Bigger per-race payouts, large class of rookies and new Mazda Scholarship winners set to do battle with a large roster of returning Mazda MX-5 Cup winners and champions to launch 2023 season
DAYTONA, Fla. (January 23, 2023) – The highly anticipated Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires 2023 season opener has arrived. More than 30 cars will take to Daytona International Speedway, January 25 – 27, and wow fans with some of the most intense racing of the week.
Coming into Round One and Two as the reigning Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup champion is Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering). Thomas’ team has expanded once again this year, fielding eight cars, including his own. It’s a significant workload, but it can’t dampen Thomas’ enthusiasm for the start of another race season.
“I feel good,” Thomas said. “It feels like a fresh start. Coming into the season, especially after a very stressful points battle last year, it feels good. I enjoy the beginning of the year so much because you’re just out and going for podiums and race wins, you’re not being conservative. It gets stressful when you start thinking about points and you’re the guy everyone is after.”
Thomas kicked off his 2022 championship season with a win in Round Two at Daytona. He knows all too well how important it is to start the year strong.
“It really sets the tone for the rest of the season,” Thomas said. “It’s always good to start the season well, because it takes the pressure off. Especially with St. Pete being next, because it’s a track you don’t have a lot of time at. The guys that are experienced at St. Pete always have the upper hand. If you can get through Daytona with a good result and show up to St. Pete with a lot of experience, it’s a good start to the season.”
Experience at Daytona is something that most of the 11 rookies entered are lacking. One who does have experience racing at this roval is the newest MX-5 Cup Shootout Scholarship winner Nate Cicero (No. 83 McCumbee McAleer Racing). Cicero raced at Daytona last year in the Spec MX-5 Challenge. A few months later he was invited to Mazda’s MX-5 Cup Shootout and came away with the big scholarship valued at $110,000. The rookie is under no illusions that his debut will be easy.
“I think a lot of it’s going to be the drafting game,” Cicero said. “I’m going to get acclimated to that and find my feet. I need to get these first two races down and gain experience. A top five would be really nice.”
Taking home the Mazda runner-up shootout scholarship valued at $75,000 is Thomas Annunziata (No. 10 Hixon Motorsports). He dipped his toe in the MX-5 Cup pool last year, racing at VIRginia International Raceway, and showed impressive pace. He is part of Hixon Motorsports’ nine entries, which includes two former scholarship winners and rookie of the year recipients: Connor Zilisch (No. 72 Hixon Motorsports) and Selin Rollan (No. 87 Hixon Motorsports).
Winner of Mazda’s Women’s Initiative Scholarship, also valued at $75,000, is Heather Hadley (No. 54 Spark Performance). Hadley’s background is quite different from her competitors. She comes to MX-5 Cup following success in Legends Racing. Hadley believes her experience has prepared her for most facets of MX-5 Cup racing, but there are some things she’s focused her off-season training on.
“I feel I’m somewhat prepared for aspects of MX-5 Cup racing,” Hadley said. “For the aspects I’m unfamiliar with, like the 45-minute long races, I’m trying to prepare in other ways that I can’t do on track. For that example in particular, I’m training at the gym for at least an hour and building up my endurance and cardio levels.”
Hadley will have experienced teammates at Spark Performance to help her adapt, including 2021 Champion Gresham Wagner (No. 5 Spark Performance).
Something that will raise a few eyebrows around the paddock is the return of Robert Noaker (No. 13 Slipstream Performance). Noaker’s 2018 MX-5 Cup race win at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course set the Guinness World Record for youngest driver to win an IndyCar-sanctioned race (14 years old). Then, in the 2020 season, he finished runner-up in the championship by a scant four points. After building his racing resume in different categories, still-young Noaker returns to MX-5 Cup after a two-year absence.
If the drivers seem to be pushing extra hard for every single position at Daytona, it might be because of the new per-race payouts. Mazda announced at the end of last season that for 2023 it would pay prize money to the top 10 drivers for all 14 races. Race winners receive $6,000 and payouts decrease incrementally until $2,000 for sixth through 10th. Additionally, the highest finishing female driver will receive $2,000. This prize money is in addition to the year-end championship payouts ($250,000 for the series champion) and brings the total of prize money and scholarships offered by Mazda this season to more than $1 million.
All MX-5 Cup races are available to stream for free on RACER.com and IMSA.com/tvlive. Round One from Daytona is set for Thursday, January 26, at 5:30pm ET. Round Two will take place Friday, January 27, at 10:15am ET.
About: The Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires is the signature spec series for Mazda Motorsports. The series has been operated by Andersen Promotions since 2017 and is currently sanctioned by IMSA. Mazda-powered grassroots champions can earn Mazda scholarships for this pro-level series. The Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup awards more than $1 million in prizes and scholarships.
Find out more at http://www.mx-5cup.com.
