Matos takes first Trans Am TA2 win of the year at Laguna

The CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca was wild from start to finish, with crashes, attrition and penalties affecting the results throughout the field, as competitors battled hard in the Mission Foods Laguna Seca SpeedTour. In the end, it was Rafa Matos in the No. 57 Concord American Flagpole/SHR Chevrolet Camaro who was victorious, claiming his first win of the 2025 season as he pursues his fourth championship in the series.

Matos took the green flag from the pole position and smoothly pulled out to the lead. Behind him, Thomas Annunziata (No. 90 Gazoo Racing/Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry) advanced from fourth place to second, making his way around second-place starter Mike Skeen (No. 2 Guthrie’s Garage Chevrolet Camaro) and third-place starter Tristan McKee (No. 128 Spire/Gainbridge/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro), who got shuffled back to fifth before the action was slowed on lap two for a crash.

When racing resumed on lap eight, Matos once again pulled ahead of his competitors, while Skeen and McKee both reclaimed their starting positions after getting back around Annunziata, and 2023 champion Brent Crews (No. 10 Mobil 1/Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry) worked his way into fifth. The top five settled in over the next eight laps, with Matos pulling out to a three-second advantage. However, a safety car closed up the field on lap 16.

The race went green on lap 19, and over the next 11 laps, Matos once again showed his immense speed, gapping Skeen by 2.715s before the caution was displayed for a multi-car crash in the corkscrew where Annunziata made contact with McKee, who spun and dropped back in the running order. Green-flag racing resumed on lap 33, and Matos once again led Skeen and Annunziata, with Crews now in fourth and Julian DaCosta (No. 30 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang) scored fifth.

The restart was a wild one, with Skeen challenging Matos and drag racing into Turn 5, and Annunziata joining the race to take it three wide. Unfortunately, the three ran out of real estate and all made contact, with Skeen getting spun, Annunziata requiring service on pit road and Matos dropping back to fourth place.

Crews emerged as the new leader, with DaCosta, Adrian Wlostowski (No. 3 CMI/Spot-On Services/AMT Motorsports Ford Mustang), Matos and Gian Buffomante (No. 95 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang) in his wake. Following a brief cleanup, the race went green on lap 38, setting up a two-lap shootout. Matos and Wlostowski were both trying to make a charge for the front when Wlostowski got into both Crews and DaCosta, sending both of them off the racing line.

Wlostowski took the lead, but Matos’ speed was unmatched as the field took the white flag. He looked to Wlostowski’s inside in the Corkscrew and made the pass for the lead. Matos took the checkers, followed by Wlostowski and Buffomante. Eric Cayton crossed the finish line fourth, and Annunziata was scored fifth. However, following the race, Wlostowski, Cayton and Annunziata were all assessed avoidable contact penalties, which moved them back to seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.

In the final results, Matos, Buffomante and McKee completed the podium, and Said Jr. and Dominic Starkweather (No. 47 Beacon Building Products Ford Mustang) rounded out the top five.

“It was a great day for the Silver Hare Racing team,” said Matos. “I think we’ve done a fantastic job making sure that the car was really quick in qualifying and in the race. Unfortunately, I was looking forward to having a clean race, but I got moved out of the way on that last restart. I fell back to fourth place and had to work really hard to regain those positions.

“It kind of fell in our lap at the end. I had to pass a few cars, but the car was so strong that it enabled me to do that. Just super proud of the Concord American Flagpole Silver Hare Racing boys prepping this car, making sure the car was in a very fast state. This should put us in a good position for the championship. Hopefully, we’ll keep plugging away and this will be our year.”

