Fletcher charges to Mazda MX-5 Cup Race 1 win at Mid-Ohio

The halfway point of the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin season produced a championship points shakeup. Jeremy Fletcher (No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing) fought his way through the top five to take his first win of the season. Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course wasn’t as kind to the points leader entering the weekend; Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) made a mistake on the final lap that dropped him from a possible podium to 24th at the checkered flag.

Rounds seven and eight were bound to produce some surprises when it was revealed that two-time Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Champion Gresham Wagner (No. 81 Rafa Racing Team by MMR) was entered for the first time since round two at Daytona.

Wagner nearly qualified on pole in his series return but was pipped by 0.05s by Nate Cicero (No. 83 McCumbee McAleer Racing). It was the fourth pole of the year for Cicero, unfortunately for him, that spot seems to be cursed, because a driver has yet to win from pole this season. Cicero succumbed to the polesitter curse and lost power while running in podium position and eventually retired.

Taking the lead on lap five, Wagner faced off against Thomas, the only other two-time series champion. The back-and-forth between the pair allowed Helio Meza (No. 27 BSI Racing), Fletcher and Nathan Nicholson (No. 56 Advanced Autosports) to catch up and turn the duel into a five-way fight for the lead.

The pack played nice until 10 minutes to go, when things got spicy.

First Meza and Nicholson came together in Turn Seven, resulting in Nicholson taking a ride through the grass and losing several positions.

Then, on the final lap, Mesa gave Fletcher a helpful push down the back straight, nudging him past Wagner and into the lead. Two turns later, Thomas lost control of his car, slid into the gravel and exited the podium fight.

Fletcher didn’t look back, cruising to the win by 0.882s.

“The MMR crew have given me a car to win all year long,” Fletcher said. “This is almost like a do or die season for me financially. So I've been putting myself under a lot of stress, and I think that's been taking away from us and causing us to not finish very good, so, I went out there today, just tried to keep it clean and brought it home. I'm so thankful for the McCumbee McAleer guys, Simpson Racing Products, Paene Investments, and Whelen, Mazda, Flis Performance, everyone that gets us out here.”