Youngdriver,19,offtoflyingstart!!

ByHarryM.Anderson,Jr.
Hes only 19 years-old, but is blazing a trail on
the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Trans Am
Circuit against drivers twice and three times his
age. Driving a Ford Mustang, Ernie Francis, Jr. is
running with the best and has a possibility of
winning this years Trans Am Championship. The
Fort Lauderdale resident is already making his
presence in just his first year racing in the Trans
Am-1 racing.

Francis recently won the SCCA-sanctioned Trans Am race in Homestead

Raceway in Homestead, Florida. Qualifying from the second position,
Francis got a jump on fellow Mustang driver Cliff Ebben and led all 45 laps
from the start to win four-tenths of a second over Ebben with an average
speed of over 90 mph.

The Haitian-American competed at the TA 3 level the last three years

winning the championship three straight years (2014, 2015, 2016) he raced
a Chevy Camaro in the SCCA TA-3 Series his first two years and raced
both a Mustang and Camaro before moving up to the TA 1 Class. He
started racing at the tender age of four racing go carts until his 12th
birthday.

Earlier in his career, Francis raced a spec Mazda at age 13 in the

National Auto Sport Association (NASA) and Formula Auto Racing
Association (FARA). He won seven races with the Mazda at age 13. He
won both championships at age 14. In the FARA series at age 14 he made
it to the podium nine times out of 11 races winning six times. At age 15 he
compete in the Pirelli World Challenge in a Mazda MX-5.

With 11 more races to go on the 13-race schedule, Francis has the

ability to have a big impact on the sport of SCCA Trans Am racing.

2016 TRANS AM SCHEDULE

5/13 Road Atlanta- Braselton, Ga

6/4 Belle Isle-Detroit, Mich.

6/18 Indianapolis Motor Speedway- Indianapolis, Ind.

7/2 Brainerd Int. Raceway- Brainerd, Minn.

8/19 Mid-Ohio- Lexington, Ohio

9/10 Watkins Glen Road Course- Watkins Glen, NY

9/24 Virginia Int. Raceway- Alton, Va.

10/8 New Jersey Motorsports Park- Millville, NJ.

11/4 Circuit of the Americas- Austin, TX

11/11 Daytona Int. Speedway- Daytona Beach, Fla.