The Pirelli World Challenge was an exciting addition to Brainerd International Raceway's schedule on Labor Day weekend during the 26th annual Muscle Car Shootout.
In addition to the Pirelli races on the road course, the Muscle Car Shootout also featured the Trans-Am Series, which provided an exclamation point on the three-day event with a 40-lap, 100-mile race Sunday afternoon. The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) was on the road course as well for regional racing during the Jack Pine Sprints.
During Saturday's Pirelli race, Karl Thomsen won his first Touring Car class race, edging pole sitter Ray Mason by 1.681 seconds.
In Touring Car A, Ernie Francis Jr., started in second but moved quickly into the lead and held off the field for his ninth win of the season.
In Touring Car B, Johan Swartz crossed the finish line first, only .977 seconds ahead of second-place Glenn Nixon and 1.143 seconds ahead of 14-year-old Nathan Stacey.
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In Sunday's race, Schwartz and Francis Jr., repeated as winners while Fred Emich won the Touring Car class for his first career win. Emich finished 2.319 seconds head of second-place finisher Thomsen.
Francis Jr., dominated the Touring Car A class, winning by 23 seconds.
It was a different story in the Touring Car B class as four cars were separated by 1.847 seconds at the finish, with Schwartz beating Nixon again by only .528 seconds.
The weekend's showcase race was Sunday as defending Trans-Am champion Doug Peterson showed why he's leading the point standings again this year, leading from start to finish to hold off a challenge from Amy Ruman and Cliff Ebben, who finished second and third, respectively, less than 9 seconds behind Peterson.
In Trans-Am2, Ron Keith won his first Trans-Am2 race, beating Tommy Kendall and third-place finisher Adam Andretti, the nephew of Indy 500 winner Mario Andretti.
