Driver’s Spotlight – Jason Trantham
This edition of the SCCA Sacramento Chapter Drivers’ Spotlight, features, Jason Trantham, who you may know by his beautiful car, the 2021 Corvette Z51.
Jason has been participating in AutoX since 2007, when he was racing his 1970 Chevelle. That was when the Pro Touring was becoming very popular. From that car, he moved into a Corvette C6. Next, he purchased his C8 in July of 2021.
Although he has been racing for quite a while, he did not start taking it seriously until a few years ago, so much so, that he placed second in his class nationwide in 2022 at the Good Guys AutoX event. You may even see him at the next event, as he spends quite a lot of time racing with Good Guys which happens to be one of his greatest racing accomplishments. You should go and cheer him on.
Jason was first introduced to AutoX from his uncle who used to race at the Pleasanton fairgrounds in the 1970’s. A co-worker also had mentioned to him Larry Park and American AutoX. It must have been meant to be. To prepare himself for a race, he makes sure that all of the needed gear is packed the night before. He always has his sunblock, tools, logbook and tire gauge. The day of, he makes sure to walk the track numerous times and tries to follow the more experienced drivers.
One interesting thing I learned about Jason, was that he usually has a movie loaded on his phone and he listens to it on the drive in, to get him relaxed. He mentioned that there is a hard part of race day, but an amazing feeling at the same time. There is a rush of adrenaline that comes over him and he tries to harness that energy.
He says that he has a “need for speed”, so when he is not racing, enjoys his sim racing rig and Forza. He is going to be getting into iRacing soon as well. He always enjoys hanging out with his local car club and going to cars and coffee events on the weekends. The majority of his hobbies seem to revolve around cars.
With his love for cars and all things cars / racing, it seems fitting he would like to own a Lamborghini. They are super-fast cars, stop well and they have an incredible sound. However, he would like to have a GT3 for his racing car.
Jason would like to have dinner with either Niki Lauda or Ayrton Senna.
In a race, he thinks that King Kong would definitely win against Godzilla.
Something about him that he thinks people would be surprised to learn is that he is afraid of heights. He loves his Boston Terrier, who is super smart, lots of fun to be with and super athletic. The Boston Terrier is the dog breed he would be, if he were a dog. (They really are such sweet intelligent great fur companions).
During the AutoX event weekends, he loves watching fellow racers Scott Frasier or Mike Maier run the Corvettes.
A superpower he would gladly welcome would be to read peoples’ minds. Jason thinks that everyone should try AutoX at least once in their life.
Some excellent advice he has for anyone that is new to this sport, is to follow a seasoned driver on the course walk. Ask a lot of questions and LISTEN.
A memory that stands out in Jason’s mind about his favorite AutoX weekend was when he was racing at Mather and he just felt very connected to his car. Everything was in sync and it was just a beautiful feeling for him.
His favorite travel destination is the beautiful island of Hawaii, but Jason’s dream travel destination would be going to Europe to drive on the Nürburgring.
Thank you to Jason Trantham for allowing the members and potential members of SCCA Sac Chapter to get to know you better.
