Cole Loftsgard in the #42 Round 3 Racing car extended his championship lead in Mustang Cup North America with his second weekend sweep of the season, after a commanding performance, managing his Michelins effectively through 45 minutes of hard racing at the high-deg Watkins Glen International circuit.
Devin Anderson in the #22 TechSport Racing car showed very well but ultimately didn’t have an answer to Loftsgard’s late race pace despite reeling him in through the middle section of the race. Ethan Low finished in third position, taking a podium in just his fourth race in the series in the #25 Flying Lion Motorsports machine.
Race 2 got underway with Devin Anderson leading from pole position after the grid was set by the drivers’ fastest racing laps in race 1. Anderson had a good jump on the rest of the field as Cole Loftsgard, starting second, had to defend from Ethan Low, lunging down the inside of him into turn one on the first lap. Low’s move would be thwarted, and he would temporarily drop down to fifth from third place.
Sandy Satullo would catch up to the back of Loftsgard before the championship leader shook him off and started an attack on Anderson in the lead. Loftsgard was out front by the end of the first lap, making a great move on Anderson in the inner loop.
Ethan Low and Sandy Satullo battled on track before Satullo would wheel his #7 Wheelhouse Motorsports Mustang into the pits to change his front left tyre after developing an issue with it in just the first seven minutes.
Anderson would close back up on the bumper of Loftsgard 10 minutes into the race, as Dark Horse driver Colin Harrison and Dark Horse Legends leader Oleg Gorshkov scrapped for seventh position overall, Harrison eventually getting by.
The battle between the usual suspects for the lead was ferocious, with both drivers having a clear advantage at different sections of the race track. Loftsgard had the upper hand in the inner loop bus stop chicane, carrying a lot of speed through that sequence and taking minimal curbing; Anderson was much quicker in the ‘Boot’ sequence of corners and closing up dramatically lap after lap.
In the meantime, Ethan Low kept his nose clean, racing a couple of seconds back of the leading duo but putting in very good 1:59s lap times after inheriting a net-podium position when Satullo had the issue.
Anderson would continue to challenge Loftsgard until the 25-minute mark, when both drivers began managing their tyres. This would come after Anderson put all four wheels off the track at turn 10, kicking up a large dust cloud and indicating a tyre-fall-off point for the TechSport driver.
In Dark Horse Legends, Oleg Gorshkov helped make it a full Round 3 Racing sweep, taking victories in both classes in both 45-minute races.
Gorshkov started the race first in class and would make it a straightforward victory for the second time this weekend, lapping consistently alongside the rear-runners in the Dark Horse class and proving his consistency. Tom Tait and Chris Clarke would finish second and third, respectively, duking it out throughout the race as Gorshkov drove virtually uncontested.
Chris Clarke in the #9 Paley Motorsports and Tom Tait in the #8 Wheelhouse Motorsports cars engaged each other on the track around the halfway mark with championship implications, with Tait, the championship leader, hurrying Clarke up the road. He would get by the #9 car down the inside into turn one, the two drivers driving exceptionally cleanly and leaving racing room to get the job done.
Clarke would challenge once more in the final stages but ran out of time, finishing in third position behind Tait.
Ryan Persing and Tom Tait had deja vu, finding each other on track once more and competing hard for fourth position for over 15 minutes as time wound down. It would take Pritt a couple of laps to build enough momentum to pull off a last-lap overtake, but he got it done in the end, getting past the #29 Paley Motorsport car.
Paolo Salvatore was the only retiree in the #84 Torre Racing car after finishing yesterday’s race fifth in class, and 12th overall. Earlier in the weekend, Salvatore was one of two drivers involved in a qualifying incident that forced the Torre Racing crew to break out their spare car due to the extent of the damage.
The next round of the Ford Mustang Challenge North America series will be at Virginia International Raceway, alongside the IMSA paddock, August 21-23.
Images courtesy of Ford Racing
