Jones Sweeps VIR Weekend

Jagger Jones was clearly a driver in a hurry Sunday at Virginia International Raceway.

So much so that he once again blew away the competition to win the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge race that kicked off on-track activities for the day, before rushing off to compete in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin race that immediately followed.

Jones built a lead of more than 30 seconds in the VP Racing Challenge 45-minute sprint before a late full-course caution bunched the field for a restart with two laps to go. Unruffled, Jones put the hammer down in the No. 87 FastMD Racing with Remstar Duqueine D08 Nissan when the green flag waved again and rolled away to a 2.445-second victory.

The win is the seventh in eight outings this season for the promising 22-year-old LMP3 driver. He actually crossed the finish line first all eight times but had a win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park taken away by a post-race technical inspection infraction.

For the sixth time in Jones’ seven wins, Steven Aghakhani finished second in the No. 6 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan.

Because Jones missed the opening two races at Daytona International Speedway, Aghakhani still holds a nearly insurmountable 540-point lead over Jones in the P3 driver standings, with just the doubleheader at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in October remaining.

Jones and the FastMD outfit are therefore focused on capturing the team championship, where they now hold a 60-point edge on MLT Motorsports.

Mars Cruises to VIR Weekend Sweep in GSX

Just like Jones in P3, Luca Mars raced to a comfortable win Sunday in the GSX class to complete his own weekend sweep. Mars, however, closed in on clinching his class title.

Mars pushed the No. 59 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 to a lead of nearly 50 seconds before the lone caution flag waved with just under nine minutes remaining. When racing resumed, he eased away to a 4.535-second triumph over Patrick Wilmot (No. 88 Split Decision Motorsports BMW M4 GT4).

It was the fifth win of the season for Mars and his first weekend sweep since Daytona in January. He extended his points lead to 550 over Wilmot and – like Aghakhani in P3 – can wrap up the class crown by starting both races at Michelin Raceway.

RESULTS: Race 2