Robusto: VIR/Dover Double-Header a ‘Crazy Opportunity’

Isabella Robusto said it was “crazy to have the opportunity” to complete a double-header weekend in both the Toyota GR Cup North America at Virginia International Raceway and the ARCA Menards Series at Dover Motor Speedway with Toyota.

The 21-year-old driver spent Friday in Dover preparing for and participating in the General Tire 150, meaning that, aside from testing laps turned on Thursday ahead of the race weekend, Robusto’s first laps in anger aboard her No. 11 RVA Graphics Motorsports by Speed Syndicate GR86 Cup car came in Saturday morning’s Qualifying 1 session, having had to skip all of Friday practice.

“I had a little bit of practice on Thursday morning,” Robusto told Sportscar365. “I had to go to Dover last night to race in ARCA, which was good.

“It was a short night’s sleep when we landed. I got about three hours’ sleep and then came to the track in the morning. But it’s just crazy to be able to have the opportunity to go race in Dover last night and come here and race this weekend.

“Woodfin came on board as the sponsor on the car, and they’re based out of Richmond, and this is kind of their home race. So they wanted to bring their whole team here to check it out. I’m thankful enough to have them on board this weekend to show their colors out on track.”

Robusto returned to VIR on Saturday, having made a successful top-three at the infamous mile-long Delaware oval track in her Venturini Motorsports Toyota Camry stock car after starting the race in seventh.

Less than 24 hours later, the Toyota Gazoo Racing North America driver development program driver followed up her Dover success with a top-ten finish in the first GR Cup race of the weekend on Saturday, climbing up the order after qualifying mid-pack.

Notably, Robusto’s only other GR Cup start came during the series’ debut weekend at Sonoma Raceway in 2023.

Speaking with Sportscar365 prior to the race, Robusto felt her qualifying position of 15th could have potentially been improved had it not been for traffic during the session.

“I lost my fast times just trying to race with some traffic here,” she said. “But [I’m] happy to be in the mid-pack. I think we’ve got pace to run fifth to eighth, so hopefully I’ll move up the field a bit during this race and just prepare myself more for tomorrow [for Race 2], so when I qualify tomorrow, I can qualify closer to the front.

“Traffic was pretty bad this morning. I haven’t done qualifying like that in a while, so I forgot how much everyone messes with each other’s laps, so my two fast laps I got kind of moved around on. I think we have a pretty good car.

“This is definitely one of the harder tracks. I’ve only raced a handful with this car. It’s definitely a momentum car, so very different than what I’m used to, but the smallest inconvenience can ruin a lap.

“I definitely got more comfortable as qualifying went on. It’s a very different car to what I raced ten hours ago, so I’m just trying to get my head back into the space of being in this car versus at Dover in the stock car.”

Aside from the logistical challenge of competing at multiple racetracks in the same weekend, Robusto also noted the significant differences between the two cars she’s competing in and the benefit that seat time in the different platforms offers.

Her typical 3,300-pound, 700 horsepower, V8-powered ARCA stock car could not be more different than Toyota’s single-make series offering, which weighs in nearly 500 pounds lighter, and gets its power from the production 2.4-liter, 228 horsepower flat-four from the GR86 road car.

“How the feeling is in a stock car versus in a sports car is very different,” Robusto said. “What you feel as a driver in the car, and the mechanics of the gas and brake. You have TC in this [GR86 Cup car], ABS, and all that.

“How you approach corners is very, very different. It’s obviously way lighter, has less horsepower, and it’s so much more of a momentum car, so the driving style is just so different in both.

“I think it just helps with the mental side and being able to flip the switch on what car you’re in. It just helps you overall.

“I hope I get to do some more sports car stuff. It’s a little hard with the schedule I have now, just to be able to make the full weekend. I can kind of do this where you miss practice, but it’s not ideal. We’ll see how schedules play out, but I hope so.”