Another GR Cup top 10 finish for PT Autosport’s Stallone

BIRMINGHAM, Al (September 10, 2025) – PT Autosport with Copeland Motorsports’ Max Stallone showed his grit and determination last weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, coming back from a difficult race one to score his fifth Toyota GR Cup top 10 finish in six races – and his third Hard Charger award.

The 19-year-old Austin, Texas native powered his No. 88 PT Autosport/Race Brew 0.0% Toyota GR86 Cup Car from 17th to 9th in race two, capping off a roller coaster weekend at one of the more difficult racetracks on the circuit.

“Barber is such a technical track, and a difficult track to pass on, so I balanced being patient and waiting for other drivers to make mistakes, and making moves when I could,” said Stallone. “It was a good result in the end.”

Through two test sessions and two official practices, Stallone worked to get comfortable behind the wheel on the high-commitment track. He gained over 6/10s of a second between the first two tests, though hovering just outside the top 10 as he worked to find the ideal setup on the high commitment racetrack.

Taking the green flag in 15th position, Stallone held the inside through the early corners, but two cars coming together through turn three pushed him sideways into the grass and cost him six positions. After the resulting caution for debris clean up, Stallone took the green flag focused on making up positions, taking P17 at the race’s halfway mark. But shortly thereafter, his GR86 began overheating, sending Stallone to pit lane and out of the race.

Looking for redemption Sunday morning, Stallone started race two from the 17th position. At the drop of the green, he began to steadily progress through the field, making smart passes and taking advantage of the typical GR Cup bump and runs to move into 13th after 15 minutes of green flag racing. Drag racing down the front straight, Stallone slid into 12th with a daring inside pass going into turn one, then into 11th on the following lap. Capturing two more positions in the final two minutes, Stallone took the checking flag in 9th – his fifth top 10 finish in his first six Toyota GR Cup races.

“Solid end to the weekend, especially given how it started,” said Stallone. “It was a good learning weekend, figuring out how to overcome that kind of adversity and push through it. I’m glad I didn’t let it affect me, especially after Sunday morning qualifying, when I was in an even worse position than I’d been in on Saturday. I just put that behind me and drove the way I know I can, making the right moves at the right time and showing decent pace. I’m super thankful to have this opportunity but I would be lying if I said that I was happy with how I’m doing right now. I won’t be happy until I start winning races.”

PT Autosport team principal Jason was impressed with the “no quit” attitude Stallone continues to display.

“We had some unfortunate cooling issues in race one but in race two, Max again showed us just what a fighter he is,” said Myers. “Another top 10 finish is a win for us. We’ll be back in the fight at Indy!”

Next up for PT Autosport with Copeland Motorsports will be the season ending doubleheader at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway October 16-19, in support of the Indianapolis 8-Hour race. The pair of 45-minute races will be broadcast live at www.grcup.com.