It was a weekend to forget for Copeland Motorsports driver Tyler Maxson at Road America. Entering the TC America event as the point leader, Maxson left the Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin facility 16 markers in arears of his closest rival and will look to regroup for the series finale in Las Vegas four weeks from today.
“Not what we wanted or needed,” expressed a disappointed Tyler Maxson. “The Road America facility did not suit our Mazda package, but we hope the Las Vegas track layout will better conducive to our program. We also had some issues that took away a podium result on Sunday. Unfortunately, that is how racing goes sometimes, and we will need to be on our game as well as have some luck in Las Vegas for the season finale.”
While his Copeland Motorsports prepared #74 Mazda entry was fast throughout the season, the Road America layout proved to be detrimental towards Maxson’s title chase. Off several miles per hour in a straight line, the lack of low speed corners hurt the Georgia resident’s overall lap time and put him further down the running order than he ever should have been.
Qualifying in the ninth position for the first wheel-to-wheel action of the weekend, Maxson improved throughout race one, but again did not have the speed to compete with his rivals. Claiming the sixth position when the final checkered flag flew, the 14-year-old hoped for a better day Sunday.
Lining up third for the green flag during Sunday’s action, Maxson looked poised to take another podium and salvage a point scoring position on this difficult weekend. Circulation the 4.014-mile facility in P3, a throttle body sensor issue forced Maxson to the pits and an eventual eleventh place result.
Maxson added, “What could go wrong did go wrong this weekend, but on a positive note, we had found a lot of speed on Sunday and should be good in Las Vegas. I love this series and the competition but am hoping for an equal and level playing field at the final event. Looking back, we had heavy rain on Sunday and sat on the grid for almost an hour and moisture could be the cause of the failure.”
Tyler Maxson also would like to congratulate Copeland Motorsports teammates Bryan Ortiz and Michael Carter on the Battery Tender Global MX-5 Cup Presented by BF Goodrich Championship and Rookie of the Year honors that were secured this weekend at the Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.
For more information on Tyler Maxson, please contact RTD Media and Management at Info@RaceTechDevelopment.com or visit him online at www.TylerMaxsonRacing.com.
Photo: Red Case Photography