There was a lot of great racing in the various SRO America championships this year, but some of the best came in the TC America series, particularly in the TCX class, which was populated exclusively by M2 CS Racing cars this season. There were typically eight or nine entries in that class during the year, and fans witnessed close racing throughout the season.
The highlight of the TCX class this year was the championship battle between defending champion Jacob Ruud of Fast Track Racing and Colin Garrett of Rooster Hall Racing. Going into the final two races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Ruud had an eleven-point lead in the drivers’ championship, but that gap declined considerably after race one, when Ruud suffered damage to his car on the first turn of the first lap, after the top five cars stacked up and made contact. Garrett managed to get through and win the race, which set up a real showdown for the final.
Ruud started behind Garrett in race two, but he put in a great drive to work his way up into second place by the end of the race, with Garrett in the lead. Finishing second would have clinched the title for Ruud, but he clearly wanted to finish the season with a win as he fought for a way to get around Garrett. Garrett ultimately won the race, with Ruud in second place, which gave him enough points to win the championship for a second straight year. At the end of the day, it’s a long season and we definitely had our ups and downs,” said Ruud after the race. “We did exactly what we needed to do today, it was just an amazing team effort, and I want to say thank you to everybody that made this year possible. It’s been a great year and I’m looking forward to next season if we can make it happen.”
Colin Garrett won seven races for Rooster Hall Racing.
The Mini JCW team also put in notable performances during the season in the TC and TCA classes, with Clay Williams getting eight podiums (including four wins) in the TC class to finish second place in the drivers’ championship and second place in the manufacturers’ championship. Christian Perocarpi (son of Luis Perocarpi) also came on strong in the second half of the season in the TCA class with four podiums, including two wins, which also gave Mini the runner-up spot in the manufacturers’ championship. “This season was challenging as we saw several new cars entered into the field in an attempt to equal the balance of performance in the series,” said Luis Perocarpi after the Indy finale. “I am so proud of our entire team and especially our talented drivers who used their skills to get every ounce of performance out of our Mini JCWs to secure podiums almost every weekend.”
Clay Williams finished second in the TC class championship.
The final race at Indy also saw the end of an era, as the M240i Racing competed in its final race after many successful seasons. There were only two entered in the TC class this year with the DRS & Garagistic team, and driver Matthew Ibrahim had three podiums on the year, including a podium finish in the first race at Indy. That car will be ineligible to compete in 2023 because of its age.
-David Haueter
[Photos by David Haueter]
