Shift Up Now Athlete Sabré Cook earned a fifth-place finish—her best finish yet in Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by Solairus Aviation—during the third race of a triple-header weekend at Road America on July 31-August 1, 2026.
Driving the all-white privé products No. 37 911 Cup Car for JDX racing, Cook’s race weekend began with two practice sessions and qualifying on Thursday.
Track temps were cooler and conducive to fast laps for the first practice session, which gave teams helpful data for the first and third races of the weekend. But with warmer temps looming that afternoon for qualifying, most teams chose not to run new tires during the first practice.
Later that day, Cook and her Carrera Cup competitors used the second practice to dial in the speed for qualifying. Cook was fourth-fastest in the session, posting top-five sector times in each sector of the 4.048-mile, 14-turn permanent road course.
To cap off the day, Cook completed one of her strongest qualifying sessions of the season, running the seventh-fastest lap time to start seventh in race one, and the sixth-fastest second- lap time, to start sixth for race two. She would also start sixth in the third race—a makeup round from the rained-out Miami weekend—based on her second fastest lap from Miami qualifying.
Friday’s schedule featured two races in order to accommodate the third on Saturday. Race one began Friday morning under overcast skies that commentators described as “iffy.” The 40- minute competition began after one pace lap, with Cook starting on the inside of row four.
The field ran two-by-two up the steep front straight to the flag stand, and as Cook tried to defend the inside line into turn one, the driver from the outside of row four swept around the outside of her. The two battled side-by-side through turn two and three, then onto the back straight, where Cook’s competitor had the inside line into turn five.
She got a better run up the hill into six and was ahead entering seven, however on the run from turn seven into eight, a car ahead was defending on the inside. This forced Cook to also take the inside line, putting her competitor side-by-side with her again on her outside. He then had the clearer run off the corner and the inside line into the carousel, dropping Cook back to eighth. She spent the rest of the race trying to pass with no avail, and would cross the finish line in seventh.
Later that day, race two began on Friday afternoon. Due to the overcast conditions in race one, creating lower track temps, some drivers were able to better their second-fastest times from qualifying, which reordered the grid and put Cook on the inside of row four again.
Once again, the field lined up two-by-two after one pace lap as they came up the hill to the starters stand. Unlike the first race, the action in turn one was much messier with contact at the very front of the field, and two of the contenders running wide into the track’s paved run off area outside turn one.
Cook avoided the chaos and kept the car clean, picking up three positions to advance to fourth. But the first-lap contact continued as several cars came together on the run down to turn five, and a full-course caution flew before the field had cleared turn eight.
When the race went green again, 30 minutes remained. Almost immediately, a car ended up in the concrete barrier on the run from turn three to turn five, causing another caution flag.
Cook had a strong restart with 17 minutes to go. She was working to try and pass the car ahead of her for the final podium spot. She looked around the outside for the first couple corners, but had to tuck back in on the exit of three. She then swung back to the outside again on the run down to five as the car ahead defended.
As the pair entered turn five, Cook was dropping in behind the car ahead when an overly-ambitious move from the car behind tagged her rear corner, pitching both cars into a spin with race-ending damage. With a potential podium position on the cards, the finish was disappointing for the entire No. 37 crew.
The final race of the weekend took place on Saturday morning as a make-up race for the second Miami event earlier in the year, which had been canceled due to lightening.
Heavy rain poured down at Road America as the drivers prepared for the first race in the rain for the all new 992.2 911 Cup Cars. The 40-minute competition took place after two pace laps and a single-file start due to the amount of water on track.
Cook started sixth in the single-file line, then the field immediately fanned out, trying to find visibility, after the green flag. Cook set her sights on the fifth-place spot amid the treacherous track conditions.
As the field came to the run from turns three to five that caused so many issues in the second race, the spray behind the leaders made visibility minimal. The entire field managed to make it cleanly through, but the first caution came out at Canada Corner when two cars made contact.
Twenty minutes remained at the restart, and a mistake from a car ahead of Cook allowed her to advance into the top five. The field only got a few more laps of green-flag racing before another full-course caution flew.
Despite a lengthy cleanup, race control was able to set up a two-lap shootout to the finish on the still-rain-soaked track. With strong pace in the challenging conditions and no mistakes, Cook came home in fifth place, earning her best finish yet in Porsche Carrera Cup.
"Road America was a special weekend for me, earning my best Porsche Carrera Cup finish with a fifth place result," said Cook. "It's been rewarding to see the progress we've been working toward start translating into results, but I know there is still a lot more potential to unlock. I'm grateful for the incredible effort from JDX Racing and all of my partners who continue to support this journey, and I'm excited to carry this momentum into IMS and keep pushing for more."
Next up, the Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by Solairus Aviation series heads to the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway for round six of the 2026 season on September 18-20, 2026.
