This past weekend was the penultimate round of the NASCAR circuit championships. The event, held at Martinsville Speedway, included an MX-5 Cup race. For me, that meant the opportunity to race at Martinsville on Thursday night with the only MX-5 Cup event I can compete in, as it’s a non-points, standalone race.
Going into the event, I was hoping to improve on the fourth-place finish I had at last year’s inaugural Martinsville race. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, that wasn’t meant to be. With some plaguing mechanical issues that kept the car from running all day until race time, we were relegated to starting last.
Despite the troubles during the day, the team was able to get the car working for the race. I was excited to at least take the green flag. With all the excitement that a short track race under the lights brings, the fans were not disappointed by the action throughout the night. My night ended early, though, with some of the preceding issues keeping the car from finishing.
However, the final laps of the race kept the fans on the edges of their seats. In true short track fashion, at the last lap, it was still anybody’s race. The fireworks flew in the final corner, and the race culminated in a margin of victory of 0.0003-second. If you didn’t see the race, the stream is still available on IMSA’s YouTube channel.
For me, having put so much mental and physical energy into this event, it was certainly disappointing to be out of the running before the race ended. But still, I cherished the opportunity to be involved and to promote a great cause, with Racing to End Alzheimer’s riding on the car.
Taillights on Martinsville… pre-race during the Fan Walk.
And, certainly, my favorite part of the day was all the fans who I got to interact with during the Fan Walk on the front straightaway, including having my friends and family there. The competitor camaraderie, with it being an exhibition race, was a highlight for me, as well.
It was also fun seeing the stock cars run on that same circuit during the weekend. You have a whole new perspective of things after running on the same track, and despite the MX-5s having considerably less power, they still ran lap times within a couple seconds of what the NASCAR drivers were setting.