In contrast to Saturday’s Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli Western Championship race, which was filled with mechanical issues and attrition, race two at Sonoma Raceway was a caution-free battle between drivers, where speed was critical and mistakes were costly. XGT driver Will Rodgers recovered from an early mechanical failure yesterday to come from the back with record speed and win overall for the second time in 2024 following a battle with Dylan Lupton, who was competing in his debut weekend with the series. In the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series,17-year-old Nitro Motorsports driver Gio Ruggiero dominated his class in just his second Western Championship race, leading every lap to win his first-ever Trans Am event.
Chris Evans Race Cars’ XGT entries were the class of the field all weekend, with Michelle Nagai winning Saturday’s race in her No. 72 Nagai Racing/Berkeley Jet Drive Chevrolet Camaro. Sunday, she started second overall behind teammate Lupton in the No. 79 Lupton Excavation Ford Mustang, who despite having an early parts failure yesterday, laid down the fastest lap of race one to earn a first-place starting spot Sunday. When the green flag waved, it appeared that Lupton would drive away with the victory, opening up a 2.4s gap over second place on lap one, and extending the advantage to nearly twelve seconds by lap 12. However, teammate Rodgers in the No. 12 Central Welding Supply Ford Mustang was on a mission. Starting last due to a mechanical issue Saturday, it only took Rodgers 10 laps to take over second place and set his sights on the lead. With a large gap and lots of speed, Lupton was able to keep Rodgers at bay until lap 26, when Rodgers finally was able to close in and complete the pass.
Once Rodgers got clean air in the point position, he was able to put down consistently impressive lap times, driving away from Lupton to secure the victory, both in his class and overall. Now third, Nagai was close to capturing her second podium of the weekend, but with only two laps remaining, she broke an axle, forcing her into the paddock before the race’s conclusion. This allowed Tim Rankin, who had held the fourth position for the duration of the event, to slide into the last podium spot just before the checkered flag waved. Nagai was fourth, and Rick Wright in the No. 45 AR Motorsports Audi R8 LMS GT3 rounded out the top five.
“This was a pretty good race for us, going from last to first after our troubles yesterday,” said Rodgers. “We broke an axle coming to the green flag in race one, and didn’t get to finish one lap, so that didn’t get me a good starting spot for today. But I’m happy to kind of endure all the way through, pass everybody and catch Dylan [Lupton] in a pretty good spot with traffic. We had a little battle. Hats off to everybody at Chris Evans Race Cars. These cars, my orange one right there, and all of them, are the most [awesome] race cars on this earth, I swear. There’s nothing better, honestly. I had so much fun out there. Every time I get out of the race car, there’s just a big smile on my face. So, thank you very much to Chris [Evans] for allowing me to show the performance of these cars. I’m just happy to finish one out again. Thank you.”
After a frustrating run in Saturday’s race due to a mechanical issue, Gio Ruggiero in the No. 8 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang was looking for redemption. Fortunately, despite his troubles in race one, he laid down the fastest lap of the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series competitors, putting him first on the starting grid Sunday. Once the green flag waved, Ruggiero was without equal, and it took only a few laps before he had opened a multi-second gap on second place. Once again running the fastest laps in the class, the 17-year-old drove away from the field to earn his first-career Trans Am victory.
Behind him, race one winner Barber in the No. 33 DIG Motorsports Ford Mustang worked hard to defend second place, but Michael LaPaglia in the No. 31 Papini’s Garage/F.A.S.T. Auto/Howe Ford Mustang methodically chipped away at his advantage until lap 19, when the two were racing side by side. LaPaglia emerged with the runner-up spot, which he maintained for the remainder of the event. It appeared that Barber would secure the third spot on the podium, but he had Kyle Kelley’s No. 80 PK+k Properties/UPRacing.com Ford Mustang getting larger in his rearview mirror as the laps waned. With only three laps remaining, Kelley was able to make the pass, taking third place. Barber crossed the finish line in fourth, followed by Tim Lynn in the No. 71 RoofOptions Ford Mustang in fifth.
“I just want to thank everybody from Nitro Motorsports for working so hard,” said Ruggiero. “We had some issues yesterday; we had a problem with the car, so we had to come in the pits and get it fixed up. But we battled through it, and we brought the win home today. I just want to thank everybody at Toyota Racing for all their help and support, and my mom and dad. Thank you.”
The GT class race was the closest of the day, as David Hampton in the No. 14 AR Motorsports Porsche Cayman GT4 CS MR and Kevin Michaels in the No. 98 Killer Shrimp Restaurant Chevrolet started back-to-back in 17th and 18th overall and never ran more than a second apart for the majority of the event. Hampton started first in class, but Michaels took over the lead by lap seven, despite losing his ABS a few laps earlier. A cat-and-mouse game ensued for the next 25 laps, with Hampton nipping at Michaels’ heels. On lap 33, a car in another class got into the middle of the battle, forcing Michaels off the track at the exit of Turn 9 just long enough for Hampton to retake the lead. Hampton was flawless for the next seven laps, taking the checkered flag for the fourth time this season.
“After following him all that time, I was really hungry to pass him; I just needed to get a little bit more,” said Hampton on the podium. “I tried to find a mistake from this guy, but he’s such a solid driver; it was virtually impossible. I wondered, ‘Where am I going to pass this guy?’ It was going to be desperation. I think the last couple of laps were going to be really entertaining for us. I like the way this guy drives. He’s so solid. I’m sorry that’s the way the race ended. But it was a great race, man, I just can’t thank you enough.”
The Western Championship next hits the track in two weeks at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for a doubleheader weekend, May 2-5.
Comments