Noaker Beats Maxson to Watkins Glen Pole

Robert Noaker secured pole position for Saturday’s first Mustang Challenge race at Watkins Glen International by beating Tyler Maxson in qualifying.

Noaker steered the No. 13 Ford Mustang Dark Horse R to a best lap of 2:00.210, outpacing Robert Noaker Racing stablemate Maxson by 0.127 seconds.

Maxson, who claimed the inaugural series pole position at Mid-Ohio earlier this month, set the early pace during the 15-minute session.

The No. 74 Ford set a 2:00.466 to take the early advantage, only for Noaker’s No. 13 machine to improve and leap to the top of the timesheets.

While Maxson managed to improve by posting a 2:00.337, it was not enough to prevent Noaker from securing pole position.

Thursday pacesetter Max Opalski took third, joined on the second row by the No. 31 Ford of Reid Sweeney, also from the Robert Noaker Racing stable.

Jeremy Fletcher completed the top five in the No. 31 McCumbee McAleer Racing entry, ahead of teammate Nate Cicero and the No. 26 car driven by Sam Paley.

Alex Bachoura captured pole in the Dark Horse Legends class in eighth overall, steering the No. 33 Spark Performance Ford to a best time of 2:02.506.

In the process, he outpaced both Brandon Gdovic and and Gabe Tesch, who completed the overall top ten for Precision Performance Motorsports and MDK Motorsports, respectively.

The first Mustang Challenge race of the weekend kicks off at 3:15 p.m. EDT with live coverage on the Ford Performance YouTube channel.

RESULTS: Qualifying