Cole Loftsgard won his third straight Mustang Challenge North America race in Race 1 this morning at Laguna Seca. In chilly conditions, the American once again came alive and carried his pace and kept his nose clean all the way to the checkered flag.
Devin Anderson finished second in the #22 TechSport Racing Dark Horse R, followed by Sandy Satullo in the #7 Wheelhouse Motorsports and Ryan Persing’s #29 Paley Motorsport with AAG Racing machines, in third and fourth, respectively. Will Lucas finished out the top five in the #34 Wheelhouse Motorsports car with a clean and consistent race.
The 45-minute race was interrupted by three Full Course Cautions, limiting green-flag running significantly and bunching the field up to restart in some cloudy conditions here in California.
Loftsgard and second-place finisher Devin Anderson were quickly swept up into a clean and competitive scrap for the overall lead when they took the first green flag of the day. Their jockeying was interrupted by a caution not even three corners into the first lap that would last over 10 minutes as Loftsgard’s Round 3 Racing teammate Joe Koenig’s #70 car had to be removed from the track on the front straight approaching Turn 1.
Koenig spun after contact with Joseph Dederichs in the #63 Wheelhouse Motorsports car, but was later found by race control to be responsible for the spin. The Dark Horse Legends field had issues bunching up at the race start, creating a slight concertina effect that contributed to the incident.
Devin Anderson led the field through the first restart with Loftsgard hot on his heels and Sandy Satullo in the #7 Wheelhouse Motorsports, as well as Michael Tosi in the #77 Wheelhouse, in touch as well.
The nose of Loftsgard’s Dark Horse R took a look at either side of Anderson’s TechSport Racing machine, racing side by side through Turns 4 and 5. Loftsgard then made a big move in Turn 6 just as Anderson kicked the rear end out on the downshift, sweeping by and into the lead, and running down the road while Anderson had Sandy Satullo’s #7 Wheelhouse Motorsports Mustang behind to answer to.
The two Dark Horse drivers kept at it through the two following restarts, maintaining their 1-2 positions and avoiding contact. After the race, Loftsgard praised his fellow driver for an entertaining battle despite them both struggling to get heat into the tyres at the start.
“When you start a race in really cold conditions like that, it’s a little sketchy the first two or three laps. You don’t have any grip, and everyone’s jockeying for position, so it can be pretty intense.
“Devin ran me super clean, we raced each other really well in Sebring too,” said the now three-time race winner. “He had an opportunity to put me in the dirt a couple of times, and he didn’t. So I appreciate him for that.”
Last time out in Sebring, Race 2 saw the drivers scrapping it out for P2 in the middle section of the race before Loftsgard went through, later overtaking Michael Tosi for the race win.
Michael Tosi in the #77 Wheelhouse Motorsports car was the second incident of the day, bringing out a Full-Course Yellow after a big impact just before the Corkscrew. The Dark Horse class driver was running well until that point, having started from fifth on the grid.
Tosi was seen expressing his frustration at the #29 car of Nick Persing as the field went by the crash site. The incident would be reviewed by stewards post-race.
Series newcomer Nolan Allaer did not have the race he’d hoped for, either, after qualifying P6. He slowed to a stop in the gravel outside Turn 6 before being pulled behind the wall during the Tosi caution. He looks forward to his next opportunity to shine in Race 2 tomorrow.
In Dark Horse Legends, Nicholas Smither claimed his first victory in Mustang Challenge after a massive effort to navigate the restarts and race his way up the field.
Smither started from the very back of the grid after causing a red flag in Qualifying yesterday, but the Mustang Cup competitor was able to push his #58 Nick Smither Racing Dark Horse R up the road and onto the top step of the podium nonetheless.
“It’s spectacular. I had pretty low expectations starting from the back of the grid, but things came my way. There were a couple of incidents up front that helped out, and I just had to stay in there until the finish,” said Smither following his post-race podium celebration. “It was a lot of fun, it’s going to be a drive I remember for a long time.”
Chris Clarke in the #9 Paley Motorsports with AAG Racing machine finished second despite serving a drive-through penalty for an incident following an intense battle with Paolo Salvatore in the #84 Torre Racing, who would end up in fourth. Clarke looks right in the fight this weekend if he can get through Race 2 without avoidable incidents.
Tom Tait ran well the entire race and took home third position, breaking onto the podium for the first time this season after two fourth-place finishes in Sebring.
Race 2 kicks off tomorrow at 9:30 am PT and is sure to be an exciting one as many cars look to find better results after today’s caution-ridden session.
Images courtesy of Ford Racing
