| Salinas, CALIFORNIA – April 25, 2022 – The Franklin Road Apparel Showtime Motorsports team has become accustomed to podium and high place finishes this season in both the TA and TA2 classes. This weekend the Tennessee-based outfit experienced the other side of the motorsports coin with both Cameron Lawrence and Carl Rydquist enduring the kind of misfortune that tests any driver’s patience with circumstances beyond their control. Round 4 of the 2022 Trans Am presented by Pirelli Championship season TA2 Class turned into a very rough race for Texan pilot Lawrence, who entered the event running P2 in the Championship. Past champions Lawrence and Rydquist lined up on the grid full of anticipation having qualified in P9 and P12 respectively in times of 1:28:996 and 1:29:374. This put both drivers in the top quarter of the crowded TA2 field. However, Cameron got spun round at Turn 3 on the very first lap after contact dropped him down to P21. By Lap 7, the two Franklin Road drivers were in P16 and P17, picking off the cars in front of them when the opportunity arose. Unfortunately, a braking issue meant that Carl found the gravel on Lap 17 but he remained positive afterwards, “Overall the weekend’s been really promising for the whole team. We have a car under us with a set up that’s much more drivable. I was really looking forward to the race. But then we have a brake leak issue that we thought we’d sorted out. It came back yesterday morning and we thought we’d identified what was wrong, but it materialized on Lap 3. I was hoping to finish the race but in the end the pedal went all the way down and I ended up in the gravel. Looking forward to Sonoma, we’ll be able to recover, and the car is intact. We’re super excited. The cars are very promising and qualifying within .75 of (2021 champion) Rafa (Matos), that’s a personal milestone.” Meanwhile, Cameron Lawrence had battled his way back to the top ten and was having an epic duel with Adam Andretti. At the final restart there was contact on track with multiple cars and Cameron was forced off the track. Showtime principal Ken Thwaits alluded to the rough nature of the race when we spoke to him afterwards. “It was a pretty exciting race for TA2 today. They went green the first half of the race. Cameron was battling and made it to the top ten and then on the last restart he got roughed up badly. Unfortunately, the driver and owner meetings don’t seem to be accomplishing anything, at least not for us.” “For TA2 at Sonoma we’ll replace body panels and brake pads and we’ll be ready to go. We’ve got solid cars. Every race the chalkboard is clean. We had a great time here at Laguna. We just don’t have the results to show for it.” Next up for Carl, Cameron and the Showtime team will head to the second leg of the California doubleheader continuing to Sonoma next weekend. CBS Sports Network Air Times This weekend’s races from Laguna Seca will air on CBS Sports Network the week following the event. TA/XGT/SGT/GT will premiere on Thursday, April 28 at 8:00 p.m. ET, with an encore presentation on Saturday, April 30 at 11:00 p.m. ET. TA2 will first air on Sunday, May 1 at 6:30 p.m. ET, with an encore later that night at 10:00 p.m. ET. Check out all the action on the Trans Am Series channel here: https://youtube.com/c/TheTransAmSeries Fans can find the Franklin Road Apparel Trans Am clothing online here: https://www.franklinroad.com/search/trans+am/ Visit the team’s website for Showtime Motorsports showtimemotorsports.net. Learn more about the Showtime Motorsports team partner, Road Apparel, at franklinroad.com and keep up to date with the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli at gotransam.com. #GoTransAm Check out the Showtime Motorsports Facebook page: facebook.com/showtimemotorsp/ and @ShowtimeMotorsp on Instagram. About Showtime Motorsports: The Showtime Motorsports brand includes Ken Thwaits’ racing team and racecars, and an outstanding classic Camaro collection. Showtime Motorsports brings together a dynamic staff who employ diverse talents and share a passion for cars, racing and caring for clients like they are our own family members. |
