Maxson Storms to Sebring Race 1 Pole in New Lap Record

Photo: Jessica Johnk/Porsche

Tyler Maxson kicked off the new era of Porsche Carrera Cup North America by claiming pole for Race 1 at Sebring International Raceway with a new qualifying track record.

Maxson, in the No. 77 Topp Racing Porsche 911 Cup, reeled off a 2:00.313 lap time on his new Pirelli-shod Type-992.2 Porsche to outpace the No. 24 Kellymoss entry of Aaron Jeansonne by 0.392 seconds.

This week marks the North American debut for the new 911 Cup car as well as the Pirelli P Zero DHG tire in the single-make series.

JTR Motorsports Engineering’s Jared Thomas was third quickest, ahead of Kellymoss driver Paul Bocuse and 2025 Porsche Sprint Challenge North America champion Cole Kleck, who completed the overall top-five.

Patrick Mulcachy, in his ACI Motorsports Porsche, claimed the Pro-Am class pole, thanks to a 2:20.256 lap time.

Masters class pole honors, meanwhile, went to Marco Cirone in the No. 88 ACI machine.

The 30-minute session saw several incidents, with an issue for the No. 80 Kellymoss entry of Kayden Kelly, who went off course in Turn 13 with less than five minutes to go to bring out a red flag.

The session did not restart.

Other incidents, which did not see reds, included an impact with the Turn 1 barriers for John Goetz in the No. 57 Kellymoss Porsche, who then pulled off track to a place of safety.

Several other cars also had spins or off course excursions of lesser degrees, although it left debris spread around the 3.7-mile circuit that required post-session cleanup.

Race 1 is set to get underway at 3 p.m. EST, which will be streamed live on Peacock, IMSA’s YouTube channel and PorscheCarreraCup.us featuring commentary from Ryan Myrehn and Peter Mackay.

RESULTS: Qualifying

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