Buchan led the lion’s share of the middle stint in the #33 Bryan Herta Autosport-run Hyundai Elantra N, holding the sister #76 Denis Dupont/Preston Brown car at bay.
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Buchan handed his car over to co-driver Bryson Morris for the final leg for an enthralling final passage.
In the penultimate pit stop sequence, Pegram Racing took the lead of the race thanks to a storming drive from Mario Farnbacher.
However, the #72 Honda Civic Type R wound up nowhere near the podium at the end of the four-hour contest.
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The team was stung with a drive-through penalty for leaving a wheel unattended on the pit lane.
To make matters worse, a wound from a lock-up entering the pits gave Farnbacher a puncture and forced him to limp back to the pits.
With Farnbacher out of the picture, the Mason Filippi/Josh Buchan/Bryson Morris Hyundai resumed the race lead.
The closing laps proved decisive. Having kept Dupont at bay for the final stanza, Morris finally cracked. With two to go, Dupont made the move for the race lead through the infield.
Dupont got to the outside of Morris entering the Dogleg, and made sure to run the #33 wide exiting the West Horseshoe to ensure there was no return serve.
Moments later, the #89 HART Honda Civic Type R driven by Cameron Lawrence blew by Morris to seal second place with Chad Gilsinger and Tyler Chambers.
In a lap, Buchan’s hopes of a win were dashed, and he had to settle for third, 1.329s off race winners Dupont and Brown.
Rebel Rock Racing took the outright win in the GS class for GT4 homologated cars with Frank DePew, Robin Liddell, and Andrew Davis in their Aston Martin Vantage.
New Zealand’s Madeline Stewart finished ninth overall for CSM in the #2 Porsche 718.
Australia’s Harrison Goodman was 19th in the BSI Racing Toyota Supra with Lucas Weisenberg.
Cameron Shields was taken out of contention after a Safety Car breach resulted in a stop-and-go penalty. The #37 CarBahn with Peregrine racing BMW M4 finished two laps down in 34th.
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