2021 Mazda MX-5 Cup

Last updated June 04, 2024

The 2021 Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BF Goodrich was a single-make motor racing championship, the 17th season of the Mazda MX-5 Cup and the 1st under a new sanctioning agreement with the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The series began on January 28 at Daytona International Speedway, and concluded on November 12 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta after 14 rounds. Gresham Wagner won the driver's championship, earning Spark Performance the entrant's championship as well. Sam Paley won the Rookie of the Year championship with McCumbee McAleer Racing.

Schedule

The schedule was initially announced on October 28, 2020, and features 14 rounds across seven double-header weekends.^[1] On December 17, 2020, the schedule was revised, along with the 2021 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.^[2]

On January 6, 2021, the St. Petersburg event was rescheduled from its March date to April 23–25, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3]

On February 8, 2021, IMSA announced an additional double-header event to be held during the 12 Hours of Sebring event weekend in March. Rounds 3 and 4 at Sebring will serve as a replacement for a future race venue to be announced at a later date. Thus, the 2021 MX-5 Cup Championship will still be composed of 14 rounds at seven tracks.^[4]

On April 7, 2021, the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park event scheduled for July 2-4 was cancelled due to COVID-19 quarantine requirements.^[5]

All races are 45 minutes in length.

Rnd.	Circuit	Location	Dates
1	Daytona International Speedway (Road Course)	Daytona Beach, Florida	January 27-29
2	Daytona International Speedway (Road Course)	Daytona Beach, Florida	January 27-29
3	Sebring International Raceway	Sebring, Florida	March 17-19
4	Sebring International Raceway	Sebring, Florida	March 17-19
5	Streets of St. Petersburg	St. Petersburg, Florida	April 23–25
6	Streets of St. Petersburg	St. Petersburg, Florida	April 23–25
7	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	May 14–16
8	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	May 14–16
9	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	August 6–8
10	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	August 6–8
11	WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California	September 10–12
12	WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California	September 10–12
13	Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta	Braselton, Georgia	November 10-12
14	Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta	Braselton, Georgia	November 10-12
Source:^[6]

Confirmed Entries

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	08	Michael Carter		All
Copeland Motorsports	4	Bryan Ortiz		1–8
	26	Peter Atwater	R	1–2, 5–8
	38	Daniel Williams	R	1–10
	41	Luca Mars	R	All
	43	Joey Atanasio	R	1–2
	51	Dean Copeland		11–12
Hixon Motorsports	37	Sabré Cook	R	1–2
	42	Preston Pardus		1–2
	47	Bryan Hixon		1–12
	63	Savanna Little	R	1–10, 13–14
	72	Hannah Grisham	R	1–2
	72	Connor Zilisch	R	13–14
	73	Dan Moen		3–4
	87	Selin Rollan		All
	92	Loni Unser		All
	98	Derek Ware		1–2
	11	Andrew Carbonell		9–10
	22	Alex Berg	R	13–14
Irish Mike's Racing	95	Todd Buras		3–4
JTR Motorsports Engineering	32	Chris Nunes	R	All
	96	Jared Thomas		All
	82	Woody Heimann	R	7–14
	26	Peter Atwater	R	9–14
	97	Daniel Williams	R	11–12
	69	Anthony McIntosh	R	13–14
McCumbee McAleer Racing	13	Jenson Altzman	R	All
	28	Sam Paley	R	All
	31	John Jodoin	R	3–4, 8–12
	48	Zachry Lee		3–8,11–12
	55	Moisey Uretsky		All
	89	Justin Piscitell		All
Provision Motorsports	24	Aaron Jeansonne	R	1–14
	99	Drake Kemper		1–8, 13–14
	43	Joey Atanasio	R	3–4
	99	Drake Kemper		1–8, 13–14
	99	Bruno Carneiro		11–12
Slipstream Performance	12	Mike Globe		3–4, 7–10, 13–14
	20	Hernan Palermo		1–4, 7–14
	33	Alex Bachoura		All
	36	David Staab		All
Spark Performance	5	Gresham Wagner		All
Team Guatemala Racing	59	Juan Hernandez Leiva	R	1–8
Sources: ^[7]

