Story By: LAZ DENES / SILVER HARE RACING – HIGH POINT, NC – One race removed from Silver Hare Racing’s victory at Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway in February’s Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series season opener, the team’s driver trio of Connor Mosack, Boris Said Jr., and Jake Drew are determined to add another “W” on the outskirts of New Orleans during Sunday’s round three.
Mosack and Said hit the 2.75-mile, 16-turn road course at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, Louisiana, on the rebound after mechanical issues ended their respective race days early during round two March 24 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Such occurrences have been a rarity in the Silver Hare camp in the last year, during which the team scored six victories over a 12-race span, including 2024 part-timer Connor Zilisch’s drive from the pole to the checkered flag at Sebring in February.
Still, the team heads to the NOLA SpeedTour with plenty of momentum thanks to Drew’s impressive fourth-place finish at Road Atlanta in his first career TA2 Series outing.
Mosack, the 25-year-old driver who was a TA2 championship contender in 2021 and 2022 before embarking on a mixed bag of NASCAR Xfinity Series and ARCA Menards Series events last year, will be making his 35th career TA2 start this weekend and his first at NOLA. The series returned to the track last season for the first time since 2016. The Charlotte native and driver of the No. 77 Silver Hare Racing/PRG Chevrolet Camaro opened the season with an 11th-place finish at Sebring before his early exit on lap four at Road Atlanta because of an exhaust system issue. Between the Sebring and Road Atlanta weekends, the two-time TA2 Series race winner finished 19th in the NASCAR Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in a Niece Motorsports Chevrolet, and a solid fourth in the rain-shortened ARCA race at Phoenix Raceway in his Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet, which featured Silver Hare Racing on the hood of his racecar.
Said, the son of veteran NASCAR and sportscar racer Boris Said, introduced the blue-and-white colors of HendrickCars.com on his No. 75 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro at Road Atlanta for the first of 11 races this season. It’s an identical scheme to the one his father will sport in his 150th and final NASCAR appearance – dating back to 1995 – in the June 8 Xfinity Series race at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. After qualifying seventh at Road Atlanta, his best TA2 qualifying result in 15 career outings, the younger Said made steady progress advancing his position in the opening 23 laps of the 40-lap race before a rear-end issue left him stranded on course. The 20-year-old from Escondido, California, took part in last year’s NOLA event in a Peterson Racing Chevrolet, but saw that bid end on lap five with a mechanical issue.
Behind the wheel of the No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro for the second race in a row will be the 24-year-old Drew, a native of Fullerton, California, who competed in a half-dozen NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events in 2023, and a 23-race slate of ARCA Menards Series outings from 2021 to 2023 that featured three road-course victories in 2022 – two in ARCA West competition at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway and one at Sonoma. He joined Silver Hare Racing to further enhance his road-course race craft.
Sunday’s 37-lap, 75-minute race is set for 1:10 p.m. CDT with live television coverage by MAVTV, augmented by live streaming video on the Trans Am and SpeedTour channels on YouTube. MAVTV will also broadcast a 60-minute race highlight show at 8 p.m. EDT on Thursday, April 18.
Silver Hare Racing leverages its Trans Am effort to promote its arrive-and-drive program, where aspiring racers and even tenured professionals hone their road-racing skills on some of the most revered tracks in North America. NASCAR Cup Series drivers Daniel Suárez, Christopher Bell, William Byron and Harrison Burton have all wheeled Silver Hare Racing-prepared cars to burnish their road-racing abilities in top-flight equipment.
The team offers six, professionally built and maintained TA2 chassis from Howe Racing for both competition and private testing. Silver Hare Racing has a dedicated, fulltime crew and operates out of a state-of-the-art facility in High Point, North Carolina. At the track, two 53-foot Featherlite transporters serve as the team’s base, each outfitted with a lounge and smart TVs for data and video review, as well as for hospitality.
To further Silver Hare Racing’s driver development capabilities, the team’s race shop in High Point is now equipped with a SHOCKWAVE Simulator, a tool specifically developed for drivers to accelerate racetrack familiarity, improve car control and confidence, and build stamina. SHOCKWAVE has been involved in racing since 1965 and is currently actively participating in NASCAR, ARCA, Trans Am, Late Models, and Sprint cars. Its Trans Am package replicates a Howe Racing TA2 chassis, complete with cockpit controls and sounds.
“With NASCAR having so many more road-course races, it’s our goal for Silver Hare Racing to be the preferred team for drivers to get that road-course experience,” said Laura Hull, Silver Hare Racing co-owner and team manager. “We want to be that important step in the ladder for the young, up-and-coming drivers. We want people to know we have an arrive-and-drive program, where for people who want to run this track or another, we provide the opportunity to do that and be successful.”
Connor Mosack, driver, No. 77 Silver Hare Racing/PRG Chevrolet Camaro:
You’re paying your first visit to NOLA this weekend. What have you been able to do to prepare?
