With Tyler Maxson entering year two of Porsche Carrera Cup North America and Cole Kleck stepping up full-time after a breakout rise through the Porsche ladder, Topp Racing launches its 2026 campaign as the team everyone is chasing.

With Tyler Maxson entering year two of Porsche Carrera Cup North America and Cole Kleck stepping up full-time after a breakout rise through the Porsche ladder, Topp Racing launches its 2026 campaign as the team everyone is chasing.

Led by team boss Todd Oppermann, Topp Racing won the 2025 teams’ championship, with Ryan Yardley securing the drivers’ title. While Yardley has graduated up the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid (making his IMSA debut at Daytona), the team retains much of the structure and personnel that contributed to its title-winning season.

Maxson returns following a debut Carrera Cup campaign that included two race wins and steady improvement across the second half of the year. After starting the season focused on learning the category, Maxson made gains in both qualifying and race execution as the year progressed.
“I think the biggest thing for me last year was learning how to really extract everything out of the car,” Maxson said.

“We got a much better handle on that in the second half of the year, so that’s something we’re definitely looking to build on. Especially in qualifying — I feel like we took a pretty major step forward there about halfway through the season.”

Maxson scored his first Carrera Cup podium at Miami before earning his first win at Road America. A second victory followed later in the season at Road Atlanta. He also points to the Montreal round as an important weekend in terms of pace and overall performance.

“Montreal was also a really important moment for me, especially in terms of pace and qualifying — that felt like a big step forward,” he said.

“That whole stretch of races helped me get more comfortable with the car.”

For 2026, Maxson enters the season as the more experienced driver within the line-up, following Yardley’s departure and Kleck’s move into his first full Carrera Cup season.

“There’s definitely a little added pressure being the defending team champions, but it doesn’t really change how we approach anything,” Maxson said.

“We’re still just as hungry as ever. We’re not naive to how competitive this championship is — you have to be on top of your game every single weekend.”

Kleck joins Maxson full-time after winning the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama championship and contesting the final two rounds of Carrera Cup last season. His Carrera Cup debut came at Road Atlanta, where he showed competitive pace immediately.

“We entered the final two rounds of Carrera Cup last year, with the first one being Road Atlanta,” Kleck said.

“Atlanta went really well for us. Topp Racing really put together a great car and gave me something that was capable of winning. We had all the tools to do it — it just came down to experience and execution on my end.”

Kleck said his Sprint Challenge season provided a strong foundation for the step up, though the intensity of Carrera Cup was immediately apparent.

“Sprint Challenge was a great way for me to really understand and learn the car over the course of a year,” he said.

“I knew the competition was going to be tougher, and it definitely was. The racing is more intense, there’s more beating and banging, but we rose to the occasion and came out pretty well — aside from qualifying at COTA.”

Qualifying quickly emerged as a priority area for Kleck, given the depth of the Carrera Cup field.

“It’s huge,” he said. “The guys I’m racing against are some of the best in the country, and even a few from outside the country. Three or four tenths can separate the top five.

“You really have to put your laps together and hit your marks. If you can’t rise to the occasion and get it done in those two laps, you’re suddenly sitting deeper in the field.”

Kleck’s late-season participation also allowed him to work closely with both Maxson and Yardley, gaining insight into the team’s approach and data-sharing philosophy.

“When we got to Carrera Cup at Atlanta, we all shared data and worked together,” Kleck said.

“Maybe Ryan was faster in one sector, Tyler in another, and I was faster somewhere else. We put it all together. It’s not a case of hiding data or competing internally — it’s a team sport at the end of the day.”

Maxson said that collaboration will be important as the series transitions to the new Porsche 911 Cup car, which resets development across the paddock.

“It definitely levels the playing field,” Maxson said.

“Early in the year, it’s going to be a lot of work developing setups and getting everything in the right window. But we’ve got a really strong team behind us, and Todd’s very good at getting the cars where they need to be.”

Kleck had his first opportunity to see the new car when he attended the Porsche Night of Champions after his Sprint Challenge championship win.

“I got to see the car in Germany, and it’s a really cool piece,” Kleck said. “It looks awesome, and it looks fast. With it being a new car, we’ll have to relearn a few things and make some adjustments during testing and the opening rounds of Carrera Cup. But I’m super grateful and really happy to have this opportunity.”

Both drivers also referenced the broader Porsche development pathway as a factor in their motivation, with Carrera Cup continuing to serve as a key step within the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid.

“It really shows how invested Porsche is in developing young talent,” Maxson said.

“I’m not naive to how narrow and challenging the path is, but just knowing that those opportunities are out there is really motivating. That was a big reason why I chose this championship and why I wanted to come back for a second year.”

Kleck echoed that sentiment after watching drivers progress through the Porsche ladder and succeed at the top level, pointing to Laurin Heinrich’s and Julien Andlauer’s recent Rolex 24 at Daytona victory as a clear example of the pathway working as intended.

“Seeing drivers who came from Carrera Cup go on to win at the top level shows that the ladder works,” Kleck said.

“If you perform and get results, they’ll take care of you and keep moving you up.”

Topp Racing and the rest of the 2026 Porsche Carrera Cup North America line-up will run for the first time at the pre-season test on February 16–17 at Sebring International Raceway ahead of the opening round of the championship – also at Sebring – on March 18–20.