Will Rodgers was once again in a class of his own, leading from flag to flag to earn the overall victory in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli Western Championship’s debut at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch with his XGT class Mustang. Rodgers earned the overall Motul Pole Award and held his lead during the caution-filled event, finishing the race with an impressive gap over second place.
Meanwhile, Brody Goble in the Big Machine Vodka SPIKED Coolers TA2 Series led from start to finish to earn his third victory of the season. After points leader Greg Tolson suffered a mechanical issue early in the race, Goble’s win allowed him to take the top spot in the standings for the first time this season.
This was Rodgers’ fourth win of the season in four starts. He was the overall race winner in three of those victories.
It was Goble’s third win of the season. He has won from the pole in all three of his 2023 victories. Goble now holds the points lead going into the season finale at Circuit of The Americas. This is the first time all season that he has topped the standings after missing the season-opener at Thunderhill Raceway Park.
Greg Tolson has held the lead in the TA2 standings since WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May, but dropped to third after an early DNF.
Tim Rankin won the SGT class in his first-career Trans Am race.
JC Meynet earned his fourth win and seventh podium in seven races this season.
Rodgers in the No. 32 Chris Evans Race Cars & Design Ford Mustang, was uncontested in his domination of the XGT class. After starting the race from the overall pole position, he held the lead from start to finish. His only competitor in class, Michelle Nagai in the No. 72 Nagai Racing/Berkeley Jet Drive Chevrolet Camaro, also had a great deal of speed all weekend, starting second in class and sixth overall. Unfortunately, her car began to smoke heavily on lap four, causing her to get black flagged.
As she pulled off the track, it became evident that she had an engine fire, which brought out a full-course caution and ended her day. Rodgers continued to hold the overall lead for the remainder of the race despite several cautions bunching up the field, and took the checkered flag for the fourth time this season.
“The race went according to plan for us,” said Rodgers. “Being one of two XGT cars out here this weekend with Chris Evans Racing, we’re still out here debuting this car and showing people how dominant it is, performance-wise. It’s a great value opportunity for people to get involved and have a blast driving something with this much horsepower, this much grip, and this much tire. We proved that once again.
“The race was a little hairy with cautions and a lot of debris and stuff like that, so I didn’t get to show what this car could really do on a long run, but we still outpaced the field in the way that we wanted to. We had a good time, and the car is in one piece headed to COTA, so that’s what is most important. We’re looking forward to racing against all the other classes there. I want to thank every single person on this Chris Evans Racing team. Everybody with this program is why we’re so successful, why these cars are so good. I’m just honored to be able to race it and show why they’re the best in the business here in the Trans Am Series.”
Brody Goble took the green flag from the point position in his No. 69 Brown Bros. Ford/Cortex Racing Mustang, effortlessly leading his Big Machine Vodka SPIKED Coolers TA2 Series competitors during the opening laps.
Greg Tolson, who led the standings coming into this weekend’s race, started from eighth in class but worked his way into the top five by the conclusion of the first lap. It appeared that he was coming for Goble until lap eight when his No. 8 GT Auto Lounge Ford Mustang began to overheat. Forced to retire, he was relegated to 23rd in the final results, which placed him last in his class.
Behind Goble, the rest of the top five started to settle in, and he was chased by Bobby Hodges (No. 88 NATC/Garage Row Racing Ford Mustang), Tim Lynn (No. 71 RoofOptions Ford Mustang), Michael LaPaglia (No. 31 Papini’s Garage/F.A.S.T. Auto Ford Mustang) and Michele Abbate (No. 30 Ghost Energy/Lucas Oil/Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang). Together, the five endured three more cautions bunching the field and three more competitive restarts. On the final restart, Lynn was passed by LaPaglia.
In the last seven laps, Goble worked his way up to a two-second gap before crossing the finish line, followed by Hodges and LaPaglia, completing the podium, and Lynn and Abbate, rounding out the top five. With his victory, Goble took over the point standings lead with a 22-point advantage over Michael LaPaglia. Tolson dropped to third, 38 points behind Goble.
“There certainly weren’t many long runs during the race. I thought I’d have a little bit more comfort area than proved to be the case with all the restarts; every one’s car stayed pretty fresh,” said Goble. “We set our fastest lap on the last lap of the race, as did Michael LaPaglia and Bobby Hodges, who were doing an awesome job and certainly keeping me honest there.