This past week was full of new experiences for me thanks to the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup race at Martinsville. A sports car series racing on a half-mile short-track oval? Yes! I had been looking forward to being at the event, but I wound up getting to race in it, as well!
It was my first time back in an MX-5 Cup race since my championship-winning season in 2005. It was a bit of a paradigm shift for me in that I was the oldest driver in the field. My age was double that of some of the other drivers in the series! It was definitely a homecoming for me, because even though I spend so much time with the series these days, the last time I drove in that series, I was one of the youngest drivers in the field. Times have certainly changed!
Racing at the famed Paperclip is probably not what most people would expect of the MX-5 Cup Series, but thanks to the principals at NASCAR and IMSA, that’s exactly what we got to do. After witnessing the dramatic, close racing that the series gives fans at Daytona, they had the idea of bringing MX-5 Cup to a legendary NASCAR circuit, and Martinsville was the perfect spot. The 2024 championship has already wrapped up, making this a one-off race.
In true short track style, the event would be a one-day show, with practice starting at noon, qualifying a short while later, and then a 100-lap night race which was broken into two 50-lap segments.
It was a ton of fun having such a fast-paced schedule, and the McCumbee McAleer Racing team did a phenomenal job prepping all the cars they were campaigning, including mine. I was pleased to be running in the top three during practice.
I am so thankful for all the support that allowed me to be involved in the race!
When it came time to qualify with a two-lap, single-car format (very different than a sports car racing format!), I was disappointed not to get all the performance out of the car in those two laps. I had to settle for 10th. However, I knew we had a great “long run” car, and the race would come to us.
Although the MX-5 is smaller than a big stock car, it was impressive how quickly these cars circulated the track, just a couple seconds slower than the stock cars. The racing was side-by-side almost the entire time, which made it thrilling for not only the fans but for the drivers, too! It really kept us on our toes.
It was exciting to be able to use NASCAR’s famed “choose” rule for a restart on an oval. When you approach the start/finish line a lap before the restart, you choose the inside or outside lane based on where the cars are ahead of you.
All cars utilizing spotters was another nuance that I really enjoyed. We were able to avoid plenty of melees, even while being three-wide with cars spinning below, thanks to our spotters. (Mine was my brother Chris. I may be biased, but I think he’s the best in the business!)
The final restart was a green/white/checker, and you couldn’t have scripted a more dramatic ending! I was able to grab some final positions in those last laps to come home fourth. I could taste that third-place result since we were quicker than the car ahead, but I ran out of time to get on the podium.
The winner got an iconic Martinsville grandfather clock and a nice payout of $25,000. The total race purse of $60,000 made the racing even more exciting for the competitors! All the prize money that our car received will probably go into fixing all the bumps and bruises it accumulated during the night. It was an absolute blast to partake in this unique event and to have the chance to race at the legendary Martinsville. Wow!