Fletcher Thrills In Atlanta MX-5 Cup Run

BRASELTON, Ga. — Round 13 of the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin played out like a blockbuster movie at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Thursday.

The top three drivers vying for the championship found themselves running together in the closing laps of the race knowing that every press of the throttle and touch of the steering wheel would have consequences.

And on final lap of the race, the consequences were dire for two of the three challengers: Jeremy Fletcher (No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing) took the win, while Tyler Gonzalez (No. 57 BSI Racing) finished in the wall at Turn Nine and Nathan Nicholson (No. 56 Advanced Autosports) was issued a penalty for the incident.

A chaotic qualifying with limited green flag time and lots of penalties created an unusual grid for the race. McCumbee McAleer Racing locked out the front two rows, led by Nate Cicero (No. 83 McCumbee McAleer Racing) on pole. Fletcher started fourth, but Gonzalez started 12th, and Nicholson was all the way back in 24th.

An early race restart from yellow eradicated any cushion Fletcher thought he might have to his competitors, who used the opportunity to make up positions quickly. By lap 10, the championship contenders were all in the same frame as Gonzalez led, Fletcher was third and Nicholson was seventh.

Fletcher may have been content to circulate in third with Gonzalez in his sights, but when Nicholson took that final podium spot from him, Fletcher knew it was time to charge. After a long battle with rookie Marcello Paniccia (No. 19 Saito Motorsports Group) Fletcher was into second and then around Gonzalez and into the lead.

There was a chance, however, that his race might be over before the checkered flag, since Paniccia spun from possible contact with Fletcher, which would earn him a penalty. Fletcher was confident he didn’t touch the rookie and race control agreed.

“With that incident, I fully knew that I couldn’t have physically done anything there,” Fletcher recalled. “I was pretty confident that would be that call.”

Like it was written for a movie, the top three in the championship were nose-to-tail as the time ticked away and the white flag came out. Coming into Turn 10, the trio fanned out. There was contact heading into the downhill braking zone. Gonzalez turned sideways and hit the wall while Fletcher and Nicholson continued.

Race control deemed Nicholson at fault for the incident and issued him a 99-second penalty after the checkered flag, bumping him to 25th in the official results, one spot ahead of Gonzalez.

The disparity in points earned in the race makes Fletcher the near de-facto season champion. He wasn’t just happy as he climbed out of his car, he was relieved.

“It was pretty calm to start with because I had my three teammates that I qualified up front with,” Fletcher said. “I thought we were going to drive away. Unfortunately, Tyler [Gonzalez] came and spoiled the show. He had incredible pace. Of course, he’s going to make his way through the pack as well as Nathan [Nicholson]. They both drove through the field and got up to the front where they needed to be. When you look in the mirror and the guys racing you for the championship are sitting right behind you and right in front of you, at that time, it’s stressful.

“The last two laps were pretty chaotic, and I would have been okay sitting in third at the end, but some fortunate events happened, and we came out on top for the third race in-a-row.

“The McCumbee McAleer boys have done such an amazing job all year. Dalton Dow on my car and Kevin Stelly, they workday in and day out to give me a fast car, and I just kind of have to turn the wheel and hit the gas sometimes.”

On nobody’s bingo card, was rookie Ethan Jacobs (No. 99 Advanced Autosports) quietly stalking his way to a podium finish. He was in the catbird seat when the championship contenders got together in Turn Nine and placed himself perfectly to almost take the lead, but ultimately finishing second.

“I was just hanging on to the back of that front pack, and it was in the back of my mind that I could maybe catch them on that last lap,” Jacobs said. “I knew they were going to make some dicey moves, and they did going into Turn 10. There was a little bit of contact and I was able to dive on the outside and come out two-wide and across the line for a second.”

Jacobs ran a limited season to keep himself eligible for the Mazda MX-5 Cup Shootout, which awards a $150,000 scholarship to compete in MX-5 Cup. He hopes the judges at the shootout take note of his performance and that he gets the chance to come back for a full season in 2026.

“I came to this race just hoping to impress the folks at Mazda and the people with Advanced Autosports,” Jacobs said. “I’m just trying to put together an effort for next season and I’m putting all my efforts toward the Shootout this year. This is the MX-5 Cup race weekend before I lose my rookie status, so I’m able to go to the Shootout and hopefully compete for a win there.”

Gresham Wagner was sure he wouldn’t be racing at Road Atlanta until the night before track sessions commenced but found himself in the final podium spot once penalties were applied.

“I have to thank, MMR a lot for giving me a call on Tuesday to come down here,” Wagner said. “I wasn’t expecting to race, and I had kind of accepted that, but then I got the next flight available, flew down here and jumped in the car, which is Stuart McAleer’s spare MX-5 that he has. The team put in double the effort than normal to get that all prepped and to sort out everything to make it logistically possible for me to get here and race.”

As much as he wanted to help his teammate win a championship, Wagner was equally set on adding more wins to his impressive career stats. More than anything, he was just happy to have the opportunity to race with his team.

“I have my own records and my own ambitions and everything to win another race, but at the same time, I’m not going to take something away from Jeremy [Fletcher] to benefit myself. If the opportunity presents itself, I’d love to finish off the weekend with a win, but obviously, I’m giving Jeremy some of the same benefits that he gave me you know, through our tenure as teammates.”

At the time of writing, Fletcher is the provisional point leader with 3,530 points. Nicholson has 3,190 and Gonzalez 3,090.

Two-time MX-5 Cup Champion Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) not only finished fourth but earned the Penske Shocking Performance Award for coming from last on the grid to fourth at the finish. Thomas had an accident in qualifying and needed to move to a backup car, which by the rulebook meant he had to start last.

Cicero, the polesitter, finish fifth, putting three MMR cars in the top five and bolstering their hunt for a team championship.

Sally Mott (No. 15 JTR Motorsports Engineering) was the highest finishing female driver in the race. A 13th-place finish earned her $2,000.

Back behind the wheel for the first time since Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in May, Woody Heimann (No. 82 JTR Motorsports Engineering) claimed his second-ever Takumi Award for drivers over the age of 40. Heimann finished 16th and that completed a JTR Motorsports Engineering sweep of the special race awards.