Race 1. Friday, September 19
Zachary Vanier wasted no time making his mark at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Snatching the lead on the opening lap, he held firm through two late race restarts to achieve victory in Porsche Carrera Cup North America’s wild first race of the weekend.
Two lengthy caution periods impacted the first Porsche Carrera Cup North America race of the weekend and ultimately had significant championship implications ahead of race 2 on Sunday.
The biggest drama struck on the first lap, resulting in the first yellow flag from the mid-pack and also led to Zachary Vanier’s eventual race-winning move.
Vanier weaved past polesitter Aaron Jeansonne in the opening turns to capture the top spot, and kept the position for his second ExxonMobil Pro class win of the season with JDX Racing despite two high-pressure restarts.
‟This one feels amazing,” said Vanier, who finished first at Watkins Glen earlier this season. ‟This is such a historic track, such a historic venue. I’m speechless, I’m having a hard time getting the words out. This one means so much. I can’t credit the team enough, all my partners, my dad, everyone who supports me. This is something you dream of as a very young kid.
‟I just waited for the moment, found the moment, and went for it. After that, I didn’t look back. I just tried to manage the race and that’s exactly what we did. Super happy, and now we try to go for the sweep tomorrow.”
At the second restart with 12 minutes on the clock, Ryan Yardley also made a move on Jeansonne and completed the pass for second place. As a result, Yardley – who entered the weekend two points behind championship leader Riley Dickinson – inherited the title lead ahead of Race 2.
Jeansonne held on to third for his first podium of the season, while Dickinson finished fourth.
The Solairus Aviation Pro-Am class had the biggest championship shake-up, as title rivals JP Martinez and Alan Metni were caught up in the first caution. That paved the path for Patrick Mulcahy to claim his first win of the season with GMG Racing.
‟It was chaotic,” said Mulcahy, who previously stood on the podium at Montreal and Watkins Glen earlier in the summer. ‟Lap 1, I got lucky avoiding some of the traffic and made a lot of passes, but glad to hold it the rest of the race.
‟Tom (Sargent, driver coach), Anthony, our team engineer, Tate, everybody was doing a great job for making sure I brought it home.”
Making a late pass for second place was James Sofronas over Marco Cirone to complete the top three. Race-ending damage for Martinez and Metni in the first lap incident set the stage for a redemption battle on Sunday.
The Solairus Aviation Masters class seemed to be the most unscathed in Friday’s race, with Scott Blind converting his pole position to a race win with Ruckus Racing. It was Blind’s eighth win of the season and second consecutive victory after winning Race 2 at Road America in August.
‟It was a crazy race, wasn’t it?” Blind noted. ‟All we wanted to do was stay out of the mess. I had a great vantage point, saw all the activity in front. I was reacting for the first few laps or whenever we were green. We stayed out of it, had a good Turn 1 and rode it to the end.”
After the caution flags, several Porsches from other classes gave a buffer for Blind but brought together the fight for second place between Chris Bellomo and Michael Auriemma. Auriemma passed last year’s Masters class champion with less than 10 minutes remaining and Bellomo finished third.
Race 2. Saturday, September 20
Aaron Jeansonne captured the overall victory on Saturday, marking the seventh different race winner this season in Porsche Carrera Cup North America — the most ever in a single year.
The Carrera Cup rookie driver entered the weekend at the Brickyard without a top-three finish in 2025, but following two pole positions, scored his first podium on Friday en route to his first win in Race 2.
‟Yesterday’s result one hundred percent motivated me,” said the Kellymoss driver. ‟I thought my first podium was great, I loved it. But to start on pole and not win was bittersweet, and today made up for it.
‟It’s very special. I couldn’t say I expected this going into the season because this is the one track that’s not a street course that I’ve never driven. So I can’t say this is the one where I thought it would happen, but I’m super grateful for it. I’m so happy to be here at Indy.”
Behind Jeansonne, Saturday’s race proved crucial to the Pro class championship as Ryan Yardley finished runner-up for the second day in a row. Yardley overtook Riley Dickinson in the standings following his Race 1 performance but further stretched the gap after a podium in Race 2.
