ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—Jack Roush Jr. won his first Pirelli World Challenge GTS race Friday afternoon in a runaway. His second GTS win, in the second GTS race of the IndyCar Grand Prix of St. Pete weekend Saturday, evening, was a significantly tougher fight.
Roush made a bad start, dropped to fourth, fought his way to third, and took over the lead after a restart on lap 28. He was pressured to the end by an insistent Brent Sandberg, driver of the #13 KTM X-Bow, but held off his last-turn charge. Sandberg had to be satisfied with his second second-place finish of the weekend.
“I didn’t get a good start at all. I got a lot of wheel spin and I dropped to fourth,” said Roush Jr. after the race. “Then I tried to get the tires up to temperature and be smart in every turn. I was on my marks as best as possible. It was a battle the whole time. A much tougher race than Friday.
“The late restart was such a rush that I don’t remember that much of it. I have a lot of respect with the guys I race with in the GTS class. I didn’t know that Brett (Sandberg) was on the outside in the final corner. I don’t think I touched him. I was just focused on the front and getting to the checkered flag.”
The restart from which Roush benefitted cost the race for his team mate Nathan Stacy, who was leading when he went off at Turn 13.
“This is kind of bittersweet today because I thought Nate (Stacy) was going to run away,' Rousg said. ”I really felt bad for him when I saw him hit the wall. He really has a lot of talent and I’m sure we are going to see a lot of great results from him in the future.”
Roush’s team mate Nathan Stacy in the #14 Roush Performance Mustang Boss 302 took the lead from the green flag, and held it after a Lap Six caution brought on a restart. Stacy’s led shrank lap after lap as Brent Sandberg pressed forward, until Lap 22, when a momentary lapse in focus ended Stacy’s day.
