Lucas Targeting Podium Finish for COTA Cameo

Will Lucas is setting his sights on a podium finish as he steps up to Mustang Challenge for this weekend’s event at Circuit of The Americas, joining Paley Motorsport for the series as it forms part of the support bill for the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The 21-year-old will pilot the No. 26 Ford Mustang Dark Horse R for the pair of 45-minute races, forming part of a 16-car field for the penultimate round of the season.

Lucas joins the Mustang Challenge grid having thus far enjoyed a fruitful campaign in the Mustang Cup series, taking seven wins in the new-for-2025, USAC-sanctioned championship.

That strong record fills the Georgia native with confidence joining the Mustang Challenge grid in Texas.

“I think we’ve had pretty good success in Mustang Cup this year, and we did the Mustang Challenge Invitational at Le Mans and I did pretty good there,” Lucas told Sportscar365.

“So I’m hoping for at least a podium this weekend. I would like to maybe fight at the front.

“Ideally, it’s just a weekend that everything runs smooth, we go fight at the front. That’s the hope, the goal.”

Both the Mustang Cup and Mustang Challenge series make use of the same Mustang Dark Horse R platform.

The only difference comes in the form of tire suppliers, with the Mustang Cup on Yokohama rubber while Mustang Challenge makes use of Michelin tires.

Lucas believes that his existing knowledge of the car will serve as a strong base heading into the COTA weekend, also considering the Mustang Cup hosted its second round at the Austin venue back in May.

“It’s nice knowing where like the car feels like home already,” he said. “I know where the stuff is, the seat’s where I want it, I know how the car is going to drive.

“It’s nice, especially because we had a Cup race this year already, I kind of know how the car acts here.

“So I feel like I might, compared to the people who didn’t come here last year, have a little something on me.”

Lucas already got his first taste of Mustang Challenge as he was part of its non-championship Le Mans Invitational in June, where he finished eighth and sixth, in the pair of races.

“That weekend as a whole was huge because that was actually my first pro race,” he said. “It was my first time being put up against the professional level people in that environment.

“So that helped me a lot to prepare for this, just with the mindset of having to be on it from the second you get in the car for first practice. You have to go and try and get better.

“Learning the tire was a part of that experience, and it definitely will help me this weekend.

“I think the biggest thing is just being in that environment at Le Mans.”

By taking his first steps in Mustang Challenge, Lucas is starting to climb up Ford Racing’s ladder system, with him stating that advancing further down that route is “for sure the goal” when it comes to his career.

“Ford has the two series kind of with the ladder in mind,” he said. “You start in Cup, get familiar with the car and then you move to Challenge.

“I think I’m at a point where we’ve done well enough in Cup I think I need to start going to Challenge.

“My goal for next year is to only run Challenge, so I think starting now is kind of just really getting experience for a full season effort next year.”