After claiming the Continental Tire Pole Award, Aidan Yoder of Precision Racing LA led the field to green and pulled out in front as they made their way up the 133 ft. hill into Turn 1. Five-wide action followed Yoder as the rest of the field fought for position on the opening lap. Yoder led the first 10 minutes of the scheduled 45-minute race before Gresham Wagner of TechSport Racing contended for the top spot as the two cars came around the tower at COTA. Wagner was able to overtake Yoder in Turn 19 and start to build a commanding lead.
Wagner looked as if he was in contention to sweep the weekend as he built up a seven second lead until his No. 5 machine experienced difficulties and was forced down pit road with 15 minutes to go, forfeiting the lead to Drake Kemper of Copeland Motorsports. Just three minutes later, Kemper was handed a five-minute penalty that would be added on at the end of the race.
As the 45-minute timer was winding down, there was a three-way battle for second happening behind Kemper between Spike Kohlbecker (TechSport Racing), Jesse Love Jr. (Nitro Motorsports), and Tyler Gonzalez (Copeland Motorsports). The three drivers went back and forth until Kohlbecker pulled ahead and found himself in the catbird seat behind Kemper. Coming out of Turn 20 on the final lap, Kemper took the checkered flag in first, but the five-second penalty relegated him to a fourth-place finish, handing over the win to Kohlbecker.
Podium
Kohlbecker (first place) scored his first win and third podium result of the season. Gonzalez (second place) found himself on the podium for the fourth time this season with an average finish of 1.5. Love Jr. (third place) earned the final podium spot in his GR Cup debut weekend.
Race Awards
Justin Piscitell of McCumbee McAleer Racing put down the fastest lap of the race with a time of 2:31.198 on Lap 15. The Hard Charger Award went to Lucas Weisenberg of Lucas Racing as he took the green flag in 20th and made his way up 14 spots to sixth before the end of the race. Mia Lovell of Smooge Racing claimed the Highest Finishing Female honors.
What’s Next
The GR Cup Series will have a brief break before getting back on the road to VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) June 16-18. The 3.27-mile course sits just past the North Carolina/Virginia boarder in Alton, Virgnia.
Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased here.
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