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Draft:Tyler Maxson

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Tyler Maxson
Maxson's Hyundai Elantra N TCR at Watkins Glen in 2023.
Born (2004-10-12) October 12, 2004 (age 19)
Lawrenceville, Georgia, United States
IMSA Ford Mustang Challenge career
Debut season2024
Current teamRobert Noaker Racing
Car number74
Championship titles
2020
2019		TC America Series – TCR
TC America Series – TCA
Last updated on: July 9, 2024.

Tyler Maxson (born October 12, 2004) is an American racing driver. Maxson was crowned champion in the TC America Series in consecutive seasons, becoming the youngest ever winner of the TCA class in 2019 before taking the TCR-class championship the following season.[1][2]

Career[edit]

Early career[edit]

Maxson was introduced to motorsports through his father, a local club racer who brought Tyler to the track to try karting at the age of six.[3] Maxson was hooked on the experience, and began competing in local events shortly thereafter. Throughout his junior karting career, Maxson advanced rapidly through the ranks, claiming a National Mini Rok title before transitioning to cars in 2019 at just 14 years of age.[4][5]

Maxson's maiden season of pro racing involved a two-pronged effort in both the TC America Series and Global MX-5 Cup, where he piloted a new ND-spec Mazda MX-5 Cup car.[6] Maxson had briefly competed in Spec Miata competition, but cited his primary motivation for competing in Mazda machinery as the marque's Road to 24 ladder, which provided winning drivers with scholarship funds and the chance to drive Mazda's prototype offerings.[5] Maxson scored the TCA-class pole for his first pro race, and concluded the race with a podium finish. Later that season at Sonoma, he claimed his first class victory during the first race of the weekend, and would sweep the round with another race win on Sunday.[7] With four podiums in the next six races, Maxson entered the season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a 22-point deficit to points leader Nick Wittmer.[8] Wittmer would finish eighth in race one before retiring in race two, allowing Maxson's pair of third-place finishes to propel him to the TCA-class championship. With it, he became the youngest champion in class history, at just 15 years old.[9] Maxson's MX-5 Cup campaign began surreptitiously, with top-ten finishes in each of the six races he competed in.[10] However, he would not complete the 14-race season, leaving him 16th in the overall championship classification.

TCR and IMSA expansion[edit]

Maxson's Hyundai Elantra N TCR at Watkins Glen in 2022.

2020 saw Maxson jump from TCA to TCR machinery, once again with Copeland Motorsports.[11] He enjoyed a rapid start to the campaign, sweeping each of the first three race weekends of the season and tallying nine consecutive victories before a mechanical failure at Road America ended his streak of race victories.[12][13] Maxson would claim two more wins at Circuit of the Americas in September, taking the series championship by 67 points over second-placed Victor Gonzalez.[14] Upon completion of his TC America program, Maxson took on a part-season drive in the Michelin Pilot Challenge, acting as a tune-up for a full season program in 2021.[15] Paired with fellow 16-year-old Tyler Gonzalez, Maxson scored a second-place finish in his series debut at Road Atlanta.[16]

Racing record[edit]

Career summary[edit]

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2019 TC America Series - TCA Copeland Motorsports 14 2 3 2 10 206 1st
Mazda MX-5 Cup 6 0 0 0 0 72 16th
2020 TC America Series - TCR Copeland Motorsports 16 11 3 8 11 297 1st
Michelin Pilot Challenge - TCR 2 0 0 0 1 53 17th
2021 Michelin Pilot Challenge - TCR Copeland Motorsports 10 0 1 0 2 2280 10th
GT4 America Series - Silver ST Racing 2 1 0 0 1 29 11th
IMSA Prototype Challenge - LMP3-1 Mühlner Motorsport America 1 0 0 0 0 180 30th
2022 Michelin Pilot Challenge - TCR Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian 10 0 3 0 2 2340 8th
IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP3 MLT Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0 502 26th
Performance Tech Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0
IMSA Prototype Challenge MLT Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0 150 42nd
24H Series - GT3 Pro-Am ST Racing 1 0 0 0 0 ? ?
2023 Michelin Pilot Challenge - TCR van der Steur Racing 9 0 0 0 2 2630 4th
Deily Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0
GT4 America Series - Silver TGR Copeland Motorsports 7 0 1 0 1 63 9th
2024 IMSA Ford Mustang Challenge - Dark Horse Robert Noaker Racing 4 3 3 3 3 1350* 1st*
Michelin Pilot Challenge - GS TGR Team Hattori Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0 140* 52nd*

* Season still in progress.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Tyler Maxson Wins TCA Championship and Rookie of the Year". TC America. SRO Motorsports Group America. October 21, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  2. ^ "TCR Champion: Tyler Maxson". TC America. SRO Motorsports Group America. October 15, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  3. ^ "Driver Download: Tyler Maxson". TC America. SRO Motorsports Group America. March 24, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  4. ^ "Tyler Maxson Joins CRG". eKarting News. November 6, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Tyler Maxson makes a fast start in cars". Mazda Motorsports. March 19, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  6. ^ "Copeland Motorsports faces a full plate". Mazda Motorsports. March 14, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  7. ^ "Filippi dominates Sonoma TCR Race 2; Maxson sweeps in TCA". Racer. June 9, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  8. ^ "Tyler Maxson wins TC America TCA title". Mazda Motorsports. October 29, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2024. We were 22 points back, and we knew it was going to be a really, really hard and tough challenge to get there...
  9. ^ "Tyler Maxson Wins TCA Championship and Rookie of the Year". TC America. SRO Motorsports Group America. October 21, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  10. ^ "High drama in Global Mazda MX-5 Cup first half". Racer. July 17, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2024. Tyler Maxson is another strong young talent... with six top-10 results so far this season.
  11. ^ James, Richard S. (March 3, 2020). "Preview: 2020 SRO TC America". Racer. Retrieved July 11, 2024. Copeland Motorsports is bringing Hyundai Veloster Ns for... Tyler Maxson and Nikko Reger.
  12. ^ "Tyler Maxson on... cloud nine at Road America". TCR-Series. August 28, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  13. ^ "First TC America win for Smithson in Race 2 at Road America". Racer. August 29, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2024. Maxson rolled onto pit lane, mechanical issues ending his streak of nine consecutive race wins.
  14. ^ "TCR Champion: Tyler Maxson". TC America. SRO Motorsports Group America. October 15, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  15. ^ Dagys, John (October 9, 2020). "Copeland Confirms Move to IMSA; Debut at Road Atlanta". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  16. ^ Kish, Ryan (October 17, 2020). "Turner BMW Comes Out Tops In Caution-Plagued Encounter". Dailysportscar. Retrieved July 16, 2024. Maxson had passed Lewis for the lead of the race but Lewis fought back and fended off Maxson in a nail-biting final lap.
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