FORD PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS: Ranger Raptor Repeats in Australian Desert

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FORD PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS: Ranger Raptor Repeats in Australian Desert

Jun 10, 2024

<2 MIN READ

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Brad Lovell took the Ford Ranger Raptor back to the top of the podium in Australia, Luca Mars earned his third victory of the season in the all-new Mustang GT4 in Ohio, and teammates Robert Noaker and Tyler Maxson split DH class victories in the inaugural event of the IMSA Mustang Challenge series.

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Brad Lovell took the Ford Ranger Raptor back to the top of the podium in the Tatts Finke Desert Race in Australia, securing the Production Four-Wheel Drive class victory.
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He raced through two days of Australian desert for a total elapsed time of 05:58:23:501.
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Lovell took off five minutes against his record last year for the first leg of the race.
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The Ford Australia Ranger Raptor team and Lovell qualified second for the two-day race during the Prologue.
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The inaugural IMSA Mustang Challenge event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course featured 27 Dark Horse R competitors across two classes.
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Robert Noaker Racing shared victories in the Dark Horse class, with Noaker claiming the first checkered flag and teammate Tyler Maxson winning the event finale.
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MDK Motorsports’ Tom Tait Jr. was the first to win top honors in the Dark Horse Legends class, while McCumbee McAleer Racing’s Zachry Lee was victorious in the finale.
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The next Mustang Challenge races are June 20-23 at Watkins Glen International Speedway in New York as part of the Six Hours of the Glen.
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Luca Mars returned to the top step for the first time since his Daytona sweep after winning the event-opener of IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge at Mid-Ohio.
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He started third and took the lead by the sixth lap of the 31 total laps he logged in the 45-minute race.
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Mars followed his victory with a third-place finish in the finale, marking his fifth podium in six races, and now leads the championship points standings by 120 points.
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The next rounds of action are scheduled for July 12-14 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Ontario.
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After four hours of series action, KohR Motorsports’ Luca Mars and Bob Michaelian placed a Ford-best eighth in the GS class in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at Mid-Ohio.
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McCumbee McAleer Racing’s Chad McCumbee and Jenson Altzman placed 11th in class, while the Cameron Racing USA driver pairing of Greg Liefooghe and Sean Quinlan placed 14th in their second-ever event in the all-new Mustang GT4.
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The Michelin Pilot Challenge returns June 22nd with The Esses 120 at Watkins Glen International.
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Michael McDowell and Chris Buescher led the Ford charge on Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series at Sonoma Raceway in California, finishing second and third, respectively.
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Four Ford Mustang Dark Horses finished in the top 10, with Ryan Blaney seventh and Todd Gilliland 10th.
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Joey Logano started on the pole and led the first 16 laps before getting caught in a multi-car accident in Stage 1.
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Buescher was the Stage 2 winner and led 32 laps.
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Cam Waters, who came over from the Australian Supercars Series, made his Cup debut but was collected in a Lap 66 accident and finished 35th.
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Brad Keselowski is the top Ford in the point standings (seventh), with the defending champion Blaney 12th and Buescher 13th.
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The NASCAR Cup Series continues this weekend with the first-ever Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway on Sunday.
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Cole Custer was the top-finishing Ford with a ninth-place run in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Sonoma.
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He continues to lead the series standings by 12 points and tops all drivers with 11 top-10 finishes.
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Riley Herbst finished 13th and sits seventh in the season standings.
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The series returns this weekend to Iowa Speedway for the first time since 2019 with a race on Saturday.
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Bob Tasca III qualified fourth with a 3.988 at 315.93 mph and advanced to the second round of eliminations in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series at Bristol Dragway, in Tennessee.
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Chad Green and Daniel Wilkerson qualified fifth and tenth in their Ford Mustang Dark Horse Funny Cars.
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The next stop on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is Richmond for the Virginia NHRA Nationals June 21-23.
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Donny Schatz earned his ninth podium of the season, finishing third in his home state of North Dakota during the main World of Outlaws series feature in River Cities Speedway.
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He qualified second for the feature and started the Toyota Dash from first position.
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Schatz qualified ninth for the main feature at Ogilvie Raceway in Minnesota and ultimately climbed to fourth.
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The World of Outlaws Sprint Cars make their next stop at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa Friday and Saturday for the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash.

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