Goble, Sutherland sweep Trans Am at Portland

The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s Western Championship race two at Portland International Raceway was nearly a repeat of race one, with the caution-free event once again dominated by Brody Goble in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series and Ken Sutherland in TA Cup. The two fired off strong and led from flag to flag, with Goble scoring his fourth win of the season and Sutherland claiming his third-consecutive victory.  

Brody Goble completed a perfect weekend at Portland International Raceway, sweeping both races of the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series with another dominant drive in race two. Piloting the No. 69 Brown Bros. Ford Lincoln Ford Mustang, Goble led from start to finish with another commanding performance, extending his championship lead with his fourth win in five races. Second-place starter Jack Perkins (No. 19 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry) held the runner-up position for more than half of the race, but on lap 33 he was forced to retire due to a clutch failure. Third-place starter Jade Avedisian (No. 10 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry) took over second when her Australian teammate went to the paddock, leaving her to contend with another teammate, Mia Lovell (No. 40 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang), for second place. After a tight contest where the two ran just a car length apart in the closing laps, Avedisian was able to hold onto second despite losing her shifter knob, while Lovell rounded out the podium, continuing her consistent campaign in the Western Championship points battle. Cole Moore (No. 99 Moore Motorsport/JM Environmental Ford Mustang) finished fourth, and Seamus McKendree secured a top-five finish in his No. 20 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang.

“Everything went to plan this entire weekend,” said Goble while accepting his trophy. “We unloaded the Brown Bros. Racing Ford Mustang from TeamSLR and M1 and we really didn’t make a ton of changes all weekend long. It just was fine tuning on Friday and we felt like we were in a good spot. In both races, the Nitro guys and gals raced pretty hard on those first few laps and we just kept our head down and didn’t drive it off or do anything dumb. It was an awesome weekend. It’s so cool to do the doubleheader and get both of them. Hats off to my team for putting me into a reliable car.”

Ken Sutherland completed a dominant weekend at Portland International Raceway by winning race two in the TA Cup class, backing up his Saturday triumph with another commanding performance. Starting first in class, Sutherland once again sliced through the field of CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series competitors, showcasing the pace and precision of his No. 85 Kallberg Racing Ford Mustang to take the overall win. Ken Thwaits (No. 9 Franklin Road Chevrolet Camaro) secured another second-place finish, also working his way through the field to finish second overall. In his first Trans Am race since 2023, Matt Crandall made an early pass on John Moore (No. 27 JM Environmental Ford Mustang), claiming the third podium spot in the No. 08 Central Welding Supply/Pinnacle Alloys Ford Mustang that car builder Chris Evans finished third in yesterday. Moore finished fourth after fighting mechanical issues throughout the event.

“I’m feeling great; this is exactly what we’d hoped for, but you know, you can’t count on it,” said Sutherland. “It’s our home track and I feel like we should do good every time we come here. Some things work against you sometimes, but not this weekend. It was great. I’ll second what everyone on this podium has said about Jeff Jefferson’s guys. They’re all out here in this mix and those guys take care of these cars and work their tails off.”

Simon Asselin in the No. 81 Infillion Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup was again the only competitor in the XGT class. In a testament to the Pirelli P Zero tire performance, Asselin ran both races on the same set of tires, completing more than 200 miles on the same rubber to take the checkered flag for the second time in as many days.

“That felt pretty good,” said Asselin on the podium. “Pirelli just launched a new tire, DHG, replacing DHF, and I think they’re a lot better for degradation and were stable through like two-thirds of the race. After that, I saw it falling off a little bit, but maybe it’s the driver falling off a little bit, as well.”

The Western Championship next hits the track at Thunderhill Raceway Park for a doubleheader at the Thunderhill SpeedTour, October 10-12. 

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