Matthew Brabham Navigates Changing Conditions to Earn Race 1 Victory at The Glen

Matthew Brabham has, without question, had a leg up on the Trans Am Series by Pirelli field all throughout the season with Chris Dyson Racing, and it continued in a spectacular way on Saturday, as the driver of the No. 16 Gymweed Ford Mustang went to Victory Lane at Watkins Glen International.

The Boca Raton, Florida-native dominated the first of two scheduled 30-lap (or 75-minute) contests for this doubleheader weekend at Watkins Glen – the second and final doubleheader weekend of the 2026 Trans Am by Pirelli campaign.

Though, things got off to a slow start on Saturday, after a heavy rain shower and thunderstorm moved through the Finger Lakes region of New York and caused a delay of about an hour, and when the race got going, left the drivers to figure out what was a very slick surface.

That, nor the ever-changing conditions, seemed to impact Brabham, at all, though, who managed to quickly scurry away from the pack on restarts and gap the remainder of the field by a significant margin. The Chris Dyson Racing driver accredited that to his former experiences at Watkins Glen International.

“It was awesome fun out there, it’s almost more fun when you’ve got varying conditions, you’re kind of having a guessing game, you come to a corner and you never know what you’ve got,” said Brabham post-race. “I love that stuff, it’s so much fun.”

“It reminds me of racing in Stadium Super Trucks,” he added. “I’ve had a lot of experience here in the wet, racing Super Trucks here with Robby Gordon, and also IMSA here, so I knew I had an advantage coming here from the start, and I feel like that showed.”

After a restart inside the final 10 laps of Saturday’s 30-lapper, Brabham managed to blast away from the pack, again, on the restart, and by the finish, pulled out to a lead of more than 17 seconds. On the final lap, the driver of the No. 16 went 100% and laid down the fastest lap of the race, which will earn him the pole for Sunday’s second leg of the doubleheader.

Paul Menard, once again, finished in the runner-up position, with Chris Dyson in third. David Pintaric, despite a couple of off-track excursions throughout the event, managed to finish in the fourth position. Tomy Drissi, making his 200th Trans Am start, finished fifth.

Drissi was running as high as third-place overall in Saturday’s event, battling for a podium position with Chris Dyson, but crashed hard at Turn 6 in his No. 8 Trench Shoring Chevrolet Camaro. Drissi sustained major damage and will have to fix his racecar for tomorrow’s event.

Amy Ruman and Jon DeGaynor didn’t start Saturday’s event and will be credited with sixth and seventh.

TA Class Race Results:

1. #16 Matthew Brabham
2. #3 Paul Menard
3. #20 Chris Dyson
4. #57 David Pintaric
5. #8 Tomy Drissi
6. #23 Amy Ruman (DNS)
7. #4 Jon DeGaynor (DNS)

Zach Arnold (No. 72 Arnold Machine Porsche GT3 Cup) is going to come away with the victory in Saturday’s Trans Am Series by Pirelli SGT Class at Watkins Glen International, after an interesting sequence of events unfolded in the second half of the race.

It started with 12 laps remaining in Saturday’s event, when Jesse Schmidt and Chris Coffey were engaged in a multi-lap battle for the SGT Class victory, and had just seemed to sort things out, when the No. 91 (Schmidt) made contact with the GT Class vehicle of Derric Carter, sending him into the tire barriers in Turn 11.

A full-course caution was displayed (for a combination of that incident and a hard wreck for Tomy Drissi in Turn 6), and during that caution, while several of the overall leaders chose to come to pit road and put on slick tires, Coffey, the SGT Class leader, stayed on the racetrack.

The track was rapidly drying, and upon returning to green-flag conditions, Coffey realized his wet-weather tires likely weren’t going to make it to the finish, forcing an unscheduled pit stop, and handing the in-class win to Zach Arnold.

Chris Coffey ended up second, with Milton Grant in third, and Jesse Schmidt, who failed to finish the event, coming home in fourth.

SGT Class Race Results:

1. #72 Zach Arnold
2. #97 Chris Coffey
3. #15 Milton Grant
4. #91 Jesse Schmidt

Michael Saia (No. 13 KMC / Motul / Rabid Wraps / Rapid Performance Porsche 997.1 GT3 Cup) is back on the top step of the podium in the Trans Am Series by Pirelli at Watkins Glen International, after defeating Derric Carter in Saturday’s 30-lap event.

A native of Amesbury, Maryland, Saia was the quickest of the two GT Class drivers in practice on Friday, but qualifying runner-up after Carter picked up more than 10 seconds from practice to qualifying. But, in the race, the No. 13 took advantage of an unscheduled pit stop for Saia that put him securely out front.

It’s the fourth victory for Saia in the Trans Am Series by Pirelli, and the second of 2026 in the GT Class.

GT Class Race Results:

1. #13 Michael Saia
2. #24 Derric Carter

-Photo credit: Chris Clark Photography