D. Ducote Sweeps Podiums in Gold Cup Debut for Kelly Moss - Speedway Digest

It wasn’t a perfect homecoming, but Kelly Moss Motorsports left its home track at Road America with a bright star. Ducote, who has competed in the Platinum Cup class all season, made a successful debut in the Gold Cup class with four podiums last weekend at Road America. He swept the Gold and Gold Masters Championship classes, winning in both Rounds 11 and 12 of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama.

Platinum Cup drivers race in the 2014 model of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, while Gold Cup competitors race in 2010-13 models of the iconic car.

“Kelly Moss gave me a really good car,” Ducote said. “This weekend I was just able to keep my head down, stay clean, and it all worked out.”

The team had high hopes of extending its Platinum Cup team and driver championship lead. Kelly Moss driver Colin Thompson still leads the Drivers Championship by two points over Angel Benitez Jr. and five points over Michael Lewis, the team dropped to second in team standings, four points behind Formula Motorsport/Avid Motorsport.

David Ducote (center) after Round 11 Gold Cup win

It was a weekend of ups and downs for Kelly Moss. It wasn’t quite the event Kelly Moss Vice President Jeff Stone wanted, but he was still able to see the positives and is already looking toward the next event in the series, Sept. 18-19 at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas.

“All the highs and lows you could ask for,” Stone said. “We had David winning both Gold races, but on the flip side we’re taking home a lot of wrecked cars and a very slim lead in the championship. But we survived, and we’ll be back swinging at COTA.”

Thompson, a Pennsylvania native, had a rough weekend after a double podium weekend in July at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Damage to the car early in the weekend in Wisconsin limited his effectiveness.

“We were running a wounded car all weekend,” Stone said. “It needs to be repaired in the body shop, but we had to make due with what we had. So we had a less-than-perfect car, and he drove it the best he could.”

Thompson finished the weekend fourth and eighth in the Platinum class for Rounds 11 and 12, respectively. He recorded a sixth-place finish in Round 6, which was being made up after being postponed by rain in May at Lime Rock Park. Despite the rough weekend, Thompson still holds a two-point lead in the Platinum class Drivers Championship.

Colin Thompson in the No. 14 Kelly Moss Porsche

Dan Weyland, the only other Kelly Moss driver in the Platinum class, collected a 15^th– and two 14^th-place finishes in the Platinum class and two seventh- and a sixth-place Platinum Masters Championship finishes.

Wayne Ducote joined his son, David, in the Gold Cup Masters Championship, recording a 11^th– and seventh-place finish. In the rescheduled Round 6, Wayne Ducote was running well before an on-track incident eliminated him from contention. He still managed to bring home the Yokohama Hard Charger Award, presented to the driver who gained the most positions during the race.

Rounding out the Kelly Moss Gold Masters Championship results were Seth Davidow and William Peluchiwski. Davidow recorded a 10^th-place finish in Round 11 and a fifth-place finish in Round 12. Peluchiwski ended the weekend with a seventh- and eighth-place finish for the Gold Cup Masters Championship.

“It was great to see all the guys running well,” Stone said. “But that’s all we could come up with this time. It’s a little hard to digest right now, but we’ll be back and ready at COTA.”

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.