Robert Noaker led every lap from pole position, while also setting fastest lap
In Dark Horse Legends, Alex Bachoura landed P1 in class
UNOFFICIAL DH CLASS TOP-FIVE FINISHERS:
- Robert Noaker – No. 13 Robert Noaker Racing
- Devin Anderson – No. 22 TechSport
- Corbin Collins – No. 20 McCumbee McAleer Racing
- Sandy Satullo – No. 7 Robert Noaker Racing
- Tate Pritt – No. 98 Automatic Racing
UNOFFICIAL DHL CLASS TOP-FIVE FINISHERS:
- Alex Bachoura – No. 33 Spark Performance
- Alfonso Diaz – No. 15 Techsport
- Zachry Lee – No. 48 McCumbee McAleer Racing
- Drew Naubauer – No. 79 NV Autosport
- Paulo Salvatore– No. 84 Torre Racing
ROBERT NOAKER, No. 13 Robert Noaker Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse R (DH) – “It feels great. Like yesterday being able to carry the momentum from last year through the offseason and to be able to continue it into the 2025 season, it feels great for the team. Thank you to all of our partners, Red Line Oil, OBHOA, Rev Match Insurance, without them it makes this a lot more difficult.”
DEVIN ANDERSON, No. 22 TechSport Ford Mustang Dark Horse R (DH) – “We were definitely a lot closer to the front spot today. We made adjustments to the car which helped a lot. I’m just happy to be here. Ford’s putting on a beautiful show, and I’m just happy to be a part of it. I’m going for a champion this year. I’m looking forward to Laguna Seca the most. I’m really excited for it because I’ve never been there and I’m a long time fan. Also VIR, the hometown track and I feel really strong about that one”
CORBIN COLLINS, No. 20 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse R (DH) – “Today’s race was a wonderful drama free race. It went pretty well. Not a whole lot to worry about. We got to fight up front. I was happy to be out there. Weather beaming down, the track was nice and hot and greasy, so that made things interesting as well. The competition was great, everyone’s very respectful, everyone’s very tight, everyone’s very competitive as to be expected. The paddock is otherworldly to me. It’s absolutely wonderful. The professionalism, the punctuality, everything has been absolutely wonderful, and I’m more than thrilled to be here. We’ll see you at the next race!”
ALEX BACHOURA, No. 33 Spark Performance Ford Mustang Dark Horse R (DHL) – “It was great. I had a really great car from Sparks Performance. I started seventh and worked my way up. I had a gap on Diaz, but the guy in front of me was spilling oil. He had differential issues, so I kept getting slower and slower than when he finally pulled off, Diaz had already caught me, so it was a great battle with Diaz. He’s a great driver. I made some mistakes, he made some mistakes, and so we kind of kept up with each other. It was basically the guy who had made the least mistakes won it. I have a lot of respect for Diaz, he’s a fantastic racer and very clean driver, so I had a great time. It was fantastic.”
ALFONSO DIAZ, No. 15 TechSport Ford Mustang Dark Horse R (DHL) – “It was an epic battle. We had a bad start, I bumped the front of the car in the front. Then I had to lift and then everyone went by me. Bachoura came by and the goal of the rest of the race was to catch up and try to pass. We basically had the same pace. He would make a mistake, then I would catch him. I’d make a mistake, he would pull away. But we had the same pace. We had a great last battle on the last lap, side by side into turn 10. It was clean, we kept it clean, but he came out first. I had to give him the room to keep it clean, so it was a good battle till the end.”
ZACHRY LEE, No. 48 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse R (DHL) – “My race two was better than race one. I just didn’t have the pace to keep up with these Diaz and Bachoura and I was kind of scratching my head there. Had I still had some problems with the high speed stuff. I’m gonna try to stay with them in Laguna.”
Chelsea DeNofa, who earned a 2023 Formula Drift championship in a Ford Mustang, entered into Mustang Challenge this season, finishing in seventh place in the Dark Horse class.
CHELSEA DENOFA, No. 88 Creative Autosport Ford Mustang Dark Horse R (DH) –
“The race today went amazing. We decided to run on our qualifying tires that only had a few laps for Race two. I cooked them a little bit early because I’m overdriving the car. It was really nice to drive the car with the cooked tires because I found a lot of speed with a lesser car at that point. I learned a lot about the chassis and some things it likes and doesn’t like that were maybe masked before. So I was able to find consistency for almost 20 laps straight.
“There is a lot of little chassis tweaks that you can do to make these things get around the turn and match the driving style well, but ultimately in the end, the speed is so ideal between the cars, no one’s ever pulling on anyone, and when they do, it’s because a driver made a mistake. This is some of the most fun I’ve had in a really long time. We fought ourselves all the way up, five or six positions in every race, and then unfortunately, I just overcooked it and drove it too hard. We’re learning, and I’m really excited about this series
“My teammate Chip had an off and has to get the car fixed up a little bit. But he’s also gaining some speed throughout the weekend, which is really exciting. We’re gonna take the cars down, fine tune them, and prepare for the Le Mans Invitational, which is really, really exciting. That’s my real big benchmark for this series to be able to come out and kind of trade in my 20 years of drifting and the last years of working with Ford and be able to go race Le Mans. I feel that normally it takes 20 years of driving and road racing to drive Le Mans. So being able to trade that kind of time out in my efforts to be able to race Le Mans with the Mustang Dark Horse R will be an absolutely amazing thing. I’m excited to see how it goes.”