Helio Meza Dominant In Winning Effort in CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Opener

The field had absolutely nothing for 17-year-old rookie contender Helio Meza, who captured the win in the season-opening CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series event at Sebring International Raceway in a dominant performance on Sunday.

While there were close battles throughout the 32-car field throughout the event, some which resulted in wild on-track incidents during the 26-lap event. Aside from restarts, Meza never really found himself near any other competitors in a battle for position on the day.

When the checkered flag was displayed, the young driver of the No. 28 Team SLR Chevrolet Camaro held a 3.193-second advantage over Nitro Motorsports driver Vinnie Meskelis, who would record a runner-up finish on his birthday.

Meza, who was unsure until recently that he would run the full-time schedule in 2026, enjoyed his view from the front of the field on Sunday.

"Yeah, I mean, that was a fun drive. I just took the approach of enjoying this weekend," Meza explained. "And, you know, I didn't know if I was going to run the full season this year. So, to be a full-time driver in this series is a dream come true for me."

Meza, who scored the race win in the final TA2 race of the 2025 season at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, has now opened his career in the TA2 ranks with back-to-back victories, and he has asserted himself as a threat for the championship, one race into the season.

The driver credited his entire team for helping him prepare for Sunday's race, and he says that preparation led to the dominant performance.

"They've worked so hard for this opportunity, I just can't thank everyone enough. Josh Wise, Scott Speed, I mean, we prepped so hard in the offseason for this race. I felt like I'd driven this race 1,000 times, and so I got on the track and knew what I had to do.

"Couldn't do it without the people behind me, my family, my dad. Always being there for me. So, yeah, this one means a lot and is definitely a confidence builder for the season ahead of us."

Noah Harmon finished third, which allowed him to join Meza and Meskelis on the podium, while Adrian Wlostowski and Ethan Tovo also finished firmly inside the top five in Sunday's race at Sebring.

You didn't have to look much further than the top five in the race results to find the top-finishing TA2 Pro/Am Challenger, as former first-round NFL draft pick Jared Odrick began the defense of his 2025 TA2 Pro/Am championship by finishing the highest of the Pro/Am competitors at Sebring with an impressive seventh-place result.

The driver of the No. 00 TRB Autosport Chevrolet Camaro and his team had an uneasy start to the weekend as they were unable to record any test time prior to Saturday's practice session, which ultimately set the starting lineup for the field when qualifying was washed out.

"It feels good. You know, we had a rough start to the weekend, but I mean, coming back from not having any test time prior to the practice. We put down an official practice time that put us P1. We were pretty thankful for that."

Once he got the favorable starting spot, which placed him ahead of the other Pro/Am competitors, Odrick opted to race methodically, instead of an ultra-aggressive game plan.

"We just stayed consistent, you know. And there was a lot of battling going on right in front of me, and I took what was given to me. That's kind of how we played it this weekend. We were thankful to start at the position we were in, and we took what was given."

It worked as Odrick came home seventh, two spots ahead of Tom Sheehan, the runner-up Pro/Am driver in the field, who finished ninth.

Cale Phillips would close out the podium finishers in the TA2 Pro/Am Class as he nabbed a 12th-place result.

CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Sebring Race Results (Unofficial)

-Photo Credit: Sarah Glasco | Racing America

John Atwell Scores Win In First-Ever TA Sprint Race

Prior to Sunday's TA2 race, history was made as the first-ever TA Sprint Series event was contested at Sebring International Raceway. The history books will always show John Atwell as the winner of the first TA Sprint Series race, as he topped the seven-car field, which was filled by TA2 Class competitors, by nearly 30 seconds.

Bruce Raymond finished runner-up, and James Libecco, who started from the pole position, finished third.