R = Eligible for Rookie's Championship

Race Results

Rnd.	Circuit	Winning Driver	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Hard Charger
1	Daytona	Gresham Wagner	Gresham Wagner	Gresham Wagner	Jenson Altzman
2	Daytona	Michael Carter	Gresham Wagner	Preston Pardus	Hernan Palermo
3	Sebring	Selin Rollan	Gresham Wagner	Chris Nunes	Todd Buras
4	Sebring	Gresham Wagner	Sam Paley	Michael Carter	Todd Buras
5	St. Petersburg	Selin Rollan	Michael Carter	Michael Carter	Aaron Jeansonne
6	St. Petersburg	Michael Carter	Michael Carter	Selin Rollan	Alex Bachoura
7	Mid-Ohio	Selin Rollan	Michael Carter	Selin Rollan	Luca Mars
8	Mid-Ohio	Chris Nunes	Gresham Wagner	Hernan Palermo	Luca Mars
9	Road America	Selin Rollan	Selin Rollan	Gresham Wagner	Michael Carter
10	Road America	Michael Carter	Gresham Wagner	Michael Carter	John Jodoin
11	Laguna Seca	Gresham Wagner	Selin Rollan	Selin Rollan	Alex Bachoura
12	Laguna Seca	Gresham Wagner	Selin Rollan	Bruno Carneiro	Moisey Uretsky
13	Road Atlanta	Gresham Wagner	Gresham Wagner	Connor Zilisch	Chris Nunes
14	Road Atlanta	Jared Thomas	Selin Rollan	Jared Thomas	Luca Mars

Championship Standings

Points System

Championship points are awarded at the finish of each event according to the chart below.

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30 or below
Points	350	320	300	280	260	250	240	230	220	210	200	190	180	170	160	150	140	130	120	110	100	90	80	70	60	50	40	30	20	10

For each race, bonus points are awarded for the following:

Award	Points
Pole Position	10
Most Race Laps Led	10
Fastest Race Lap	10

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.	Driver	DAY		SEB		STP		MOH		ELK		LGA		ATL		Bonus	Points
Pos.	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Bonus	Points
1	Gresham Wagner	1	3	3	1	17	3	4	2	2	5	1	1	1	6	120	4330
2	Michael Carter	9	1	2	2	2	1	6	6	4	1	4	6	3	3	100	4240
3	Selin Rollan	6	4	1	9	1	18	1	7	1	3	2	2	5	2	110	4150
4	Chris Nunes	4	10	12	10	3	6	12	1	5	7	19	3	4	7	10	3430
5	Sam Paley	2	5	7	22	20	2	2	15	3	2	6	5	9	9	20	3410
6	Luca Mars	13	9	26	7	5	4	7	3	12	8	9	4	7	4	0	3210
7	Justin Piscitell	5	6	4	25	19	9	3	5	7	10	23	7	6	10	0	2980
8	Aaron Jeansonne	8	12	6	4	10	21	13	19	8	4	3	20	8	22	0	2800
9	Jared Thomas	3	2	25	8	21	16	5	24^†	22	DNS	5	8	2	1	10	2750
10	Jenson Altzman	16	25	27	6	4	17	11	22	10	6	7	10	10	8	0	2560
11	David Staab	22	16	17	14	11	12	14	20	11	11	20	22	13	12	0	2190
12	Alex Bachoura	18	24	16	13	9	11	18	21	20	14	11	13	17	17	0	2120
13	Moisey Uretsky	24	21	19	26	16	13	19	9	15	13	14	9	21	11	0	2040
14	Hernan Palermo	27^†	14	11	24			8	10	9	21	8	19	11	21	10	1900
15	Bryan Hixon	14	19	15	17	13	14	22	13	16	15	17	15			0	1820
16	Loni Unser	25	26	18	15	7	10	16	23	14	12	16	14	DNS	DNS	0	1760
17	Bryan Ortiz	11	11	13	3	6	5	15	12							0	1740
18	Daniel Williams	21	22	14	12	22^†	8	10	18	19	16	18	18			0	1740
19	Drake Kemper	19	8	5	11	17	DNS	25^†	8					18	14	0	1540
20	Peter Atwater	15	17			8	19	21	DNS	DNS	17	15	17	12	20	0	1490
21	Savanna Little	23	23	20	19	14	20	23	14	17	18			19	18	0	1440
22	Zachry Lee			9	16	15	15	17	11			10	16			0	1390
23	Juan Hernandez	17	27	23	18	12	7	9	4							0	1320
24	Woody Heimann							20	17	13	22	12	12	14	15	0	1230
25	John Jodoin			10	23					21	9	13	11			0	990
26	Mike Globe			22	21			24	16	18	20			20	19	0	880
27	Joey Atanasio	10	15	24	20											0	550
28	Preston Pardus	7	7													20	500
29	Todd Buras			8	5											0	490
30	Andrew Carbonell									6	19					0	370
31	Sabré Cook	12	13													0	370
32	Connor Zilisch													22	5	10	360
33	Alex Berg													16	13	0	330
34	Anthony McIntosh													15	16	0	310
35	Hannah Grisham	20	20													0	220
36	Bruno Carneiro											22	21			10	200
37	Derek Ware	26	18													0	180
38	Dean Copeland											21	23			0	180
39	Dan Moen			21	27											0	140
Pos.	Driver	DAY		SEB		STP		MOH		ELK		LGA		ATL		Bonus	Points

