Opalski Tops Opening Day of Track Action at Watkins Glen

Photo: Wes Duenkel/Ford

Max Opalski was quickest in the opening day of track action for Mustang Challenge at Watkins Glen International ahead of the third and fourth rounds of the season.

Opalski, in the No. 2 Max Opalski Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse R, reeled off a chart-topping 2:01.574 lap time in Thursday morning’s dry practice session.

He outpaced the No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing entry of Jeremy Fletcher by 0.440 seconds.

Inaugural race winner Robert Noaker was third in his No. 13 Mustang, followed by teammate Tyler Maxson in fourth, with Nate Cicero completing the top-five in the No. 82 MMR entry.

Zachry Lee, meanwhile, was quickest in the Dark Horse Legends category.

All of the quickest times were set in the morning 30-minute session, which was under dry conditions.

The start of Thursday’s second session, which was paced by Noaker, was delayed by one hour due to thunderstorms in the area that led to a drenched 3.45-mile circuit.

Only 13 of the 25 entered cars set a time in the wet afternoon session.

Qualifying is scheduled for an 8:05 a.m. EDT start time on Friday, followed by Race 1 of the weekend at 3:15 p.m., which will be streamed live on Ford Performance’s YouTube channel as well as on Peacock and IMSA.tv.

RESULTS: Practice (Combined)

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