Lucas Weisenberg earned his second career Continental Tire Pole Award and led the field to green alongside BSI Racing’s Westin Workman on the front row. As the 31-car field roared to life and climbed the hill into Turn 1, Spike Kohlbecker of RVA Graphics Motorsports moved to the inside of Workman and took over second place. Just behind the leaders, Jaxon Bell, Ethan Goulart, and Will Robusto found themselves in a three-wide battle for fourth on the opening lap.
Workman and Kohlbecker continued to fight for second place, allowing Weisenberg to pull ahead at the front until a full-course yellow came out with 36 minutes remaining. Jenson Sefronas got loose on the exit of Turn 3, bringing out the safety car for the first and only caution of the race. Despite the 10-minute caution, Weisenberg was able to pull away from Kohlbecker and Workman as the field returned to green-flag action.
Goulart found himself in the mix for the final podium position and took over third from Kohlbecker before receiving a drive-through penalty, forfeiting the position back to Kohlbecker.
As time continued to wind down, the No. 47 of Ayden Kirk and the No. 21 of Ford Koch collided, sending the No. 21 machine around. However, it did not trigger a full-course yellow as Workman closed the gap on Weisenberg at the front of the field.
Workman got to the inside of Weisenberg in the hairpin as the two drag-raced down the front straightaway side-by-side, but Weisenberg used the preferred line into Turn 1 to hold on to the lead with just two minutes remaining.
Weisenberg hit his marks over the final 90 seconds to secure the season-opening victory at Sonoma Raceway. Today’s win marks his second career GR Cup victory and his first since June 17, 2023, at VIRginia International Raceway.
Podium
With the win, Weisenberg secured his fifth career podium finish in the GR Cup Series, while Workman’s second-place result marked his 13th podium finish. Rounding out the podium was Kohlbecker, who secured his 15th career podium finish.
Race Awards
TechSport Racing drivers claimed two awards, with Ethan Goulart clocking the fastest lap of the race at 1:51.668, while Brett Kowalski took home the Hard Charger Award after gaining nine spots throughout the race.
The Endava Highest Finishing Female Award went to Paityn Feyen of Nitro Motorsports, who took the checkered flag in 26th place.
John Dean (Copeland Motorsports) claimed the newest award in the GR Cup Series for drivers 45 years or older, the WWEX Group Highest Finishing Legend Award, taking the checkered flag in fifth place.
What’s Next
The GR Cup Series will conclude its season-opening weekend at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, March 30. Drivers will hit the track at 8:50 AM PT for qualifying, setting the field for Race 2, which begins at 12:55 PM PT. Fans can catch all the action on grcup.com or the GT World YouTube channel.
Between qualifying and the race, fans will have the opportunity to meet the GR Cup Series drivers during a 30-minute autograph session hosted below the main grandstands. The session will take place from 10:45 AM to 11:15 AM PT, with event posters available for signing.
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