FASTMD Racing with Remstar’s Jagger Jones drove away from the field Sunday morning (Aug. 25), then held on after a late restart to win IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Race No. 2 at VIRginia International Raceway. It is Jones’ seventh win of the year and his third weekend sweep.
Jones’ margin of victory was 2.445 seconds over US RaceTronics’ Steven Aghakhani. Forte Racing’s Brian Thienes was third, then Rick Ware Racing with Ave Motorsports’ Ryan Phinny. Performance Tech Motorsports’ Alex Kirby was fifth.
Jones started from pole in his Duqueine chassis with Aghakhani alongside, just like on Saturday. Jones was able to open a small gap on Aghakhani, but unlike Saturday, the margin didn’t truly stabilize.
When the leaders caught the slower GSX cars 18 minutes into the race, the opposite to what happened on Saturday occurred. Aghakhani couldn’t handle the traffic well.
What was a three-second lead for Jones ballooned up to 10 seconds. After the traffic was cleared, the advantage continued to increase.
Further back, Escuderia ABRO’s Miguel Villagomez was running in a comfortable third until contact loosened a piece of rear bodywork affectionately referred to as a “cheese wedge.” That drew a mechanical black flag that forced him to pit to have it removed. The penalty dropped Villagomez to the rear of the class.
Jones expanded his lead up to nearly 30 seconds when Rebel Rock Racing’s Frank DePew slid off-course at the Oak Tree Turn and hit the tire barrier with just over 10 minutes remaining. DePew was unable to extricate himself from the barrier and brought out the race’s sole full course caution.
There was just enough time remaining when the race restarted for a two-lap sprint to the finish. Almost the entire GSX class got waved around, so only KohR Motorsports’ Luca Mars was between Jones and Aghakhani.
Despite that, having to wait to pass Mars until after the start-finish line cost Aghakhani a lot of time. That two-second margin was all Jones needed to hold on for the win.
In GSX, KohR Motorsports’ Luca Mars started from pole and opened up a big gap on the first lap of the race. AutoTechnic Racing’s Mark Brummond moved up to second on the first lap after Split Decision Motorsports’ Patrick Wilmot ran into trouble on the first lap.
The early morning weather meant that the track was cooler than Saturday. That made everyone faster. Despite that fact, no one was really competitive…
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