On Wednesday afternoon, Martinsville Speedway made the formal announcement that the race track will play host to a 100-lap exhibition IMSA Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup event around the 0.526-mile paperclip oval on October 26.
This will be the first-ever oval race for the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Series.
October’s exhibition event will likely draw attention from NASCAR National Series racers, who will want to compete in it, and it opens up a lot of opportunities as to what may or may not be possible for the Mazda MX-5 Cup Series in the future.
“It’s a great compliment to Mazda MX-5 Cup that NASCAR and IMSA leadership enjoy the series and want to expand its footprint,” said Jonathan Applegate, Senior Manager, Mazda Motorsports. “We’ve seen increased interest in the series from drivers with NASCAR aspirations who want to grow their skill set. Racing at Martinsville is a unique opportunity to capitalize on that and we are really excited about this opportunity.”
The first-ever Mazda MX-5 Cup race around Martinsville Speedway will be part of a double-header evening of racing dubbed the ‘Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300’ at the legendary short track. The MX-5 Cup Series is set to take to the track at 6 PM ET while the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series will compete in its 200-lap event immediately following at 7 PM ET.
Welcome to The Short Track, @MazdaMX5Cup ?@IMSA | #MX5Cup pic.twitter.com/YKSY1K69E9
— Martinsville Speedway (@MartinsvilleSwy) July 17, 2024
The winner of the Mazda MX-5 Cup exhibition event will take home a prize of $15,000, and of course the win will come with an iconic Martinsville Clock.
“Martinsville Speedway has such a unique and rich history of racing, and we couldn’t be more excited to add another incredible event to that history,” said Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell. “It’ll be the first time we have open top cars racing on track since our early days in the 50s, tapping into our past and also our roots as we host the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour finale on the same weekend. We’re excited to bring the Mazda MX-5 Cup to Martinsville, and I know this will be one the fans enjoy.”
Tickets for the IMSA Whelen MX-5 Cup Series / NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Series doubleheader at Martinsville Speedway are on sale now on Martinsville Speedway’s official website.
The announcement comes just over a month shy of a demonstration run / test session for the MX-5 Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway, which took place on August 22 of 2023. NASCAR Hall of Famers Bobby Labonte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were a part of the test session, and there is even onboard video of Earnhardt passing Labonte in the Miatas while cranking laps around Martinsville Speedway.
We live in such a cool timeline. If you told me five years ago that we’d have in car video of @DaleJr passing @Bobby_Labonte in a Mazda Miata at @MartinsvilleSwy, I’d say you were nuts. But here we are, and I love it! pic.twitter.com/6yjoJwt9YD
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) August 23, 2023
We currently live in a wild timeline for motorsport, where literally any car and track combination imaginable seems to be open to being paired. For years, sim racers have run Mazda MX-5 Cup cars in hosted sessions at Martinsville Speedway. Now, we’re going to get a chance to see it happen in the real-world.
