Cole Loftsgard clinched his fourth victory of the season at Mid-Ohio in Race 1 of the Ford Mustang Challenge this weekend. Finishing under full course caution, Loftsgard had built a lead of almost five seconds to the next fastest car going into the final three laps of the race.
After a 30-minute delay due to intense rain conditions, Race 1 got underway at 2:25pm local time with sunny skies and a dry track, the field starting on slick tyres.
It was a clean start down the field with polesitter Loftsgard and fellow front-row starter Nolan Allaer getting an identical jump when the green flag waved. They jockeyed for the lead, with Devin Anderson not far behind, before Allaer made a bold move past Loftsgard and into the lead halfway through the opening lap.
Loftsgard fell back to defend Anderson coming at him from third position, letting Allaer build a lead of just over a second for the following few laps. But, as can be expected from the current points leader, the blue nose of the #42 Round 3 Racing returned to Allaer’s mirrors soon enough.
Back in Dark Horse Legends, Paolo Salvatore led, with class polesitter Dave Luaces failing to start the race with a potential wheel issue prior to the formation laps. Tom Tait, in the #8 Wheelhouse Motorsports car, had a series of issues, including a 10-second post-race penalty for an incorrect starting position and being spun by Chris Clarke in the #9 Paley Motorsport with AAG Racing car in the Carousel. Clarke would receive a drive-through for incident responsibility.
Following a small mistake from Allaer in Turn 4, the top four of Allaer, Loftsgard, Anderson, and Sandy Satullo were bunched up once again 10 minutes into the race, creating a fierce battle for the podium positions. Anderson and Loftsgard once again got right into it, running side by side, once again trying to best one another for second position.
With 32 minutes of racing left in the session, Loftsgard engaged Allaer in front, attempting to force the sports car newcomer into a mistake. Allaer continually placed his Dark Horse R right where he needed it in all the key overtaking zones around the Mid-Ohio track, controlling the rear of the car like someone with far more than two races of experience in the Mustang.
Allaer’s impressive run would be cut short by an unfortunate run off the track and onto the uneven grass run off outside of Turn 1, hitting a bump at an ugly angle and stripping off a huge plume of bodywork from under the car, as well as ripping up the front right headlight area.
This off-track run dropped him down to P4, letting the battling group of Loftsgard, Anderson, and Satullo through and onto the podium positions. After a few laps of assessing the damage on Allaer’s #3 Spark Performance car, it continued running on track, limping, but somewhat on pace.
Now in clear air, it did not take long for Loftsgard to shrug Anderson off of his rear bumper and put some road between himself and the rest of the field. The now-four-time race winner was logging laps in the 1:29s, finding even more performance in the set-up of the Round 3 Racing machine.
Allaer was later passed by Will Lucas in the #34 Wheelhouse Motorsports car, as well as series rookie Ethan Low in the #25 Flying Lion Motorsports car, but not without some tooth-and-nail fighting from Allaer in the damaged Spark Performance Mustang.
At the nine-minute mark, Chris Clarke would steer into the pits where he would soon retire with a front left tyre issue; today, a tough one for the Paley Motorsports driver.
In the closing laps of the race, Loftsgard began to catch and pass the rear of the Dark Horse Legends field when he had to hasten to avoid a late-braking Tom Tait, who would fail to slow in time to make Turn 4. Tait would go deep into the sand trap, getting stuck and triggering a Full Course Yellow with two laps to go. Tait would return to the track for the last lap of the race, but the session would end under caution flags.
Loftsgard took the overall win, followed by Devin Anderson in the #22 TechSport Racing car, his third podium of the season. Sandy Satullo in the #7 Wheelhouse Motorsports finished third, followed by teammate Will Lucas in the #34.
“The start didn’t go very well, and then I was just trying to maintain position for the first couple of laps,” said Loftsgard post-race. “The plan was to try to take care of the tyres and let the race come to me, and it did. I’m happy to come home with the win. My Dark Horse R was really good, and Round 3 Racing did an amazing job.”
Paolo Salvatore drove a clean and uncontested race, taking his first class victory in Dark Horse Legends. His team, Torre Racing, pumped their fists in the air from the pit wall, seeing their driver cross the line victorious in their second Mustang Challenge North America season.
To have such a result at a brand-new track for Salvatore is a massive feat. Keeping his run clean and learning on the go was key to the driver’s victory this afternoon.
“This is my first time [at Mid-Ohio], so I went out there and was just figuring out what I needed to do. I drove and did what I could and stayed clean. I’m pretty proud of myself and my team for this accomplishment. It’s still unbelievable to me.”
Joseph Dederichs put his #63 Wheelhouse Motorsport car on the second step, with Joe Koenig finishing third in the #70 Round 3 Racing car, a double podium for the Round 3 Racing crew today.
Tomorrow, the Mustang Challenge field gets one more crack at it in Race 2, beginning at 9:05 am ET at Mid-Ohio, with many drivers looking for a redemption effort the second time around.
Image courtesy of Ford Racing
