Skeen wins battle of TA2 teammates at Laguna Seca.

Mike Skeen dominated Sunday’s TA2 race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, but he had to battle for the win.

After recording the fastest lap in practice and grabbing pole position by a half second margin over teammate Rafa Matos, Skeen was a favorite for the checkers. But he had a door-to-door bout with Connor Mosack on the opening lap and then was jumped by Matos on lap 26.

“We shouldn’t have had to fight that hard,” says the driver of the 3Dimensional Services Group Ford Mustang. “But we got it back.”

Matos crossed in second and Brent Crews in the Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang finished third in a race that timed out at 75 minutes due to several full course cautions.

It was the first yellow that caught Skeen out. On the restart, he claims several cars jumped.

“They are supposed to go when the leader goes,” he explains. “They threw the green and everyone went.”

Skeen dropped back to third momentarily and then clung to Matos’ tail lap after lap.

As accidents took their toll on the field Skeen continued to chase his Peterson Racing teammate. Behind the leaders, Mosack in his Nic Taylor Chevrolet Camaro held Crews and Connor Zilisch at bay.

Following a late race caution, Skeen was able to get by Matos in turn 4 after running side by side through two corners.

“I thought my car would hold a little better,” Matos explains. “I lost the race. But I’m happy for Mike.”

At the same time, Crews took advantage of the restart to claim third from Mosack. The young gun from North Carolina laid back before the green waved then got a good run to pass on the outside.

“At the end our car was better,” Crews says. “Their cars just fell off.”

Mosack, who was strong all day, saw things differently.

“There were some shenanigans on restarts, people were jumping left and right,” he points out. “But we did about all we could.”

Zilisch and his Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro rounded out the top five.

The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s west coast swing includes TA2 Western Championship teams alongside the national drivers. Jeff Holden in the Mid Valley Transmission Chevrolet Camaro was top among the Western drivers, placing 15th overall.

Salinas resident and national TA2 driver Thomas Merrill in the Bridgehaul/HP Tuners Ford Mustang ran in the top five until contact with another car in the hairpin sent him into the gravel. He wound up in 32nd position.