Teaming up with Ave Motorsports, Tomy Drissi announced today he will campaign the full 13 race season of the 2017 Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli road racing championships.

“I can’t wait to get back in a Trans Am car,” said Drissi, 2009 champion in Trans Am. “These are the baddest, fastest, most powerful cars anywhere. Once you’ve driven one of these cars, you’re hooked for life. There’s truly nothing else like it.”

“The opportunity to team up with Tony and his guys was a huge part of my decision,” added Tomy. “Plus, the series, under John Clagett, has grown leaps and bounds. It’s great racing with a great schedule… and we’re going to have a great car. I haven’t felt this motivated in quite sometime.”

“When Trans Am made the announcement that the series was expanding to a 13 race championship,” said team boss Tony Ave, “as well as adding a four-race West Coast championship, we decided it was necessary to sign a driver that could handle the vast diversity of racetracks. I’m confident Tomy can meet the demands not only of winning races, but also help our team develop further, both technically and from a marketing standpoint.”

“We worked hard to convince Tomy to drive for us and focus on Trans Am,” added Ave, “despite his many opportunities in NASCAR and IMSA. The team is very excited to have a former, and hopefully future, TransAm champion. It’s a very exciting time of growth for the Trans Am series.”

Tomy will kick off his season at Sebring, March 2-5. He will be driving the No. 8 Corvette featuring “Ghost in the Shell,” an upcoming scifi/action film directed by Rupert Sanders and written by Jamie Moss and Ehren Kruger, based on the Japanese manga of the same name by Masamune Shirow. Sanders dedicated the film to Buried director Rodrigo Cortes. The film stars Scarlett Johansson, Michael Pitt, Pilou Asbæk, Chin Han and Juliette Binoche. It will be released on March 31.