Menard claims Trans Am Memorial Day Classic victory for third straight year

Paul Menard (No. 3 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford Mustang) had won the Trans Am Memorial Day Classic at Lime Rock Park twice before, in 2024 and 2025, but the Eau Claire, Wis., native probably didn’t expect to be grabbing his first win of 2026 on Memorial Day Weekend.

Menard has been locked in a season-long battle with Chris Dyson Racing and Matthew Brabham for supremacy in the TA class of the Trans Am Series by Pirelli, but despite some close calls, had come up short in each of the first four events. However, the slippery, wet conditions of Connecticut’s Lime Rock Park paved the way for the 2011 Brickyard 400 winner to finally prevail.

After starting from the outside of the front row, Menard had to do what he called “The Rowdy Busch razzle dazzle” to get around Brabham on the outside lane, leading the opening portion of the event, until the Chris Dyson Racing driver found his groove and re-took the lead.

“Battling [Matthew] Brabham all year long, he’s got the best of us the first four races, so we had to do the Rowdy Busch razzle dazzle on the outside, and got the lead, and he had got me back and had an issue,” Menard said. “The car has been fast all weekend, we’re so tight with those guys, every section goes back-and-forth, and those guys do a really good job and we’re pushing to up our game, and they’re doing the same, and the speed these TA cars are producing is incredible compared to a couple of years ago, They’re hauling ass, even compared to a couple of years ago, they’re a lot of fun, even in the rain, these cars handle great in the rain, Pirelli does a great job with the rain tires and dry tires.”

The two drivers remained in proximity throughout the opening portion of the event, as the precipitation picked up around the 1.53-mile road course, making conditions more challenging. That spirited battle between Menard and Brabham wouldn’t continue the whole event unfortunately.

With 35 laps remaining, Brabham, running, at the time, 1.732s ahead of Paul Menard, slowed dramatically on the racetrack with a mechanical issue. Luckily, the Chris Dyson Racing driver was able to return to pit road without drawing a full course yellow, but the streak of wins to start the season for the Boca Raton, Florida-native would end at Lime Rock.

“We’re pretty sure we broke the clutch,” Brabham told Racing America. “Just random, one of those things. The car was on fire, it was super fun, drifting out there in the wet, it was like Tokyo Drift out there, it was getting worse and worse, man it was a lot of fun. The guys out there are doing a good job keeping it on the track, no yellows, and unfortunately, we just broke the clutch.”

“Just one of those things, Chris Dyson Racing guys, maybe I’ll run over there [to Chris Dyson’s pit box] and get on the radio and help him with some of the lines I was using.”

Brabham didn’t even get the chance to make it to Dyson’s pit box before the No. 20 RACER/Gym Soda Ford Mustang crashed at the beginning of The Big Bend corner, destroying the front-end of his red-and-white machine, and taking him out of the race.

With Menard’s closest competitors out of the race, the former NASCAR Cup Series driver was able to scoot away and win the TA Class by a large margin, more than three laps, over Tomy Drissi, who finished in the second position in-class and fifth overall.

David Pintaric, driving his usual No. 57 Ford Mustang, also had a major problem on-track late in the race, when battling with SGT Class contender Chris Coffey going up the hill, which sent Pindaric into the tire barrier and drew the full-course caution. Although nine laps down, Pintaric still managed a podium.

TA CLASS RESULTS:

#3 Paul Menard – Pittsburgh Paints / Menards Ford Mustang

#8 Tomy Drissi – Trench Shorting Chevrolet Camaro (-3 Laps)

#57 David Pintaric – Birds Eye View Project / Kryde Racing Ford Mustang (-9 Laps)

#20 Chris Dyson – RACER / Gym Soda Ford Mustang (-25 Laps)

#16 Matthew Brabham – Gymweed Ford Mustang (-34 Laps)

Jesse Schmidt (No. 91 Windhund Racing Porsche 991.1 GT3 Cup) is the newest driver in town in the Trans Am Series by Pirelli, making his debut in Saturday’s Memorial Day Classic at Lime Rock Park. The Wilton, New Hampshire-native got up to speed quickly, too, and in the slick conditions of the event, managed to defeat SGT Class Points Leader Chris Coffey.

