The 2023 Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BF Goodrich is a single-make motor racing championship, the 19th season of the Mazda MX-5 Cup and the 3rd under a new sanctioning agreement with the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The series began on January 25 at Daytona International Speedway, and concluded on October 13 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta after 14 rounds. Jared Thomas defended the driver's championship, with his team JTR Motorsports Engineering winning the entrant's championship as well. Nate Cicero from McCumbee McAleer Racing won the Rookie of The Year award.
Schedule The schedule was announced on August 5, 2022, featuring 14 rounds across seven double-header weekends, one of which was not confirmed at the time. On September 1, the missing round was revealed to be Laguna Seca. All races are 45 minutes in length.
Rnd.CircuitLocationDatesSupporting1Daytona International Speedway (Road Course) Daytona Beach, FloridaJanuary 25–27IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship23Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, FloridaMarch 3–5NTT IndyCar Series45WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, CaliforniaMay 12–14IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship67Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New YorkJune 22–24IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship89Road America Elkhart Lake, WisconsinAugust 4–6IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship1011Virginia International Raceway Alton, VirginiaAugust 25–27IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship1213Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta Braselton, GeorgiaOctober 11–13IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship14Source:
Entry list All competitors utilize the Mazda MX-5 Cup car, modified to their homologated racing specification by Flis Performance. Team No. Driver Rounds Carter Racing Enterprises 03 John Hansen 5–6 Copeland Motorsports 2 Maximilian Opalski All 22 Jeremy Fletcher All 51 Tyler Gonzalez 1–2, 7 JTR Motorsports Engineering 3 James Hinchcliffe 4 Cody Powell 6 4 Zane Hodgen 1–3 23 Glenn McGee 1, 3–4 24 Aaron Jeansonne All 26 Peter Atwater 1–3, 5–7 69 Anthony McIntosh All 81 James Hayosh 1, 4–5 82 Woody Heimann All 96 Jared Thomas All Spark Performance 5 Gresham Wagner All 15 Sally Mott 7 20 Hernan Palermo All 33 Alex Bachoura 1–6 50 Grant West 1–5, 7 54 Heather Hadley All 65 Bryce Cornet 1, 3 Hixon Motor Sports 10 Thomas Annunziata All 32 Christian Hodneland 7 44 Bailey Cruse 5–7 48 Rossi Lee 2 55 Jonathan Neudorf All 72 Connor Zilisch 1–3, 6–7 73 Steven Clemons 1 74 Hanna Zellers 1, 3–5 78 Julian DaCosta 6–7 80 Ethan Tyler 1, 4–6 85 Bruno Smielevski 1–3 87 Selin Rollan All 95 Farhan Siddiqi 2, 4–7 Robert Noaker Racing 13 Robert Noaker All 17 Joe Rainey 5, 7 25 Bryan Heitman 5, 7 30 Joey Rainey 5 88 Justin Brigandi 4 Saito MotorSport Group 19 Clayton Ketcher 4 Michael Carter 6 Ben Keating 7 McCumbee McAleer Racing 28 Sam Paley 1–4 39 John Jodoin All 49 Andrew Wilson 5 76 Matthew Dirks 1–4 83 Nate Cicero AllSources: = Eligible for Rookie's Championship
Race results Bold indicates overall winner. Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver 1 1 Daytona #72 Hixon Motor Sports #28 McCumbee McAleer Racing #51 Copeland Motorsports Connor Zilisch Sam Paley Tyler Gonzalez R2 #28 McCumbee McAleer Racing #5 Spark Performance #96 JTR Motorsports Engineering Sam Paley Gresham Wagner Jared Thomas 2 1 St. Petersburg #13 Robert Noaker Racing #5 Spark Performance #5 Spark Performance Robert Noaker Gresham Wagner Gresham Wagner R2 #5 Spark Performance #72 Hixon Motor Sports #72 Hixon Motor Sports Gresham Wagner Connor Zilisch Connor Zilisch 3 1 Laguna Seca #5 Spark Performance #72 Hixon Motor Sports #72 Hixon Motor Sports Gresham Wagner Connor Zilisch Connor Zilisch R2 #24 JTR Motorsports Engineering #24 JTR Motorsports Engineering #24 JTR Motorsports Engineering Aaron Jeansonne Aaron Jeansonne Aaron Jeansonne 4 1 Watkins Glen #5 Spark Performance #13 Robert Noaker Racing #24 JTR Motorsports Engineering Gresham Wagner Robert Noaker Aaron Jeansonne R2 #87 Hixon Motor Sports #87 Hixon Motor Sports #87 Hixon Motor Sports Selin Rollan Selin Rollan Selin Rollan 5 1 Road America #55 Hixon Motor Sports #2 Copeland Motorsports #5 Spark Performance Jonathan Neudorf Maximilian Opalski Gresham Wagner R2 #2 Copeland Motorsports #96 JTR Motorsports Engineering #96 JTR Motorsports Engineering Maximilian Opalski Jared Thomas Jared Thomas 6 1 Virginia #24 JTR Motorsports Engineering #22 Copeland Motorsports #83 McCumbee McAleer Racing Aaron Jeansonne Jeremy Fletcher Nate Cicero R2 #72 Hixon Motor Sports #19 Saito MotorSport Group #96 JTR Motorsports Engineering Connor Zilisch Michael Carter Jared Thomas 7 1 Road Atlanta #24 JTR Motorsports Engineering #5 Spark Performance #72 Hixon Motor Sports Aaron Jeansonne Gresham Wagner Connor Zilisch R2 #5 Spark Performance #51 Copeland Motorsports #72 Hixon Motor Sports Gresham Wagner Tyler Gonzalez Connor Zilisch
Championship Standings
Points System Championship points are awarded at the finish of each event according to the chart below. Position123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930+Points350320300280260250240230220210200190180170160150140130120110100908070605040302010 For each race, bonus points are awarded for the following: AwardPointsPole Position10Most Race Laps Led10Fastest Race Lap10
The ten (10) additional points for achieving pole position are not awarded if the starting grid is determined by “Other Means”. In the case of a tie for the most laps led, the competitor that finishes the highest in the running order is declared the winner. In the case of a tie for the fastest Race lap, the competitor that first achieves the fastest Race lap is declared the winner.
