Tyler Maxson Clinches 2026 Carrera Cup Title at COTA
Tyler Maxson secured the 2026 Porsche Carrera Cup North America championship at Circuit of The Americas on Saturday, October 24, after his Race 1 podium left title rival Aaron Jeansonne without enough points available to close the gap. Janne Stiak won the race, while Maxson finished third.
The result settles the season’s headline contest before Sunday’s final race, but it did not come from a quiet points-management drive. Stiak took control at the first corner, Jeansonne climbed to second and Maxson kept his No. 77 TOPP Racing Porsche in a position that made the championship arithmetic decisive.
How the title math became final
Maxson arrived in Austin with a 27-point advantage. He then earned two bonus points for taking the Sunday Race Brew pole, increasing his margin over Jeansonne to 28 points, 300-272, after Saturday’s race. Only 26 points remained on offer in Race 2: 25 for a win and one for the fastest lap.
That meant the championship was clinched regardless of what either driver might do on Sunday. Porsche’s event report described it as Maxson’s first non-winning podium of the season, a telling measure of a campaign built around eight victories before the finale and an ability to convert front-running pace into points.
Stiak converts the start into a win
Stiak started alongside pole-sitter Maxson and moved ahead at Turn 1. Jeansonne also advanced to second, leaving Maxson third. The order at the front held through an interrupted 35-minute race.
A caution followed contact involving Cody Conley and Ronan Drohan on lap seven. Racing resumed, but a later multi-car incident on the front straight involving Masters-class entries brought out another yellow. The clock expired before the field could return to green, so Stiak collected his second victory of the season ahead of Jeansonne and Maxson.
For Stiak, the win continued a strong finish to his first full North American season. Porsche said the German teenager had six podiums from 15 races and had already become the series’ youngest winner with his victory at Watkins Glen earlier in the year.
A follow-up to a high-pressure finale
Maxson’s title completes the story that began with a narrow advantage entering the weekend. Our COTA finale preview explained how Jeansonne’s consistency kept the contest alive despite Maxson’s larger win total. Saturday’s result showed the difference between needing a victory and protecting a points lead: Jeansonne did what he could by finishing ahead, but Maxson’s podium was enough.
The championship also adds to TOPP Racing’s successful season. The team had already secured the entrants’ title before the Austin finale. Carrera Cup North America uses the current Type 992.2 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, with identical 4.0-liter naturally aspirated flat-six engines and controlled Pirelli tires, putting an emphasis on driver execution and team setup within a one-make format.
Sofronas and Blind win their classes
Saturday also produced two notable class results. James Sofronas won Pro-Am after returning from injuries that had kept him out since early in the season. Scott Blind took the Masters victory, his first class win since the Miami weekend in Round 3.
Those Saturday results still mattered with the overall Pro championship decided. Class wins and the remaining championship positions gave Sunday’s Race 2 consequence, and Maxson closed the weekend by converting pole position into another victory.
Update: Maxson wins the season finale
Sunday, October 25: Maxson followed his championship-clinching podium with a flag-to-flag victory in Race 2. The No. 77 TOPP Racing Porsche finished 6.077 seconds ahead of Stiak, while Jared Thomas was promoted to third after Callum Hedge received a 10-second penalty for multiple track-limit violations.
Maxson also recorded the race’s fastest lap, a 2:06.899, to close the year with nine wins. Patrick Mulcahy won Pro-Am, and Scott Blind completed a weekend sweep in the Masters class. The event classification and Sportscar365’s race report agree on the class winners and podium order.
What is confirmed
The race result and points calculation come from the official Porsche Carrera Cup North America Race 1 report. Sportscar365’s independent race report also records Stiak’s victory, Jeansonne’s runner-up finish and Maxson’s championship-clinching third place.
Featured image: Archive photo of Tyler Maxson’s No. 77 TOPP Racing Porsche at Watkins Glen in 2025, not the 2026 COTA title race. Photo by SmackJam via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
