Convertibles haven’t raced at Martinsville for the reason that Fifties, when NASCAR went to a closed cockpit idea that might have the power to run on a wide range of tracks. However a brief task for Martinsville president Clay Campbell led to an thought the place NASCAR and IMSA management agreed to place Mazda MX-5 Cup automobiles on an oval. And so, a number of a long time later, the powers that be had been placing convertibles again on observe, and that observe occurred to be Martinsville.
The preliminary take a look at in 2023, introduced NASCAR veterans Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Bobby Labonte, together with a number of the MX-5 Cup regulars for the day the place the group demonstrated that there was potential within the thought of placing the MX-5 on an oval. Due to the FIA-approved cage and an inside with issues like arm restraints particularly constructed for automobiles to race with no roof, the MX-5 Cup sequence automobiles had been already prepped for racing — at the very least to run occasions at highway programs alongside the highest degree IMSA sportscar sequence. To tackle an oval, these automobiles simply wanted a setup conducive to working on one.
The Preliminary Setup: From Street Course Racer to Oval Contender
For reference, the MX-5 Cup automotive weighs round 2,400 kilos and is intently primarily based on its manufacturing counterpart, utilizing the identical 4-cylinder engine. The production-based bodywork is commonly the identical as what you would possibly discover on the lot at your native Mazda dealership. Whereas, the automobiles that usually run at Martinsville are purpose-built tube body machines weighing round 3,100 kilos with a silhouette physique, typically constructed to be asymmetrical, which implies that bodywork and typically even suspension is unequal from the left facet of the automotive to the correct. To get a inventory, production-based automotive to be able to run on an oval would require a variety of adjustment whereas utilizing production-based parts on a automotive that’s constructed to be symmetrical, in addition to lighter.
Todd Flis and his group at Flis Efficiency had been up for taking up that problem. Their experience turning lots of of manufacturing MX-5s into race automobiles and sustaining them could be essential to get these MX-5 Cup automobiles oval-ready. Utilizing the info from that first take a look at in 2023, they started making a baseline setup for the MX-5 automobiles. Crunching the numbers, the changes wanted had been minimal, touchdown on a suspension setup that could possibly be carried out utterly with the MX-5’s spec components.
One of many MX-5 Cup automobiles within the storage space at Martinsville.
Picture by: Bozi Tatarevic
Now, highway course automobiles, just like the MX-5, will run destructive camber on each side of the automotive since they’ve to show left and proper. But, automobiles arrange for ovals will usually run optimistic camber on the left and destructive camber on the correct since they’re solely turning left. This normally requires specialised items to be made or fitted, but it surely seems, primarily based on the setup sheet that Flis shared with me, they had been capable of arrange the automobiles in that course with out it. Whereas the setup was not as aggressive as one thing that you simply would possibly see throughout a NASCAR weekend with a number of levels of camber and intensely low tire pressures, the MX-5 Cup automobiles had a few quarter diploma of optimistic camber on the left and round 2.5 levels of destructive camber on the correct.
These modifications had been supplemented by dropping the journey peak on the left facet about an inch decrease than the correct facet, and working ten kilos much less of tire stress on the left than the correct. The oval setup was accomplished with some toe modifications and working 300 pound springs on the left, together with 500 pound springs on the correct on the spec Multimatic DSSV shocks.
Flis’ MX-5 setup was lastly put to the take a look at following the IMSA race weekend at VIRgina Worldwide Raceway. With Martinsville simply an hour away, it was a brief journey for groups to haul their automobiles and other people over for some laps.
The JTR No. 96 MX-5 automotive within the storage throughout the Martinsville take a look at session.
Picture by: Bozi Tatarevic
Check Day
It was a scorching August day when the MX-5 Cup groups arrived for the large take a look at, and it did not take lengthy earlier than automobiles had been placing down lap occasions within the 23-second vary because of Flis’ preliminary setup. In fact, then it was time to do extra tweaking, and workforce proprietor and driver Chad McCumbee of McCumbee McAleer Racing (MMR), began to play with the setups to search out extra pace.
