Sixteen-year-old Tristan Nunez, driving the No. 16 Performance Tech Elan-Mazda, won both races at the Cooper Tires IMSA Prototype Lites Monterey event last weekend, tightening his hold on the series championship.
Nunez got his season off to an amazing start by winning the pole and his first two races as a full-time driver in the IMSA Lites series in March, becoming the youngest winner in series history. In April he took the pole, won once and retired once with a blown engine while firmly in the lead.
The young south Floridian returned to total domination at the next Lites event, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. on May 11 and 12. The Performance Tech driver again won the pole, and led both races flag to flag.
“What an incredible weekend for the No. 16 ‘Dnt txt n DrV’ entry,” Nunez said in a press release. “I am so proud of the team and what were able to accomplish this weekend.
Two races were scheduled for the weekend, a 30-minute sprint on Friday and a 45-minute run Saturday morning, with qualifying Thursday afternoon.
Nunez not only qualified fastest, he used the least possible number of laps to do so. IMSA Lites mandates that drivers qualify and start the first race on the same set of tires and Laguna Seca’s 11-turn, 2.238-mile track is notoriously sandy. Nunez needed to go fast in a hurry, and he did, setting the best time in half-a-dozen laps.
This gave Nunez the pole for the first race and, as he has in every other race this year, he drove away from the field. His progress was impeded only by three caution periods—the only time the opposition got a chance at him was on the restarts.
