Teenager progressed again at Barber Motorsports Park with 11th and seventh place finishes
(Photo: Ignite Media)
April 9, 2019 - Consistently finding himself in the top-ten, Tyler Maxson, the youngest competitor in the Global MX-5 Cup Presented by BF Goodrich series, is beginning to make a name for himself. Slowly working his way to the pointy end of the field, another strong showing this past weekend at Barber Motorsports Park only adds to the excitement and the future of the Copeland Motorsports driver. Taking on the picturesque Barber Motorsports Park facility, Maxson proved his speed in qualifying before 11th and seventh place results in rounds three and four.
"On one hand, I feel like I am doing well, but on the other hand I want to win, so I think I can do much better," explained Tyler Maxson. "I am learning a lot with each passing session and feel like I am progressing."
Showing speed in Saturday morning's qualifying session, Georgia resident Tyler Maxson scored his best career qualifying performance as he claimed the inside row three starting position for race one on the weekend. With drivers second fastest lap lining them up for race two, Maxson jumped forward two positions to P3 and was feeling confident on the day.
Maxson added, "Yesterday I wasn't pleased with the car, and we worked hard to make it better. I leaned on my teammate Bryan Ortiz and actually used a setup similar to his. It worked well, and we climbed the running order pretty quickly. Hoping for good things in the races later today."
Taking the green flag on race one, Maxson found himself in multiple situations that were not favorable to him. Whether that being forced wide to avoid an incident, stuck in the middle of a three-wide situation or pushed off track, the multi-time karting champion fell back to the 15th position before eventually gaining four spots at the end of the race and finish in 11th, despite some minor contact and a clutch issue.
With a quick turnaround and two races on the same day, the Copeland Motorsports squad went to work and replaced the Mazda Miata MX-5 clutch, repaired damage and sent the 14-year-old out for the second of two races on the weekend. Starting inside row two and with a shot at the win, Maxson settled into the fourth position after the opening complex of corners and looked to be in good position.
"I made a minor mistake and it cost me my momentum and a couple of guys were able to get by me," continued Maxson. "With the racing this close, I need to make sure that those mistakes don't happen. A huge thank you to the Copeland Motorsports crew for all the hard work between races to get all of our cars back up to race winning standards, and also a huge shout out to my teammate Bryan Ortiz on a superior drive and win today in round four."
When the dust had finally settled and the final checkered flag had flown, Tyler Maxson added a strong seventh place finish in round four to his 11th place finish in round three, and currently sits eighth in the overall series point standings.
With ten weeks away from official series competition, the Global MX-5 Presented by BF Goodrich series will resume June 21-23 at the famed Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
For more information on Tyler Maxson, please contact RTD Media and Management at Info@RaceTechDevelopment.com or visit him online at www.TylerMaxsonRacing.com.