To celebrate its 50th year of competition, the Trans Am Series is giving itself a big present in 2016: it’s returning to race in Detroit and at Belle Isle for the first time in 15 years.
The Trans Am Series will be part of this year’s Chevrolet Belle Isle Grand Prix, June 3-5. The series will host two invitational races – the Motor City 100 – on June 4 and June 5 on the 2.3-mile Raceway at the Belle Isle Park street circuit.
“Everyone in the Trans Am Series is ecstatic to return to the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix,” Trans Am Series President John Clagett said in a media release. “We’re excited to reintroduce the modern Trans Am Series to fans in the Motor City 100 and continue the legacy of great Trans Am races in Detroit.”
Trans Am began racing at the Detroit Grand Prix, starting when the race was contested on Detroit city streets in 1984 until 1993, before the Grand Prix moved to its current venue on Belle Isle from 1994-2001. During its prior tenure in Detroit, the Trans Am Series contested a number of exciting races with drivers including Wally Dallenbach Jr., Scott Pruett, Dorsey Schroeder, Scott Sharp, Ron Fellows and Tommy Kendall.
“We’re excited to bring back some history, some heritage and even more on-track excitement with the return of the Trans Am Series to the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix,” Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix chairman Bud Denker said. “Our racing fans will be thrilled to see the competition between Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, BMW, Aston Martin and more in the Trans Am field all weekend long and we’re honored to bring back the tradition of the Trans Am Motor City 100.”
The return of the Trans Am Series further expands a big weekend of racing in Motor City that will feature eight different races in three days. The main event will be the Verizon IndyCar Series and its doubleheader weekend of two races, the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit.
In addition, IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will run on June 4 in the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, while the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks will compete on all three days at the Grand Prix.
The Trans Am Series has five different classes that will be in action on Belle Isle: the premier GT cars in the TA class, as well as undercard classes TA2, TA3, TA4 and TA5.
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