Mazda MX-5 Cup 2025 | Round 1 - Daytona Road Course | Race Highlights
Catch up on the 2025 Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup series with race highlights of Round 1 at Daytona International Speedway ahead of Rounds 3 & 4 at St. Pete on March 1 & 2.
Watch race highlights of Round 2: https://bit.ly/41ygYLL
Watch livestream of Round 3 at St. Pete: https://bit.ly/3QDNru3
▬▬ Description ▬▬
Since 2021, the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin has started its season at Daytona International Speedway and has produced some of the best racing of the year. Thursday was no different, as Tyler Gonzalez (No. 57 BSI Racing) went from 14th on the grid to the top step of the podium in mixed conditions and under the speedway lights.
With unseasonably cold temperatures and steady winds, the weather in Daytona has been frigid since Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup teams arrived, and this trend continued into Thursday’s race. It wasn’t just cold, however, as it also began to rain ever so slightly as the 36 cars made their way to the grid. Race officials expected the rain to intensify during the 45-minute race and therefore declared it a wet race, forcing all cars to switch to rain tires.
For the opening laps of the race, the track seemed too dry for rain tires, and polesitter Nate Cicero (No. 19 Saito Motorsports Group) gambled by pitting and losing a massive amount of time to put on slick tires.
This handed the lead to defending champion Gresham Wagner (No. 5 McCumbee McAleer Racing) followed by Gonzalez, who had an incredible start, advancing to third on the first lap.
Only a handful of laps later, Wagner too pulled into pitlane, but not for tires; he retired with a mechanical problem.
Gonzalez was now the leader, and the rain was beginning to intensify.
Without a drafting partner, it didn’t take long for Bryce Cornet (No. 65 Spark Performance) to catch and pass Gonzalez.
Cornet and Gonzalez swapped the lead a few more times, but once they were joined by rookie Ethan Goulart (No. 29 Saito Motorsports Group) the trio began to pull away a bit from the rest of the field.
As the rain came down even harder, the trio of cars grew to six with Helio Meza (No. 27 BSI Racing), Parker Delong (No. 42 Parker Delong Racing) and Ethan Tyler (No. 80 BSI Racing) joining the group. Each driver keenly aware that time was running out.
Any forward planning they did for where they wanted to be on the white flag lap went out the window with six minutes left to go. Christian Hodneland (No. 32 BSI Racing) experienced an engine failure resulting in a fire. He pulled his car to a safe location but the fire forced race control to bring out a full-course yellow so safety crews could get to the car.
At the time the yellow came out, Gonzalez was the leader with two laps to go, effectively making him the race winner. It is his third MX-5 Cup win at Daytona.
Behind him Goulart and Cornet completed the podium.
It may seem surprising for a rookie to finish his first MX-5 Cup race in second, especially at Daytona, but Goulart is a Miata specialist. He won last year’s Spec Miata SCCA National Championship and was a finalist for the Mazda MX-5 Cup Shootout. Still, his MX-5 Cup debut was an eye-opening experience.
Anything but a rookie, Cornet picked up his first podium in his fourth season of MX-5 Cup.
Meza, a MX-5 Cup Shootout scholarship winner, finished his first-ever MX-5 Cup race in fourth. His teammate, Tyler, followed in fifth, a career best finish for him.
The Penske Shocking Performance of the Race Award went to Jeremy Fletcher (No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing) who started dead last on the grid but fought his way up to eighth at the finish.
Alex Bachoura (No. 33 Spark Performance) won the Takumi Award, which recognizes the performance of drivers who’ve spent decades mastering their craft. These drivers are looked upon with great respect for their dedication to MX-5 Cup. Bachoura finished 15th despite missing all of Wednesday’s sessions due to flight cancellations. His first time in the car was qualifying on Thursday morning. Bachoura recently set a new record for career starts in MX-5 Cup and finished on the podium most recently at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park last July.
Thursday’s race boasted six female drivers. The most experienced of the six, Heather Hadley (No. 54 Hendricks Motorsports) was the highest finishing female driver, crossing the finish line in 18th.
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Every event on the Mazda MX-5 Cup schedule will feature two, 45-minute sprint races to be livestreamed on RACER.com. The livestreams are produced by NASCAR Productions, and feature play-by-play and commentary from the IMSA Radio squad headed by John Hindhaugh and Shea Adam.