SVRA: Trans Am teenage talent shines at COTA

At this weekend's Trans Am and Sportscar Vintage Racing Association combination show at Circuit of the Americas, keep an eye on the emerging talent in two teen-age racers. Both 17-year-old Ernie Francis Jr. and 16-year-old J.J. Haley are competing in Trans Am, but their career arcs seem destined to diverge. Looking ahead Haley is grooming for NASCAR Sprint Cup while Francis, who nailed down his second consecutive TA3 class championship last month at NOLA Motorsports Park, has a vision of victory at Le Mans.

Related Stories

Like most stories of youngsters aspiring to distant dreams of glory in the top levels of professional racing both Francis and Haley got their starts through the support of caring parents. Francis started with karting in Florida at just four years old while Haley began with quarter midgets in northern Indiana at age nine.

In both cases, the young men and their families looked at the pursuit as a way to have fun, share time together and assess if there was a reason to aspire to another level. There clearly was.

Haley estimates he picked off something north of 100 wins and three series championships with quarter midgets in two years. His uncle, Todd Braun, a former NASCAR Nationwide Series team owner and currently the owner of Braun Motorsports, became his mentor.

Haley graduated to the more powerful micro-sprints class in 2010 and served notice he was a force with two victories and a second place overall out of a field of 373 competitors in the 2012 non-winged Tulsa Shootout. That year Haley, at just 13, competed for the first time in a full-size stock car at Plymouth, Ind. He broke the track record and earned the facility's "Driver of the Year" trophy. Haley was also ranked number one in Indiana State Micro Sprints for the year.

Karting proved to be valuable seat time for Francis. He ran kid karts until age eight and then stepped up to mini-max for 2006.

"Karting gave me the greatest gains in skill," Francis says. "I got to throw the kart around. I learned how to handle a slide at a very young age. I learned consistency, hitting the turn-in points and the apex lap after lap."

ABOVE: JJ Haley set fast time for TA2 in Friday practice at COTA. (Chris Clark photo)

While Haley has relied on the experience of his uncle Todd, Francis' father, Ernie Sr., is an experienced race driver and owner of Breathless Motorsports, which prepares his racecars (ABOVE, Chris Clark photo). Francis graduated to cars in 2011 and began racing a spec Miata in the National Auto Sport Association and the Formula Automobile Racing Association, scoring six podium finishes including two wins. The next year, at just 14, he dominated both series seizing their championships on the strength of 21 wins in 34 races as well as numerous other finishes at the front. Demonstrating pace, he won the pole for the NASA national championship meet at Mid-Ohio.

Despite having already earned some impressive credentials, both drivers are still in the development stages of their careers. In the last couple of years they have wisely explored experiences across a number of racing platforms including Trans Am.

In addition to his Trans Am TA2 class Camaro entry, Haley, who has moved to Mooresville, N.C. to home school and work part time for his uncle, has driven ARCA stock cars, NASCAR K&N Pro and NASCAR Camping World Trucks. Currently Haley's Uncle Todd prepares most of his nephew's racecars but employs the services of Mike Cope Enterprises to support the Trans Am entry.

Haley has already scored seven top-five finishes in K&N Pro this year, including three third-place finishes. He has consistently qualified at the front of the field. In ARCA Haley has won a pole position and finished in the top 10 in six of nine races. Three of those are top-fives.

As for Trans Am Haley believes it is outstanding experience, especially for grooming his road racing skills. He enjoys the chance to compete against some pretty stout competition and believes he has earned their respect.

"It's a great opportunity to race against guys like Adam Andretti and Cameron Lawrence, who can win his third straight championship this year," he says. "They are both a lot of fun. We kid around. They know I race clean and that I am predictable on the track."

As for Francis, in 2013 he made it clear he is a star in the making. He stepped up to the Pirelli World Challenge and produced nothing short of a phenomenal rookie season. Driving a Breathless Performance Mazda 2, he battled for the Touring Car-B class championship, narrowly losing despite seven race wins. He was crowned Rookie of the Year.

In many ways, Francis had a breakthrough year in 2014 as he won the Trans Am TA3 American Muscle series championship to become the youngest Trans Am champion in the sport's history. His successful defense of his title this year has been based on awesome driving with six wins and thus far a clean sweep of pole positions for his class. His goal, he says, is to finish the year with a perfect record in qualifying.

Francis' results in Pirelli World Challenge have continued to impress. He stepped up a class to TCA in 2014 and padded his career win total with three more victories. That earned him a third place in the series championship. For 2015 he again advanced a rung of the ladder to the primary Touring Car class with his Mazda MX5. He is locked in a battle for the class championship and has thus far has scored three wins.

Looking ahead, both young men plan to continue with the series they are in but step up their participation. Haley looks to a full season in K&N Pro East as well five races each in Trans Am TA2, ARCA and NASCAR Trucks. Francis will do more Touring Car racing in Pirelli World Challenge and return to Trans Am TA3 but is looking at a switch from his Camaro to Mustang Boss 302.

Interestingly, Francis and his father are considering a foray into TA2 next year. That possibility raises the prospect of the two teen wonders being pitted against each other head-to-head. Depending on what the future brings, such an encounter could produce some interesting reflections for historians some time out in the future.

As for history, Francis in particular says he thinks about it a lot. He's even considering doing some vintage racing just to get a feel for the type of machines some of his heroes like Dorsey Schroeder and Ayrton Senna drove. He enjoys the challenges of legendary tracks he has already had the opportunity to drive: Sebring, Mosport, VIR and Laguna Seca.

LEFT: JJ Haley crests a one of COTA's hills in his TA2 class Camaro. (Chris Clark photo)

For now, though, the challenge is COTA. It will be Haley's first trip to America's Formula 1 venue, but Francis claims three wins at the Austin facility. Regardless, both young drivers have honed their abilities in just the way you would expect – by learning the circuit through iRacing. Like most drivers today they agree the computer-based simulation will never replace the real thing but to ignore it means forfeiting a competitive edge to someone who takes advantage of it.

Neither Francis nor Haley plan to give a quarter to anyone. Both have clear goals and a pretty steady trajectory – Ernie to the heights of sports cars and J.J. trading paint with the biggest names in NASCAR. Motorsports is an ultra-competitive world and ascending to the top of the pyramid is a steep climb, but these two young tigers look to be pretty darn good bets.