PT Autosport with Copeland Motorsports’ Max Stallone impressed right out of the box, scoring two top 10 finishes and a top 10 qualifying effort in his Toyota GR Cup debut last month, and looks to carry that momentum with him to legendary Road America.
The 19-year-old Austin, Texas native plans to stick with his game plan, learning and adapting to the nuances of the No. 88 PT Autosport/Race Brew 0.0% Toyota GR86 Cup Car and improving with each session. His success at VIRginia International Raceway gives him confidence but doesn’t change his focus.
“The mindset is definitely different this weekend because I know what to expect,” said Stallone. “I know what I need to work on, to focus on, with my prep. Before VIR, I just did what I hoped would help and just took it from there once I got in the car. The biggest adjustment was predictable, which is the change in my driving style – it’s a matter of just smoothing things out. At VIR, the crew had to adjust the car to like make it something I could drive as I learned, so I was kind of driving a slower set up than everybody else because I needed it so that I could drive the car the way that I was used to driving it – you can’t change your driving style on the spot.
“That’s my goal here, to see a big improvement with my driving style so I can start driving the car the way it’s meant to be driven, driving the setup that the team knows is fast. If I can do that and I can just stay calm, I think results will kind of take care of themselves.
VIR was a completely new experience, but Road America is not, as Stallone ran his Spec Miata at this year’s June Sprints – which is fortunate, given the amount to be learned on the expansive 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course.
“Road America is great,” said Stallone. “It’s quick and it’s technical, but you don’t really get tired on it because you have so many straightaways to rest somewhat. Though I have to say, one of the biggest challenges right off the bat will be the Kink. It’s easily flat out in the Miatas, but it looks even a bit sketchy in the GRs, so we’ll see how that goes!”
PT Autosport team principal Jason Myers was pleased with Stallone’s debut performance and looks forward to seeing how the young driver applies the lessons learned.
“It was really great seeing how well Max did right out of the box at VIR,” said Myers. “Given the fact that he had minimal testing and came from a very different type of car, he fared incredibly well, at what we know is not an easy racetrack. Moving on to Road America, my favorite racetrack in North America, I am eager to see how Max takes what he has learned in the car and applies it to a track he is already very capable and experienced at. Copeland has been giving us a great car all season and I am excited to see what they bring with them this weekend! Two top-10s is tough to beat, so let’s see if Max can match that result this coming weekend. If so, that’s a win in our book in terms of his development and potential.”