Andy Lally, Brent Crews Win SpeedTour All-Star Race at Lime Rock Park

The SpeedTour All-Star Race brought together 19 Trans-Am TA2 Series teams at Lime Rock Park Saturday, with a combination of “all-star” drivers competing alongside series regulars. After a pair of 25-minute races, the duo of Andy Lally and Brent Crews were crowned champions.

The All-Star drivers, consisting of icons from several disciplines of motorsports, competed in the first 25-minute race, receiving points based on their finishing order. Then, they turned the cars over to the Trans-Am regulars for the final 25 minutes.

Lally finished second to Scott Speed in the All-Star race, while Crews finished third in Race 2. This earned the No. 70 Nitro Motorsports team 35 points, enough to secure the $50,000 payday for the winners of the SpeedTour All-Star Race.

“It’s an absolute honor to be here, racing on-track with these guys,” said Lally. “I got a moment to share the seat with a future superstar in Brent Crews here. It’s just an absolute blast.

“I’ve been bugging people to drive these TA2 cars for years. I love this series. I finally got an opportunity and a W out of the box.”

“I just want to thank the good Lord above,” said Crews. “I’m honored to be racing with Andy. I know he said ‘future star’ for me, but he’s already a star. Cool racing with a star like that and seeing what he’s capable of. From the first lap, he was great. It’s cool to be racing with a teammate like that.”

During the first 25-lap race of the event, the “All Stars” took their turns in the TA2 machines. The battle for the win came down to former Formula 1 driver Scott Speed and five-time Rolex 24 at Daytona winner Andy Lally, with Speed holding on for the victory. Paul Menard finished third, followed by Adam Andretti.

Hailie Deegan was running in the top five of the first half, but spun exiting the final corner after contact with the lapped car of Davy Jones. This allowed Bobby Labonte to finish fifth in the first half.

The finishing order for Race 1 set the starting lineup for Race 2, meaning young gun Tristan McKee led the field to the green flag as Speed’s tag team partner. However, Crews quickly jumped to the lead in the second race. Adrian Wlostowski spun on the frontstretch at the end of the first lap in a skirmish with McKee and Thomas Merrill battling for second.

Thomas Annunziata charged from seventh to the lead in the first eight laps of the second half, and ultimately took the checkered flag in Race 2. McKee stopped with a flat left-front tire in the final six minutes, bringing out a full-course yellow flag condition that ended the race.

Crews finished third in Race 2, earning enough points to secure the event title. A former champion in the TA2 series, Crews acknowledged that experience helped him keep an eye on the big picture.

“Thankfully, I got to do it two years ago now with Trans-Am and was able to figure out how to win a championship,” he said. “It was the same mindset. I knew we didn’t have to do anything crazy and go for second or first. Finish third and get the money. That’s what we were looking at, and that’s what we did.”

While Annunziata won Race 2, the team accumulated 32 points and finished third overall behind the pairing of Bobby Labonte and Thomas Merrill. Annunziata was admittedly disappointed in not taking the overall win, but took solace in the race victory and a 1-3 effort for the Nitro Motorsports team.

“I get to race with my NASCAR heroes when I was younger, so I’m thankful for that,” said Annunziata. “Thanks to the Nitro Motorsports guys, they really deserved to win. We had the pace to win all year and just had bad luck going our way. We’ll see what we can do the rest of the year, but I’m thankful for them.”

“I’m just really proud of everyone’s effort to have a 1-3 effort with Nitro Motorsports,” added Newman, who finished seventh in Race 1. “Thomas did an amazing job driving to the front. I was happy to get him a decent starting spot. I wish I could have done a better job and held up my end of the bargain and finished champions today.”

Labonte finished fifth in Race 1, while Merrill was runner-up to Annunziata in Race 2. That pair of top-five finishes was enough to secure second place overall in the SpeedTour All-Star Race.

“I learned so much co-driving with [Labonte],” said Merrill. “Racing with this guy was so much fun. Not only him, but the whole All-Star cast we brought out this weekend was phenomenal. To spend time with them, learn from them, get to know them was fantastic.

“Bobby Labonte is a true racer. After this weekend, I’m your number-one fan. This was so much fun.”

Partnered with Mike Cope Racing, it was a full-circle moment for Labonte and Cope. Mike Cope previously competed in cars owned by Labonte in NASCAR’s Slim Jim All Pro Series, and now it was Labonte racing in Cope’s TA2 car.

“Thomas and the whole Mike Cope team brought me in,” said Labonte. “Funny story is, Mike Cope drove for me 30 years ago in short track racing. It brings it back full-circle. Thomas taught me a lot about the race track. I had never been here before. He was a great driver coach, I appreciate that from him. It was a blast. I can’t thank Tony enough for bringing us back, bringing us on. It’s a blast being able to race with these guys.

“When you look at the picture at the end of the day of all these drivers that ran this race, I’m glad to be a small part of it. I can tell my friends who I raced with, who beat me, and all of that. It’s great. A lot of fun. We came up a little bit short, probably on my end, but maybe we’ll get invited back and do it again.”

Connor Mosack proved to be the hard charger of Race 2. Starting 17th paired with Ken Schrader, Mosack moved all the way up to fourth in Race 2. Ben Maier rounded out the top five.

The @GoTransAm move of the race goes to @connormosack getting past Ben Maier at @limerockpark pic.twitter.com/p9ufsQmyxy

— MAVTV (@MAVTV) July 20, 2024

The Lime Rock Park weekend also featured the return of IROC, with an on-track exhibition as well as displays featuring vehicles that competed in the iconic series.

-Photo credit: Photo credit: SpeedTour Broadcast

SpeedTour All-Star Race Unofficial Results