Day benefits from Meza’s last-lap Issue to claim second TA2 win of 2026 at Road America

In motorsports, it’s never quite over until the checkered flag drops.

Helio Meza, the 18-year-old phenom for Team SLR, looked well on his way to collect yet another victory in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series at Road America on Sunday, when all of the sudden, coming to the white flag, his No. 28 Alessandro’s Racing Chevrolet Camaro dramatically slowed exiting Turn 14.

After pulling off an incredible outside move around polesitter Matthew Brabham to snatch the lead away in the opening corner of the 25-lap event, Meza, a six-time winner in the CUBE 3 TA2 Series through seven starts, had a stranglehold on the field behind him, managing a gap anywhere between one and two seconds and keeping some strong drivers at bay behind him.

Meza had paced the field for the opening 23 laps of the event, until the 18-year-old’s dreams of a seventh CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series victory shattered coming to the white flag, and his Team SLR teammates Alon Day and Matthew Brabham were there to pick up the pieces.

Day, Meza’s teammate and main rival in the championship fight, went on to win the race, and as it turned out, a move around the No. 48 Team SLR Chevrolet Camaro of Matthew Brabham on a restart with five laps remaining was the key move that got the No. 17 JSSI Chevrolet Camaro into Victory Lane.

“This is not exactly the victory I want to have, especially when it’s my teammate,” Day said in Victory Lane. “I will take that, sometimes you need some luck, and I’m just happy and grateful on our side, it’s always nice to have the JSSI car in Victory Lane. I hope it will bring us some good points in the championship, and we can fight and take it to Watkins Glen and fight hard there.”

Matthew Brabham, who after winning the Trans Am Series by Pirelli event at Road America earlier in the afternoon, looked to make history as the second driver to ever win both the Trans Am Series by Pirelli and CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series events in the same day, joining Connor Zilisch. However, the driver making his TA2 debut had to settle for second place.

For the second consecutive race, Noah Harmon made an incredible drive to put his No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro on the podium, finishing in third place. Lanie Buice and Tanner Reif finished fourth and fifth, both collecting career bests in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series.

Tyler Kicera finished sixth, with Adrian Wlostowski, Eric Cayton, Jace Denmark, and Stanton Barrett rounding out the top-10. Helio Meza, after having to coast around the 4.048-mile Road America racetrack, finished a disappointing 18th overall (and 11th in class).