ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (March 1, 2025) – Experience played a key factor in Round Three of the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Saturday. The podium was composed of drivers with plenty of experience at the street circuit. Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) led the way to the checkered flag, followed by teammate Glenn McGee (No. 69 JTR Motorsports Engineering) and Nathan Nicholson (No. 56 Advanced Autosports).
Polesitter Jeremy Fletcher (No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing) appeared in control of the race early on, leading all but two laps before the first full-course caution came out. He held off a charge from defending Rookie of the Year Westin Workman (No. 13 BSI Racing) before pulling a three and a half second gap on the rest of the field.
That lead was erased when the first full-course caution was issued 15 minutes into the race.
Fluids on the track caused multiple cars to lose control in Turn 10 and three cars made contact with the tire wall, necessitating a lengthy cleanup. When racing resumed, there was less than 12 minutes left on the clock.
On the restart, Fletcher went wide in Turn One, allowing multiple cars to slip by on the inside, including Thomas, who took over the lead. He was followed through by Nathan Nicholson (No. 56 Advanced Autosports), McGee, and Gonzalez.
McGee effectively acted as rear-gunner as he put the pressure on Nicholson and then took over second place. A few short laps later, a full-course caution came out again for a car stopped in Turn 10. When it was time to go back racing, drivers found themselves in a green, white, checkered scenario.
Thomas had a great restart and built a gap to his teammate by the time they reached the white flag. McGee was able to shake free from Nicholson and get some breathing room for the final lap.
There was no denying Thomas the win, his second on the streets of St. Pete.
“I think it’s one thing just to turn laps here,” Thomas said. “But it's another thing to race hard and get your elbows out and be door to door going through these corners with a wall right next to you. I think the experience does help. I was really comfortable.”
Thomas qualified an uncharacteristic 10th but was confident he had a fast car beneath him.
“I knew we had a good car,” Thomas said. “I was a little upset with how I qualified. I wasn't too thrilled with that, so I knew I had some work to do. We made some more adjustments going in the race and we had a car good enough to win.”
McGee fiercely defended his runner-up position, determined to score his first career podium finish. It was an emotional accomplishment for the driver who went from a sim racer, to a MX-5 Cup driver thanks to the Mazda MX-5 Cup Shootout.
“Oh god, I love this series,” McGee said. “It’s a very important series to me. I'm the only guy in the world to go directly from video games, right into pro racing in the MX-5 Cup series. So this series has always had a really special place in my heart. It's also got some of the best young talent in the world here because of what Mazda does to support everyone--you can win quite a bit of money here! So, everybody's fighting hard, and to win or get a podium here you have to be really cooking to get it done. We fought really hard. I fell back to like, eighth or something. I raced back up to second, hung on, hung on to my teammate Jared [Thomas]and I thought about challenging him, but I figured we wouldn't upset the boss man, and we'd finish one-two. It's great to be on the podium for the first time in this series.”
First and second place were obvious exiting the final turn, but third-place was another story. Nicholson and Gonzalez had an intense fight through the final laps. Gonzalez got by Nicholson in Turn 10 and came through the final turn with Nicholson on his bumper. Nicholson tried to get enough of a draft to re-pass Gonzalez but couldn’t make it work.
Gonzalez crossed the line third, but race officials weren’t happy with how he got there and issued a 10-second penalty post-race, dropping him to 16th in the final results.
Nicholson inherited the third-place spot, his first podium since Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last June.
Fletcher recovered from his messy restart to finish fourth. Rookie Justin Adakonis (No. 23 McCumbee McAleer Racing) completed the top five, the best of the freshman class.
Peter Atwater (No. 26 JTR Motorsports Engineering) narrowly avoided disaster multiple times during the race, but quick reflexes brought him home in 11th and earned him the Takumi Award, for the series’ more seasoned drivers.
Sally Mott’s (No. 15 JTR Motorsports Engineering) Saturday got off to a bad start; she had a spin in qualifying, which didn’t damage the car at all, but while she was stopped, she was hit by another car, which ended the session for her. Starting from the back of the field, Mott stayed levelheaded in the chaos and ended the race in 16th, which earned her the Penske Shocking Performance Award.
“I didn't know if I was going to be able to race today,” Mott said. “I started second to dead last, and just put my head down and tried to make up as many positions as I could, because, man, I just want to do so well.”
She was joined on the post-race podium by Heather Hadley (No. 54 Hendricks Motorsports) who finished 12th and earned the highest finishing female driver award.
Having two female drivers as part of the ceremonies was the perfect way to underscore the launch of a new docuseries about MX-5 Cup called First to the Finish. Premiering March 25 on Prime Video, the series follows Mott and Hadley through the 2024 season as well as BSI Racing team owner Shea Holbrook.
There is one more MX-5 Cup race to go in St. Pete. Round Four goes green Sunday at 3:45pm ET. Live streaming is available on the RACER and IMSA YouTube channels.