Crosses finish line 4th before controversial post-race penalty moves him back
LEXINGTON, Ohio (June 8, 2026) – It was a weekend of pace and progress at Mid-Ohio for Max Stallone. Wheels America Racing’s Stallone – racing in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Michelin with support from PT Autosport – took the checkered flag in the second of two races in a very hard-fought fourth position.
Though race control deemed that a late-race incident was Stallone’s responsibility (an assertion the team argued, to no avail), there were plenty of positive takeaways from the 19-year-old Austin, Texas native’s third series race weekend.
Stallone came to the Mid-Ohio weekend with a perfect on-track record, having won four of four Spec Miata races over the past two years at the scenic road course. At the race weekend last month, he also competed in several touring car races in his Mazda MX-5 Cup car, using the races as test sessions. With all that experience behind him, he paced as high as fourth in the 38-car field during the first practice on Friday before finishing the session P10 – on used tires, as were most of the field. In afternoon practice, he fought to get into the draft to set a quick lap time but instead, paced much of the session by himself, settling for P17.
Overnight rain meant the track was still wet for qualifying Saturday morning. Stallone started off hot, setting the fastest first lap time before settling into the draft. At session’s end, he took the checkered flag in 10th position – his best qualifying of his rookie season to date.
After midday torrential rain stalled the on-track action, race one took the green 35 minutes late but under sunny skies. Stallone held his position through the opening laps. As the race progressed, he continued to lay down fast, consistent laps – but mid-race, a popped hood latch (and the prospect of the hood coming loose) became an aerodynamic issue, pushing Stallone down to 16th at the checkered flag.
After the difficult day, his driver coach Henry Drury (the inaugural Aspiring Driver Shootout winner and 2024 GR Cup rookie of the year) spent hours looking at data with Stallone and imparted a good amount of wisdom – wisdom he immediately put into play.
Sunday morning dawned with clear skies and a positive start, as Stallone’s quick lap of 1:35.895 in Saturday’s race placed him sixth on the Sunday race two starting grid. In an extremely tight grid, Stallone held his ground at the start through the early corners but found himself back in 12th by lap four – having run afoul of both the usual Mazda MX-5 Cup territorial battles as well as cars taking advantage of the draft to work together and get by the rookie racer.
Stallone made a nice move into turn one with 20 minutes remaining to take back a position and gained even more when a car in the lead pack went off track, causing just the right amount of chaos for Stallone to make the jump into ninth as the caution flag came out. When the race went back to green with nine minutes left, Stallone navigated the ensuing chaos, stayed out of trouble, and tucked into the fifth spot in the six-car lead train.
At the checkered flag, Stallone had finished in a very hard fought fourth position. Unfortunately race control deemed that he had responsibility for one of the multiple late-race incidents, and the 10-second penalty moved him back to 14th.
But nothing could alter the sheer number of lessons learned from the weekend – lessons Stallone will put into play over the remaining eight races.
“I just had a different mindset today,” said Stallone. “We knew that we had the speed yesterday, but I shot myself in the foot a bunch of times. I would be in the groove, moving forward, but then I’d make a mistake, or lose a spot. So today, I drove the same way I drove yesterday but minimized the mental mistakes, and that made all the difference in the world. I didn’t have a great start, and lost positions in the draft, since so many of the guys around me were teammates and were working together. I focused on a kind of mental strength and calm and just kept putting lap after lap together and just slowly letting myself creep forward. I made a couple of passes and a couple of people flew off, which always happens, so was just able to claw my way up.
“A huge shout out to Henry and my engineer Amir (Bentatou) for their coaching on how to handle all this – there’s no way I would have finished fourth without them. I think I knew that I had the speed but it took a team to remind me of that. My mechanics, Wren (Wadlington) and Hayden (Ansell), and of course, PT Autosport and Mazda. I wouldn’t be here without them. I can’t wait to get back on track and put it all together.”
Next up for the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Michelin series will be the doubleheader at Watkins Glen as part of the WeatherTech Sports Car Championship’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen. Both races will be streamed live on the IMSA and Racer magazine
YouTube channels.
PT Autosport would like to thank our Partners for their continued support:
Mazda Motorsports has been winning races around the world for 50 years. From Le Mans, France to Daytona International Speedway in Florida, Mazdas have been a constant presence at racetracks around the globe, garnering wins and championships in races too numerous to list – and the list keeps growing.
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Stallone supports Hope Farm, founded in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in 1997 as a long-term leadership development program that guides at-risk boys, without the benefit of a positive male role model in their homes, from the time they are 5-7 years old until high school graduation and beyond. Staff and volunteers are dedicated to meeting the spiritual, nutritional, academic, emotional, and recreational needs of each young man to break the cycle of fatherlessness.
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About PT Autosport — Discover Unique Talent. Develop Champions.
PT Autosport provides merit-based motorsport industry opportunities for diverse individuals with high integrity, grit, and coach-ability, achieved through a development program for young aspiring drivers, engineers, mechanics, and other professionals. The first step of this process is applying for the annual Aspiring Driver Shootout, in which aspiring drivers aged 18-23 can compete for a team racing partnership with the team.
A rigorous evaluation process of applicants determines the final competitors for the driver shootout. The winner earns financial support of up to $250,000 ($50,000 guaranteed) to pursue their racing career. The review process also provides the team the chance to identify unique talent for other roles in motorsport, including race engineers, mechanics, and professionals.
PT Autosport currently supports two drivers: Max Stallone, Mazda MX-5 Cup scholarship winner, racing in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Michelin, and Luis Beilicke, racing in the UK-based Ginetta GT Academy (Beilicke is the 2025 Aspiring Driver Shootout winner).
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