a.m. The crucial qualifying session is at 5:35 p.m. on Friday evening with Saturday’s race set to go green at 1:00 p.m. The muscle cars are then set to do it all over again on Sunday at 11:20 a.m. It promises to be a real gala weekend for Trans Am fans and tickets are available for 2021 SVRA Admission – MyProVenue™.
Learn more about the Showtime Motorsports team partner, Franklin Road Apparel, at franklinroad.com and showtimemotorsports.net. Keep up to date with the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli at gotransam.com.
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
