Loftsgard Storms to Pole in Wet Mid-Ohio Qualifying

Photo: Wes Duenkel/Ford

Cole Loftsgard will start this afternoon’s opening Mustang Challenge North America race from the pole after taking his Ford Mustang Dark Horse R to top qualifying honors in a rain-hit qualifying session.

The Round 3 Racing driver reeled off a 1:47.054 lap time to outpace Friday’s pace-setter Nolan Allaer, in the No. 3 Spark Performance Mustang, by a considerable 1.315 seconds.

It’s understood all cars were on wet-weather Michelin tires in the wet session.

Sandy Satullo qualified third in the No. 7 Wheelhouse Motorsports entry, with Devin Anderson and Will Lucas completing the top-five for TechSport and Wheelhouse, respectively.

David Luaces, meanwhile, took pole in Dark Horse Legends, after class points leader Chris Clarke had an off-course excursion in Turn 8 to bring out a red flag four minutes into the 15-minute session.

The session restarted with seven minutes left on the clock, although Clarke’s best two laps were deleted due to bringing out a red.

Luaces’ 1:51.022 lap time was good enough for seventh quickest overall, in the Paley Motorsport-supported Birdhouse Racing entry.

The No. 84 Torre Racing entry of Paolo Salvatore qualified second, ahead of Joe Dederichs’ No. 63 Wheelhouse Mustang in third.

The first race of the weekend is currently scheduled for a 1:55 p.m. EST start time, with live coverage on Peacock as well as both IMSA and Ford Racing’s YouTube channels.

RESULTS: Qualifying

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