Nitro Motorsports Wins and Podiums in Trans Am, Finishes Second in ARCA, and Earns Highest Finishing Female Award in Toyota GR Cup – Speedway Digest

With drivers competing nationwide, Nitro Motorsports had one of their best weekends to date in 2025. Earning the Trans Am Presented by Pirelli TA2 victory at the Sonoma Raceway with Brent Crews, Thad Moffit narrowly missed the win in the ARCA Menards Series at the Talladega Superspeedway. Paityn MaryJane earned the Highest Finishing Female award twice at the Circuit of the Americas in the Toyota GR Cup Series as the 2025 season is in full swing.

“I wanted to be at all three events, but obviously that is not possible,” explained Nitro Motorsports’ Nick Tucker. “It’s cool to watch your drivers at one event live, while trying to find phone or internet signal to watch your team compete on the other side of the country. All in all, it was a good weekend, and we have a lot of positive momentum on our side. Already looking forward to next weekend!”

With three different series in competition across three different venues in North America, eight Nitro Motorsports drivers took on the Trans Am Series Presented by Pirelli and the Trans Am Series Western Championship at the famed Sonoma Raceway. With qualifying rained out, the grid was set by practice two times, and Brent Crews started from the inside of the front row. Showing speed from lap one, Crews dominated the wheel-to-wheel action, earning another TA2 win for Nitro Motorsports, their third win in as many races. Crews also earned the Omologato Fastest Lap of the Race award. Sam Corry and Julian DaCosta finished fifth and seventh, respectively, to put three Nitro Motorsports drivers inside the top-ten. Point leader and two-time race winner in 2025, Thomas Annunziata started the race third but finished well down the running order, while Gian Buffomante and Boris Said Jr. were classified tenth and 13th in the National class.

Finishing 11th on track but third in the Trans Am Series Western Championship results, Mia Lovell garnered a podium result for Nitro Motorsports and stood on the podium for the second consecutive Western Championship event. Seamus McKendree, competing in the same class as Lovell, started sixth in class and finished just behind Lovell in fourth, adding another top-five to his results resume.

In Alabama, it was the Nitro Motorsports ARCA Menards Series duo of Thad Moffitt and Amber Balcaen who battled the Talladega Superspeedway, and it ended positively for the team. After having both drivers taken out of the race due to incidents at the opening event at the Daytona International Speedway, and Thad Moffit earning Nitro Motorsports’ first career top-ten in Phoenix a few weeks later, Moffit reset the squad’s highest finish, crossing the line second in a hard-fought battle for the win. Amber Balcaen had a solid result after starting 27th on the grid and eventually was classified 16th on the results sheet.

In a one-lap shootout after a late race caution, Moffit was able to get off the line good, but with his competitor’s teammate behind him assisting in a push to the finish, the Nitro Motorsports driver crossed the line six one thousandths of a second behind the race winner.

“It sucks, but it’s good at the same time. I thought I won that race. I thought I got through the box better, I thought I got down to turn one better, but he just had his teammate behind him to give him a push-down into turn one,” explained a dejected Moffit. “Nitro Motorsports is going to win races this year. I got a good group. I’ve got a good team. Super thankful to be part of Toyota Gazooo Racing in the Toyota Development program. We will show people what we’re made of the rest of the year. I am just dejected right now, but we will take this result, and it will give us momentum moving forward. Right now, it just sucks.”

Back in Texas, it was the Nitro Motorsports Toyota GR Cup North America program that was on track at the famed Circuit of the Americas. Ethan Ayers led the four-driver squad on the results sheet throughout the weekend, finishing seventh on Saturday and 11th on Sunday, while Paityn MaryJane earned the Highest Finishing Female award both days, taking $10,000 home for her efforts. The Tovo Twins of Ethan and Jackson Tovo had a challenging day on Saturday but returned Sunday to cross the line 15th and 18th, rebounding from their previous day results.

With no rest for the wicked, the Nitro Motorsports Trans Am Presented by Pirelli team will be back on track this weekend at the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.

For more information on Nitro Motorsports, please visit them online or contact Nick Tucker via email HERE or visit them online at www.RaceNitro.com.

Nitro Motorsports PR