Mustang Challenge North America championship leader Cole Loftsgard put in a late-session lap of 1:58.373 in his #42 Round 3 Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse R to go quickest in Practice 1, followed by Devin Anderson, the winner last time out in Mid-Ohio in the #22 TechSport Racing car (pictured above).
Third-fastest overall was Will Lucas in the #34 Wheelhouse Motorsports car, hooking up his fastest lap on his last run, just like Loftsgard.
In Dark Horse Legends, Oleg Gorshkov was the best in class, driving the #70 Round 3 Racing car in place of Joe Koenig this weekend, finishing the session seventh overall. Chris Clarke, second in the DHL championship standings, was second fastest in class, followed by Stephen Vajda, a first-time entrant this season and former Mustang Challenge podium finisher here at Watkins Glen in 2024.
Practice 2 got underway in wet but drying conditions, giving the Mustang Challenge grid a taste of what tomorrow’s race conditions may look like when they take the green flag in the afternoon.
Loftsgard again was quickest in the second session of the weekend, completing eight laps total and logging a best of 2:13.382, 14 seconds slower than the true dry track fastest lap he put in earlier. Lucas was second-quickest, just 0.119 off Loftsgard. Behind them was Ethan Low in the #25 Flying Lion Motorsports car, in third. Low took a top-five result back at Mid-Ohio last time out and looks in the fight again this weekend.
Wheelhouse Motorsports’ Joseph Dederichs was fastest in the Dark Horse Legends class, ninth-fastest overall with a time of 2:23.836. Vajda went second quickest in the #10 NV Autosport car, followed by Clarke in the #9 Paley Motorsport with AAG Racing car.
Qualifying is up next – first thing tomorrow at 8:00 AM EDT (local time), followed by Race 1 at 1:55 PM.
Images © Ford
