Rounds 1 and 2 – Daytona International Speedway Road Course
Daytona Beach, Fla. – January 23, 2026
The AAG Racing team brought fast cars to the Daytona International Speedway Road Course for the season-opening Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup doubleheader. The team gave relentless effort and battled through both races. Chuck Mactutus led the way for the third-year AAG Racing team, running solidly inside the top-10 in both races and ending Race 2 with the team’s first top-10 finish of the 2026 season. Teammate Fernando Luque Jr. improved with each session and navigated his way to a top-20 in Race #2 to cap off his Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup debut.
FERNANDO LUQUE JR. No. 25 AAG RACING/CLARKE CONSTRUCTION GROUP MAZDA MX-5
RACE 1:
START: 35TH FINISH: 21ST
RACE 2:
START: 32ND FINISH: 17TH POINTS: 13TH
Fernando Luque Jr. and the No. 25 AAG Racing/Clarke Construction Group team turned a challenging start to the week into a respectable finish to cap off the 17-year-old driver’s Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin debut. The Mexico City driver came into Rounds 1 and 2 having only raced cars for two seasons. Luque has amassed multiple karting championships in Mexico. Luque, who was born in Arlington, Va., has a racing resume that includes being the 2025 North America-Central America (NACAM) Formula 4 vice-champion.
In Race 1, Luque took the green flag from the 35th starting position in a record-breaking 45-car field for the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup at Daytona. He quickly gained three positions in the first 10 minutes of the race following a restart after the first full course yellow flag occurred. With 25 minutes left in the event, Luque was up to 30th before advancing to 29th five minutes later. Seven minutes remained and Luque ran in 25th place. At the white flag, Luque crossed the line in the 24th position before making a move into turn 1 to gain two spots into 22nd on the grid. After post-race incident reviews involving other cars, Luque earned a 21st-place finish.
Race 2 was an improvement from Race 1 and Luque was able to navigate his way from the 32nd starting position to 21st in the first three minutes of the race when the first full course yellow flag waved. The restarted with 32 minutes to go before another full course yellow flag came out just two minutes later. Luque remained in the 21st position before being pushed off in the Le Mans chicane where he dropped to 26th following the restart with 20 minutes to go. A restart with five minutes remaining gathered the field back together and allowed Luque to regain momentum in the draft. Luque took the white flag running 25th before getting a great run in the final turn to finish 20th on the grid. After post-race incident reviews involving other cars, Luque was awarded a 17th-place finish to close out his Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup debut week at the historic 3.56-mile, 12-turn road course.
“The team put in hard work, especially my coach Sam (Paley), my spotter Skyler (Cottrell), my crew chief Brett (Clemenzi) and my team owner, Chris Clarke, who guided me throughout the weekend and spearheaded my progress. We worked incredibly hard in every post session debrief and gave 100 percent,” said Luque. “I’m very thankful to be working with very talented people. I’m proud of the result (in Race 2), but I hold myself to high standards. I know we have more performance to unlock, and I’m confident we’ll show that. It was an amazing experience to race in MX-5 Cup at Daytona. The team was incredible to work with and I loved the track, as well as the racing. I learned a lot and improved every session, but there is still work to be done. Overall, it was a blast and I’m very excited for what’s coming.”
CHUCK MACTUTUS No. 60 SALTY DOG CAFE/AAG RACING/CLARKE CONSTRUCTION GROUP MAZDA MX-5
RACE 1
START: 10TH FINISH: 24TH
RACE 2
START: 28TH FINISH: 7TH POINTS: 7TH
The 19-time winner between Spec-Miata and Spec-MX-5 in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) translated his competitive pedigree into a strong Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin debut. As with any race on a drafting track, Daytona presents the highs and lows, and if your strategy is successful, you can come away with a solid finish in the season opener. For Mactutus, Daytona has treated him well and prior to his Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup debut at the famous circuit, he had finished second in the 2025 South Atlantic Road Racing Championship (SARCC) race there back in August. Mactutus and the No. 60 Salty Dog Cafe/AAG Racing/Clarke Construction Group team ended the week on a high note rallying back from a cut tire.
Race 1 began strong for Mactutus, who rolled off 10th on the grid before dropping back to 11th place in the opening six minutes of the race when the full course caution was displayed. After the restart with 38 minutes remaining, Mactutus held his position. With 20 minutes remaining in the event, Mactutus caught a draft on the outside to advance from the seventh position up to fourth. Going to the infield section, Mactutus was running seventh with 18 minutes to go and had to check up due to slow cars ahead. On the same lap, into Speedway turn 1, Mactutus’ car had a small amount of smoke as the two cars he was battling next to, got on to the curbing and collided. Mactutus continued with no issue. Four minutes later, the No. 56 car went off track into the grass in front of Mactutus causing low visibility which led him to follow directly behind through the grass. With 10 minutes remaining in Race 1, Mactutus was running 15th when an apparent tire rub occurred causing him to lose the draft and fall back to 18th. When the white flag waved, Mactutus ran in the 19th position. After post-race incident reviews involving other cars, the Little Mountain, S.C., driver earned a 24th-place finish.
In Race 2, Mactutus took the green flag from 28th on the grid. Unlike Race 1, Race 2 had three full course yellow flags. The first full course yellow came out in the first three minutes of the race and Mactutus had gained 10 spots to move into the top-20. The race restarted with 32 minutes to go and was green for two minutes before another full course yellow flag occurred. At this point in the race, Mactutus had gained one spot since the last restart and ran in the 17th position. Ten minutes later, the race restarted and Mactutus had a strong restart on the outside and advanced to 13th. The full course yellow flag was displayed again with 10 minutes remaining in the event. When the race restarted with five minutes to go, Mactutus was running 14th. With two laps remaining, Mactutus was in the 13th position going into speedway turn 1. He caught a strong draft in speedway turn 4 and took the white flag running 11th. The next time through speedway turn 4 coming to the checkered flag, Mactutus got another big run and made a pass to advance from 10th to eighth place. After post-race incident reviews involving other cars, Mactutus brought the No. 60 Salty Dog Cafe/AAG Racing/Clarke Construction Group Mazda MX-5 home in seventh.
“Overall very pleased with my MX-5 Cup debut battling and surviving in that hyper competitive top-10 both races,” said Mactutus. “With the help of my crew chief Cory Collum in Race 2, I was able to time the restart to perfection with 20 minutes remaining and gain five positions by Turn 1. After that, we made up another two positions out of the bus stop with my Salty Dog Cafe sponsored friend, Bobby Gossett. That put us solidly in the battle for the top-10. When the white flag came out, I was 10th going into the bus stop and took the checkered flag, ending up with a 7th place finish, gaining 21 spots overall in an extremely competitive field. I’m very pleased with the result. I’d like to thank my sponsor Salty Dog Cafe, the entire AAG team for their fantastic car prep/strategy calls/coaching, and my family for coming down to Daytona to support. Race 2 Fernando and I were very close to drafting but with all the mix-ups/incidents it never quite worked out, closest it came was just one car between us!”
The Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin heads to the streets of St. Petersburg for Rounds 3 and 4, Feb. 27–March 1, during the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Live coverage begins with Race 1, Sat., Feb. 28, from 7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. ET and continues Sun., March 1, from 4 p.m. to 4:40 p.m. Both races will stream live on IMSA.tv and the IMSA and RACER YouTube channels.
