Kohlbecker Takes First Win of Season in Race 1 Fight

Spike Kohlbecker took his first win of the Toyota GR Cup North America season at Road America after a daring last-lap pass for the lead in the first of two races this weekend in Wisconsin.

The RVA Graphics Motorsports by Speed Syndicate driver started Race 1 in seventh, but steadily climbed his way up the order in damp conditions, ultimately slipping past Parker DeLong on the final lap to secure the win 0.652 seconds over Jaxon Bell.

DeLong quickly took the lead in the opening sequence of corners in his first-ever series start after taking the green flag beside his teammate and pole-sitter Max Schweid.

However, Jeremy Fletcher snatched the lead by the end of the first lap after starting third, with Will Robusto climbing from fifth to second to challenge for the lead with DeLong and Schweid behind.

Robusto and Fletcher went side-by-side into Turn 1 as the pair fought for the lead, making slight contact, sending the Copeland Motorsports driver into a spin, and dropping Robusto into the clutches of the podium battle behind, ultimately slotting him into fifth. The incident came under review from race control, resulting in a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility.

DeLong, meanwhile, retook control of the field over Jaxson Bell, Kohlbecker, and Schweid, respectively.

Bell and DeLong swapped the lead in the final 15 minutes, with the top six cars running nose-to-tail entering the final stages of the race.

Kohlbecker moved into second after a battle with Bell, with Westin Workman on a charge behind after bringing himself into contention in the late stages following a strong comeback drive after starting tenth.

The RVA driver moved into the lead on the final lap after DeLong went wide under braking into Turn 5, dropping to fourth position behind Workman.

Workman secured a podium finish in third for BSI Racing ahead of Copeland’s Ford Koch, who took fourth position from the fifth-place finishing DeLong.

While multiple drivers took avoiding action after Robusto and Fletcher’s contact, Nitro Motorsports’ Paityn Feyen took to the pits after going off into the gravel. She spent the rest of the race turning as many laps as possible after coming in and out of the pits on multiple occasions.

The 45-minute race clock began as the 28-car field took three total reconnaissance laps around the 4.048-mile road course behind the safety cars to allow drivers the chance to get to grips with the wet conditions following a significant afternoon downpour.

Rain began to subside ahead of the start of the GR Cup North America race, with only a light drizzle around the track at the drop of the green flag.

After an engine failure in qualifying, Lucas Weisenberg was classified in 14th position, but took the start from the rear of the GR Cup field. However, competing in Jason Kos’s No. 3 Eagles Canyon Racing powered by Fast Track GR86, with Kos having withdrawn from the rest of the race weekend as revealed in a pair of stewards’ bulletins on Friday morning.

Weisenberg made up significant ground in the race, taking the checkered flag in 14th position.

Despite drying conditions, the race ran green from start to finish.

Second qualifying is scheduled for 8:40 a.m. CST Sunday morning, followed by Race 2 of the weekend at 12:45 p.m.

RESULTS: Race 1