Barry Boes in the No. 27 Accio Data/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro led the first 29 laps of the Pro/Am Challenge, but unfortunately, when another car got turned sideways in the Corkscrew, he had nowhere to go and made heavy contact, ending his day. From there, second-place starter Jared Odrick took the mantle in his No. 100 Black Underwear/CoolBoxx Chevrolet Camaro. Following close racing in the final laps, Odrick crossed the finish line first, followed by Viktor Czapla (No. 88 CoolBoxx Dodge Challenger) and Tom Sheehan (No. 97 Vixen Cycle Co./LTK/Cope Ford Mustang).

“I’m just so happy that our team really hung in there,” said Odrick. “Shout-out to Troy and everybody at TRB Autosport, CoolBoxx, Black Underwear and Evan Slater. Evan has been great. He and I have been spending a lot of time together. He’s been teaching me a lot and hopefully a few things rub off on him, but we’ve been a great team. We’ve been really coming together.

“This weekend we had to keep our heads in it and really make sure that we got as many points as we could while we were out here and make use of this trip. I think more than anything, it really says a lot about our team and that we’re true competitors. We brought on Viktor this weekend with CoolBoxx, and it was awesome to be able to support him this weekend. I couldn’t be happier. We’re going to have podium burgers and podium beers all night.”

2023 CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Western Championship title winner Brody Goble captured his second win of the 2025 season, piloting his No. 69 Brown Bros. Ford Lincoln Ford Mustang to an incredible second-place finish overall.

Goble captured the pole for the Western Championship and started the race seventh overall. While Goble led the charge for Western competitors, he was followed for the first 13 laps by Barry Boes (No. 27 Accio Data/SLR-M1 Chevrolet), who was running in both Pro/Am Challenge and the Western Championship, and Kyle Kelley (No. 80 UPR.com/PK+k Motorsports Ford Mustang).

On lap 14, Kelley worked his way around Boes for second, and by lap 29, Boes was eliminated from competition after making contact with another driver in the Corkscrew. Goble continued to hold a solid lead, running sixth overall, with Kelley, 2024 champion Michael LaPaglia (No. 31 Papini’s Garage/F.A.S.T. Auto/Howe Ford Mustang) and Tim Carroll (No. 46 CRDMFG.com Chevrolet Camaro) running together a little farther back in the field behand a handful of National competitors.

A caution on lap 30 closed up the field, and when green-flag racing resumed on lap 33, LaPaglia and Kelley battled it out for position, swapping spots until double yellows were displayed on lap 34. The field saw the green flag again on lap 38, and chaos ensued in the front of the field. While National competitors were beating, banging and knocking each other out of the race, Goble, LaPaglia and Kelley ran in a tight row. LaPaglia challenged Goble for the lead, and the two came together, with LaPaglia bouncing out of the racing line.

As Goble led the final lap, Kelley moved into second, and LaPaglia was able to hold onto third when the checkered flag waved, with the trio finishing third, fourth and fifth overall. Cole Moore (No. 99 More Motorsport/JM Environmental Ford Mustang) crossed the finish line fourth in class, and Clay Koevary rounded out the top five for Western competitors.

Following the race, LaPaglia was issued a penalty for avoidable contact, which moved him back to seventh in the Western Championship. A penalty assessed against Adrian Wlostowski in the National Championship moved Goble’s finish up to second overall, and Kelley up to third overall.

“Today was awesome; we were pretty proud to be up there with the National guys,” said Goble. “Obviously, we only have a couple of races against the National guys now, and our Team SLR-M1 race car from Brown Bros. Ford was great today. I mean, we definitely had something for ’em on all the restarts, the car would fire up real quick. I mean, if it kept going on a longer run, it was going to be a bit of an issue, but every time that we had a restart, we were right there.

“At one point, I thought we could even be higher up on that National podium, but to get to place overall and hold it down for the privateers and the West Coast guys, I think it goes to show how far our Western Championship has really come. We keep making strides and all racing together and getting better. I think it’s awesome. I hope to see the National guys at COTA again, maybe get one more in there in between. It was an awesome and fun race.”

The CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series will next hit the track at Lime Rock Park, May 23-26.

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