Jaxon Bell earned his third career Continental Tire Pole Award, and second pole of the season for Race 1 at VIRginia International Raceway, joined by Spike Kohlbecker on the front row. The field wasted no time coming to life as Lucas Weisenberg, Max Schweid, and Westin Workman went three-wide through Turns 1 and 2. Battles throughout the field allowed Bell to pull ahead out in front early on.
Bell held onto the front of the field until he went wide out of Turn 12, opening the door for the No. 55 of Spike Kohlbecker to take over the top spot and Weisenberg to move into second. Just as the top five began to sort out, a full course yellow slowed the field after Livio Galanti spun into the grass in Turn 1 and became stuck in the grass.
Following a six-minute yellow flag, action resumed as Will Robusto spun off the nose of Schweid’s No. 98 machine as they came through Turn 1. As Robusto went for a spin, Weisenberg took over the lead from Bell and the two raced nose-to-tail through the esses.
TechSport Racing driver Ethan Goulart came into the picture and surged ahead of Bell for second, while battles between Kohlbecker, Ford Koch, and Workman ensued behind. With just under 25 minutes to go, Goulart continued to put the pressure on Bell for the lead before Bell’s No. 7 GR86 went off-track in Turn 1, forfeiting the lead over to Goulart and allowing Weisenberg, Kohlbecker, and Workman to sneak by as well.
Another 10 minutes passed as Goulart to continue to control the lead while Workman continued his surge ahead, passing Kohlbecker for third. Time continued to wind down as Goulart held off a hard charging Weisenberg before taking the checkered flag to capture his first career GR Cup Series win.
Podium
Today’s win marked Goulart’s second career GR Cup Series podium to go along with his second-place finish in Race 2 at Sebring. Finishing in second, Weisenberg tallied his eighth career podium while Workman’s third place effort is his 18th podium finish and now sits just four shy of the GR Cup record.
Race Awards
Isabella Robusto claimed the Endava Highest Finishing Female honors in her first GR Cup race since 2023 with a ninth-place finish. In his GR Cup debut, Max Stallone earned the Hard Charger Award by gaining 11 positions to finish in 10th and Workman clocked the fastest lap of the race on lap 10 with a time of 2:08.432. The WWEX Group Highest Finishing Legend award went to John Lennon who took the checkered flag in 18th.
What’s Next
The Toyota Gazoo Racing North America (TGRNA) GR Cup Series will round out the weekend at VIRginia International Raceway on Sunday with Race 2 qualifying slated for 8:40 AM ET before drivers take to the track for Race 2 at 12:45 PM ET.
The race can be streamed on grcup.com and the GT World YouTube channel.
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