Tony Ave


Tony Avé is a race car driver born in Hurley, Wisconsin. He competed in the Grand-Am Series from 2000 until 2002, in Formula Atlantic from 1996 until 2001, and in the Trans-Am in 2002. He also made three Indy Lights starts in 1993 and one Indy Pro Series start in 2003. In 2004, Ave raced one race in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series at Watkins Glen, finishing 31st.

Trans-Am

In 2009 he was a regular competitor in the revived SCCA Trans-Am Series, driving a Chevrolet Corvette. In 2010, he brought Chevrolet its first Trans Am championship since Paul Gentilozzi in 1998.
He won the 2010 and 2011 Trans-Am Series Championships. Avé owns his own race-team, Tony Avé Motorsports, which has become one of the most popular race teams amongst fans. However he mostly drives for Lamers Racing.
in the Trans Am Series in 2014

NASCAR

In 2004, Tony Avé made his NASCAR debut when he drove the #80 car owned by Lamers Racing, a satellite team of Joe Gibbs Racing. Starting 42nd, Avé dropped out after 84 laps with a brake problem, finishing 31st.
Avé returned to the Cup series in 2009, competed at Watkins Glen on August 10, 2009 in the rain-delayed Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen. Avé completed eight laps and finished 43rd in his #37 Long John Silver's Dodge owned by Brad Jenkins. Avé also participated in the Nationwide NAPA Parts D'Auto 200 presented by Dodge at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as a road course ringer.
Avé participated in the #35 car owned by TriStar Motorsports in the 2010 Bucyrus 200 at Road America in his home state of Wisconsin. After racing in the Top 10 for most of the race, he spun out on the final lap and dropped out of the Top 10. He returned to the #35 team for the other two road course races, finishing 15th at Watkins Glen & leading one lap in Montreal - his first and only lap led in his Xfinity Series career.
In 2011, Avé made his so far last NASCAR race at Sonoma, attempting to qualify his #38 Long John Silver's car for Front Row Motorsports. He was bumped out of the field by Andy Pilgrim and did not qualify.

Other racing

In April 2002, Avé, along with Andy Hillenburg, tested for the Team Racing Auto Circuit series at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Four months later, Avé and Boris Said tested for TRAC at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
in 2016, Avé made an agreement with Bill Riley to build a prototype chassis for ELMS for the P3 and IMSA for the Prototype Challenge.

Motorsports career results

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

YearTrackCarEngineClassFinishStartStatus
1991Road AtlantaLola T87/90FordSports 2000163Running
1994Mid-OhioVan DiemenFordFormula Continental227Retired
1994Mid-OhioXFR GS-94ToyotaFormula Atlantic102Retired
2007Heartland ParkChevrolet CorvetteChevroletGT111Running
2008Heartland ParkFord MustangFordGT122Running
2019VIRChevrolet CorvetteChevroletGT121Running
2019VIRAcura RSXHondaGT3112Retired

NASCAR

Sprint Cup Series

Nationwide Series

Craftsman Truck Series

ARCA Re/Max Series