PCC NA: Madeline Stewart secures first top-10 finish of the season

Madeline Stewart showed excellent pace throughout the weekend at Indianapolis and, after being caught up in an incident not of her own making in race 1, she rebounded to finish race 2 in tenth position, securing her first top-10 finish of the season in Porsche Carrera Cup North America

Photo credits: Jessica Johnk

Madeline Stewart bounced back from race one disappointment to secure her first top-10 finish of the season in Porsche Carrera Cup North America. The JDX Racing driver showed excellent pace throughout the weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and after finishing free practice one inside the top-10, she carried forward this speed into the remainder of the event. After being caught up in an incident not of her own making in race one, Stewart rebounded to finish race two in tenth position displaying both speed and consistency.

Stewart returned from the summer break targeting her best results of the season following a successful weekend last time out at Road America. Stewart achieved a highest finish of 13^th, while securing her largest haul of championship points during the campaign so far. Madeline was able to challenge those just outside the top-10, with both her one-lap and race pace taking a step forward from the early rounds of the season.

Stewart also arrived into the weekend with fond memories of Indianapolis Motor Speedway after the Kiwi racer secured two points scoring finishes in 2024. She completed the event with an 11^th place result in race two where she enjoyed one of her strongest showings in Porsche Carrera Cup North America to date.

The opening practice session at the Brickyard took place on Thursday morning and it was an excellent start for the JDX Racing driver. Stewart’s fastest time came on the penultimate lap of the session and placed her in ninth overall, her highest position within any session during the 2025 season. Madeline completed a further 21 laps in free practice two to end the day in 16^th position overall, 14^th within the Pro class.

After a positive day of practice, Stewart was looking to carry forward this speed into Friday morning’s qualifying session. It was a positive start to the session for Madeline who sat inside the overall top-15 after the first runs had taken place. Stewart was closing in on the fringes of the top-10 throughout the second half of qualifying courtesy of strong pace through the middle sector and she ended the session with a season’s best result. Stewart’s quickest lap of a 1:26.280 was over a second faster than she had managed on Thursday and this time placed the Kiwi racer in 13^th position overall.

Photo credits: @_crvn_

The first race of the weekend took place on Friday afternoon with Stewart lining up from 13^th position. It was a clean start as the drivers approach turn one with Pro-Am championship leader Alan Metni moving his way ahead. As the drivers approached turn seven, Stewart was spun following contact and this resulted in terminal damage to her car. John Jodoin was later assessed a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility with Stewart, however the JDX Racing driver was forced to retire from the race.

Following good work from her JDX Racing crew, Stewart’s car was repaired and ready for the second race of the weekend on Sunday morning. Madeline lined up from 14^th on the grid, 13^th in the Pro class courtesy of her second fastest lap from qualifying and she was keen to make progress after an unfortunate race one. Stewart made a good start as she took the outside line into turn one and cleared the ProAm machine of Alan Metni. After Jimmy Llibre spun at turn two, Madeline ended lap one in 12^th position and she was showing good early race speed.

After resisting the challenge of Metni, the Kellymoss driver came under threat from John Jodoin and this relieved some pressure on Stewart. On lap three, the two drivers made contact at turn two and therefore Stewart’s margin behind was further extended as the Kiwi racer began focussing forward on those directly ahead.

On lap six, Matheus Leist pitted with an issue and this promoted Stewart to 11^th position while fellow female driver Sabre Cook was now separating Madeline and a spot inside the top-10. Although Cook began edging away in the first half of the race, Stewart continued to open up a larger gap behind as she enjoyed one of her strongest showings of the season so far.

By the halfway point of the race, Michael McCann had made his way through the ProAm and Masters class machines and he was now the car behind. However, the margin stood at five seconds and Stewart now began to catch Cook who was managing an issue. On lap 20, Cook spun off the road at turn 12 and this promoted Stewart into the top-10 for the first time.

From there, Madeline’s confidence grew and despite her tyres being past their peak, she was setting personal best sector times. A new fastest lap followed on lap 24 and as a result, she was managing the gap to McCann well. Stewart continued this speed right to the chequered flag as she crossed the line in tenth position, securing her third career top-10 result while achieving a new season’s best finish.

Stewart took another step forward at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as consistently battled for top-10 positions. Despite an unfortunate race one, the JDX Racing driver bounced back superbly in race two, while her long-race pace was especially impressive. Stewart will be looking to maintain this good form when Porsche Carrera Cup North America returns at Road Atlanta on the weekend of October 10^th/11^th.