BRASELTON, Ga. — The Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin has its second repeat champion as Gresham Wagner (No. 5 McCumbee McAleer Racing) added the 2024 title to the one he captured in 2021.
His teammate and championship rival Jeremy Fletcher (No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing) won the final race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, but it wasn’t enough to surpass Wagner, who finished the race in third.
The podium for Round 14 was in fact a McCumbee McAleer sweep, with Nate Cicero (No. 83 McCumbee McAleer Racing) finishing second.
All three drivers were in contention for the title and up against defending champion Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) and his teammate Aaron Jeansonne (No. 24 JTR Motorsports Engineering).
Cicero started from pole but had some extra time to prepare for the start when Woody Heimann (No. 82 JTR Motorsports Engineering) got into the wall on the pace lap. This required the field to remain behind the pace car for an additional 10 minutes while the car was removed.
When the race finally went green, Cicero and Wagner worked together at the front of the field and were quickly joined by Fletcher, but Jeansonne was also on the scene to break up the MMR party.
Fletcher was the leader when a full-course yellow was issued to retrieve a car stuck in the Turn 10 gravel trap. Circulating for six laps under yellow was helpful for Fletcher, who received 10 bonus points for leading the most laps of the race.
He continued to lead after the restart and had his sights firmly set on a race win, while his teammates shuffled back and forth with JTR teammates, Thomas and Jeansonne. The continuous passing prevented any pack of cars from pulling away and resulted in a long train of a dozen cars ready to pounce on any mistake.
Fletcher made zero mistakes and drove it home for the victory, although the final lap was under full-course caution after a nasty accident for Jonathan Neudorf (No. 55 BSI Racing) in Turn One.
Even with the race win and most laps led, Fletcher was not able to overcome the point deficit created by his Round 13 DNF. He ends the season third in the championship standings, only 70 points out of the lead.
“I really wish I could go home and celebrate a championship and a win with the team like they deserve tonight at the banquet, but things were out of our hands yesterday,” Fletcher said. “I’m pretty sure we had second place locked-up coming out of that last corner, but contact was made. I just kind of shrugged it off and came out here and did what I do and did it for the team. And I did it for my sponsors, the Holster Store, McCumbee McAleer Racing, The Gun Store, Home Restoration Exchange, Mazda Motorsports, Flis Performance and everyone who puts this on for us. I’m just happy to get my third win of the season, and it really proves that I had the car to beat throughout the season. I just wish I could have gotten the championship, because I feel like things that were out of my control and out of the team’s control are what really cost us that championship.”
Cicero was able to get around Wagner in the final laps to take second.
“You have to balance working with your teammates versus trying to be a little selfish,” Cicero said. “We were 1-2-3, which is an extremely difficult spot. Jeremy and I going into that race were tied on points and he ended up one spot in front of me. We just have such a strong team this year. We all knew how to work together and when to battle. It’s been an amazing team effort. I’m disappointed to be on the short end of the stick, but still, ending up fighting for the championship and a couple wins this year, I can’t complain too much, and that happiness will sink in.”
Winning his first MX-5 Cup Championship in 2021, Wagner becomes the second driver ever to score two MX-5 Cup titles.
“I wasn’t necessarily trying to win the race,” Wagner said. “I was just trying to be at the front. There was a bit of a gap in points between me and Nate [Cicero] and Jeremy [Fletcher], so as long as I was there helping them, I was all right, and I was more than happy to try my best to work together.
Along with the champion’s trophy, Wagner receives the grand prize of $250,000 from Mazda.
“Winning two [championships] is an elite club. I mean, it’s hard enough to win one. Jared [Thomas] got his back-to-back, but I had to wait a bit longer. At the same time, I think that speaks to how long I’ve been here and had success, and that’s something everyone wants, to keep doing it and still be at the top. I’m really happy I could say I was the best.”
Series newcomer Noah Harmon (No. 77 AAG Racing) had a strong race and scored his best result in MX-5 Cup by finishing fourth.
Finishing fifth in the race, Thomas, the 2022 and 2023 champion, was unable to make it a three-peat, but did end the season runner-up to Wagner in the points.
Westin Workman (No. 13 BSI Racing) finished seventh but had clinched the Rookie of the Year title with a fourth-place finish in Thursday’s race. His rookie title earns Workman a $80,000 check from Mazda.