Will Rodgers Takes Sonoma Raceway Pole, XGT Cars Top the Speed Charts

April 20, 2024

Thunderhill Race 1 Winner Tim Barber Fastest in CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series, David Hampton Tops GT

SONOMA, Calif. (April 20, 2024) – Practice and qualifying are complete for the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli Western Championship at Sonoma Raceway. XGT’s Will Rodgers in the No. 12 Central Welding Supply Ford Mustang was quickest in qualifying, earning the Pole Award with a time of 1:30.401. Much like in practice yesterday, the XGT class topped the speed charts, claiming the top-four starting positions for today’s race.

Thunderhill Race 1 winner Tim Barber in the No. 33 DIG Motorsports Ford Mustang was fastest in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series with a best time of 1:34.138, while David Hampton in the No. 14 AR Motorsports Porsche Cayman GT4 CS MR was best in GT with a time of 1:39.559.

“The weekend so far has been, honestly, pretty great,” said Rodgers. “Pretty flawless by this Chris Evans Race Cars/Jefferson Racing XGT program. These guys are the best in the business, so usually these weekends go pretty well. The car they provided me, as always, is lightning fast. These XGT cars are so much fun to drive. With the repave here at Sonoma, now that it's super grippy, we're going really fast. I had even more in me in qualifying, but I got stuck behind a lapped car coming to the line. I think we were definitely in the 1:29 bracket, which was my goal, but regardless, still on the pole. Happy about that. Again, I'm just excited to show the performance of these XGT cars, and why they belong as one of the top classes in the Trans Am Series. I'm honored to race these cars, and we'll try to continue the winning streak later today.”

Race 1 of the Sonoma SpeedTour will be contested today at 1:00 p.m. PT.

XGT Qualifying:
1. Will Rodgers, No. 12 Central Welding Supply Ford Mustang (1:30.401)
2. Xuanqian Wang, No. 22 AURALIC North America Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO (1:30.871)
3. Dylan Lupton, No. 79 Lupton Excavation Ford Mustang (1:32.928)
4. Michelle Nagai, No. 72 Nagai Racing/Berkeley Jet Drive Chevrolet Camaro (1:34.064)
5. Rick Wright, No. 45 AR Motorsports Audi R8 LMS GT3 (1:34.813)

CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Qualifying Top Five:
1. Tim Barber, No. 33 DIG Motorsports Ford Mustang (1:34.138)
2. Gio Ruggiero, No. 8 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (1:34.427)
3. Michele Abbate, No. 30 GHOST/Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (1:35.004)
4. Barry Boes, No. 32 Accio Data/TRB Autosport Ford Mustang (1:35.041)
5. Michael LaPaglia, No. 31 Papini’s Garage/F.A.S.T. Auto Ford Mustang (1:35.259)

GT Qualifying:
1. David Hampton, No. 14 AR Motorsports Porsche Cayman GT4 CS MR (1:39.559)
2. Kevin Michaels, No. 98 Killer Shrimp Restaurant Chevrolet Corvette (1:42.949)

Full qualifying results can be found here.

XGT Practice:
1. Will Rodgers, No. 12 Central Welding Supply Ford Mustang (1:32.741)
2. Dylan Lupton, No. 79 Lupton Excavation Ford Mustang (1:32.888)
3. Michelle Nagai, No. 72 Nagai Racing/Berkeley Jet Drive Chevrolet Camaro (1:33.583)
4. Xuanqian Wang, No. 22 AURALIC North America Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO (1:34.994)
5. Chris Evans, No. 92 Central Welding Supply Ford Mustang (1:36.033)

CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Practice:
1. Tim Barber, No. 33 DIG Motorsports Ford Mustang (1:34.565)
2. Gio Ruggiero, No. 8 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (1:34.681)
3. Barry Boes, No. 32 Accio Data/TRB Autosport Ford Mustang (1:34.864)
4. Troy Ermish, No. 38 Ermish Racing Ford Mustang (1:35.668)
5. Michele Abbate, No. 30 GHOST/Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang (1:35.956)

GT Practice:
1. David Hampton, No. 14 AR Motorsports Porsche Cayman GT4 CS MR (1:40.482)
2. Kevin Michaels, No. 98 Killer Shrimp Restaurant Chevrolet Corvette (1:44.363)

Full practice results can be found here.