2014 SCCA Pro Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup Series in Review

Guest Writer
The MX-5 Cup Series is a support race series that is usually part of the IMSA TUDOR and Continental Tire Sports Car Series weekends. The past few years have been six race weekends with two races per weekend.
This year started with a trip to Sebring, FL in March for the 12 Hours of Sebring.  We were at the track by 6:00 a.m., in the dark to make sure the team haulers were ready to line up for the drive in the gate and park. Before they could drive in, everyone had to be registered. That meant truck drivers had to go to registration and make it back to the truck and get in the correct order to drive to the MX-5 Cup compound.
When we get the OK to start parking trucks, it turns into a big land rush of slow moving trucks, and they all need to be ready and in the correct order for the plan to work. 
After all trucks are parked, everyone starts to unload and set up the area, so that the cars can get on the track for Test Day. Meanwhile, the MX-5 Staff, which includes me, work setting up the Tech area for the teams to check ride height and weigh the cars, if they so desire to verify their own scales. We have awnings on both sides of the MX-5 trailer, one for scales and the other with tables for hospitality and meetings that also need to be assembled.
Being this is the first race of the season, we need to perform the annual tech on all cars, suits and driver exit tests, headshots of drivers, for media guides, and other related items. This can be performed in between test day sessions. Cars are not required to pass an inspection before going on track for test day.   
This was an early day to leave the track at about 5:00 p.m. The rest of the weekend, we were at the track by 7:00 a.m., and left after 8:00 p.m., if we had to stay until all cars are off the track to paint the starting boxes for the race. MX-5 cars use a standing start for most races, and that means the boxes are usually painted the night before the race.
Before the cars have their first race of the weekend, they will have two practice sessions of 30 minutes each and one Qualifying session. The past few years, all weekends are double race weekends. Each race is a timed race of 45 minutes. The first four sessions are usually in two days, followed by the second race early in the morning on the third day. If we are with the IMSA group, most of the time we are the first race on Saturday morning. That does not mean that we can pack up and go home after the race. We have the Impound and Tech Inspections, which can take a few hours. When that is completed, we need to take down the Tech trailer awnings and pack everything inside the trailer to go back to Topeka before heading to the next race. From the end of the race to heading out the gate is usually about four to five hours.
A little over a month later, we headed to Monterey, CA to Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca. If you have never been here, and did not go for the SCCA Runoffs this year, you missed a great track. Photos and videos do not do justice to the Cork Screw.  It has to be experienced in person. The climb up the hill to get there will make you wonder if the golf kart will have the power to complete the climb.
Racing was exciting, with two drivers swapping the win and second place each race. Third place was the same both races. 
A month later, the MX-5 series headed to Houston, TX for the Grand Prix at the Reliant Center with the Indy Cars. This was a street race that was made in the parking lot around the Reliant Center.  The track was very rough, even though they milled parts of it last year when Indy Cars were bouncing off the track.
During the race, I watched as the cars made the last left turn to come down the front straight, with a large dip and bump that caused the cars to jump to the right about four feet. On the 4th lap, one of the MX-5 cars hit the bump and jumped, but the trouble was the wall was about two feet away, not four feet as in previous laps.  Needless to say, the caution came out as the mess was cleaned up, and the car hauled away after tearing the RF wheel off.
Next up was Road America in Wisconsin, with the IMSA Series. In 2015, we will be there with NASCAR Nation Wide the last weekend of August. I love going to this track, because not only is it close to home, but I have been going here for over 30 years for the June Sprints and other races as a crew member. There is also some of the best racing that can be seen at this track. The MX-5 Cup cars will run in a lead pack of six to10 cars, swapping the lead several times during the 45 minute race.
You cannot predict the winner. We have had the cars go across the finish line three wide. That shows how evenly matched the cars are, as well as the drivers.
We use the Mazda garage inside turn 14. This area is nice in  that we are close to the track and can release cars through a gate in that area. The down side is it is very loud during sessions when the IMSA cars are on track.
This year, we took the car of Kenton Koch, who had won five of the first eight races, and asked his crew to remove the engine. The engine was then sent to the official engine builder, that dyno’s the engines and installs an electronic seal on the engine that is used in all of the MX-5 Cup cars. These cars are required to have their engines from this one source through MazdaSpeed.  
This keeps the series with all cars using the same horsepower engine. I was responsible for the operation of watching the team pull the engine to make sure that nothing was altered or parts exchanged. Per the rules, we can confiscate most any part of the car. When we take a component for inspection and send back to Topeka or Mazda, such as in this case, Mazda did provide them with a new engine, free of charge. 
Kenton’s dad was exited that they were getting a new free engine, and he stated that it was legal. And, the testing by the engine builder and SCCA Pro Racing proved that it was legal. There was good racing  all weekend with many lead changes in both races.
The last race weekend of the season for the MX-5 Cup was at Road. Atlanta with the Petit LeMans. This is another great track with lots of lead changes in the lead pack of cars. The Director of Competition for MX-5 is out in the back part at all tracks watching for infractions and other abnormalities. At Road Atlanta we had many official lead changes, as well as many more in the back sections. 
Meanwhile, we stand on the front straight only being able to watch a small portion of the race. Most of the time it can get boring, such as on long tracks like Rd. Atlanta and Rd. America where there can be a long gap before we see cars, being they are so closely matched at times.
For the second race, all cars went out on rain tires, as the rain started just as cars were coming to the grid.  Mid race it stopped raining and the cars were looking for water to cool the tires.  Then the rain returned as we took down the awnings and packed up. 
After the second race on Friday morning, when Tech was completed and everything packed up, we headed to our hotel to get ready for the 2014 Mazda MX-5 Championship Banquet in Duluth, GA.  Kenton Koch is the 2014 Champion.  He was the 2013 Skip Barber Champion, earning him a Mazda scholarship to move up to MX- 5 Cup cars in 2014.  He has now won another scholarship, by winning MX-5 Cup from Mazda to race in another series under the Mazda banner. Kenton was also nominated to attend the 2015 FIA Young Drivers Excellence Academy in the Americas Divisions as the lone US representative. He came out on top and earned a trip to the world finals. See the December, 2014 issue of SportCar for more details.  
More details and information about the MX-5 Cup series can be found at www.mx-5cup.com.
If anyone would like to learn more about the SCCA Pro Racing’s Mazda MX-5 Cup, you can also contact me directly. We have several teams that provide racecars and support if you would like to step into MX-5 Cup. This is a series that highlights the driver’s ability, both in driving and car set-up. If you are a Miata competitor now, or any other class, and would like to move into pro racing, this is a good place to start. It is one of the most affordable classes in pro racing. There are teenagers still in high school getting their start in Pro Racing, as well as seasoned drivers that stay for the fun and competition of the equally-powered cars. Some of the drivers use the same engine for two to three years, with 12 races per year, which helps to keep if affordable.
There have been several drivers that have moved up to faster cars in many different race series, such as World Challenge, Continental Tire Challenge or Formula Mazda and others.
So, for now I am now waiting in the cold Minnesota weather to head to the first race of the season for MX-5 Cup at Sebring, FL. in March.
 
Carl Wieman is a 33-year member of SCCA from Owatonna, MN.  He was the Solo Chairman for five years in LOL Region and currently a DMVR member for 12 years.  He has won over 50 first places in Solo while competing in several states in the Midwest.  Carl also crewed on many different cars through the years, having gone to over 15 SCCA Runoffs as crew in American Sedan.  Carl has been part of the SCCA Pro Racing Staff since 2009.