Jared Thomas, driver of the No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering Mazda MX-5, drove to Victory Lane in the first race of the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 double feature, making him the winner of the debut Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup event here at Martinsville Speedway.
Thomas started on pole for tonight’s race, but the win didn’t come without its challenges. Thomas battled against Westin Workman, driver of the No. 13 BSI Racing Mazda MX-5, throughout the entire evening, fighting him off up until the very last lap.
It was smooth sailing for the open-top cars for most of stage 1, until Selin Rollan brought out the red flag after a mechanical failure on lap 40. The cars had their first restart of the evening and drivers participated in their first “choose,” adopting NASCAR restart rules in this exhibition race at the famed short track.
The first stage ended with Thomas in first, Workman right behind him in second and Gresham Wagner in third.
A caution on lap 65 shook up the order, bringing Jeremy Fletcher to third place while the battle for first place between Thomas and Workman continued. Workman held the lead when an incident involving cars at Turn 2 brought out another caution and restart, heating up the battle with just 15 laps left.
On lap 95, Thomas retook the lead, with the two-running side by side for three laps until another caution flag was thrown. With two laps to go, Workman edged out Thomas on the restart, but not for long as Thomas regained the lead and secured the win, earning his first Martinsville clock.
The clock for this event was unique compared to other race-winning trophies at Martinsville Speedway, to match the uniqueness of this debut event. This was the first time open-top cars have raced at Martinsville Speedway since the 1950s, and the first time the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup has raced on an oval.
While the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour concluded their season at Martinsville Speedway, the half-mile track in Virginia still has one more race weekend remaining on the calendar for 2024.
Next weekend the NASCAR Playoff races at Martinsville will set the Championship 4 for all three NASCAR national series. The weekend opens by featuring the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 200 on Friday, Nov. 1.