Westin Workman earned his third career Continental Tire Pole Award and first for BSI Racing to lead the field to green alongside Jaxon Bell. From the drop of the green flag, Bell wasted no time challenging Workman for the lead before claiming the top spot in Turn 3 of the opening lap.
Deeper in the field a three-wide battle for seventh ensued between Ethan Ayars, Spike Kohlbecker, and Max Schweid as they approached the hairpin in Turn 7 before Kohlbecker went wide, opening the door for Ayars and Schweid to take over the position. Action continued throughout the field in the opening minutes as Will Robusto and Ethan Goulart also found themselves in a side-by-side battle for the fifth position.
Workman regained the lead with 39 minutes remaining in the race as he passed Bell on the outside of Turn 1, triggering a four-car battle between him, Bell, Lucas Weisenberg, and John Dean. While Workman was able to pull away in the lead, the No. 16 of Dean and No. 46 of Weisenberg ran nose-to-tail as they battled for the final podium position. Weisenberg was able to overtake Dean on the exit of Turn 11 to claim third with 30 minutes left.
As the 45-minute timer continued to wind down, Workman checked out from the field and extended his lead to five seconds. Despite an off-track moment for the No. 47 machine of Ayden Kirk in Turn 16, the field remained green with just 15 minutes remaining.
A late-race battle for the 10th position came to life between Jackson Tovo, Ford Koch, and Jenson Sefronas before contact between Sefronas and Tovo forced the No. 41 of Sefronas down pit road for a drive-through penalty. Koch was able to pull away and secured a top ten finish.
Workman continued to drive away from the field as Weisenberg got around the No. 7 of Jaxon Bell for the runner-up position before Workman took the checkered flag to secure his first career GR Cup Series victory.
Podium
After 10 runner-up finishes and 15 total podiums, Workman claimed his first win and 16th overall podium, moving him into second most all-time. Weisenberg’s second place finish was his seventh career podium finish and third of the season. In third, Bell tallied his fourth straight podium finish and 13th overall.
Race Awards
Workman’s strong performance resulted in clocking the fastest lap of the race on Lap 4 with a time of 2:25.427. Karl Forman of Precision Racing LA earned his first Hard Charger Award, gaining six spots to bring home a 13th place finish. Paityn Feyen tallied her fourth Endava Highest Finishing Female award of the season while John Dean claimed the WWEX Group Highest Finishing Legend award with a fourth-place finish.
What’s Next
The Toyota Gazoo Racing North America (TGRNA) GR Cup Series will round out the weekend at Sebring on Sunday with Race 2 qualifying slated for 8:30 AM ET before drivers take to the track for Race 2 at 10:05 AM ET.
The race can be streamed on grcup.com and the GT World YouTube channel.
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