All gloves were off in the first Porsche Carrera Cup North America race at Road Atlanta – and hometown hero Tyler Maxson emerged on top Thursday afternoon as the rookie class of 2025 filled the top four spots.
Maxson – who hails from Bogart, Georgia, just 40 minutes from the classic 2.54-mile circuit – started third of the ExxonMobil Pro class drivers, but with a move with less than 10 minutes remaining, acquired the top spot from polesitter Aaron Jeansonne.
“It’s just amazing,” said the Porsche Motorsport North America EBOOST Junior Program driver.
“These guys (at Topp Racing) have put in so much work in these last few weeks of this home stretch here. To reward them with a win is just amazing. They work so hard, and I’m happy to finally bring it home for them.”
Maxson led an impressive string of drivers on Thursday, as Carrera Cup rookies made up the top four finishers. Jeansonne finished second, followed by Porsche Sprint Challenge North America champion Cole Kleck in third in his series debut, and Jared Thomas in fourth.
“What a first race for (teammate Cole Kleck). An awesome job, and I’m really excited to have him on the team with us for the end of the year here and hopefully going into next year. It’s awesome to have all three of us (with teammate and championship leader Ryan Yardley) up front running well and really just a great statement to the guys and all the work they’ve been doing this season.”
For the ExxonMobil Pro class championship standings, Yardley finished one position behind rival Riley Dickinson after receiving a 10 second penalty for contact. Yardley finished sixth in class behind Dickinson in fifth.
Both pole-sitters in the Solairus Aviation Pro-Am and Masters categories – Alan Metni with Kellymoss and Scott Blind with Ruckus Racing, respectively – went on to victory on Thursday afternoon.
For Metni, it was his first win since Watkins Glen International in June and his second of the season. The result also pulls Metni and the Kellymoss team closer to championship leader JP Martinez, who finished second ahead of Marco Cirone in third.
“Right now, JP is ahead of me for the title race, so it’s quite competitive as it is right now. I think I need to win every race, win every qualy, and every fastest lap to have a chance.
“I’m trying to do the best I can, to go as fast as I can and drive as well as I can. If the championship happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it wasn’t my year.”
Meanwhile, Solairus Aviation Masters champion-elect Scott Blind finished first in class by nearly eight seconds – and even drove his Porsche 992 GT3 Cup into the dirt to do so.
Blind noted the full field of Masters drivers at Road Atlanta, and therefore was determined to perform his best despite already earning the class title.
“That was a hard fight,” Blind admitted. “I was really fighting with Patrick (Mulcahy, Pro-Am driver) most of the race. I wanted to see if I could run a little bit deeper into the field. I was running pretty good, but I kind of lost it coming out of (Turn) 7.
“We finished top in class, so it was great, but a lot of work.”
Richard Edge started third, but finished second behind Blind, while Rob Walker started fourth and snuck into third for a podium position.
The second Porsche Carrera Cup North America race at Road Atlanta is scheduled for Friday, October 10, at 10:40 a.m. ET.
All Carrera Cup races, including replays from Road Atlanta, 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.
