BSI Racing’s No. 44 Bobby Gossett scored his first career victory on the streets of St. Petersburg, holding off No. 96 Jared Thomas of JTR Motorsports Engineering on the final lap to secure the top spot on the podium.

The race began under yellow-flag conditions after an extra pace lap was added. Once the green flag waved, the opening lap proved physical, as expected, with Gossett battling championship leader No. 23 Justin Adakonis of McCumbee McAleer Racing for the lead.

That early fight was halted when No. 77 Ellie Gossett of BSI Racing lost control on the airplane runway straight, bringing out the second caution of the race — the first for an on-track incident.

Gossett controlled the majority of the event through multiple FCY stints. No. 99 Logan Stretch of Wheels America Racing and No. 9 Vaughn Mishko of Advanced Autosports made contact entering Turns 2 and 3, while No. 31 Ethan Lampe of Advanced Autosports was involved in an incident that left him stopped in Turn 1.

During one of the yellow-flag periods, Adakonis lost valuable track position due to mechanical issues and ultimately finished 35th.

Following the final FCY restart, the battle intensified as rookie No. 11 Matt Novak of Advanced Autosports mounted an impressive comeback drive, working his way into podium contention and overtaking No. 22 Jeremy Fletcher of McCumbee McAleer Racing for third place.

However, it was the fight for the lead that defined the finish. Thomas pushed Gossett to the limit until a late FCY — triggered when No. 25 Fernando Luque of AAG Racing stopped on track — ended Thomas’ chances on the final lap.

“It’s awesome,” Gossett said. “I know everyone says they didn’t expect to win it, but this was definitely not the one I expected to win. And I didn’t expect to have this much pace either. We were fast in practice, kind of fast in qualifying, but to come out here in the rain and do well — which I’m normally nervous about — was definitely special.”

Not only was the victory special, but Gossett was also able to battle for the lead at one point with his friend and mentor, Jeremy Fletcher, who gave him all he could handle.

“Yeah, it’s always fun,” Gossett said. “I bet he’s really happy that I won — maybe. So yeah, I mean, it’s awesome. I always step back and think to myself, even in practice sometimes, ‘Wow, I’m really racing.’”

As for his feelings regarding the final FCY, Gossett admitted it was bittersweet.

“I’m glad it came out, right? I won the race. But at the same time, like you were saying, racing Jared would have been a lot more fun. I wasn’t as happy because of that. I would have loved to win it the really hard way — to really battle him out for the win. He was on my bumper, and I knew he was going to give me something — maybe a bump in the last corner or something.”

For Thomas, he looks ahead to tomorrow to try and grab the top spot on the podium following the late race battle from Round 3 (Race 1) in St. Pete.

“Yeah, I knew from coming, when I came out of the last corner, coming down the front stretch, I got the word that, hey, there’s a car off in 10. It could go full course to get everything you can get. Started running down. I got to the bumper and was getting ready to make the move and just came up a little short on time. But great finish for our team, and we’ll move on tomorrow. “

 

(Photo Courtesy to Mazda Motorsports/Ignite Media)