May 2014
Records Fall at Pueblo Majors
New track records were the order of the day as the Mid-States Conference of the SCCA U.S. Majors Tour arrived at the 2.2-mile Pueblo Motorsports Park circuit for Round Nine of its 2014 Championship. Five race groups took to the track under partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the 70s for practice and qualifying, followed […]”
Prototype Gains
For Mazda fans, watching the Mazda SKYACTIV-D Prototypes in the TUDOR United Sports Car Championship has been a bit painful. While the cars are beautiful and everyone knew that 2014 was a development year for the program, watching the cars qualify behind even the GT cars was difficult. But, then, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, […]”
CSP Miata Secrets
The wonderful thing about SCCA Solo competition, also known as autocross, is you can go have fun with any car – no special preparation or safety equipment, other than a helmet and working seat belts, necessary. Of course, if you start with a Mazda MX-5 Miata, you’re probably having more fun than a lot of people […]”
Another Mazda Sweep at Lime Rock
All wins are special; A few are magical. Thanks to outstanding performances by Freedom Autosport and CJ Wilson Racing, it was the second straight Mazda MX-5 Miata 1-2-3 podium sweep in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Street Tuner race at Lime Rock Park on Saturday after a similar sweep at Mazda Raceway earlier in the […]”
Grist, Telitz Win at Night Before 500
For the second time in two weeks in the Indianapolis area, a young Canadian scored his first victory in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. This time it was Garett Grist, driving for Andretti Autosport, who led from flag to flag in Saturday evening’s Allied Building Products Oval Challenge at the 0.686-mile Lucas […]”
MX-5 Miatas Sweep Lime Rock Podium
May 24, 2014 (LIME ROCK, Conn.) – All wins are special. A few are magical. Thanks to outstanding performances by Freedom Autosport and CJ Wilson Racing, it was the second straight Mazda MX-5 Miata 1-2-3 podium sweep in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Street Tuner race this weekend. The magical part relates to the winning […]”
Close Win for Chaves
The Freedom 100 for the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is getting a reputation for whisker-close finishes. While this year’s margin of victory was about twice last year’s, it was still about as close as could be for Gabby Chaves. Chaves made amends for a heartbreaking second-place finish 12 months […]”
Ovals Beckon "Road" Racers
The second round of the Indianapolis tripleheader for the Mazda Road to Indy competitors begins on Friday – Indy 500 Carb Day – with the Freedom 100 Cooper Tires Indy Lights race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, then continues across town at Lucas Oil Raceway for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda and Mazda Pro […]”
Families Race: The Catanias
What happens when a father with a love for sports cars, a just-turned-16 son and a concern for that son getting in over his head with those sports cars come together? First a session at the Skip Barber Racing School; then, perhaps, a lifelong obsession. “Lucas had just turned 16. I had a couple of […]”
Francis Jr. Wins World Challenge TCA in Canada
Ernie Francis Jr. crept up on his first victory in the Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car A Championship, starting on the podium on Friday and moving up a spot in each subsequent race during a three-contest event at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ont. In the final race, Francis Jr. started his No. 98 […]”
Lime Rock a Homecoming for Freedom Autosport’s Dwyer
LAKEVILLE, Conn. – U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Liam Dwyer will have a lot to commemorate when the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge visits Lime Rock Park from May 23-24. In addition to marking the Freedom Autosport driver’s homecoming race, the weekend is also the third anniversary of the I.E.D. explosion in Afghanistan that claimed Dwyer’s […]”
Miatas at Mazda Raceway – 25 Years
Miatas at Mazda Raceway has been an annual gathering of the MX-5 faithful for several years now; but in 2014 it takes on special significance for the 25th anniversary of Mazda’s sports car. Rick Weldon started the event after Mazda announced the 20th birthday party at Texas World Speedway. Centrally located, the track made […]”
The Road to Indy, In Indy
With the Verizon IndyCar Series holding its inaugural Indy Grand Prix on a revised road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Mazda Road to Indy Series came along for the ride for a pair of races each. A new track that none of the drivers had seen before meant plenty of first-time winners. A […]”
Double Winners in the High Plains
Round Seven of the Mid-States Conference Championship for the SCCA U.S. Majors Tour was welcomed with great weather at High Plains Raceway for the Colorado Region May Daze weekend. Matt Reynolds, of Fair Oaks, Texas, went flag-to-flag for the Spec Miata win by nearly 13 seconds in his No. 74 Reynolds Brothers Racing Mazda Miata. […]”
SCCA Northern Conference Majors Launches
While racing in most of the country started months ago, the Northern Conference had to patiently wait for spring to open up its SCCA Majors Tour. It finally got under way Saturday at Blackhawk Farms Raceway in Illinios. Drivers in 25 classes started with 25-minute sprint races on Saturday, then 24-lap races of the 1.95-mile […]”
Project Yellow Light Winners Announced
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Mazda Motorsports, National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) and the Ad Council announced the high school and college winners of their third annual Project Yellow Light college scholarship contest as part of Global Youth Traffic Safety Month™. The contest calls on students to develop and produce a short video […]”
Mazda Racecar: Schenker’s CSP Miata
Bill Schenker will admit that his MiataRoadster/ChaseCam/OS Giken Miata, prepared for SCCA Solo in the C Street Prepared class, is expensive. Too expensive, in fact. But, he says, that’s only because of a lot of trial and error that probably should not have happened. “People always talk about my car, and it’s unfortunately probably true…. […]”
Monterey Recap
MX-5 Podium Sweep Highlights Weekend May 4, 2014 (MONTEREY, Calif.) The only thing better than racing at Mazda Raceway, is winning at Mazda Raceway. Thanks to outstanding performances by Freedom Autosport and CJ Wilson Racing, it was a Mazda MX-5 Miata 1-2-3 podium sweep in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Street Tuner race this weekend. […]”
Freedom Leads Mazda 1-2-3 at Mazda Raceway
Freedom Autosport won its fourth consecutive Continental Tires Sports Car Challenge Street Tuner victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, with Randy Pobst and Andrew Carbonell taking their second consecutive win in 2014. It came down to a three-way battle between the Freedom Autosport No. 26 Mazda MX-5 driven by Pobst and Carbonell and the two […]”
Dean, Koch Split MX-5 Cup at Mazda Raceway
Continuing the pattern they set at Sebring, John Dean and Kenton Koch split the two Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich® Tires races at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. This time they reversed the order, with Dean taking the first victory and Koch the second. The teams had a very short turnaround time, because Round […]”
Mazda and BFGoodrich Celebrate with John Morton
Today, BFGoodrich supplies the tires that all the racers in the SCCA Pro Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich race on. The relationship between Mazda and BFGoodrich, however, goes back much farther. In 1984, Mazda, BFGoodrich® Tires and Jim Busby Racing teamed up to score an historic class win at the 24 Hours of […]”
GUMBY GOES RACING
Glendora Racer Kenton Koch Promotes Inaugural Gumby Fest at 125 mph May 1, 2014 (GLENDORA, Calif) – Race drivers come in all shapes and sizes. Glendora native Kenton Koch is tall and lean, just like another famous Glendora native: Gumby. On May 1-3, Kenton will be taking Gumby for a high speed ride in his […]”
Celebrating Decades of Success
Mazda Motorsports & BFGoodrich® Tires Celebrating Decades of Success In 1984, Mazda, BFGoodrich®Tires and Jim Busby Racing teamed up to score an historic class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car, a Lola T-616, was powered by a Mazda 13B rotary engine and shod with experimental BFGoodrich T/A™ Radial street tires. The […]”