BOWMANVILLE, Ont. CANADA (July 14, 2024) – With five minutes left in the Round 10 Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, it didn’t look like a win was in the cards for Nate Cicero (No. 83 McCumbee McAleer Racing). Then, a series of events transpired that quickly launched Cicero from fifth to first. Joining him on the podium was rookie Julian DaCosta (No. 78 JTR Motorsports Engineering) and the driver with more Mazda MX-5 Cup starts than anyone else: Alex Bachoura (No. 33 Spark Performance).
In a déjà vu moment that echoed Saturday’s race finish, the driver who crossed the finish line first, was not declared the winner. Jeremy Fletcher (No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing) had been issued a 10-second penalty earlier in the race for contact with another car. With the time penalty assessed at the checkered flag, the win went to his teammate Cicero.
Another similarity to Saturday’s race was the number of cars in the lead pack. A train of 11 cars circulated the track nose-to-tail and Cicero was right in the middle of it.
“I was struggling a little bit coming onto the straight,” Cicero said. “With the pack stacking up, it was kind of hard to time your acceleration point if you're in the middle of a pack. I was just trying to stay in my spot and keep working with Jeremy [Fletcher].”
At the front of the pack, polesitter Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) was working with teammate Aaron Jeansonne (No. 24 JTR Motorsports Engineering) to keep the lead and hold off Saturday’s race winner, Westin Workman (No. 13 BSI Racing).
When contact damaged Jeansonne’s wheel and necessitated a pit stop, Workman began to take looks at Thomas for the win. It was about this time that Workman and Gresham Wagner (No. 5 McCumbee McAleer Racing) made contact, sending Wagner into the Turn Nine tires. This brought out the first of two full-course caution periods during the 45-minute race.
Workman resumed his fight with Thomas when the green flag came back out, but this time he was being pressured by Thomas’ teammate, Nathan Nicholson (No. 56 JTR Motorsports Engineering).
The trio came together in the same spot as Wagner’s crash. Unbelievably, nobody spun or hit the wall, but the three leaders all took evasive action to stay pointed straight. That was all Fletcher needed to go from fifth to first.
“I just saw a little bit of contact and they [Thomas, Nicholson and Workman] all went wide and Jeremy and I were able to go through,” Cicero said.
A lap later, the safety car was deployed again for Heather Hadley (No. 54 BSI Racing), who lost a wheel exiting Turn Eight, sending her sideways into the tire wall. Hadley walked away unscathed, but less than three minutes remained on the race clock, so the race ended under yellow.
Cicero was ecstatic as he crossed the finish line, but not for himself; he was unaware of Fletcher’s 10-second penalty.
“I was so happy for him [Fletcher] to get his first win and was celebrating with him across the line,” Cicero said. “No one told me that he had gotten a penalty. I feel for him. He's going to get a win this year, probably multiple. He's been super-fast even in the backup car, so I know he'll get it soon.”
He continued to heap praise on his MMR teammates for helping him get the win and was greeted at the podium by Wagner, who was unharmed in his lap eight incident.
“(After Saturday’s race) I learned a lot about where to pass,” Cicero said. “Especially from watching my teammates’ videos and seeing what they're doing different than me. We have four amazing drivers on the team. We're all in the top 10 usually, so there’s a lot to learn for all of us and we can all help each other.”
The drivers sharing the podium with Cicero were equally surprised.
DaCosta, the runner-up, started the race dead last due to an engine change after Race 1. It is the rookie’s first podium finish.
“Yesterday was a bit more than heartbreaking,” DaCosta said. “Today definitely lifted everybody's hearts and spirits and I want to thank everybody coming into this weekend. I'm really excited to be partnering with the Austin Hatcher Foundation and I think we have a lot ahead of us now and we're gonna continue this positive energy for sure.”
Earlier this year Bachoura took over the record for the most MX-5 Cup race starts. After more than 100 races, he finished on the podium for only the second time Sunday. Bachoura was elated with the third-place finish. He knew incidents and penalties played a part but was rightly proud of his driving.
“It was unexpected,” Bachoura said. “I was in fourth and I knew the race finished, but when I heard there was a penalty and I was third, I was ecstatic. I love being lucky, but I did stick with the front pack the whole time. Sparky and Spark Performance gave me an amazing car. I felt like I had the fastest car in the turns. It was a really good car, good driving and a little bit of luck.”
Jeansonne went on to finish fourth, salvaging valuable championship points.
Woody Heimann (No. 82 JTR Motorsports Engineering) earned a career-best fifth place.
He was followed by Mazda Women in Motorsport Scholarship winner Sally Mott (No. 15 Spark Performance) who earned a career-best sixth.
Mazda MX-5 Cup teams have a break before Rounds 11 and 12 at VIRginia International Raceway, August 23 – 25.
All MX-5 Cup races are available to re-watch anytime on the RACER and IMSA YouTube channels.