Forgeline customers swept all thee spots on the podium, at the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli 2024 season-opener at Sebring International Raceway, where Paul Menard, Wally Dallenbach, and Amy Ruman finished first, second, and third respectively, after a chaotic start.
The first turn of the very first lap brought mayhem, when defending three-time champion Chris Dyson made contact with the polesitter and four-time champion Ernie Francis Jr. just seconds after the green flag. With Dyson and Francis out of commission, second-place starter Menard took over the lead, in the No. 3 Menards Ford Mustang on Forgeline forged three piece TA3R wheels. At the restart, Menard was able to pull out in front of his competitors, driving away with a solid lead. Behind Menard was a competitive scramble, as Keith Grant (No. 40 Drissi Motorsports/Showtime Camaro), Tomy Drissi (No. 8 Franklin Road Apparel Camaro), Wally Dallenbach Jr. (No. 4 Ultimate Headers Mustang) and Amy Ruman (No. 23 McNichols Co. Corvette) battled it out for second through fifth, respectively, running in a tight pack and regularly swapping positions.
After a restart on lap 18, Dallenbach Jr. jumped from fourth to second and began to stalk Menard. Meanwhile, Drissi and Ruman both got past Grant and began to battle for the third position. While Menard opened up nearly a five-second gap over Dallenbach Jr., his lead faded in the final laps, as Dallenbach Jr. consistently posted the fastest lap times. On the final lap, Dallenbach Jr. made a surge, but ran out of time before the checkered flag waved. Behind them, after battling back and forth for position with Drissi, Ruman made an impressive pass for position on the second-to-last lap, securing the third spot on the podium in her No. 23 McNichols Co. Corvette.
“It’s pretty awesome; the deal to race this year came together fairly quickly with Paul Gentilozzi and 3GT Racing,” said Menard on the podium. “We started talking over the winter and decided, ‘Let's go racing.’ He wanted to do it, I wanted to do it, and we had some support from Menards and Masterforce. It’s great to be back in a Ford Mustang. I've had a great relationship with them through the years and the motor is so smooth. It's a smooth engine, built for road racing. The car was just fast all weekend, we hardly put a tire wrong in it. Wally; man, he was coming at the end. I had to push it a lot harder than I wanted to, but he was fast. Congratulations to these two up here. I’m hoping to do the whole season and give Dyson a run for his money.”
Congrats to Paul, Wally, Amy, and their respective teams, and thanks for trusting Forgeline to safely carry you through the mayhem!
The first turn of the very first lap brought mayhem, when defending three-time champion Chris Dyson made contact with the polesitter and four-time champion Ernie Francis Jr. just seconds after the green flag. With Dyson and Francis out of commission, second-place starter Menard took over the lead, in the No. 3 Menards Ford Mustang on Forgeline forged three piece TA3R wheels. At the restart, Menard was able to pull out in front of his competitors, driving away with a solid lead. Behind Menard was a competitive scramble, as Keith Grant (No. 40 Drissi Motorsports/Showtime Camaro), Tomy Drissi (No. 8 Franklin Road Apparel Camaro), Wally Dallenbach Jr. (No. 4 Ultimate Headers Mustang) and Amy Ruman (No. 23 McNichols Co. Corvette) battled it out for second through fifth, respectively, running in a tight pack and regularly swapping positions.
After a restart on lap 18, Dallenbach Jr. jumped from fourth to second and began to stalk Menard. Meanwhile, Drissi and Ruman both got past Grant and began to battle for the third position. While Menard opened up nearly a five-second gap over Dallenbach Jr., his lead faded in the final laps, as Dallenbach Jr. consistently posted the fastest lap times. On the final lap, Dallenbach Jr. made a surge, but ran out of time before the checkered flag waved. Behind them, after battling back and forth for position with Drissi, Ruman made an impressive pass for position on the second-to-last lap, securing the third spot on the podium in her No. 23 McNichols Co. Corvette.
“It’s pretty awesome; the deal to race this year came together fairly quickly with Paul Gentilozzi and 3GT Racing,” said Menard on the podium. “We started talking over the winter and decided, ‘Let's go racing.’ He wanted to do it, I wanted to do it, and we had some support from Menards and Masterforce. It’s great to be back in a Ford Mustang. I've had a great relationship with them through the years and the motor is so smooth. It's a smooth engine, built for road racing. The car was just fast all weekend, we hardly put a tire wrong in it. Wally; man, he was coming at the end. I had to push it a lot harder than I wanted to, but he was fast. Congratulations to these two up here. I’m hoping to do the whole season and give Dyson a run for his money.”
Congrats to Paul, Wally, Amy, and their respective teams, and thanks for trusting Forgeline to safely carry you through the mayhem!