LEEDS, Ala. (May 4, 2025) – Sunny skies greeted the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin field as they arrived at Barber Motorsports Park Sunday morning. It may have been a stark change in the weather from Saturday, but the podium looked rather familiar. Tyler Gonzalez (No. 57 BSI Racing) took the top step once again, followed by teammate Westin Workman (No. 13 BSI Racing).
Saturday’s runner-up, Nate Cicero (No. 19 Saito Motorsports Group) started Sunday’s race from pole, but could only hold off second-starting Gonzalez for four laps, just before the race’s first full-course caution. The restart was an opportunity for Cicero to retake the lead, which he did in Turn Eight, only for the second full-course caution to come out two laps later.
The roles were swapped on the second restart when Gonzalez got on the power quicker and had a little push from two-time Mazda MX-5 Cup Champion Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering).
Gonzalez eventually had the benefit of teammate Helio Meza (No. 27 BSI Racing) moving into second behind him. Meza was under intense pressure from Jeremy Fletcher (No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing) however, and had to make a play for the lead on the final lap in Turn Eight. The move cost him dearly, as he slid off the race track and fell back to 10th.
“I don’t know why, but we were really down on straight-line speed,” Gonzalez said. “The yellows helped a lot, because honestly, I do not think we had the pace. On that last lap, I have to thank Helio [Meza] for pushing me coming to the white flag, because if he didn’t, I would have been swallowed up by the pack. Then we went into Turn Five. He went on the outside of me. The whole pack was right there with us. I looked back and everybody’s down on the bottom. I’m the only one that set up for Turn Eight and I got a really good run.”
Taking over second, Fletcher had Gonzalez in his sights, but couldn’t shake third-place Cicero. The trio spent the final complex of turns side-by-side.
Coming into the final corner, Fletcher dove inside Cicero in the final corner, but went too far, hitting the back of Gonzalez’s car. Fletcher slid sideways over the curbing and then shot back onto the pavement and into the side of Cicero. Both went sailing off track as Gonzalez pressed on to the finish line.
“It was madness,” Gonzalez said of the final corners. “Out of Nine, I probably had like, a four or five car-length gap. Next thing I know, Fletcher’s on my outside going into 11 and 12. So, I mean, that was the race right there that corner. I knew I had to do something, and it was holding around the outside. I got a better run up the hill, and ultimately, that was it. It got pretty crazy there in those last two corners, I got hit rear, left, right. I don’t know by who or what, but I was just catching the car whenever I could, and never let go of it.”
Workman was in the right place at the right time, watching Cicero and Fletcher duel, connect and slide off track. The 2024 MX-5 Cup Rookie of the Year dodged to the inside behind Gonzalez and followed him to the flag.
“Yeah, it was pretty crazy,” Workman said. “There was really, really aggressive driving– the whole race. And I think that honestly, coming to the white flag, I knew I was in the perfect position, because I knew something hectic was going to happen. I kind of just held back and thankfully had a gap behind me so I didn’t have to defend too hard. But I just let the guys in front of me battle pretty hard. And then, coming to the last two corners, we were fighting 3,4, 5, wide, and then the seas just kind of parted ways there in the last corner and slotted me into the second position, so just super thankful. Definitely a lucky race for me.”
Noah Harmon (No. 77 AAG Racing) scored his first podium, finishing third, but it was very nearly a runner-up finish. The rookie came out of the final corner drag racing Workman to the line but came up short by 0.091-second. The podium was a relief for Harmon. The current Mazda MX-5 Cup Shootout Champion had a poor qualifying and started the race from 15th on the grid.
“We started the race 15th and I was just trying to focus on moving through the field,” Harmon said. “I knew we had a really fast car in the dry, and I was just trying to make passes one by one, and got a little bit of help. And then last lap came out. Last lap just, just tried to pick them off one by one.
“(In the final corner) I was looking at Weston, and I saw them [Fletcher and Cicero] go in the corner and hit and I don’t know what happened to them after, I think they went off, but I just knew that when I came out of the corner I was in third, so I was happy.”
Fellow rookie Justin Adakonis (No. 23 McCumbee McAleer Racing) finished fourth, followed by Thomas.
Cicero recovered from the last lap melee to finish 14th.
The Penske Shocking Performance Award went to Bryce Cornet (No. 65 Spark Performance) who advanced a remarkable 17 positions in the race.
Of the six female drivers entered, Sally Mott (No. 15 JTR Motorsports Engineering) once again earned the Highest Finishing Female Driver Award.
Christian Hodneland (No. 32 BSI Racing) earned the Takumi Award by finishing 16th, the highest of all drivers over the age of 40.
Up next are Rounds Seven and Eight at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, June 6 – 8. Both races will be streamed live on the IMSA and RACER YouTube Channels, where you’ll also find all previous races archived.
About: The Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin 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 Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup awards more than $1 million in prizes and scholarships.
Find out more at http://www.mx-5cup.com.
