In one of the tightest sessions yet of the season, Topp Racing’s series rookie Tyler Maxson narrowly edged the competition for his first Race Brew Pole Award at Road America.
Maxson, a rookie in Porsche Carrera Cup North America, captured his first pole position of the year in the Pro class with Topp Racing, but only by the slimmest of margins.
With a time of two minutes, 7.829 seconds, Maxson’s fastest lap was just .025 seconds quicker than championship leader Riley Dickinson in second place and .095 seconds ahead of Jimmy Llibre in third. In all, the top 12 drivers were within one second of Maxson’s time.
“It feels great, the Topp Racing machine was on fire today,” said Maxson, whose best finish has been second place twice this year – most recently at Watkins Glen International in June. “I’m really happy with the progress we’ve made this weekend and everything we’ve done through the test. I’m happy I was able to show the true pace of the car and get everything out of it for the guys.”
Maxson is also one of several drivers in the field taking part in the Porsche EBOOST Junior Program North America.
“Absolutely (the program has helped),” said Maxson. “All the development we have and all the mentorship, it’s really great to have that support from Porsche and it’s been a big help throughout the year.”
Prior to his pole-winning performance, Maxson also topped Carrera Cup practice earlier in the day, which featured Llibre in second and Dickinson in third.
Leading the Kellymoss stable at Road America was Alan Metni in the Pro-Am class. The Porsche veteran not only finished first in practice on Thursday, but also ran quickest in Friday’s Practice 2 and in qualifying. It will be Metni’s fourth time starting from pole position in 2025.
Metni will start ahead of Pro-Am title leader JP Martinez, followed by Brady Behrman.
“I enjoyed it and it was a lot of fun,” said Metni. “I think JP is pole for the second race, so we should have a nice battle, it should be a lot of fun.”
In the Masters class, Peter Atwater returns for his third event of the season, and also with a bang, driving quickest in qualifying for JTR Motorsports Engineering. The entire Masters grid was separated by 1.5 seconds, with Atwater’s teammate Rob Walker finishing second and Richard Edge in third.
“It feels great,” said Atwater, a first-time polesitter in Carrera Cup. “I worked hard in practice and testing last week to really try and get the time down, and I laid down a good lap.”
On how he extracted the last bit of speed, Atwater replied, “Brake zones, keep on pushing the brake zones.”
Race 1 for Porsche Carrera Cup North America at Road America is scheduled for tomorrow, August 2, at 11:55 a.m. ET (10:55 a.m. local time). Race 2 goes green on Sunday, August 3, at 11:35 a.m. ET.
All Carrera Cup races, including replays from Road America, will be shown live on IMSA and Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube Channels, IMSA TV, Peacock, and the Porsche Motorsport North America social channels on Facebook, Linkedin, Threads and X.
