James Wilson usually drives his Mazda2 B-Spec car to the track. But when he tows, he tows in style and keeps it in the Mazda family.
James Wilson is perhaps best known for his method of getting his race car to the track – driving it.
Wilson often drives his B-Spec Mazda 2 to the races, whether it’s a local Club race, the SCCA National Championship Runoffs or a Pirelli World Challenge race. But when it came to getting the car from his home in Kyle, Texas to Road America for the recent World Challenge Touring Car B triple header, he chose to tow his racecar.
“I’m not a professional driver; I have a working gig during the week,” Wilson explains. “It’s easier to manage the schedule to be able to tow back and get back for work. That’s what we have to do to make it work and come out here to race.”
But while full-size pickups or even larger rigs are the norm for towing, Wilson took his Mazda2 to Road America on an open trailer, towed behind a Mazda CX-9.
“I come from a Mazda family, so we’re very proud to tow with the CX-9. It’s got plenty of power and tow capabilities to pull the Mazda2 racecar. I think I got 17 miles per gallon, with no trailer wagging, no problems and all the leather and things you don’t get in an old beat-up pickup truck. It’s definitely more comfortable and I’m getting spoiled with having all the creature comforts,” he says.
Wilson couldn’t quite work out the logistics to make it to the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park rounds in Canada – it’s hard to leave his Black Armor Helmets business for 10 days or more, not to mention his regular job working as a manager for the City of Kyle Parks and Recreation Department – but he plans to be at the remainder of the Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car races. That means racing at some tracks where he hasn’t previously competed, including Road America. He recruited local Spec Miata racer Stephanie Anderson to coach him and be his spotter.
“That was very helpful trying to bring times down. I think from my first time on track, I dropped like six seconds. It sounds silly, but that’s a lot of time to pull off. I’m not too proud to say that I need to learn how to drive the track,” he explains.
Wilson is enjoying a bit of fame recently, having been featured on the cover of SportsCar magazine, the SCCA’s publication.
“They did a very good job capturing the essence of our racing program and Black Armor Helmets as well,” he says. “It was really nice to be captured that way in print. I appreciate it, and it’s always nice to see fans – people I’d never met in Wisconsin were coming up to me and saying, ‘Hey, I read your story.’ It was a good insight into the racing program and an honest approach to club racing and getting into pro racing.”
Look for Wilson and the Black Armor Helmets Mazda2 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car course on Aug. 13-15 for the Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car, TCA, and TCB Rounds 10, 11 and 12, running in support of SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am and the NASCAR Nationwide Series.