Dark Horse Legends Title in Dead Heat Entering Charlotte Finale

Photo: Wes Duenkel/Ford

Alex Bachoura and Zachry Lee head into this weekend’s Mustang Challenge season finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval in a dead heat for the lead of the Dark Horse Legends class championship, as one of a number of key storylines for the IMSA-sanctioned single-make series’ first-ever weekend with NASCAR.

Saturday’s double-header, Rounds 11 and 12 of the season, could also see IMSA history made with Dark Horse class champion-elect Robert Noaker seeking a ‘perfect’ season, in sweeping every pole, fastest lap and race win this year in his No. 13 Ford Mustang Dark Horse R.

A total of 20 cars are entered for the pair of 45-minute races, including two drivers who will be making their first points-paying Mustang Challenge starts, both in Robert Noaker Racing machinery.

Fifteen-time SCCA national champion Andrew Aquilante will make his series debut in the No. 32 DH class entry, while DHL driver Dan McKeever is back after taking part in the Le Mans Invitational, earning a second place class finish in Race 1.

In other developments, after debuting in a Paley Motorsport entry at Circuit of The Americas, multi-time Mustang Cup race-winner Will Lucas will switch to RNR this weekend.

Bachoura and Lee, driving for Spark Performance and McCumbee McAleer Racing, respectively, are deadlocked at 3,100 points apiece, with TechSport driver Alfonso Diaz third, trailing the duo by just 70 points and well within the DHL title fight as well. A maximum of 350 points are available in each race.

Bachoura holds a season-high six class wins this season, followed by Diaz with three and Lee with two.

Track action kicks off on Friday with a pair of practice sessions, followed by qualifying that that evening. Race 1 takes the green flag Saturday at 10:10 a.m. EST, with the season finale set for an 8 p.m. start, following the NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

The two Mustang Challenge races will be streamed live on Peacock, as well as both the IMSA and Ford Performance YouTube channels, featuring commentary from John Hindhaugh and Arjuna Kankipati.

Pre-Event News & Notes:

***After clinching his second consecutive DH championship at COTA, Noaker prepared for a new challenge: ascending the Mustang ladder and making his GT4 debut. The Ford Racing Junior Team driver got his first chance to compete in the Mustang GT4 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sept. 20 racing in the Michelin Pilot Challenge race with KohR Motorsports. Noaker finished third alongside Mustang Challenge Le Mans Invitational rival Cameron McLeod after leading the closing stages of the two-hour race.

***Fellow Ford Racing Junior Sam Paley, who will again compete in Mustang Challenge this weekend, will return to KohR’s No. 60 Mustang GT4 entry for next weekend’s season-ending Fox Factory 120 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta alongside Nick Persing, who scored a podium at Virginia International Raceway in August.

***While Noaker has already wrapped up the DH title, here is still a close battle for second, and two of the three contenders are rookies. Devin Anderson currently sits second in the championship with 2,620 points, with fellow rookie Sandy Satullo fourth with 2,520 points, only 100 points behind Anderson and a mere 10 points behind Marcos Vento, who sits third.

***After racing on IMSA, SRO and FIA World Endurance Championship events, this weekend marks the first time that Ford Racing’s single-make series joins a NASCAR event, while also making its debut on the 17-turn, 2.32-mile Charlotte Roval layout.

***Five drivers currently racing for Ford in NASCAR have experience competing with the Mustang GT4. Cup Series driver Zane Smith and Xfinity Series driver Harrison Burton piloted a Mustang GT4 in victory in the 2023 Pilot Challenge race at Daytona International Speedway. Ben Rhodes, Ty Majeski, and Matt Crafton, who currently race in the Truck series, have also been behind the wheel of the Mustang GT4.

***A total of 42 Mustangs will be on track around the globe with Ford Racing. There will be 37 Mustangs on the Charlotte Roval, with 20 Mustang Dark Horse R race cars competing in Mustang Challenge and 17 Mustang Dark Horses in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series. Three Mustang GT3s will be racing in ADAC GT Masters at Hockenheim, and two further Mustang GT3s in DTM action at the same German venue.

***To celebrate the end of the season, Mustang Challenge teams and drivers have been invited to Multimatic Motorsports, located in nearby Mooresville, N.C. The Multimatic facility is where the Mustang GT3 is built, and this event will give Mustang Challenge competitors an inside look at what goes into the creation of the Mustang GT3, the current pinnacle of the Ford Racing Pyramid.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John