PWC: Barkey earns GTS win; Sandberg takes title

Martin Barkey was untroubled in his path to victory Saturday afternoon as the Pirelli World Challenge GTS polesitter surrendered the lead after mechanical problems struck and some of his closest challengers spun or broke during the 50-minute contest.

Barkey's Mantella Autosport KTM X-Bow GT4 cruised to a 6.1-second win over Nate Stacy in the Roush Performance Ford Muston Boss 302 and Brett Sandberg in the ANSA Motorsports KTM X-Bow GT4.

Pole man Scott Heckert led the opening stage of the event before pulling his SIN R1 GT4 off at the exit of Turn 11, and with clear road ahead of him, Barkey put in a textbook performance to make his maiden trip to PWC's Victory Lane.

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"I'm thrilled," Barkey said. "First win in Pirelli World Challenge. I've enjoyed learning so much here, so to sneak a win in here it's a thrill for me."

Stacy's Mustang and Aschenbach's Black Dog Speed Shop Chevy Camaro were glued to each other until the final laps when the Camaro's rear tires began to surrender.

Stacy swept past and with the KTM X-Bows of Sandberg and Anthony Mantella on his tail, Aschenbach fell from third to fifth in the sprint from Turn 11 to the checkered flag.

By moving ahead of Aschenbach, Sandberg, according to the series, is now the unofficial GTS champion.

"We knew we were a bit quicker," Sandberg said. "I wasn't sure if it was going to stick but we went side by side and I knew we could trust him. The car performed flawlessly today."

Sandberg was reluctant to celebrate the GTS Drivers' title until the points are counted and recounted, and the field is processed through post-race technical inspection.

"I was talking to the guys and we want to wait and see how the numbers stack up," he added.

The second-place run by Stacy was possibly the most impressive performance of the race, considering the drama he faced in getting to the grid. A sizable crash in qualifying, which broke his front suspension and did a significant amount of bodywork damage, put his Roush Performance team under the gun to make repairs in a matter of hours.

"Gotta thank the crew, vigorously," Stacy said. "I wasn't sure if we were going to make it. Can't wait for the next race."

UP NEXT: Race 2, 10:50 a.m. PT Sunday.