Christina Lam turns a childhood circuit into Trans Am

From first tourist laps at the Nürburgring Nordschleife to building her own race cars in American club racing, Christina Lam has carved a path that’s as unconventional as it is determined. In 2026, she’ll race a TRB Racing Chevy Camaro TA2 full-time in the Tra

Christina Lam didn’t start her racing story with a grand plan. It began with a choice made almost on the spot.

On an unrelated vacation through Europe, she found herself a stone’s throw from the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Close enough to step into one of the track’s Touristenfahrten—tourist drive sessions. During the same excursion, she also learned how to drive a manual car. For Lam, that moment sparked something deeper than a pastime. It set her on a route that would eventually carry her from club racing in the U.S. to a full-season schedule in Trans Am.

Her path has never looked like a straight line through the usual pipeline. But the work behind it has been consistent: she learns fast, builds when she has to, and keeps moving into bigger and tougher machinery.

The early leap wasn’t just geographic. Lam’s motorsports journey quickly broadened into a wide portfolio of race categories. including GT3. GT4. TCR. LMP3. and even Trans Am cars. She would later make that range feel like more than résumé variety—it became the foundation for how she talks to the people around her. including engineers.

After returning to American soil. Lam plugged into her local autocross scene and advanced to National Auto Sport Association (NASA) track days. often described as high-performance driving events. Her official debut in a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) race followed shortly after. The shift from spectator curiosity to real competition came with a hard truth of grassroots racing: you build and fix things yourself.

Lam’s first three competition cars reflected that reality. Her first was an E36 BMW M3, followed by two E46s. “Knowing how to build the car is really important. and I think that helps me talk to my engineers now. ” she told MotorTrend in a recent interview. Even after she no longer needed to wrench on competition cars herself. the mechanical know-how stayed—part of the way she navigates a sport that runs on precision and communication.

She raced for four years in the SCCA’s Super Tour class. described as the highest level of American club racing. before moving up. The moment she says felt like she had truly made it came at Daytona International Speedway. where she raced an Audi RS3 LMS TCR at Daytona and other select racetracks for a partial season in IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge competition.

That IMSA debut was also a first in more ways than one. Lam became the first Asian American woman to compete in IMSA. and she remembers the scale of the breakthrough: “It was very unreal for me to realize … I’m actually making moves in a way for not just women, but motorsports as a whole,” she said. “There were five girls competing between TCR and GS that year.”.

The move into Trans Am didn’t arrive as a retreat from progress. Lam framed it as the next step—another class, another car, another way to grow.

For 2026, she earned a spot in the Trans Am Series (presented by Pirelli) for the full season. The series is often called America’s Racing Series, and it’s the longest-running professional road racing championship in North America, dating back to 1966.

The cars are famously difficult to drive, and Lam didn’t soften that description when she compared her TA2 experience to something bigger than a metaphor. She said piloting her TA2 car feels like “driving a powerful school bus.”

Her TRB Racing Chevy Camaro TA2 carries a tubular space-frame chassis underneath, similar in concept to a NASCAR car. It also lacks driver aids that many modern drivers expect to have—traction control, ABS, and stability control. Lam said the result on track is direct: “The Trans Am car is very unforgiving … you really have to manhandle this car around to get it to do what you want.” Her pitch is simple and emphatic: “Everyone who drives a Trans Am car becomes a better driver.”.

The numbers help explain why. The TA2 car cranks out over 500 horsepower and weighs just a whiff under 3,000 pounds. Keeping it straight, she suggests, is half the battle.

Lam’s focus isn’t limited to what happens behind the wheel. As she keeps pushing herself into tougher driving, she’s also working to open doors for other women in motorsport—especially in the engineering pipeline.

“One of my goals is also to help other people who are looking to be engineers … and link them up with the right teams,” Lam said.

That commitment shows up in the way her team has formed over time. She met (and hired) her current photographer and videographer, Chelsea Schwier, during her club-racing days, and the two have stayed connected through her IMSA and Trans Am pursuits.

Lam’s efforts also connect directly with the National Center for Women’s Innovations (NCWI). She helped organize an NCWI-sponsored initiative that gave the University of Florida’s Formula SAE team behind-the-scenes access to her and her race team at Daytona International Speedway. “They were able to spend some time with me. the mechanics. the car. and get an up-close look at everything. ” Lam said.

For Lam, it’s not a one-off. It’s a repeated push toward a world where more women can find their way into modern motor racing—even when the path can feel dizzying.

The 2026 Trans Am season will keep her busy across an array of well-known circuits. For the remainder of the 2026 season. the series will host races at Lime Rock Park. Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Road America. Watkins Glen. Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. and Virginia International Raceway. with the finale at Circuit of the Americas.

She’ll also bring a long-running sponsor with her. Lam will sport Helium Mobile on her Chevy Camaro TA2 in the car’s blue. purple. and orange livery. and fans can follow her for the rest of the year as she continues building a life in motorsport—one that began with a vacation detour at the Nürburgring and has turned into a full-season campaign in one of North America’s toughest racing stages.

Christina Lam Trans Am Series Pirelli TRB Racing Chevy Camaro TA2 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Daytona International Speedway Nürburgring Nordschleife SCCA Super Tour NASA track days women in motorsport NCWI University of Florida Formula SAE Helium Mobile