Yardley Enters Road Atlanta as New Points Leader

Photo: Jessica Johnk/Porsche

Ryan Yardley enters this weekend’s penultimate event of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America season as the new points leader.

A pair of runner-up finishes in last month’s rounds at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in races where Riley Dickinson failed to reach the podium, has put the Topp Racing driver atop the championship order with four rounds to go.

The U.S.-based Kiwi holds a ten-point lead over 2023 champion Dickinson, who jumped out into an early lead with a pair of wins at Sebring International Raceway and held that position for six events, thanks to a series-high four wins in his Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

Both drivers have claimed top honors at the 2.54-mile Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta circuit before, with Yardley taking a victory in Race 2 last year and Dickinson credited with maximum points in the second race in 2022, which was won by guest entrant Laurin Heinrich. Dickinson also won at Road Atlanta in the series’ predecessor, Porsche GT3 Cup North America.

JDX Racing’s Zachary Vanier, meanwhile, sits third in this year’s Pro class title race, only 35 points behind Yardley.

A total of 29 cars are entered for Rounds 13 and 14 of the season, featuring 17 in the Pro class, five in Pro-Am and seven entries in Masters.

While Scott Blind has already wrapped up the Masters class title, JP Martinez of ACI Racing heads into the weekends with a 38-point lead over Kellymoss driver Alan Metni in Pro-Am.

Track action kicks off Wednesday with a pair of practice sessions, followed by qualifying on Thursday morning and the first 40-minute race later that day at 5:05 p.m. EST. Race 2 gets underway on Friday at 10:40 a.m., with both races to be streamed live on Peacock as well as Porsche Motorsport North America and IMSA’s YouTube channels.

Pre-Event News & Notes:

***While IMSA closes its WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season with the ten-hour Motul Petit Le Mans, the weekend serves as the penultimate round for Carrera Cup. The finale, Rounds 15 and 16, will take place next weekend in support of Formula 1 at Circuit of The Americas.

***Cole Kleck dominated the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America season, winning the 992 Pro-Am class with 11 wins and 12 fastest laps for Topp Racing. The 19-year-old will make his Carrera Cup debut at Road Atlanta this weekend, continuing his climb through the North American Porsche Motorsport Pyramid.

***Kleck joins Yardley and Tyler Maxson as Topp Racing tries to hold on to its lead in the team championship. Kleck captured a win at Road Atlanta during the Sprint Challenge finale.

***Ruckus Racing driver Scott Blind’s season is one for the record books. Blind clinched the Masters class of Carrera Cup at Indianapolis. That was just one week after he secured the Masters class of both Sprint Challenge North America and Sprint Challenge USA West, and capped it off by taking the overall driver’s championship in Porsche Endurance Challenge.

***Pro class and Porsche EBOOST Junior Program drivers Maxson and Wesley Slimp, along with Masters class driver Richard Edge, are racing at home this weekend. Edge lists his hometown as Atlanta proper, while Slimp is from the Marietta suburb. Maxson is east of the city in Bogart, Georgia, near Athens.

***Czabok Simpson Motorsport recently announced its expansion into Carrera Cup North America competition for next year, with the Michelin Pilot Challenge entrants confirming the order of two Type-992.2 Porsche 911 Cup cars that will join its arsenal of Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsports that will continue in competition in 2026.

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