Liefooghe Leads Mustang 1-2 Finish in Dramatic VIR Win

Photo: Wes Duenkel/Ford

Gregory Liefooghe led home a Ford Mustang GT4 1-2 finish following a dramatic conclusion to Saturday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway.

Liefooghe, in the No. 19 Stephen Cameron Racing Mustang, passed the No. 60 KohR Motorsports entry of Mike Skeen on the inside of Turn 1 with three minutes to go, just moments before the GS championship-leading No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Mustang of Robert Noaker was spun by a Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO and lost pieces of his car’s rear bumper, leading to a caution for debris.

The two-hour contest ended under full-course caution as a result.

It marked the first IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge win for the longtime California-based team, with Liefooghe sharing driving duties with Sean Quinlan.

Additionally, it was the Mustang GT4’s first series win since Road America 2025.

Luca Mars and Dillon Machavern took over the GS points lead with a third place result in the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW, capitalizing on a late-race restart that saw the No. 26 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Hannah Grisham drop down the running order while struggling for grip after taking only fresh left-side Michelins during her final stop with 49 minutes to go.

Grisham, who was in the virtual race lead for much of her stint, behind Mike Skeen and Matt Plumb, was passed by Liefooghe with 16 minutes to go, and ended up finishing eighth.

Plumb’s rear bumper then broke loose to bring out the second yellow, also for debris, just four minutes later.

Prior to that, the race had run caution-free upon the race’s first restart at the 30-minute mark.

Noaker, who entered the race with a 100-point lead and also with new co-driver Finn Wiebelhaus, was classified 21st in class after the late-race incident. It came after an impressive opening stint by the IMSA rookie, who ran in the top-three.

The No. 23 Koch-Copeland Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 of Jaxon Bell and Ford Koch was promoted to fourth after Trenton Estep’s No. 66 YRB Racing Aston Martin was assessed a post-race penalty equivalent to a drive-through for incident responsibility on the last restart.

The ‘Car Blanche’ entry dropped to a 22nd place class finish as a result, with Panam Motorsport’s Toyota completing the top-five after the incident-filled conclusion.

TCR class honors went to the No. 99 Victor Gonzalez Racing Team CUPRA Leon VZ TCR of Tyler Gonzalez and Steven Clemons, in a commanding run.

Clemons took over the class lead on Lap 6 from the No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR, just prior to the yellow, and held control through a mid-race pit stop and remainder of the contest.

It marked Gonzalez’s second class win of the season after taking victory at Sebring International Raceway in March.

Gonzalez finished ahead of Mason Filippi, who along with Bryan Herta Autosport co-driver Bryson Morris, extended their class points lead to more than 250 points after issues for nearly all of their championship contenders.

The No. 5 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Honda of Tim Lewis made a late pass on Karl Wittmer to complete the TCR podium in third.

RESULTS: Virginia is for Racing Lovers Grand Prix

Source: Sports Car 365