Noaker Fastest Across Both Practice Sessions at VIR

Photo: Wes Duenkel/Ford

Robert Noaker continued his top form in Mustang Challenge competition by leading the way in both practice sessions for this weekend’s rounds at Virginia International Raceway.

The Robert Noaker Racing driver reeled off a chart-topping 1:56.763 lap time in Friday afternoon’s practice session at the 3.27-mile circuit to better his Practice 1-leading 1:57.115 in the No. 13 Ford Mustang Dark Horse R.

Noaker, who is undefeated so far in points-paying Mustang Challenge races this season, outpaced the second-placed No. 22 TechSport Mustang of Devin Anderson by 0.897 seconds.

Alex Bachoura was third quickest overall and the fastest of the Dark Horse Legends class runners, aboard the No. 33 Spark Performance entry, with Sandy Satullo fourth and Zachary Lee completing the overall top-five in Practice 2.

The majority of the day’s best times came in the afternoon session.

All 14 cars turned laps in Practice 2 after Colin Harrison’s TechSport Mustang did not set a time in the opening session.

Harrison, however, was shown a mechanical black flag at the start of Practice 2, before going behind the wall.

Practice 1 saw a brief red flag for debris in Turn 11, but it was the only stoppage across the two 30-minute sessions of running.

Of note, the field is down by a car from the pre-event entry list, as the No. 20 McAleer McCumbee Racing entry of Corbin Collins has been withdrawn.

Qualifying is set to get underway at 7:15 p.m. EST, ahead of tomorrow’s Race 1, which takes the green flag at 9:30 a.m. EST with live coverage on Peacock as well as IMSA and Ford Performance’s YouTube channels.

RESULTS: Practice 1/Practice 2

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