Driver's Championship IMSA recognizes driver champions based on the total number of championship points earned during the season. Pos. DriverDAYSTPLGAWGLELKVIRATL Bonus Points 1 Jared Thomas 9 1 13 26 2 2 3 4 2 1 2 1 3 5 10 3930 2 Aaron Jeansonne 4 6 4 2 3 1 1 7 15 21 23 2 7 7 60 3570 3 Selin Rollan 7 4 6 4 4 3 10 1 9 23 25 12 4 2 30 3370 4 Maximilian Opalski 11 5 10 16 12 25 21 13 5 3 4 4 6 3 30 3050 5 Gresham Wagner 5 3 1 23 6 14 26 16 1 2 17 10 17 19 100 2990 6 Nate Cicero 26 8 9 19 5 4 12 19 4 6 1 3 18 10 0 2990 7 Robert Noaker 12 19 11 15 7 23 4 2 3 4 5 7 27 6 20 2980 8 Connor Zilisch 2 15 2 1 1 22 3 9 1 1 110 2920 9 John Jodoin 18 23 8 18 13 18 5 5 6 5 6 6 5 9 0 2890 10 Thomas Annunziata 8 24 5 22 11 7 2 3 26 18 7 5 8 8 0 2850 11 Alex Bachoura 27 10 12 3 15 6 16 22 10 10 13 17 9 12 0 2540 12 Hernan Palermo 19 14 18 17 17 19 7 10 11 8 14 14 12 11 0 2430 13 Woody Heimann 16 7 24 12 14 9 9 21 13 19 15 16 11 14 0 2340 14 Jonathan Neudorf 24 9 23 9 26 20 22 8 14 7 11 8 13 25 10 2160 15 Anthony McIntosh 15 13 20 6 16 13 25 DNS 8 20 12 DNS 15 13 0 1960 16 Heather Hadley 22 25 19 8 21 17 18 14 7 13 18 18 14 28 0 1920 17 Jeremy Fletcher 14 26 22 13 22 26 24 6 16 24 10 11 10 23 0 1880 18 Sam Paley 3 21 3 5 8 8 11 24 20 1710 19 Tyler Gonzalez 1 2 7 25 2 4 10 1580 20 Peter Atwater 21 12 16 21 25 11 22 9 19 15 23 26 0 1520 21 Farhan Siddiqi 25 14 20 17 21 17 21 22 21 21 0 1110 22 Matthew Dirks 17 11 21 20 23 12 23 20 0 1010 23 Bruno Smielevski 6 28 26 10 10 10 0 960 24 Grant West DNS DNS 15 7 24 21 17 25 DNS DNS 28 15 0 960 25 James Hayosh 20 16 15 12 12 15 0 960 26 Glenn McGee 10 22 18 16 8 18 0 940 27 Bailey Cruse 19 12 20 24 19 16 0 760 28 Zane Hodgen 25 17 17 11 19 24 0 730 29 Bryce Cornet 13 27 9 5 0 700 30 Hanna Zellers 28 20 20 15 27 DNS 23 22 0 620 31 Ethan Tyler 29 29 13 11 DNS DNS 22 21 0 610 32 Julian DaCosta 9 23 16 17 0 590 33 John Hansen 17 11 24 20 0 520 34 James Hinchcliffe 6 9 0 470 35 Joe Rainey 18 14 22 24 0 460 36 Michael Carter 8 13 0 420 37 Bryan Heitman 20 16 25 22 0 410 38 Justin Brigandi 19 15 0 280 39 Cody Powell 16 19 0 270 40 Clayton Ketcher 14 23 0 250 41 Rossi Lee 14 24 0 240 42 Sally Mott 20 18 0 240 43 Steven Clemons 23 18 0 210 44 Ben Keating 26 20 0 160 45 Christian Hodneland 24 27 0 110 46 Joey Rainey 24 DNS 0 70 47 Andrew Wilson 25 DNS 0 60 Pos. DriverDAYSTPLGAWGLELKVIRATL Bonus PointsBold - Pole position
Italics - Fastest lap
Underline = Most Laps Led
Entrant's Championship Each entrant receives championship points for its highest car finishing position in each race. The positions of subsequent finishing cars from the same entrant are not considered in the results and all other cars are elevated in the finishing positions accordingly. Pos. DriverDAYSTPLGAWGLELKVIRATL Bonus Points 1 JTR Motorsports Engineering 4 1 4 2 2 1 1 4 2 1 2 1 3 5 70 4540 2 Hixon Motor Sports 2 4 2 1 1 3 2 1 9 7 3 5 1 1 150 4540 3 McCumbee McAleer Racing 3 8 3 5 5 4 5 5 4 5 1 3 5 9 20 4060 4 Spark Performance 5 3 1 3 6 5 7 10 1 2 13 10 9 11 100 4030 5 Copeland Motorsports 1 2 7 13 12 25 21 6 5 3 4 4 6 3 40 3950 6 Robert Noaker Racing 12 19 11 15 7 23 4 2 3 4 5 7 22 6 20 3760 7 Saito MotorSport Group 14 23 8 13 2 4 20 1620 8 Carter Racing Enterprises 17 11 24 20 0 940 Pos. DriverDAYSTPLGAWGLELKVIRATL Bonus Points
References
External links Official Website