ALTON, Va. – The Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin finish at VIRginia International Raceway was one of the best so far this season. Noah Harmon (No. 12 Hendricks Motorsports) beat Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) to the finish line by a slim 0.07-second in a one lap dash to the checkered flag.
Sunday’s 45-minute Round 10 race featured a long stretch of green-flag running, which was a change from Saturday’s race where three caution periods slowed down the action and packed everyone up . The long period of green flag racing on Sunday enabled the field to break out into several packs.
The lead pack featured teammates Jeremy Fletcher (No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing) and Justin Adakonis (No. 23 McCumbee McAleer Racing), another pair of teammates in Nathan Nicholson (No. 56 Advanced Autosports) and Matt Novak (No. 11 Advanced Autosports), plus Harmon and Thomas.
Nicholson led the group for several laps before Harmon took his shot up front. The two swapped positions several times while their pack of five expanded to six and then to 10 cars. Part of that expanding group was Harmon’s teammate Ethan Lampe (No. 31 Hendricks Motorsports).
Nicholson lost his wingman when Novak started falling back. This gave Harmon an easier path to the front. Nicholson put up his best defense, but Harmon would get right back by him and soon, Thomas was around Nicholson as well.
A late full-course caution came out to move a car stopped in Turn 17. Thanks to a rapid response from the safety team and track staff, there was enough time left for a one lap dash to the checkered flag.
Harmon led the way followed by Thomas, but Nicholson was pounced on at the restart and Lampe moved into third.
Knowing the Hendrick Motorsports teammates would likely work together to re-pass him should he take the lead, Thomas opted to wait until the front straight to make his move. He pulled alongside Harmon as they approached the finish line but ran out of space. Harmon took his second win of the season by 0.07-second.
“I was a little worried about the restart,” Harmon said. “But I knew I had my teammate Ethan [Lampe] in third and I knew if Jared [Thomas] popped out, Ethan was probably going to push me.
“Two wins feels pretty good, especially here at VIR. I think winning Daytona was awesome, but it definitely has a luck aspect to it. It was a lot of fun to lead a lot of laps today and just be up front. Our car was really good at the end of the race, and I think that that gave us a big advantage and being out front toward the end, I just had the motor cooler than everyone else, and I think that really helped us down the back stretch and even the run to the line, just being that few degrees cooler than Jared [Thomas] and the guys behind.
“So can’t think everybody at Hendricks Motorsports and CUBE 3 Architecture enough to make this last-minute deal happen. I’m super, super happy.”
Thomas finished second in Saturday’s race as well. Though not the win he was searching for, the pair of runner-up finishes advanced him to second in the championship points.
“We had a great handling car today and were able to just get into a position in the top three where I felt I could ride and then wait to make a move for the end. Then we caught a late caution, and it changed the plans a little bit.
“Consistency can win championships,” Thomas said of his bid for a third MX-5 Cup Championship. “I’m hoping that I’m getting some Tony Stewart energy right now. You know they call him ‘Smoke’ because he heats up in the summer months. He grew up just down the road from me, so I’m hoping that maybe we get hot here at the end of the year and make a run for this championship.”
Finishing third, but still buzzing from his first race win in Canada last month, Lampe was thrilled for his teammate and the boost in points.
“I think this part of the season is going really well,” Lampe, who had a tough start to the season said. “Going into this event, I knew we’d have the pace. We were top three in both of the practices, but unfortunately, in race one, we just got caught up in a wreck on the first lap, and so we finished down the order.
“But we came back for race two, fell back early on I think to 10th and then recovered our way back to third there at the end. The Hendricks Motorsports crew gave me a fast machine, and I can’t thank Whelen, Sunoco, Mazda Motorsports, M Experiment, Molecule, Team Fox, Sparrowhawk Aviation, and Flyin Ryan Motorsports enough for making this possible for me.”
Ethan Goulart (No. 29 Saito Motorsports Group) finished fourth to make it two top-five finishes on the weekend. Nicholson ended the race in fifth.
The Penske Hard Charger Award was a repeat of Saturday’s race and went to Max Stallone. Starting 29th, Stallone was able to work his way to 12th at the finish.
Christian Hodneland once again earned the Takumi Award for drivers over the age of 40 and Charlotte Traynor collected the Highest Finishing Female Award, placing 21st.
Championship leader Adakonis finished 15th, but still holds the top spot in the points as the series heads to Rounds 11 and 12 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, September 18 – 20.
All Mazda MX-5 Cup races are streamed live and archived on the RACER and IMSA YouTube channels.