It was a trip to the East Coast for Hixon Motor Sports (HMS) and the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires (MX-5 Cup) teams this past weekend. Taking on the VIRginia International Raceway, Hixon Motor Sports earned six top-ten results, including a podium finish by Connor Zilisch on Saturday.

Reigning Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires Champion Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) was declared the Round 12 race winner after an incident on the final lap led to a post-race penalty. He extended his points lead over teammate Aaron Jeansonne (No. 24 JTR Motorsports Engineering) who finished second.

Championship contenders run into trouble

Unhappy with his car’s performance in Friday’s practice sessions, Aaron Jeansonne (No. 24 JTR Motorsports Engineering) switched to a backup car Saturday morning for Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® qualifying. It paid dividends on his final flying lap around VIRginia International Raceway when he jumped to pole position.

The quickest driver in Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires practice at VIRginia International Raceway was Virginia-native Gresham Wagner (No. 5 Spark Performance). Wagner’s best lap in the first session could not be bested in the afternoon session.