Maxson Charges to Race 1 Win at Road Atlanta

Tyler Maxson charged to the Race 1 win at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in a Thursday evening Porsche Carrera Cup North America thriller, which saw the Topp Racing rookie muscle his way to the lead in the closing stages.

Maxson, who started the race in third, was part of a three-car fight for the lead after Race 1 pole-sitter Aaron Jeansonne led a hard-charging Ryan Yardley in second with Maxson behind for much of the race.

Maxson lunged to muscle his way past the Kellymoss driver for the lead in the final 15 minutes, banging doors with the Jeansonne at Turn 7 during the overtake. The move immediately came under investigation from race control, though no decision has been announced at this stage.

Maxson took his No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car to the checkered flag and the win 2.792 seconds up the road from Jeansonne.

A ten-second penalty for Pro class points leader dropped Yarldey for early contact while overtaking Riley Dickinson, dropped him to sixth overall, and promoted series debutant Cole Kleck to a podium finish.

JTR Motorsports Engineering’s Jared Thomas came home fourth ahead of Dickinson, who lost ground in the early laps, in fifth.

Both drivers were promoted up the order thanks to a ten-second time penalty for Zachary Vanier, who was caught blocking in a tense multi-car battle inside the top five. Vanier would be classified in ninth.

Alan Metni delivered Kellymoss a Pro-Am class win, having led every racing lap around the 2.54-mile circuit to take the checkered flag ahead of Patrick Mulcahy on the road, though the GMG Racing driver was handed a ten-second time penalty for blocking, dropping him to fourth in-class.

Scott Blind dominated in Masters, with the already-crowned class drivers’ champion leading the class from flag to flag ahead of ACI Motorsports’ Richard Edge.

The closing stages saw Blind briefly go off-track and lose the lead to edge, though the Ruckus Racing driver retook his advantage quickly and held it until the checkered flag.

The race stayed green from start to finish despite Sabre Cook’s No. 37 JDX Racing Porsche pulling behind the Turn 9 tire wall and a pair of spins for the No. 70 JDX car of Joel Johnson.

Race 2 of the weekend will take the green flag at 10:40 a.m. EST Friday morning with live coverage available on Peacock as well as Porsche Motorsport North America and IMSA’s YouTube channels.

RESULTS: Race 1