Since profitable the 2021 Championship Off-Street Professional 2 championship, Keegan Kincaid has endured a tough two years. He solely scored a podium in his title defence earlier than his 2023 has been nothing in need of abysmal. Nevertheless, he lastly caught a break Sunday on the greatest brief course race of the 12 months when he dominated the Crimson Bull World Cup at Crandon Worldwide Raceway.
After beginning on the entrance row alongside his fellow Professional 2 vans, Kincaid took the lead going into the opening nook earlier than the race was paused because the #12 of Excessive E driver Amanda Sorensen flipped simply two corners into the race. The race ultimately resumed and Kincaid by no means appeared again, placing on his most interesting displaying since his championship 12 months to win the World Cup for the second time in three years.
“I haven’t received a holeshot all weekend lengthy and actually struggled,” Kincaid commented. “We got here out and so they threw the yellow on me, and I’m like, ‘Oh, that was my just one.’ We bunkered down, received our head down, these Cooper tyres are attached, we ran away and hid. I used to be scared for some time there.
“We had been sending it. That was the toughest we had been sending. We weren’t lifting off the skybox, we weren’t lifting off that. Hope it was an excellent present for everybody.”
Professional 4 drivers RJ Anderson, who received the Championship Off-Street race in his class on Saturday for the second time in 2023, and Doug Mittag joined Kincaid on the rostrum. Kincaid added he “wouldn’t need to share (the rostrum) with anyone however these two up right here. These are two enjoyable guys. We had some actual enjoyable on the observe and off the observe.”
Being a non-championship spherical and the most important brief course race on the earth, the World Cup usually attracts particular names. Certainly, Excessive E had triple illustration with Anderson, Sorensen, and Tanner Foust forward of the subsequent spherical in Sardinia in two weeks; Anderson and Sorensen are team-mates at Chip Ganassi Racing. Foust completed eighth in his third World Cup, beating Sorensen’s team-mate and NASCAR veteran Casey Mears by a spot. Mears completed eleventh and seventh in his Professional 2 début weekend, whereas Sorensen was twelfth and eleventh.
Jerett Brooks, the 2022 Professional 2 champion who retired on the finish of the 12 months, made his return solely to be marred by mechanical issues after battling for the lead in each Saturday and Sunday races with Cory Winner. Winner went on to comb the weekend earlier than putting sixth within the World Cup.
Reigning World Cup winner C.J. Greaves notched his sixth Professional 4 win of the COR season on Sunday earlier than his World Cup ended with a flat tyre. Greaves additionally had his six-race win streak in Professional Inventory SxS finish when Dave Mason Jr. claimed the Saturday race for his and Honda’s maiden COR triumph.
The Professional Lite and Tremendous Buggy courses additionally had a mixture race on Saturday that was received by Jordan Bernloehr. Nevertheless, it was maybe overshadowed by a large wreck that pressured a stoppage.
Whereas the Professional courses finish their season at MidAmerica Open air in late September, the Sportsman classes wrapped up at Crandon on Friday and Saturday.