Zachary Vanier, winner of Friday’s race, executed an impressive start at the drop of the green flag to go from sixth to third by the race’s end.
Meanwhile, the Pro-Am class championship delivered a significant tilt towards leader JP Martinez who finished second behind race winner James Sofronas.
Sofronas found himself in the lead after polesitter and title contender Alan Metni was issued an incident responsibility penalty. Metni – chasing Martinez in the points – dropped to sixth place after the decision, and Sofronas went on for his third win of the season.
‟I have to give my hats off to the GMG guys,” said Sofronas of his team. ‟We hadn’t tested here. Patrick (Mulcahy, teammate) and I haven’t raced since Watkins Glen. We show up, we’re fast out of the gate. It’s a testament to those guys – our engineering, all our prep back at the shop at [The Thermal Club], and really the guys being dialed in when we unload the cars here at Indy.
‟I’m super proud because it’s not easy; this field is stacked. It’s some of the best Porsche racers and racing here in Carrera Cup. I love it.”
Runner-up was a welcome result for Martinez in a backup car after not finishing race one due to a crash. Marco Cirone completed the podium for the third time in 2025.
In the Masters class, Saturday was doubly meaningful for Scott Blind, as not only did he complete another weekend sweep with a Race 2 victory, but he also was provisionally scored as the 2025 Masters champion.
Blind checked off a fourth Porsche single-make championship in 2025, with the other three coming just last weekend in Porsche Sprint North America by Yokohama, Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West by Yokohama, and Porsche Endurance Challenge North America.
‟It was a really good race,” said Blind. ‟This one was clean, we had a lot of green laps.
‟I was hooked up with James Sofronas, who was leading in Pro-Am. I’m sure they were battling like hell behind, but I had a good rabbit out in front and we just kept it clean.”
Richard Edge matched his season-best performance by finishing second, just ahead of Michael Auriemma in third.
Pro class winners:
Race 1. Zachary Vanier, No. 9 JDX Racing.
Race 2. Aaron Jeansonne, No. 24 Kellymoss.
Pro-Am class winners:
Race 1. Patrick Mulcahy, No. 54 GMG Racing.
Race 2. James Sofronas, No. 14 GMG Racing.
Masters class winners:
Race 1 & 2. Scott Blind, No. 45 Ruckus Racing.
On point:
Pro class: Ryan Yardley, No. 78 Topp Racing.
Pro-Am class: JP Martinez, No. 4 ACI Motorsports.
Masters class: Scott Blind, No. 45 Ruckus Racing.
Entrant: Topp Racing.
Highlights
A new championship leader leaving Indy. With two rounds left in the season, Ryan Yardley has taken over the overall and Pro Class point lead. Yardley has used consistency in his Topp Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to take charge of the championship, winning just once but finishing second eight times. Riley Dickinson, the Kellymoss driver who has led the championship since his season opening victory at Sebring, holds the most victories in the series with four wins, but has not tasted victory since Watkins Glen. Yardley now leads by 10 points over Dickinson with four races remaining. JP Martinez of ACI Racing continues to lead the Pro-Am championship
Blind clinches early. It’s been a championship level week for Scott Blind of Ruckus Racing. Last week at Road Atlanta, Blind claimed the Masters class titles in both Porsche Sprint Challenge North America and Sprint Challenge USA West, as well as the overall Porsche Endurance Challenge title in his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. With a pair of wins at Indianapolis, Blind’s lead in the Masters Class of Porsche Carrera Cup North America is insurmountable, giving him four Porsche single-make titles this season.
Broadcast. All races can be seen live and are archived on the IMSA and Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube Channels, IMSA TV, Peacock, and the Porsche Motorsport North America social channels on Facebook, LinkedIn, and X. The Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube page can be found at https://www.youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica.
Online. Porsche Carrera Cup North America: www.PorscheCarreraCup.us
Next up. October 8-11. Road Atlanta, Round 7 (Races 13 and 14).
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