Meza scores a second victory in dominant Sonoma Trans Am doubleheader performance

In the final leg of the Sonoma Raceway doubleheader, the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series threw some brand new challenges the way of Helio Meza and, being the 18-year-old superstar that he is, the Team SLR driver persevered.

The Spring, Texas-native, like in just about every single race this year, looked like he was going to easily drive away with the victory, until some full-course cautions in the second half of the event slowed the overall pace of the field – erasing a lead that hovered around the two-to-three-second mark.

On a pair of occasions in the final 20 laps of Sunday’s 40-lapper, Meza had to survive a restart with the entire field – most of whom have more experience with restarts and racing in general – breathing down his neck.

However, the unshakeable rookie driver didn’t let it cost him the race, getting away from his closest competitor, his Team SLR teammate Alon Day, to secure the victory once again – sweeping the Sonoma doubleheader, and the opening four events of the 2026 CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series campaign.

“It was a bit challenging,” Meza said. “For a while it was going green well, and yeah, I thought we were going to have another green-to-checkered race, and then at the end we had some yellows and made it a little bit interesting. The first restart I had a little bit of wheel spin and Alon [Day] was right on my bumper, then had another restart and thankfully was able to time that and learn from the other one.”

With a victory on debut last Fall at COTA, Meza has now won a stunning five CUBE 3 TA2 Series events in a row and has continued to extend his record of most consecutive wins to start a career.

“Unbelievable, five in a row. I don’t know if I would ever think this could be true. I told the team on the radio I would be happy with one win, and here we are with five in a row in my rookie season,” Meza added.

Alon Day finished in the runner-up position, again, while Noah Harmon occupied the final step of the podium following Sunday’s event – after a tough showing on Saturday, which only saw the No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet rebound to 12th after having to start at the rear of the pack.

Sam Corry and Vinnie Meskeslis spent the second half of the race battling for a position inside the top-five and ended up fourth and fifth for Nitro Motorsports. Adrian Wlostowski was sixth.

Max Reaves, debuting in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series this weekend at Sonoma, put down an impressive result in the second leg of the doubleheader, finishing eighth in a third entry for Silver Hare Racing.

Connor Mosack, like Saturday, was a contender for the first portion of the event but suffered a mechanical issue early in the going which ended up sidelining the part-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver from competition.

Lanie Buice had a similar issue and was running inside the top-five at the time of the mechanical failure, which cost her a top-10 overall, and a victory in the West Coast Championship.

CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Race Results:

#28 Helio Meza – Alessandros Racing / SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro

#117 Alon Day – JSSI / SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro

#7 Noah Harmon – High Point Rockers / CUBE 3 Chevrolet Camaro

#70 Sam Corry – Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry

#90 Vinnie Meskelis – Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry

West Coast Class

Mechanical issues for Lanie Buice around the middle portion of Sunday’s CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series event at Sonoma Raceway, not only cost the Team SLR driver a potential top five overall, but what looked like a surefire win in the West Coast Championship.

With Buice out of the event, that made way for Graham Jacobson, another driver like Buice who is running for both championships, to take the lead, and eventually the victory in the West Coast Championship event, finishing ninth place overall.

“It feels really good,” Jacobson said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for all of these other guys, especially on the West side, and we just kind of went out there, was pacing the whole race and we got to Lap 30 and we had no yellow, so I was kind of freaking out a bit, and then it came and we were able to go and get a couple of more overall spots.”

Jacobson was able to pull away from his closest challenger, Cole Moore, on the final restart of the event to earn the victory – his first in the Trans Am West Coast Championship – in just his third start under the Trans Am banner.

Kyle Kelley (14th overall) finished third in the West Coast Championship, with Tim Lynn (18th overall), and Bob Accardo (19th overall) rounding out the top-five. Lanie Buice, winner of Saturday’s event in the West Coast Championship, finished ninth in class (and 25th overall).

TA2 West Coast Championship Race Results:

#19 Graham Jacobson – Hertz Car Sales Chevrolet Camaro

#199 Cole Moore – JM Racing / Moore Motorsport Ford Mustang

#80 Kyle Kelley – UPRacing.com / PK&K Properties Ford Mustang

#17 Tim Lynn – Roof Options Ford Mustang

#39 Bob Accardo – Race Mktg / Guthrie’s Garage / Make-A-Wish Ford Mustang

PRO/AM Class

Former Miami Dolphin Jared Odrick continues to develop his skills in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series PRO/AM Division, and on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway, the driver of the No. 00 Black Underwear / Helium Mobile Chevrolet Camaro looked stellar.

Odrick managed to finish an impressive seventh place overall, outpacing some of the division’s promising youngsters like Jackson Tovo and Max Reaves. It’s the Lebanon, Pennsylvania-native’s second overall top-10 of the season.

“It was good. It felt good to be at the pointy end of the field, at the end of the race there,” Odrick said. “We were hoping to get one more restart, I think everyone was, but it felt good. It was very competitive and hopefully we can keep finishing in the single digits overall for the rest of the season.”

The closest competition for Odrick in the PRO/AM Division was Doug Winston, who finished a lap down in his No. 98 TradeMentor.org / D&M Electrical Ford Mustang. Christina Lam was third, with Matt Gray and Jim Gallaugher (driving a backup car) rounding out the top-five.

CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series PRO/AM Race Results:

#00 Jared Odrick – Black Underwear / Helium Mobile Chevrolet Camaro

#98 Doug Winston – TradeMentor.org / D&M Electrical Ford Mustang

#66 Christina Lam – Helium Mobile / CDR Chevrolet Camaro

#64 Matt Gray – Ryan Companies Ford Mustang

#6 Jim Gallaugher – Regulator / Cope Race Cars Ford Mustang

The CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series will return to competition in about a month’s time, on Memorial Day Weekend, at Lime Rock Park. Coverage, as always, will be on RacingAmerica.TV, the Racing America 24/7 Channel, and the Trans Am Series YouTube Channel.