IMPC: Maddie Aust, Riley Pegram claim top ten at Road America
- RACERS
- Aug 4
- 5 min read
Maddie Aust and Riley Pegram both scored top-ten finishes in the TCR class at Road America, with Aust finishing eighth after a strong run that saw her briefly run fifth, while Pegram returned to the top ten with a solid tenth-place result.
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR competitors Maddie Aust and Riley Pegram—respectively sharing their Hyundai Elantra N TCR entries with Suellio Almeida and Larry Pegram—both secured top-ten finishes at Road America, the seventh round of the season. Aust crossed the line in eighth after briefly running as high as fifth.
For Pegram, it marked a return to the top ten after a string of unlucky races and their best finish since Laguna Seca.
Maddie Aust, Megan Tomlinson, and Riley Pegram were the three female drivers competing in the TCR class at Road America—one of North America’s fastest and most demanding circuits.
Aust, in her debut IMSA season, has established herself as a consistent front-runner in the Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai shared with rookie Suellio Almeida. The duo kicked off the season with a strong fourth-place result at Daytona and followed up with another top-five at Laguna Seca, sixth at Mid-Ohio, and a top-ten at Watkins Glen. At Mosport, Aust delivered another composed drive to secure a further top-ten finish.
Canadian driver Megan Tomlinson, racing alongside her father Ron for Precision Racing LA, scored a top-ten result last time out at their home event. The Tomlinsons have been a steady presence in the midfield battle this year, highlighted by P7 finishes at both Daytona and Mid-Ohio - but were unlucky at Road America to get caught in an accident at one of the restarts while leading the race.
Meanwhile, Riley Pegram—sharing the #37 LA Honda World Honda with her father Larry—has made steady progress throughout their part-time campaign. Although a combination of misfortune and late-race incidents kept them just outside the top ten at Mosport, Riley has shown growing pace and consistency in every outing.
At Road America, a fast and challenging circuit, drivers used the practice sessions to get up to speed. Riley and Larry Pegram impressed early by going sixth fastest in TCR during the first session with a 2:19.622—just over a second off the pace-setting #31 Audi. Aust and Almeida were 11th, while Ron and Megan Tomlinson placed 13th. Aust and Almeida improved in the second session, climbing to 10th. Pegram and Tomlinson ended the session in P13 and P14, respectively.
All three female drivers were behind the wheel for qualifying in the TCR class. Maddie Aust qualified the #9 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai in 11th with a solid 2:19.492 lap. Riley Pegram placed 13th in the Pegram Racing Hyundai with a 2:20.709, while Megan Tomlinson took 14th in the Precision Racing LA Audi with a 2:21.175.
The two-hour race began on Saturday afternoon, and all three female drivers who qualified also started the race for their respective teams.
Chaos erupted behind early, as the #57 Winward Mercedes and #71 Rebel Rock Aston Martin collided, bringing out an immediate full-course caution. Maddie Aust maintained P11 in TCR through a clean opening lap, while Pegram held P13, just ahead of Tomlinson.
Following a 10-minute caution period, the restart was more composed—until another crash in TCR saw Mason Filippi, Lance Bergstein and Eric Powell involved, with Powell hitting the wall and another caution being triggered. Aust made a great move to climb to seventh, while Tomlinson overtook Pegram just before the yellow came out. The pair moved into P10 and P11, respectively.
When the TCR pit window opened, most of the field pitted. Aust, however, lost ground during the pit cycle and fell to P13, while Tomlinson and Pegram advanced to P9 and P10. All teams topped off with fuel during the stop.
After a 30-minute caution, the race restarted. Mason Filippi was handed a stop-and-go penalty for the earlier crash, with Celso Neto and Tally also receiving penalties. Megan Tomlinson capitalized, passing Wilkins to move into seventh. Aust passed Pegram to reclaim ninth and began charging forward.
Aust continued her push, overtaking Tomlinson for eighth and setting strong lap times in the 2:21.2 range, quicker than several cars ahead. Pegram also passed Tomlinson and pulled away, running consistently in the 2:21.1 range—in one of her best stints.
The momentum was briefly halted when the #44 McLaren of Uretsky made contact with the #30 Mustang of Thomson. While the Mustang continued, the McLaren was out, triggering another caution.
With 1 hour and 9 minutes to go, the race went green again. Some teams opted to pit immediately, including Megan Tomlinson, who handed the car over to Ron Tomlinson. Aust and Pegram stayed out and cycled up to P5 and P6 in TCR.
At the one-hour mark, a big crash involving the #67 CSM Porsche of Scully at Turn 11 after The Kink brought out another caution in the middle of the pit window, catching some cars in pit lane.
Once the pits reopened with 52 minutes remaining, the field streamed in. Aust handed the car over to Almeida from P6, rejoining in P11. Pegram also swapped out for her father Larry, rejoining in P12. Teams that had pitted earlier benefitted strategically.
Ron Tomlinson therefore found himself leading TCR and running second overall. On the restart with 45 minutes to go, he maintained the lead—only to be hit at Turn 3 by second-placed Gilsinger in a multiple car collision. The Precision Racing LA Audi suffered damage and eventually retired from the race.
Suellio Almeida skillfully navigated the TCR chaos and climbed from P11 to P6 in a single lap. Larry Pegram retook P10, while Dupont pitted with issues.
Soon after, another major crash occurred when Greg Liefooghe was put into the wall after contact with the #27 BMW of Stevan McAleer, who himself had been nudged by the #59 Kohr Mustang. Liefooghe’s car sustained heavy damage, though he was uninjured.
The caution was beneficial for those trying to stretch fuel to the end. The race restarted again with 23 minutes remaining, and fierce battles unfolded, particularly in GS class.
Almeida passed Eversley to take fifth and began chasing Wittmer. Larry Pegram held tenth.
However, Almeida was contacted by Bryan Herta Autosport teammate Dupont while moving back up the order. Both cars survived, but Almeida dropped to eighth and couldn't close the gap to the cars ahead, finishing six seconds behind Gou in seventh.
Larry Pegram stayed within a second of Lewis but couldn’t get close enough for a move on the final lap. He brought the car home in tenth—Pegram Racing's first top ten since Laguna Seca and their third of the season.
Despite running as high as fifth, Almeida crossed the line in eighth, continuing a strong run of top-ten finishes for the #9 Bryan Herta Autosport entry. Aust and Almeida now sit eighth in the championship standings with 1,680 points.
The next round will take place at VIRginia International Raceway on August 21–23.
