TA Cup’s Michelle Nagai Fastest in Western Championship
SONOMA, Calif. (April 26, 2025) – The field has been set for the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli National and Western Championship race at Sonoma Raceway. For the second day in a row, rain forced the abandonment of qualifying, leading to the field being set by practice times. Paul Menard in the No. 3 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford Mustang will lead the field to green after setting a time of 1:30.148 in this morning’s practice session. He will be joined on the front row by Chris Dyson in the No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang.
TA Cup’s Michelle Nagai (No. 72 Nagai Racing/Berkeley Jet Drive Chevrolet Camaro) was fastest of the Western Championship competitors, starting sixth overall after laying down a practice lap of 1:33.607. Joshua Carlson (No. 36 Enseva/Diercks Ltd./TC Fab Ford Mustang) was the fastest National Championship competitor in the SGT class, while JD Koos (No. 12 Nicole Douglas Design Porsche GT3 Cup 991.1) was best in the class of the Western Championship competitors. Chris Coffey (No. 97 Traffic Grafix/Chill Out Motorsports Maserati MC GT4) was fastest in the GT class. Xuanqian Wang in the Western Championship is the sole competitor in the XGT class, but did not make a time in practice due to a crash in yesterday’s testing session.
The TA/GT race will be contested tomorrow at 1:35 p.m. ET. It will be streamed LIVE on Trans Am’s YouTube channel, @TheTransAmSeries, and broadcast LIVE on SPEED SPORT 1 with coverage beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET. An encore presentation will air on SPEED SPORT 1 at 7:30 p.m. ET. For more information on where you can watch SPEED SPORT 1, click here.
TA Practice Top Five:
National Championship
1. Paul Menard, No. 3 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford Mustang (1:30.148)
2. Chris Dyson, No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang (1:30.558)
3. Adam Andretti, No. 17 Top Liner Chevrolet Camaro (1:30.828)
4. Brent Crews, No. 2 Weaver Concepts/Mobil 1 Dodge Challenger (1:30.896)
5. Tomy Drissi, No. 8 Trench Shoring Co./Motul Chevrolet Camaro (1:31.589)
TA Cup Practice Top Five:
Western Championship
1. Michelle Nagai, No. 72 Nagai Racing/Berkeley Jet Drive Chevrolet Camaro (1:33.607)
2. Jim Guthrie, No. 62 Guthrie’s Garage/CEI Ford Mustang (1:34.171)
3. Ken Sutherland, No. 85 Kallberg Racing Dodge Challenger (1:34.841)
4. John Moore, No. 27 JM Environmental Ford Mustang (1:35.465)
5. Ken Thwaits, No. 9 Franklin Road Chevrolet Camaro (1:37.470)
XGT Practice:
Western Championship
1. Xuanqian Wang, No. 22 AURALIC North America Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO (No Time)
SGT Practice:
National Championship
1. Joshua Carlson, No. 36 Enseva/Diercks Ltd./TC Fab Ford Mustang (1:37.024)
Western Championship
1. JD Koos, No. 12 Nicole Douglas Design Porsche GT3 Cup 991.1 (1:41.556)
2. Rudy Revak, No. 7 XYNGULAR Pontiac Grand Prix (1:44.543)
GT Practice:
National Championship
1. Chris Coffey, No. 97 Norwood Auto Italia/Traffic Grafix Maserati MC GT4 (1:37.809)
2. Colin Cohen, No. 38 Norwood Auto Italia/Traffic Grafix Maserati MC GT4 (1:44.174)
Trans Am Series | Photo: Trans Am Series