“I have some of Connor Zilisch’s in-car video from last year, and other than watching last year’s race, there’s not a whole lot for this one, really. There’s no simulation. Relying on the few people I know who have been there. Other than that, there’s not as much as there is for the other tracks that we go to. Based on what I’ve seen and heard, it’s obviously flat and there are a lot of sweeping corners, some are slower, some are faster, so the track has that rhythm feel to it. You’re definitely going to have to change direction well at higher speeds. That’s where a lot of the lap time is going to be, in those esses on the back side.”
You had a promising weekend at Road Atlanta until the unfortunate mechanical issue in the opening laps of the race. What’s your mindset as you arrive at NOLA and look at the rest of the season?
“Ultimately, you pretty much have to put together a perfect race if you’re going to win in this series. That’s what we’re always working on, making sure we can get to the end of the race without having any issues. We’ve been really fast. I felt like at Atlanta we had a really good car and one that I definitely felt was good enough to compete for the win with. Unfortunately, we’ll never know, but from what I felt in practice and the first three and a half laps of the race, I was pretty happy with the car. If we can bring that speed to NOLA and not have any issues, I’m pretty confident that the results will be there and all season once we get these kinks worked out.”
What will it take to climb back into championship contention, like you were during your previous two fulltime TA2 seasons in 2021 and 2022?
“We’re obviously in a pretty big hole points-wise, but there are 10 races left and plenty of races where other guys can have issues and, even if they don’t, if we run strong enough, we can still overcome that. This is a team that’s shown it’s capable of putting together several wins in a row. The second half of last year, Silver Hare turned it on in a big way and went on quite the streak. Once you get on a roll like that, anything can happen.”
Boris Said Jr., driver, No. 75 HendrickCars.com/Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro:
You had a solid run going at NOLA last year before a mechanical issue ended your day early. Are you going back there feeling like the track owes you one?
“Yeah, the diff broke on the car pretty early there last year, but I was running well until it broke. It’s a pretty fun track, it’s very flat, it’s kind of unique and I’m glad to get back there. It’s kind of cool, too, because no one has really any more experience there than anyone else, so that’ll be an equalizer. I really like the high-speed esses at that track. You have the super-long and wide straightaway, and then the last two-thirds of it is really fun. I only have positive feelings about this weekend.”
You introduced a new, high-profile partner in HendrickCars.com in your last race at Road Atlanta, and you appeared to be on your way to your best weekend since you started racing in TA2. Your thoughts on that?
“Road Atlanta was a good weekend overall. Obviously, when things break you can’t really control that, it’s a part of it. But up until then we had speed. I had my best qualifying result that I’ve ever had in TA2 and was looking forward to getting a really good result in the race. But after about lap five, I could feel something wasn’t right and the diff finally seized up. It’s unfortunate, but the best takeaway was that we showed speed and that’ll be important as we work our way through the season.”
Your overall thoughts on your first two race weekends with Silver Hare?
“I feel like things are progressing positively. There’s no need to get excited until you’re all the way there, so we’re just taking it race by race and trying to keep it up and keep it going. Everything at Silver Hare has been great, nothing at all I can point to that should be done any differently. We just need to keep it up and keep getting better. This is a really good group.”
Jake Drew, driver, No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro:
You now have one TA2 race under your belt. Are your expectations a little more clear as you head to NOLA this weekend?
“I’m just really looking forward to it, obviously, it’s always good getting back into a racecar. I really enjoyed my time with the Silver Hare family and I’m happy to do it again. I know a bit more of what I’m looking for out of the car and what’s going to make up speed and what’s going to make up time. Being able to apply what’s learned from the get-go is going to take us that much farther every weekend. And already having some success, I’m really looking forward to a strong weekend. The track looks like a ton of fun, it looks like the racing’s fun, and I’m just looking forward to going fast.”
You’ve raced on the go-kart track at NOLA in the past, but this will be your first experience on the big track. What have you been doing to prepare?
“I have some onboard stuff and I’ve been watching the broadcast back from last year. It’s definitely racey, I can tell the top-four stayed pretty tight the whole time. It’s a very, very flat track, not a lot of elevation, so I’m pretty happy about that, not having a lot of blind corners and such. I’m told there are bumps all around the track, so that might be something I can transfer over from having raced on the go-kart track there. I hope it has a lot of grip like the go-kart track does because that’s always a lot of fun. I think there are places to pass, places where you can get creative. It looked like there was a lot of patience involved in the front pack last year, I didn’t see a lot of passing. At the end they started to push the issue. Maybe they waited a little too long? Who knows. But keeping four tires on it and all the fenders on it and pointed straight puts you in a pretty good spot at the end of the deal.”
Describe your first outing with Silver Hare at Road Atlanta, and your thoughts about the racing in the TA2 class.
“I thought our weekend was really strong. I was happy to take away more learning experiences and new skills learned, for sure. I have a much better understanding of the car than I had going into the weekend that I can apply, now, starting off the weekend at NOLA. I thought the racing was great, I didn’t have any issues with it, I had a ton of fun. Man, I really wish those last handful of laps were more green-flag laps than cautions. I really felt like I had a strong chance of getting on the podium or maybe to second, there. But it is what it is and I’m happy to have done all the laps and make up spots. We had a great showing and you can’t ask for much more than that.”