| Alton, VIRGINIA – September 23, 2026 – TopLiner™ driver Martin Ragginger delivered another front-running performance for Burtin Racing at Virginia International Raceway, qualifying a tenth of a second from pole and finishing second in Sunday’s Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli TA Class race aboard the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro.The result is Ragginger’s third podium of the 2026 season and his second runner-up finish behind Matthew Brabham, matching the hard-fought second place he scored at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in June. Combined with his third-place start to the year at Sebring International Raceway, the Austrian continues to show the second-generation Burtin Racing chassis at the sharp end of America’s premier muscle-car championship.Round 11 of the National Championship was contested over 31 laps of VIR’s 3.27-mile, 17-turn Full Course. Official qualifying on Sunday morning put Ragginger on the front row with a best lap of 1:42.811 — just 0.097 seconds shy of Brabham’s pole time of 1:42.714 in the No. 16 Ford Mustang. Paul Menard qualified third at 1:43.405.From the outside of the front row, Ragginger completed every lap of the 1-hour, 4-minute, 32.504-second feature and brought the TopLiner™ Camaro home second, 2.176 seconds behind Brabham, who led all 31 laps from the pole. Menard finished third, 0.310 seconds behind Ragginger. Ragginger’s best race lap was 1:45.593; Brabham’s was 1:45.420. Two cautions slowed the field for four laps. The official result awarded Ragginger 102 championship points for the afternoon.Chris Dyson finished fourth in TA, with David Pintaric fifth, Jon DeGaynor sixth, Tomy Drissi seventh and Amy Ruman eighth in class after completing 27 laps. The result also completed a familiar VIR story for Burtin Racing and Ragginger: he finished second here in 2023 on his Trans Am debut at the track, and he left Alton in 2026 with the same result — this time after starting from the front row of a 21-car TA/GT field.That fight arrived again. The No. 7 was fast enough on Sunday morning to split the championship protagonists on the grid and stay with Brabham through a full-distance race on one of the most physically demanding circuits in North America — a venue defined by elevation change, the Climbing Esses and Oak Tree, and little margin for error.TopLiner™ is the Georgia-born spray-on bedliner brand founded by chemist Claudio Burtin. Each coat is designed as a permanent shield against dents, scratches, rust and weather, with a textured finish that holds cargo and a custom look that works on truck beds, ATVs, trailers, boats and anything else that lives a hard life. The same values — strength, grip and durability — are what Burtin Racing puts on the racetrack.Follow @BurtinRacing on Facebook and Instagram and visit www.burtinracing.com for team news. |
