Noaker Looking to Extend Win Streak at VIR

Photo: Wes Duenkel/Ford

Robert Noaker will be looking to continue his undefeated streak of pole positions and wins in Mustang Challenge competition heading into this weekend’s pair of races at Virginia International Raceway.

The Robert Noaker Racing driver holds a commanding 550-point lead over Dark Horse Legends points leader Alex Bachoura, of Spark Performance, with six races to go in the season.

VIR will mark the final event in support of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship this season, with races at Circuit of The Americas, as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship Lone Star Le Mans event, and Charlotte Roval, with NASCAR, capping off the second season of the single-make series.

A total of 15 Ford Mustang Dark Horse Rs are entered for Rounds 8 and 9 of the season, with several drivers absent.

It includes Sam Paley, who made an impressive come-from-behind drive in Race 2 at Road America in a spare RNR Mustang to nearly pick up the win.

Paley, a Ford Performance Junior Team driver, however, will be focusing his efforts on a return to Michelin Pilot Challenge competition, at the wheel of one of KohR Motorsports’ Ford Mustang GT4s, this weekend.

The DHL class, meanwhile, will not see the No. 30 LAP Motorsports entry of Scott Thomson, Nick Smither’s No. 58 Mustang, nor the No. 79 NV Autosport Ford of Drew Neubauer in action in Virginia.

Mustang Challenge track activity kicks off on Friday with a pair of practice sessions, followed by qualifying that evening, with the first 45-minute race of the weekend set for Saturday at 8:50 a.m. EST.

Race 2 takes the green flag at 11:45 a.m. on Sunday, with both races streamed live on Peacock, as well as IMSA and Ford Performance’s YouTube channels featuring commentary from IMSA Radio’s John Hindhaugh.

Pre-Event News & Notes:

***Paley spent this week helping make repairs to his Mustang Dark Horse R chassis that was damaged in the first race of the weekend at Road America, which led to the Ford Performance Junior Team driver borrowing Robert Noaker Racing’s spare car for Race 2. It’s understood Paley Motorsport is planning to return for the final two races of the season at the Charlotte Roval in early October.

***In a similar form of paddock spirit, Spark Performance offered its backup car to DHL driver Alfonzo Diaz, who was also involved in a Race 1 incident in Wisconsin. The TechSport driver bounced back to claim top class honors in Race 2.

***In his rookie season, Devin Anderson has finished on the podium in all but two races this season and has claimed at least one podium each race weekend this season. The TechSport driver currently sits fourth in the DH standings with four races to go.

***Marcos Vento and Tate Pritt both earned their first DH class podium finishes last time out. Vento finished second and Pritt finished third in Race 1 at Road America. Both backed up their race one results with top-ten finishes in Race 2, with Vento finishing fifth and Pritt finishing seventh.

***The full Mustang sports car racing lineup will be on display at VIR, which includes the Dark Horse R (Mustang Challenge), Mustang GT4 (IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge) and Mustang GT3 (WeatherTech SportsCar Championship). A road-going Mustang GTD will also be on track this weekend, serving as the  official safety car for Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge WeatherTech Championship race.

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