Tyler Gonzalez (Copeland Motorsports) earned the Continental Tire Pole Award for Race 1 at Road America and led the field to green along side Gresham Wagner (TechSport Racing) on the front row. As the field came to life, drivers found themselves three-wide as they made their way down into Turn 1. Drivers settled into position early in the race as Westin Workman (Smooge Racing), making his GR Cup Series debut, found himself in third chasing down Gonzalez and Wagner who were nose to tail throughout the course.
Wagner was able to overtake the No. 57 machine for the lead with 36 minutes left in the race as they made their way past the start/finish line. The safety car was deployed for a full course yellow with 26 minutes remaining until the field roared back to life with just under 20 minutes left on the clock.
Just after the green flag came back out, Wagner went wide coming out of Turn 5, handing the lead back over to Gonzalez and opening the door for Workman to take over the second slot. Wagner was able to chase back down Gonzalez and retake the lead with just under 10 minutes remaining.
As the leaders took the white flag, Wagner and Gonzalez went toe-to-toe and traded the lead throughout the final lap including going side-by-side all the way through the Carousel. As they made their way out of Turn 12, Gonzalez was able to pull away until Wagner gave chase coming out of Turn 14 and up the hill to the checkered flag. Gonzalez edged out Wagner by half a car length to claim his fifth win of the season.
Corey Heim (Nitro Motorsports) and Kevin Foster (OpenRoad Racing) also notched solid finishes in their GR Cup Series debut, finishing fifth and 13th, respectively.
Podium
Gonzalez (first place) stays consistent and has found himself on the podium in all eight races thus far in 2023. Wagner (second place) earned his third podium of the season while Workman (third place) earned a podium result in his first race in the GR Cup Series.
Race Awards
Along with picking up the win, Gonzalez clocked in the fastest lap of the race putting down a time of 2:32.013 on Lap 15. Canaan O’Connell (VGRT) earned the Hard Charger award, after starting in 27th and making his way up to 15th, clicking off 12 spots throughout the race. Toni Breidinger (Nitro Motorsports) picked up her first Endava Highest Finishing Female award of the season with a 18th place result.
What’s Next
The Toyota GR Cup Series will be back on track at Road America on Sunday, August 20 with Race 2 qualifying at 8:05 AM CT, followed by green flag action at 12:15 PM CT. Fans will also have a chance to meet all the GR Cup drivers during our autograph session being held from 10:30 AM CT – 11:00 AM CT just outside of the podium area.
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