Track Facts:
Opened: 1993
Length: 2.866 Miles
Layout: 15-Turn Road Course
Entry List: View
Practice:
Friday, October 10
3:45-4:10 p.m. PT
Sunday, October 12
9:35-10:00 a.m. PT
Qualifying:
Saturday, October 11
9:30 a.m. PT
Races:
Saturday, October 11
12:35-1:50 p.m. PT
Race Length: 35 Laps/75 Minutes
Sunday, October 12
12:45-2:00 p.m. PT
Race Length: 35 Laps/75 Minutes
Thundering to the End
The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s Western Championship is back in action for its final standalone event of 2025, a doubleheader at Thunderhill Raceway Park. The Western Championship has been visiting the Willows, California track since 2019, with the checkered flag flying for seven previous features at the venue. Only one race, a combination event with the National Championship at Circuit of The Americas, remains on the schedule after Thunderhill, meaning this weekend’s pair of races will set the stage for the championship battles.
Victorious at Thunderhill
There are two competitors in this weekend’s field who know what it feels like to take the checkered flag at Thunderhill.
TA Cup
Michele Nagai, No. 72 Nagai Racing/Berkeley Jet Drive Chevrolet Camaro: 2024 Race 1
CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series
JC Meynet, No. 28 B-Bar Ranch/Killer Shrimp/RFR Chevrolet Camaro: 2023 (GT)
California Here We Come
There are seven drivers in this weekend’s field from the state of California. The competitors who are closest to home at the Willows, Calif. track are TA Cup drivers John Moore and Michelle Nagai, who are both less than two hours from their hometowns of Roseville and Newcastle, respectively.
TA Cup
John Moore, No. 27 JM Environmental Ford Mustang (Roseville)
Michelle Nagai, No. 72 Nagai Racing/Berkeley Jet Drive Chevrolet Camaro (Newcastle)
CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series
Tim Lynn, No. 17 Roof Options Ford Mustang (Kentfield)
JC Meynet, No. 28 B-Bar Ranch/Killer Shrimp/RFR Chevrolet Camaro (Woodland Hills)
Brian Lock, No. 44 Helium Mobile Chevrolet Camaro (Santa Cruz)
Tim Carroll, No. 46 CRDMFG.com Chevrolet Camaro (Santa Ana)
Kyle Kelley, No. 80 UPR.com/PKK Motorsports Ford Mustang (Huntington Beach)
Goble vs. Lovell
With just two race weekends remaining for Western competitors, it appears that the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series championship will come down to 2023 title winner Brody Goble (No. 69 Brown Bros. Ford Lincoln Ford Mustang) and rookie Mia Lovell (No. 40 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry). Goble currently leads the standings by 108 points, giving him a substantial edge going into this weekend’s doubleheader. A 110-point advantage at the conclusion of Sunday’s race would be enough for Goble to clinch the title ahead of the COTA finale in two weeks. If Goble comes out on top, he would become the first two-time CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Champion in the Western Championship. Both Goble and Lovell have equal footing when it comes to experience at Thunderhill. While Goble competed in the Trans Am Series in both 2022 and 2023, he missed the races at the Willows, California track both years, meaning neither competitor has a past start at the circuit.
While third-place Cole Moore (No. 99 Moore Motorsport/JM Environmental Ford Mustang) is only six points behind Lovell in the standings, the driver announced this week that he is out for the remainder of the 2025 season following an arm injury. The battle for the remainder of the top five is still tight, as fourth-place Kyle Kelley (No. 80 UPR.com/PKK Motorsports Ford Mustang) and fifth-place Tim Lynn (No. 17 RoofOptions Ford Mustang) are just one point apart, and Seamus McKendree (No. 20 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang) is just 24 points behind Lynn.
Sutherland vs. Moore
Much like the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series title hunt, the TA Cup championship is also a two-horse race as the season winds down. Currently leading the points in TA Cup is Ken Sutherland in the No. 85 Kallberg Racing Dodge Challenger, who holds a 48-point advantage over John Moore in the No. 27 JM Environmental Ford Mustang. Sutherland has earned three victories this season at Laguna Seca and the two Portland doubleheader races, and has not finished worse than third this season, while Moore has one victory and four fourth-place finishes.
Much like with the TA2 title, the third-place TA Cup competitor will not compete in the final races of the season. Ken Thwaits (No. 9 Franklin Road Chevrolet Camaro) is sitting out the remainder of 2025 to undergo surgery, so despite only being three points behind Moore in the standings, he will not be able to battle for the championship.
Welcome Back
Two drivers in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series are making their first starts of the 2025 season, as Brian Lock (No. 44 Helium Mobile Toyota Camry) and Amir Haleem (No. 66 Helium Mobile Chevrolet Camaro) return to race at Thunderhill this weekend. Lock made his debut in the National Championship’s XGT class in 2024, earning the victory at VIR, while Haleem has one previous start in the National Championship’s TA2 Pro/Am Challenge last season.
Meynet a Master at Thunderhill
California native JC Meynet (No. 28 B-Bar Ranch/Killer Shrimp/RFR Chevrolet Camaro) is one of just two drivers in this weekend’s field with a Trans Am victory at Thunderhill Raceway Park, tallying a GT victory at the track in 2023 by finishing an impressive fourth overall. That same season, he captured the GT championship as well as Rookie of the Year honors in the class. Trans Am isn’t the only series where Meynet has found success at Thunderhill, as he still holds track records at the facility in SCCA, Spec Corvette, NASA and USTCC, all scored in the same Corvette that he drove to his GT title.
Meynet also recently acquired another title: ordained minister. Last weekend in Santa Ynez, California, he officiated over the wedding of his oldest son.
Godspeed, Barry Boes
Since the Western Championship’s last race at Portland International Raceway, the Trans Am Series has lost National and Western competitor Barry Boes. Racing in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series since 2019, Boes made 85 starts between the National Championship and Western Championship, tallying nine National Pro/Am Challenge wins and two victories in the Western Championship. Boes won the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Pro/Am Challenge Championship in 2024 on the strength of seven victories in 12 races, finishing in the top five in every event. Boes had two victories this season, including one combination Pro/Am and Western victory at Sonoma Raceway.
STANDINGS
CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series
1. Brody Goble (538)
2. Mia Lovell (430)
3. Cole Moore (424)
4. Kyle Kelley (397)
5. Tim Lynn (396)
TA Cup
1. Ken Sutherland (465)
2. John Moore (417)
3. Ken Thwaits (414)
4. Michelle Nagai (263)
5. Chris Evans (235)
XGT
1. Simon Asselin (100)
2. JD Koos (50)
SGT
1. JD Koos (115)
1. Rudy Revak (115)
3. Simon Asselin (50)
Complete Standings: View