Bold = Pole Position

Italics = Fastest Race Lap

Underline = Most Laps Led

† = Post-race penalty; moved to back of class

Entrant's Championship

Each Entrant receives championship points for its highest Car finishing position in each class 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.	Entrant	DAY		SEB		STP		MOH		ELK		LGA		ATL		Bonus	Points
Pos.	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Bonus	Points
1	Spark Performance	1	3	3	1	17	3	4	2	2	5	1	1	1	6	120	4450
2	Hixon Motorsports	6	4	1	9	1	10	1	7	1	3	2	2	5	2	140	4350
3	Carter Racing Enterprises	9	1	2	2	2	1	6	6	4	1	4	6	3	3	100	4280
4	JTR Motorsports Engineering	3	2	12	8	3	6	5	1	5	7	5	3	2	1	20	4040
5	McCumbee McAleer Racing	2	5	4	6	4	2	2	5	3	2	6	5	6	8	20	3950
6	Copeland Motorsports	10	15	13	3	5	4	7	3	12	8	9	4	7	4	0	3600
7	Provision Motorsports	8	8	5	4	10	21	13	8	8	4	3	20	8	14	10	3500
8	Slipstream Performance	19	14	11	13	9	11	14	20	9	11	8	13	11	12	10	3280
9	Team Guatemala Racing	17	27	23	18	12	7	9	4							0	1860
10	Irish Mike's Racing			8	5											0	510
Pos.	Entrant	DAY		SEB		STP		MOH		ELK		LGA		ATL		Bonus	Points

Bold = Pole Position

Italics = Fastest Race Lap

Underline = Most Laps Led

Rookie's Championship

Rookie points are awarded based on the Car’s finishing position for each Rookie Driver, with the finishing positions of Cars without Rookie Drivers not considered in the results and all other Cars with Rookie Drivers elevated in the finishing positions accordingly.

Pos.	Driver	DAY		SEB		STP		MOH		ELK		LGA		ATL		Points
Pos.	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Points
1	Sam Paley	2	5	7	22	20	2	2	15	3	2	6	5	9	9	4290
2	Chris Nunes	4	10	12	10	3	6	12	1	5	7	19	3	4	7	4250
3	Luca Mars	13	9	26	7	5	4	7	3	12	8	9	4	7	4	4140
4	Aaron Jeansonne	8	12	6	4	10	21	13	19	8	4	3	20	8	22	3920
5	Jenson Altzman	16	25	27	6	4	17	11	27	10	6	7	10	10	8	3720
6	Daniel Williams	21	22	14	12	22^†	8	10	18	19	16	18	18			2870
7	Savanna Little	23	23	20	19	14	20	23	14	17	18			19	18	2740
8	Peter Atwater	15	17			8	19	21	DNS	DNS	17	15	17	12	20	2390
9	Juan Hernandez	17	27	23	18	12	7	9	4							2030
10	Woody Heimann							20	17	13	22	12	12	14	15	1930
11	John Jodoin			10	23					21	9	13	11			1490
12	Joey Atanasio	10	15	24	20											990
13	Connor Zilisch													22	5	520
14	Sabre Cook	12	13													520
15	Alex Berg													16	13	470
16	Anthony McIntosh													15	16	460
17	Hannah Grisham	20	20													440
Pos.	Driver	DAY		SEB		STP		MOH		ELK		LGA		ATL		Points

† = Post-race penalty; moved to back of class

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References

↑ "Mazda MX-5 Cup Unveils 2021 Schedule with New Partner IMSA". www.mx-5cup.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
↑ "IMSA West Coast Swing Moves to September for 2021". IMSA. December 17, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
↑ "Mazda MX-5 Cup Set for New Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Date". www.mx-5cup.com. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
↑ "Sebring added to MX-5 Cup schedule, Daytona openers on TV". RACER. February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
↑ "Mazda MX-5 Cup Removes Canadian Tire Motorsport Park from 2021 Schedule". www.mx-5cup.com. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
↑ "Schedule". www.mx-5cup.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
↑ "Pre-Event Entry List" (PDF). IMSA. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2021.

External links

Official Website

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Mazda MX-5 Cup Unveils 2021 Schedule with New Partner IMSA". www.mx-5cup.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.

[2] "IMSA West Coast Swing Moves to September for 2021". IMSA. December 17, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.

[3] "Mazda MX-5 Cup Set for New Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Date". www.mx-5cup.com. Retrieved January 6, 2021.

[4] "Sebring added to MX-5 Cup schedule, Daytona openers on TV". RACER. February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.

[5] "Mazda MX-5 Cup Removes Canadian Tire Motorsport Park from 2021 Schedule". www.mx-5cup.com. Retrieved April 8, 2021.

[6] "Schedule". www.mx-5cup.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.

[7] "Pre-Event Entry List" (PDF). IMSA. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2021.

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