Maxson, Jeansonne Title Battle Continues at Road Atlanta

Photo: Jessica Johnk/Porsche

Tyler Maxson and Aaron Jeansonne will again face off this week at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, with only four races to go until crowning the Porsche Carrera Cup North America Pro class champion.

Topp Racing driver Maxson enters the penultimate event of the season with a reduced 11-point lead over Jeansonne, following a points haul in Race 2 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Kellymoss driver.

While Jeansonne scored his first win in one year in Race 2 at The Brickyard, it marked a five-point gain on Maxson, who finished fifth in the race.

Maxson has five wins on the season but Jeansonne has been the measure of consistency, with five second-place finishes alone out of 12 races.

While the Pro-Am class title was wrapped up last time out with Patrick Mulcahy, Marco Cirone could clinch the Masters championship this week.

The ACI Motorsports driver holds a 52-point lead over defending class champion Scott Blind, of Ruckus Racing.

Cirone will need to leave Road Atlanta with at least a 56-point margin over Blind to lock up the title ahead of next month’s season finale at Circuit of The Americas.

The 22-car field for Rounds 13 and 14 of the season will see two new faces to the grid.

Dan Drohan and Charlie Hayes Racing will make their Carrera Cup North America debuts after a full season in a Type-992.1 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America and Porsche Endurance Challenge.

Inaugural Porsche Sprint Trophy Porsche Club of America champion Joel Johnson, meanwhile, will also make his series debut in JDX Racing entry.

Both newcomers will be in the Masters class.

Track action begins on Wednesday with two practice sessions, with qualifying and Race 1 (5:25 p.m. EST) set for Thursday and Race 2 (3:55 p.m. EST) on Friday. Both 40-minute contests will be streamed live on Porsche Motorsport North America and IMSA’s YouTube channels.

Pre-Event News & Notes:

***Road Atlanta is a regular on the Carrera Cup schedule, having made an appearance each season except for 2023.

***Laurin Heinrich, who holds a mathematical chance of winning the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP title this weekend, turned his first laps in North America at Road Atlanta in 2022, scoring a sweep of the weekend in Carrera Cup with 311RS Motorsport. Then 21-years-old, Heinrich finished 8.855 seconds ahead of the field – a precursor of things to come.

***Alan Metni continues to set career marks in Carrera Cup. The career leader in starts, Metni will take his 84th and 85th career green flags. Despite being eligible for the Masters class, Metni is racing in the Pro class this season and is currently eighth in points with Kellymoss.

***Two podium finishes at Indianapolis gave Aaron Jeansonne a total of 15 top-three finishes in his Carrera Cup North America career. One more will move him to a tie with Zachary Vanier for fifth all time, and a pair moves him to fifth alone. Everyone is chasing Riley Dickinson, who has 43 career podiums in the top class and overall.

***Several Carrera Cup teams tested at COTA last week in preparation for the season finale. It included GMG Racing team owner/driver James Sofronas, who returned to the wheel of a Porsche 911 Cup car for the first time in six months and was coached by Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver Tom Sargent.

***Sofronas told Sportscar365 that he plans to contest the final two races of the season, supporting the Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix, in Pro-Am, with Kyle Washington set to return to action in Masters. The season finale is set for Oct. 23-25.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John