Shift Up Now Athlete Sabré Cook earned a season-best, seventh-place finish to kick off round six of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by Solairus Aviation at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) on September 18-20, 2025.
Cook, a Hagerty-sponsored athlete, piloted the No. 37 PenFed / privé 992 Porsche Cup Car for JDX Racing in the Pro Class.
The weekend began with two practice sessions on Thursday, under sunny skies that would continue throughout the entire weekend. Cook ran in the top ten for both sessions and was satisfied with her car as she prepared for qualifying the following morning.
On Friday, qualifying took place at 9:35am ET on the historic 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course. Cook laid down a 1:26.054 on her Yokohama tires and qualified 12th for both of the weekend’s 40-minute races.
Ahead of the first competition, race control warned drivers that it would be strict in regard to cars deemed to cause incidents, which would prove to be advantageous later that afternoon.
At 2:55pm ET, climbing temperatures caused a slick racing surface for the start of the first race. Cook was lined up on the outside of row six as cars ran two-by-two to the green flag.
After the start, the front of the field fanned out to four wide down the front straight. They briefly returned to two-by-two into turn one, before going three-wide again on the exit of one.
The competitive racing caused light contact between several cars and stayed clean overall, until turn seven when the cars directly behind Cook came together, causing the first full-course yellow before the end of the first lap.
After a lengthy cleanup, 23 minutes remained in the race and Cook maintained her 12th-place position for the single-file restart. Knowing that tire wear can sometimes factor in at IMS, Cook was cautious to protect her equipment.
On the restart, the full field made it through the first half of the lap cleanly. On the second half however, two cars ahead of Cook made significant contact, sending both spinning and one into the wall. This advanced Cook into the top ten as cleanup began for the second full-course yellow.
Only 12 minutes were left when the green flag fell again, and Cook ended up crossing the finish line in ninth. However, as promised, race control issued penalties for two cars that had caused contact. This promoted Cook to seventh-place, her best finish of the season so far, and continued her top-ten streak.
On Saturday morning, race two began at 10:45am ET under sunny, blue skies. In a repeat of the day before, Cook was once again lined up on the outside of row six as the race went green.
One of the cars ahead checked up, causing another car to spin. Cook avoided the melee, gaining positions and advancing into the top ten at the end of the first lap. She and the car behind took to the front straight, with Cook cleanly defending her spot into turn one.
She held her 10th-place position until nine laps remained in the race, when a mechanical issue caused her anti-lock breaking system (ABS) to fail. This locked her rear tires and sent her car into a spin. She was able to make it back to pit lane safely, but was forced to retire the car.
Next up, Cook heads to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for the penultimate event of the season, round seven of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by Solairus Aviation championship, on October 8-11, 2025.
