Matthew Brabham Continues Stunning Pole Streak in Canada

Matthew Brabham (No. 16 GYM SODA Ford Mustang) has remained perfect in qualifying for the Trans Am Series by Pirelli in 2026, winning the pole position for Saturday’s event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

The 32-year-old championship leader has continued an unimaginable streak of 10 races starting from the head of the field in the TA Class, dating back to the start of the season. Brabham laid down a lap time of 1:13.481, three tenths of a second faster than Paul Menard, who has won the last two events for the Trans Am Series by Pirelli at CTMP.

Brabham and Menard have shared the front of the pack for the vast majority of the 2026 Trans Am Series by Pirelli campaign, combining to win each of the first nine events – with Brabham coming home on the top-step of the podium eight times, compared to Menard’s one.

Chris Dyson, returning to the Trans Am Series by Pirelli this weekend in Carlington, Ontario, in a second entry (No. 20 RACER / Gym Soda Ford Mustang) for Chris Dyson Racing, was third quickest in qualifying, running a 1:15.584, more than two seconds slower than his driver, Matthew Brabham.

Tomy Drissi (No. 8 Trench Shoring Chevrolet Camaro) and Cole Moore (No. 9 Drissi Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro) rounded out the top five drivers in the TA Class. Moore, this year’s inaugural TA Cup Championship title-winner, is making his debut in the TA Class this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Qualifying Results – TA Class:

1. #16 Matthew Brabham (1:13.481)
2. #31 Paul Menard (1:13.797)
3. #20 Chris Dyson (1:15.584)
4. #8 Tomy Drissi (1:16.246)
5. #9 Cole Moore (1:16.861)
6. #57 David Pintaric (NO TIME)

Practice Results – TA Class:

1. #16 Matthew Brabham (1:14.840)
2. #31 Paul Menard (1:15.481)
3. #20 Chris Dyson (1:16.925)
4. #8 Tomy Drissi (1:16.946
5. #57 David Pintaric (1:17.632)
6. #9 Cole Moore (1:17.669)

Unique for this weekend’s Trans Am Series by Pirelli event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, is that the TA Class, SGT Class, CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series, and the CUBE 3 TA2 Series PRO-AM Divisions all hit the racetrack at once for qualifying.

Helio Meza (No. 28 Alessandro’s Racing / SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro) was the quickest of the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series drivers in qualifying Friday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, beating out his teammates from Team SLR, including championship leader Alon Day.

The native of Spring, Texas laid down a blazing time of 1:18.192 to secure the top spot in-class in Friday’s time trials, posting a lap just over two tenths of a second quicker than his teammate Alon Day (No. 17 JSSI Chevrolet Camaro). The two drivers have gone back-and-forth all weekend long at the Canadian road course, swapping the top spot between testing, practice, and now qualifying.

Piloting a third entry out of the Team SLR stable, Lanie Buice (No. 27 Sunoco / Guthrie’s Garage / SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro) went third-quickest of the CUBE 3 TA2 Series drivers in qualifying, not far behind her dominant teammates of Meza and Day.

Gian Buffomante was fourth, with Adrian Wlostowski rounding out the top five. A total of 16 drivers tackled Canadian Tire Motorsport Park from the TA2 Class in qualifying, the slowest of which was Jay Thomas, making his third career Trans Am start with Nitro Motorsports in the No. 70 Toyota Camry.

Qualifying Results – CUBE 3 TA2 Series:

1. #28 Helio Meza (1:18.192)
2. #17 Alon Day (1:18.411)
3. #27 Lanie Buice (1:19.288)
4. #95 Gian Buffomante (1:19.395)
5. #3 Adrian Wlostowski (1:19.398)
6. #7 Noah Harmon (1:19.443)
7. #51 Gavin Gleitsman (1:19.496)
8. #10 Ethan Tovo (1:19.596)
9. #68 Jace Denmark (1:19.818)
10. #75 Tanner Reif (1:19.873)

Practice Results – CUBE 3 TA2 Series:

1. #17 Alon Day (1:18.855)
2. #28 Helio Meza (1:18.989)
3. #95 Gian Buffomante (1:19.675)
4. #27 Lanie Buice (1:19.695)
5. #10 Ethan Tovo (1:19.740)
6. #7 Noah Harmon (1:19.741)
7. #51 Gavin Gleitsman (1:19.903)
8. #30 Jackson Tovo (1:20.255)
9. #75 Tanner Reif (1:20.372)
10. #68 Jace Denmark (1:20.419)

Jared Odrick (No. 00 Pop Art Snacks / Black Underwear Chevrolet Camaro) will start from the pole in Saturday’s CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Pro-Am Division, and 16th overall, after a solid qualifying effort on Friday that would have put him just outside the top-10 in the TA2 Series overall.

As Odrick fights to get the PRO-AM Championship lead back from Nitro Motorsports driver Cale Phillips this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, he’ll have to fight off Roberto Sabato, a Canadian-born driver, for the in-class victory this weekend around the 2.459-mile racetrack.

Sabato (No. 61 6th Gear Racing Ford Mustang) was 24 thousandths of a second slower than Odrick in qualifying on Friday. Cale Phillips was third in-class (24th overall) with Doug Winston fourth, Justin Elder fifth, and Christina Lam rounding out the field of PRO-AM drivers in sixth.

Qualifying Results – CUBE 3 TA2 Series PRO-AM

1. #00 Jared Odrick (1:20.019)
2. #61 Roberto Sabato (1:20.043)
3. #99 Cale Phillips (1:21.112)
4. #98 Doug Winston (1:22.271)
5. #91 Justin Elder (1:24.011)
6. #66 Christina Lam (1:24.020)

Practice Results – CUBE 3 TA2 Series PRO-AM

1. #00 Jared Odrick (1:20.571)
2. #61 Roberto Sabato (1:20.705)
3. #99 Cale Phillips (1:21.507)
4. #98 Doug Winston (1:22.417)
5. #91 Justin Elder (1:24.212)
6. #66 Christina Lam (1:24.535)

There’s a major opportunity at foot this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for both Patrick Utt (second in SGT Class points) and Zach Arnold (fourth in SGT Class points), with Chris Coffey, the SGT Class points absent this weekend in Ontario.

Zach Arnold (No. 72 Arnold Machine Porsche GT3 Cup) was the faster of the two drivers in Friday’s qualifying session, laying down a lap time of 1:23.215, to win the pole by the narrowest of margins – just nine thousandths of a second – over Patrick Utt, who will start in the second position.

Regardless of who starts where, and the fact that they’ll roll from 27th and 28th overall, Saturday’s 41-lap event is bound to be exciting, with the speeds so close between the two cars.

Qualifying Results – SGT Class:

1. #72 Zach Arnold (1:23.215)
2. #49 Patrick Utt (1:23.224)

Practice Results – SGT Class:

1. #49 Patrick Utt (1:23.661)
2. #72 Zach Arnold (1:24.020)

Saturday’s Trans Am Series by Pirelli event – including the TA Class, CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series, PRO-AM Division, and the SGT Class on-track together – will take place at 2:15 PM ET on RacingAmerica.TV, Racing America 24/7 Channel and @TheTransAmSeries on YouTube.

-Photo credit: Chris Clark Photography