35 years of Mazda Miata: A racing legacy, part 2

MX-5 Cup: A World Premiere

When Mazda introduced the NC model of its Miata for 2006, it also introduced a new series, the MX-5 Cup.

Like the Spec Miata formula, Mazda specified an MX-5 Cup race car with certain equipment, and modified with certain parts by the teams and drivers competing with it.

The series was initially run by SCCA Pro Racing, and it quickly took off. Jim Daniels won the first championship in 2006, and drivers such as Eric Foss, Michael Cooper, Kenton Koch and Stevan McAleer used the series as a springboard into professional racing careers.

MX-5 Cup also spawned what was originally known as the Club Racer Shootout. Taking young drivers who’d won national championships or races in a Mazda, asking them to present a business case, and bringing them to the track to drive an MX-5 Cup car, Mazda awarded scholarships to race in MX-5 Cup the following year. That program has propelled a number of drivers to professional careers, including IMSA race winners Elliott Skeer and Patrick Gallagher and NASCAR rising star Connor Zilisch.

With many cars built for the series, the first iteration of MX-5 Cup car has spread well beyond the original competition environment. The car was eligible to compete in Pirelli World Challenge’s Touring Car A category, where Elivan Goulart and Matt Fassnacht won championships in 2016 and ’17 respectively.

More recently, the car has become the basis for a new class in club racing, Spec MX-5. Originally conceived by Winding Road Racing as a series after MX-5 Cup moved to the ND chassis, Mazda Motorsports created a ruleset for the car that retains many of the components of the MX-5 Cup spec machine. The series made its debut in 2020, and in 2024 it became a Runoffs-eligible class in SCCA competition, with California Ethan Lampe winning the inaugural title at Road America.

The NC in Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge

Aside from World Challenge, the only professional racing series where the Miata has competed against other marques and models is the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge (above), now known as the Michelin Pilot Challenge. With cars fielded by Freedom Autosport, CJ Wilson Racing and Alara Racing, the NC scored multiple wins, including several podium sweeps, over a five-year period.

“That was such a neat opportunity,” said Tom Long, a Mazda factory driver in GT and prototypes who went on to compete in Miatas. “Taking the kind of steppingstone of Spec Miata into the MX-5 Cup, and then taking that same car and being able to run it in a more modified version against other manufacturers, other platforms and other drivers, and then adding an additional component to it. It’s now not a sprint race, but it’s an endurance format, two-hour format with strategy, pit stops and all that.”

The effort culminated in a championship for Stevan McAleer and Chad McCumbee (who together own an MX-5 Cup team) and CJ Wilson Racing in 2017. Freedom Autosport’s participation also produced several highlights, not the least of which is Long and Iraq war veteran and amputee Liam Dwyer (below) taking a victory and leading a Mazda podium sweep at Lime Rock Park on Memorial Day weekend in 2014.

MX-5 Cup: The second decade

The introduction of the ND chassis in 2016, which in many ways returned the Miata to its roots, brought a new opportunity for MX-5 Cup. Mazda followed the example of several other manufacturers and began building its own factory racecars for MX-5 Cup. Developed in large part by Long and built first by Long Road Racing and now Flis Performance, the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup was now truly a spec race car, all built identically. With a cage designed to accommodate left- or right-hand drive, MX-5 Cup could expand to other parts of the world, including Japan.

“I think that was one of the most important pieces to what the current MX-5 Cup Series is today, because now the cars are so spec,” said Long. “Sure, spec Miata and Spec MX-5 are very spec, too, but this car, you literally can’t adjust anything from the way you build the car, because it’s delivered to you as a factory race car. That makes such a difference in tech tolerances. It was really vital to bring the series to the next level.”

The 2025 seaso- opening races at Daytona featured 36 drivers, but that represents only a fraction of the ND MX-5 Cup cars, which have seen updates to a larger engine and a SADEV sequential transmission since 2016. Flis recently built the 300th MX-5 Cup car, which has seen competition in a variety of series, including in SCCA, and in-house competition at country club-style tracks throughout the country.

The second generation of MX-5 Cup has not only helped drivers reach higher, but many drivers have found a home in the series. Recent years have seen the first two-time champions in Jared Thomas and (above) reigning champ Gresham Wagner, who continue to compete in 2025, and Thomas has built a business around the series, with Jared Thomas Racing fielding six cars this season. It’s been a resounding success – which makes Jonathan Applegate, Senior Manager, Mazda Motorsports North American Operations, happy to see.

“It’s an extremely a proud feeling to know that we are producing an opportunity for growth and development that really starts with Mazda, and then gives this opportunity to go anywhere they really want to go,” Applegate said. “Traditionally we’re in sports car racing, but we’ve also seen people going over to the NASCAR side of things and really finding what opportunities present themselves.

“But for us, being positioned with IMSA and really kind of starting in the grassroots side, where we are running Spec Miata, Spec MX-5, our NA through NC platforms, and then getting into MX-5 Cup…to see the growth and development and sustainability of this series that then moves people up into the other areas, I can’t help but walk around with my head held up high and my chest out.”

As Mazda prepares for the future of the MX-5 Miata and the next generation, it’s guaranteed that Miatas will continue to be one of the most raced car models in the world for many years to come. All Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Michelin races are streamed live on RACER.com and archived on The RACER Channel on YouTube. The 2025 doubleheader action continues with rounds 3 & 4 on the streets of St. Petersburg on Saturday, March 1 and Sunday, March 2. And for all the latest series news, head to mx-5cup.com.