SEBRING, Fla. (March 18, 2021) – He scored the first Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires pole of the season at Daytona, now Wagner has backed it up with his third pole of the season at Sebring International Raceway. He was bested for the second-fastest lap by Sam Paley, which means a rookie will lead the field to the green in Race Two.

Wagner (No. 5 Spark Performance) set his fast time, a 2:25.666, straightaway in the 30-minute qualifying session. The current point leader indicated that was his plan all along.

“I did the lap early,” Wagner said. “This track gets pretty slick and the tires can overheat after two or three laps. I got good track position and a draft. I knew I had to do it early to get that lap. The rest of the session I was focused on getting a second fast lap for Race Two.”

At Daytona, Wagner secured the pole for both races, but today, his second-fastest lap was not good enough for a Race Two pole, instead, newcomer Paley (No. 28 McCumbee McAleer Racing) secured the honor and his first Mazda MX-5 Cup pole position.

Race One goes green at 4:20pm ET and will be streamed live on IMSA.com with play-by-play from IMSA Radio.