Noaker Paces Practice 2 in Charlotte; Leads RNR 1-2-3

Robert Noaker finished Friday’s second practice at the top of the times ahead of Mustang Challenge qualifying this evening at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, having now led every single practice session this season.

As was the case in first practice, Noaker set a session-topping time early in the 30-minute Practice 2 session and continued to improve on his time as practice running progressed.

By the end of the session, the recently-crowned back-to-back Dark Horse drivers’ champion reeled off a 1:29.098 lap to lead a Robert Noaker Racing 1-2-3 at the top of the time sheets in his No. 13 Ford Mustang Dark Horse R.

Sandy Satullo was second-fastest in the No. 7 Mustang, just 0.874 seconds off of Noaker’s time, with Mustang Cup graduate Will Lucas going third-fastest overall in his No. 3 machine.

Having topped all 14 practice sessions this season, including the pair of Le Mans Invitational practices, Noaker now has the chance to also claim all 12 pole positions, race wins, and fastest racing laps in the U.S.-based points-paying rounds also on the table this weekend.

Open wheel and Trans Am veteran Rafa Matos was fourth quickest in his debut weekend in Ford Racing’s single-make championship ahead of Sam Paley’s No. 26 Mustang in fifth.

Spark Performance’s Alex Bachoura was quickest of the Dark Horse Legends drivers, laying down the sixth-best time overall in the No. 33 Dark Horse R. Alfonso Diaz was second-fastest in DHL with the best time in Practice 2.

Similar to the morning’s first practice, all 20 drivers navigated the 2.28-mile road course cleanly, with all 60 minutes of total Friday practice time running entirely green, though four drivers had lap times invalidated for shortcutting the track, including Noaker, who was deemed to have exceeded track limits on his third lap.

With practice in the books, qualifying is set for 6:30 p.m. EST on Friday to set the grid for the first of two races on Saturday, with live coverage of all on-track Mustang Challenge sessions available on IMSA Radio.

RESULTS: Practice 2