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The SCCA Trans Am is one of the cheapest forms of road racing available in the US short of production car racing. The cars are tube framed silhouettes of the production model. Fenders and ground effect skirts are allowed and made from light weight fiberglass or kevlar. The roof must be from the production vehicle. I would imagine that Gentilozzi will use some sort of Jaguar/Ford powerplant to meet the rules. He would not be allowed to run a Chevy Can Am V8 in a Jaguar. If Gentilozzi wins the championship he will become the first to do so in consecutive years with a different manufacturer. He won two years ago in a Mustang Cobra and last year in a Chevy Corvette.
The cars are pretty awesome to see. I was at the '96 Dallas Grand Prix and saw these machines up close. They use their hard acceleration more than pure top speed to get around the normally short tracks they run. The cars are very wide, have a huge amount of traction from very wide tires and have little suspension travel. The overrun from the engine created huge fireballs fromt he exhaust when cornering.
The Trans Am is the oldest form of road racing in the US. Many excellent drivers came through the Trans Am during its golden years in the early 70s. Roger Penske, Mark Donahue, Dan Gurney, Carroll Shelby, Jim Hall, and Parnelli Jones just to name a few. They will be touring with the ALMS for the domestic rounds this year.
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