After earning his fifth Continental Tire Pole Award, Tyler Gonzalez (Copeland Motorsports) started on the front row alongside Jordan RickSegrini of BSI Racing. As the green flag dropped, the field fanned out three and four wide as they made their way down into Turn 1. Most of the field was able to get through the opening turn unscathed until the No. 67 of Joey DaSilva (Smooge Racing) and the No. 7 of Michael Garcia (Zotz Racing) tangled, setting them back to start the race.
Gonzalez continued to extend his lead while the battle from second through fifth started to heat up as less than a second separated Corey Heim (Nitro Motorsports), Gresham Wagner (TechSport Racing), Jordan RickSegrini (BSI Racing), and Drake Kemper (Copeland Motorsports). RickSegrini was able to work his way past Wagner and then Heim for the second position with just under 25-minutes to go.
As the time continued to wind down under 10-minutes, Heim and Wagner were joined by Austin Dodge (RVA Graphics Motorsports) and Justin Piscitell (McCumbee McAleer Racing) as a four-way battle for the final podium spot ensued.
The 45-minute clock expired as Gonzalez took the checkered flag for his sixth win of the year followed by RickSegrini in second. Wagner edged out Heim in the final turn of the race to claim the final podium spot.
Podium
Gonzalez tallied his 10th straight podium finish, recording an average finish of 1.5 through 10 races this season. RickSegrini claimed his first GR Cup podium honors in just his second race of the year with a second-place finish. Finishing third, Wagner found himself on the podium for the fifth time this season in the first 10 races.
Race Awards
Along with claiming the victory, Gonzalez put down the fastest lap of the race with just under six minutes remaining on Lap 17 with a time of 2:25.655. Alex Garcia (Zotz Racing) earned the Hard Charger Award after starting in the 31st position and taking the checkered flag in 14th, gaining 17 spots on the day. Mia Lovell claimed another Endava Highest Finishing Female Award with a 15th place finish. Along with earning the Hard Charger Award, Alex Garcia was randomly drawn and earned an additional $5,000 courtesy of Toyota's 'Overtime Drawing' award.
What’s Next
The Toyota GR Cup Series will be back on track at Sebring on Sunday, September 24 with Race 2 qualifying at 8 AM ET, followed by green flag action at 12:15 PM ET. Fans will also have a chance to meet all the GR Cup drivers during our autograph session being held from 10:30 AM ET – 11 AM ET at the Don Panoz Gallery of Legends.
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