Cole Loftsgard made a statement in Race 1 of Mustang Challenge North America at Watkins Glen this afternoon. Holding Devin Anderson in second at arm’s length for all 45 minutes of the session, the championship leader’s latest win in his #42 Round 3 Racing Dark Horse R was never really in doubt.
Devin Anderson would finish second in the #22 TechSport Racing navy-and-red-liveried Mustang. Sandy Satullo finished in third position after running a clean race, finishing out of touch with Anderson and the leading Loftsgard after challenging for position in the first couple of laps.
At the race start, Loftsgard got a great jump, getting out of the weeds while towing Devin Anderson along with him close behind in second position. The #10 NV Autosport appeared to have a tough start, slightly out of the two-by-two formation and contributing to an untidy start to the 45-minute race.
True to form, Loftsgard and Anderson were hip and shoulder through the first few laps. The two drivers are well matched in terms of skill and have a consistent history of close racing over the six previous races this season.
Ethan Low and Nicholas Smither were quick to rise through their respective Dark Horse and Dark Horse Legends fields, Low up into fourth from ninth overall within the first five minutes of racing. The Flying Lion driver was very confident in his Dark Horse R on just his second weekend competing in the series. It was five positions in 15 minutes for Nicholas Smither, showing pace right out of the gate. Smither has been known to comb through the field, notably doing so at Laguna Seca in the #58 Nick Smither Racing car after an incident in qualifying in that round as well.
Smither would be penalised in two separate incidents for track limits, taking a drive-through penalty and having 10 seconds added to his time post-race. He failed to serve the drive-through and thus was at the mercy of the officials post-race.
As the race progressed, Cole Loftsgard shifted into a new gear and pulled out a multiple-second lead over Devin Anderson behind him, logging consistent laps in the 2:00.0s. By the end of the race, the gap sat at 2.7 seconds, a comfortable margin by this season’s standards.
In Dark Horse Legends, Oleg Gorshkov won handily in class to make it a two-class Round 3 Racing victory this afternoon. Gorshkov is racing in Joe Koenig’s place this weekend in the #70, getting an opportunity in the seat due to his established relationship with the Round 3 Racing crew, having raced with them in some smaller series.
The debuting driver worked his way through the field, racing up to the back of Chris Clarke after starting the race in P16. 15 minutes into the race, he led from Legends points leader Clarke, placing his Mustang masterfully and quickly building a lead that would extend out to over 20 seconds by the end of the race.
Chris Clarke finished second in his #9 Paley Motorsport with AAG Racing car, followed by Tom Tait in the #8 Wheelhouse Motorsports machine, who made a late bid for P2, coming within two seconds but ultimately running out of time, finishing P3.
Ryan Persing and Tate Pritt had an incredibly racey battle through the middle section of the race. Persing consistently threw his #29 all-white Paley car into corners, pushing to the absolute limit in braking zones and strategically keeping Pritt guessing in his #98 Automatic Racing car during their five-minute sparring session.
Persing, racing with Paley Motorsport, missed the last race at Mid-Ohio due to his high school graduation and came looking to make up for his time away and then some. Unfortunately for him, he seemed to have pushed his Dark Horse R past its limit, finishing over a minute down the road from Loftsgard in the lead of Dark Horse.
Will Lucas and Doug Peterson were the only retirements of the race, Will Lucas making it not even an entire lap before pulling his Mustang into an overlap in the barriers in turn 8, and Peterson retiring in the pit lane with just under three minutes remaining in the session with an apparent technical issue.
Race 2 of the Mustang Challenge at Watkins Glen will take place at 8:00 am ET tomorrow.
Image courtesy of Ford Racing
