Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup 2024 race highlights of Round 5 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
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▬▬ Description ▬▬
Round Five of the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin featured a spectacular one-lap dash to the finish line at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday. Reigning series champion Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) held off two of his teammates to take his first victory of the year by 0.079-second.
The top three spots on the Round Five grid were locked out by JTR Motorsports Engineering cars, with Aaron Jeansonne (No. 24 JTR Motorsports Engineering) starting from pole. Jeansonne, Thomas and Nathan Nicholson (No. 56 JTR Motorsports Engineering) worked together for the first 30 minutes of the 45-minute race, but for the final 15 minutes, it was every man and woman for themselves.
Just as Thomas began to take looks at Jeansonne, a full-course yellow was issued to remove Alex Bachoura (No. 33 Spark Performance) from the Turn Three gravel. The safety crew’s response was quick enough that the race was able to resume and the white flag was displayed along with the green.
Jeansonne, who scored his first-ever Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup win at Laguna Seca last year, wasn’t about to give up the spot that easy, especially at his home track. He tried to out-brake Thomas going into the final turn, but overshot it, and ran wide into the gravel. This enabled Nicholson to sneak by into second and nearly challenge Thomas for the win.
The win is a big boost for Thomas’ 2024 season as he tries to become a three-time MX-5 Cup Champion and collect another $250,000 champion’s check from Mazda.
Nicholson couldn’t be too upset about finishing second as it marked his debut appearance on the Mazda MX-5 Cup podium.
Nicholson was the runner-up in last year’s Mazda MX-5 Cup Shootout and is eyeing the 2024 Rookie of the Year title and the $80,000 that comes with it.
A driver who was thrilled to see the late yellow come out, and even more thrilled to see a one-lap dash to the finish was Tyler Gonzalez (No. 57 Saito Motorsports Group). The Sebring race winner overheated his engine in practice and was concerned about any lingering damage it might have. The late yellow helped him catch the leaders and cross the line in third.
After the race, however, officials issued Gonzalez a 10-second penalty for contact with Nate Cicero (No. 83 McCumbee McAleer Racing) on the final lap. This dropped him to 16th on the results and moved Cicero to third.
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Every event on the Mazda MX-5 Cup schedule will feature two, 45-minute sprint races to be livestreamed on RACER.com. The livestreams are produced by NASCAR Productions, and feature play-by-play and commentary from the IMSA Radio squad headed by John Hindhaugh and Shea Adam.
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