Now, the weekend for Schmidt wasn’t as painless as it sounds.

About 10 minutes after being introduced to Trans Am President Andy Lally, the two met up for a second time when Lally had to bring Schmidt to the medical unit to get four stitches in his finger. As it turns out, while unloaded what would become the race-winning car, Schmidt got his finger caught, and sliced, in the fender of his Porsche 991.1 GT3 Cup.

That clearly didn’t stop him, though, as he took it to Coffey in an incredible fashion, not only winning the SGT class, but finishing second place overall – after some of the other contending TA Class drivers had some on-track issues throughout the afternoon.

Coffey finished in second place, on the same lap as Schmidt, while Patrick Utt crashed hard late in the going to bring out a full-course caution, and retired early from the race – finishing 12th of 14 overall, and third in-class.

SGT CLASS RESULTS:

#91 Jesse Schmidt – Windhund Racing Porsche 991.1 GT3 Cup

#97 Chris Coffey – Traffic Grafix / NAI Racing / GTE Engineering Ferrari 458 Challenge

#49 Patrick Utt – Race Qup / Driven Racing Oil Chevrolet Camaro

Erich Joiner extended his record as the winningest driver in the history of the Trans Am Series by Pirelli’s XGT class on Saturday, taking the victory in the Memorial Day Classic at Lime Rock Park in slippery conditions on Saturday.

Joiner picked up his 13th career XGT Class victory on Saturday with a fourth-place overall finish in the 68-lap contest. It’s the third time that Joiner, a native of Manhattan Beach, Florida, has been to Victory Lane in the class at Lime Rock Park. In 16 Trans Am Series by Pirelli starts, all in the XGT Class, Joiner has never finished worse than second in-class.

Billy Griffin, the other driver entered in the XGT class this weekend, did not start Saturday’s event.

XGT CLASS RESULTS:

#10 Erich Joiner – Good Boy Bob Coffee Porsche GT3R

#14 Billy Griffin – Griffin Auto Care Mercedes Benz AMG GT3 (DNS)

It’s been since October 2024 at VIRginia International Raceway that Michael Saia competed in the Trans Am Series by Pirelli, and this weekend at Lime Rock Park, the two-time GT Class winner reemerged from the shadows.

Saia (No. 13 KMC / Motul / Rabid Wraps / Rapid Perf Porsche 997.1 GT3 Cup) didn’t just remerge, he returned to victory lane, beating out Derric Carter and Brion Gluck in a tight battle between the three drivers in the GT Class this weekend. It’s the third GT class win for Saia, and the first since Lime Rock Park in 2023.

GT CLASS RESULTS:

#13 Michael Saia – KMC / Motul / Rapid Wipes / Rapid Perf Porsche 997.1 GT3 Cup

#24 Derric Carter – PortableHoist.com Ford Mustang GT 500

#47 Brion Gluck – Freedom Coffee / Gallant Few / 6XD Factory5 Daytona 65 R

In just his second Trans Am Series by Pirelli GT1 Challenge start, Brent Goforth finds himself standing on the top-step of the podium in the Memorial Day Classic at Lime Rock Park, and all he had to do was beat his father, Bill.

While neither of them had terribly smooth afternoons – with both drivers having at least one off-track excursion throughout the course of the 68-lap event in the rain – Brent was able to find his groove and finish the event ninth overall, 10 laps behind overall race winner Paul Menard.

However, father Bill Goforth, struggled a little bit more, finishing three laps behind his son. This weekend’s event at Lime Rock Park served as the Trans Am Series by Pirelli debut for Bill, a racing series that his son only entered at the start of this season.

With the two sharing sponsorship from Big Dog Foundation Piers, there’s no question that the sponsor was happy with the outcome, even if father Bill might like another go at it.

GT1 CHALLENGE RESULTS:

#98 Brent Goforth – Big Dog Foundation Piers Chevrolet Camaro

#99 Bill Goforth – Big Dog Foundation Piers Chevrolet Corvette