Brabham Goes Back To Front In Austin

AUSTIN, Texas — Matthew Brabham drove from last to first in the final Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli TA/GT race of the 2025 season at Circuit of The Americas.

After starting last in class in the Mission Foods COTA SpeedTour, the raw speed of Brabham’s No. 16 Gym Weed Ford Mustang allowed him to make his way to the front of the field just after the race’s halfway point, battling past first-place starter Paul Menard and second-place starter Adam Andretti.

From there, Brabham cruised to victory, claiming the win by a 15-second margin. While Brabham took the race win, Menard took the ultimate prize, claiming his second-consecutive TA championship in just his second full-time season.

In the closing laps, the best battle was between championship contenders Menard (No. 3 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford Mustang) and Andretti (No. 17 Top Liner Chevrolet Camaro), who swapped positions multiple times in the final five laps. Ultimately, it was Andretti who would take the runner-up spot, followed by Menard. Tomy Drissi (No. 8 Trench Shoring Co./Motul Chevrolet Camaro) finished fourth, and Simon Gregg (No. 59 Drissi Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro) finished fifth in his first race since 2022.

“A huge thank you to Gym Weed, our sponsor; these energy drinks are really delicious, and they look good on the livery,” said Brabham. “Thank you to [team owner] Chris Dyson. It’s always an honor to drive his car in his stead. Thanks to all the guys at Dyson Racing, they put together such a fast car. These are the best cars in the U.S., they’re so much fun to drive, and just as fun to race. Big thanks to all the competitors. It was fun racing with all these guys in the series. Lastly, thanks to my family: mom and dad, they’re here to support me, and thanks to Brumby and Kim back at home. Cheers.”

Following a dominant season in the SGT class, 2025 Champion Joshua Carlson once again dominated in his No. 36 Enseva/Diercks Ltd./TC Fab Ford Mustang, claiming his eighth win of the 2025 season. Carlson had a few fantastic battles with GT champion Chris Coffey (No. 97 Norwood Auto Italia/Traffic Grafix Ferrari 458 Challenge), who was making his SGT debut, but in the end, the race belonged to Carlson. Coffey finished second, and Patrick Utt (No. 49 RaceQuip/Driven Racing Oil Chevrolet Camaro) finished third.

“The race was fun, I had a lot of fun racing with Chris Coffey in the Ferrari, and I really hope I get to race with him again in the future,” said Carlson. “I’d just like to thank my sponsors and my family for all their support this year. My championship wouldn’t have been possible without them, and neither would this race win. Thank you to Trans Am for putting on such a good show, and thank all the fans for coming out. I’m really looking forward to next year.”

In just his second-career start in the GT class, Jake Latham dominated in the GT class in his No. 27 Coffey Motorsports/Traffic Grafix Maserati MC GT4. His incredible speed paired with troubles for his competitors led to him claiming his first-career Trans Am victory. Joe Bogetich finished second in his No. 65 Bogie Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, and Derric Carter (No. 24 PortableCarHoist.com Ford Mustang) finished third.

“I have to thank Chris Coffey for [allowing me to be] here,” said Latham. “Thanks for giving me the car, Chris, for trusting me with your car. And Colin [Cohen], thanks for all the help. I really appreciate it, you guys. It ended up being a great race.”

After being named SVRA’s 2025 Driver of the Year in last night’s awards banquet, Jon DeGaynor (No. 04 Speed Dream’n Racing Ford Mustang) led from start to finish in his class, earning his fourth victory of the season to clinch the first-ever GT1 Challenge title. Ray Kobs, who put up a valiant effort in the final laps to close the gap, finished second in his No. 00 AuditWell Chevrolet Corvette.

“I want to thank the team from Trans Am for all that you did to make it a great weekend, and I want to thank everyone at SVRA,” said DeGaynor. “Thank you to my wife, my family, and the team from the watch shop, thank you all.”