photos courtesy of Mazda Motorsports
Last week was a busy one as I bounced between VIR for the Runoffs and Road Atlanta for the last round of the IMSA Championship at Petit LeMans. Somehow, we managed to stay dry despite the original forecast, since Hurricane Ian changed direction several times from the original projected path. Thoughts go out to everyone in the coastal areas that were heavily affected by the hurricane.
The racing in Atlanta was certainly fierce and unpredictable, with lots of championships on the line throughout the various IMSA series. My main role at Road Atlanta was working with the Mazda MX-5 Cup double header.
The championship leader heading into the final two races, Jared Thomas, only had a small points lead. That lead shrank even further after the first race, when Connor Zilisch’s victory quickly sent him from third in the standings to just 30 points behind Jared. Those 30 points equate to three positions on track, and as race two unfolded, it was a constant numbers-crunching game to see who was ahead of who for the championship lead.
Jared had plenty of drama throughout the race, but in the end, he came back and finished close enough to Connor to retain the championship, winning it by just 10 points! The incredible part is that 10 points equates to just one position on track, which is an extremely narrow margin considering that’s over the course of an entire 14-race season!
Jared Thomas, 2022 Mazda MX-5 Cup Champion and winner of $250,000!
The close racing was a fitting end to an exciting season of MX-5 Cup, since that is what we’ve come to expect from this series. Miraculously, Road Atlanta stayed dry all week long, and the fans experienced beautiful fall weather at one of the most iconic events of the season. What a way to wrap up the 2022 IMSA championship!