Devin Anderson was able to convert pole position to his first victory in the Ford Mustang Challenge North America series in Race 2 here at Laguna Seca. The driver of the #22 TechSport Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse R did not put a foot wrong all race, winning by a 0.9-second margin after a great restart on a late-race Full Course Yellow.
At the race start, Anderson had to fend off an attack from the #42 Round 3 Racing car of Cole Loftsgard, yesterday’s winner, for the first three laps before Loftsgard ceded a position to Sandy Satullo in the #7 Wheelhouse Motorsport car ten minutes in after a bad launch out of turn 11. Satullo would maintain his second position to the checkered flag, challenging Anderson throughout the race but never getting a true look, due to Anderson’s excellent car placement on track.
“It was a great weekend. We really had the car dialled in, and we just went out and had great sessions. Today was awesome, the tyres held up way better than I thought they would,” said Anderson post-race. “We just didn’t make a single mistake, not a missed shift, nothing!”
Will Lucas, who started the race sixth, finished Race 2 in third, a great result for the former Mustang Cup champ and his Wheelhouse Racing crew. The following three finishers in Dark Horse, Cole Loftsgard, Ryan Persing, and Nolan Allaer, scrapped for almost 30 minutes without a single incident, a testament to the drivers’ racecraft.
Allaer chased down Persing the length of the race, constantly eking tenths over each other through the opening stages before spacing out to nurse the tyres. The chase was back on when Loftsgard dropped into Persing’s clutches with 23 minutes to go, creating a three-way battle for fourth, with Loftsgard forcing both drivers into hip-to-hip battles through the middle sector of the racetrack at different points.
Persing dove down the inside on the hairpin with 17 minutes remaining to snatch Loftsgard’s position and held on, keeping the three-time winner at arm’s length as Allaer joined in on the action in a big way.
Loftsgard would eventually finish the race in fourth, his first finish not on the top step of the podium so far this season, but a great effort to get back past the flying Ryan Persing in the #29 Paley Motorsport with AAG car, which finished fifth. Nolan Allaer finished sixth, a great action-filled race for the sports car newcomer who went 45 minutes mistake-free.
There was potential for a big shakeup when a late-race Full Course Yellow was thrown out due to Paolo Salvatore’s #84 Torre Racing Dark Horse Legends machine getting beached in Turn 2 with six minutes remaining. The green flag returned in time for two more racing laps, but the field remained virtually the same to the end.
Tom Tait in the #8 Wheelhouse Motorsports car took victory in Dark Horse Legends with a great showing, starting the race second on the grid. He out-paced the very quick Chris Clarke in the #9 Paley Motorsports with AAG car, which would finish the race second.
Joseph Dederichs finished out the podium places in third with a mega effort after a tough qualifying effort had him start fifth in class Race 1 and Race 2, and finish yesterday’s race in sixth position. Dederichs had the fastest sector times of the Dark Horse Legends class, clearly feeling comfortable in his Dark Horse R race car.
Images © Ford
