The pole-sitting Wayne Taylor Racing Acura of Filipe Albuquerque was shuffled back to third on the opening lap, with Tristan Vautier storming into the lead in the JDC Miller Motorsport Cadillac DPi-V.R that he had qualified fastest prior to last week's grid-setting qualifying race.
Kobayashi also overtook Albuquerque in the Ally-liveried Action Express Racing Cadillac he shares with Mike Rockenfeller, Jimmie Johnson and Jose Maria Lopez, the Japanese then moving ahead of Vautier on lap seven.
