This past week was a fun one as we visited the second venue on the schedule for the Mazda MX-5 Cup series, a double-header on the streets of St. Petersburg. This is always a memorable event, since it’s the season opener for IndyCar. Plus, this year, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was on the schedule for the first time in series history.
The Whelen MX-5 Cup series has visited the streets of St. Pete several times before, which always creates close-quarters racing between the tight walls of the circuit. It really made for an exciting environment for the 40-car field!
The week got off to a great start, with beautiful weather and a very clean first day of practice and qualifying. We saw rookie Matthew Novak qualify on pole, and that “first-time” theme would continue through the weekend: we had two first-time winners in the series!
We woke up to wet conditions on Saturday morning, and competitors got their Michelin rain tires ready for what would be tricky conditions for race one. At the checkered flag, Bobby Gossett came away with his first win in the series.
Race two was held on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and Justin Adakonis grabbed his first MX-5 Cup win with a fantastic drive. Both Bobby and Justin are second-year drivers in the series, and of course, at only two events into the season, it’s still anyone’s shot at the championship!
Before things got started, I actually began my week in Sebring, Florida, for the first International GT event of the season. I was there helping Mark and Jordan Sandridge in their first race of 2026. We had some really productive testing earlier in the year, and everyone was feeling prepared and confident heading into the weekend.
I was happy to participate on the test day by helping fine-tune the team’s cars and giving some good coaching direction about driving nuances before it was time for me to head to St. Pete.
The schedule worked out to allow a trip back to Sebring during the weekend, too, which included the opportunity to join the team in one of their enduros. As the full-course yellows and strategy would have it, Mark and Jordan wound up in the car for the entirety of the race. Despite not getting to race myself, it was rewarding to see all of their progress pay off as they got strong results in the one-hour finale. I’m excited to be joining the team again in a few short weeks at Road Atlanta for round two of the IGT series.