“I simply needed to check and be the take a look at dummy, and work on completely completely different setups and check out the whole lot we might probably attempt,” McCumbee defined. “We discovered some stuff that would have some advantage, however we additionally discovered that our baseline that we had on all these different automobiles was actually good.”
McCumbee has a historical past of competing in nearly each nationwide NASCAR and IMSA sequence, and is a daily on the Vehicles Tour (which competes on quick ovals across the Southeast U.S.), making him an ideal match for taking up one of these train.
One factor McCumbee paid thoughts to whereas making changes and all through testing had been the tires. The MX-5 Cup automobiles had been working on the identical Michelin tires that they’d used at VIR over the weekend, which had been particularly designed to run on highway programs—not ovals. However the worn Michelin road-course tires carried out flawlessly, based on McCumbee. Even testing on older used tires for many of the day, he had but to search out one tire with any kind of imperfection, which is essential to notice as oval tires usually are available in a variety of compounds, and issues like warmth and nook masses can reveal imperfections throughout an extended take a look at like this one.
McCumbee’s MX-5 Cup automotive within the storage whereas they discuss setup.
Picture by: Bozi Tatarevic
Placing his automobiles to the take a look at had been Vehicles Tour regulars Brandon Pierce and Landen Lewis. McCumbee invited the 2 as a technique to step exterior of their consolation zone, and lend their experience. Lewis has received in ARCA and had simply come off a win on the Vehicles Tour Late Mannequin Inventory race at Wake County Speedway, whereas Pierce, was a fellow Vehicles Tour competitor in addition to Late Mannequin winner with expertise on dust tracks.
“That is my first time ever driving one in all these kind of automobiles. Something with headlights,” Lewis mentioned. “I regarded in my mirror on one lap and I had a headlight on and I’m like oh, I bought headlights! I can flip these on!”
Lewis was first to get into the automotive. He had expertise on highway programs with inventory automobiles and had pushed smaller automobiles with sequential gearboxes, however had by no means raced one thing just like the MX-5. Due to the lighter weight of the MX-5, he was capable of brake a lot deeper into the corners. It wasn’t lengthy after nailing that new braking line that he was providing suspension adjustment options to the MMR crew which then considerably improved Lewis’ lap occasions by way of the remainder of the session.
Pierce was subsequent as much as take the MX-5 on observe. With a background in dust racing and go karts, and his most up-to-date expertise being in asphalt late fashions, he too, adjusted to the brand new automotive, then shortly started posting aggressive lap occasions.
“For us quick observe guys, wedge might be the most important factor for us,” Pierce mentioned. “That is a similarity that they had been capable of do as an adjustment that we like most and out of doors of that just a few rebound modifications with the shocks and air stress. That’s actually all that you are able to do to those issues and that’s fairly cool. I like how they react even to these minute modifications. For us in late fashions, if you happen to do one thing like that you simply may not even see a change.”
Wedge is a measurement of the cross-weight of the automotive which is a measurement the place the load of the correct entrance and left rear corners of the automotive is split by the overall weight. Flis issued a really helpful cross weight of 47.6% and groups might modify that up or right down to adapt the automotive to the observe. Along with that adjustment, the Multimatic DSSV shocks which can be put in on the MX-5 provide rebound and compression changes. Lewis discovered that he might fine-tune the automotive by altering the rebound settings on particular corners.
MX-5 Cup automobiles on observe throughout testing at Martinsville.
Picture by: Bozi Tatarevic
Additionally becoming a member of the test-day session was ARCA and Whelen Modified Tour driver Andy Jankowiak. Modified Tour automobiles, as a notice, are tube body open wheel race automobiles and fairly a bit completely different from the MX-5. However like most drivers, Jankowiak races something he can get his arms on. He discovered he was capable of make pace shortly and counsel changes to the MX-5, because of his expertise racing modifieds at Martinsville and racing lighter weight automobiles within the Northeast.
“We had been engaged on some shock stuff,” Jankowiak mentioned. “They usually even have a daily driver that was right here. He began the day after which I labored with the automotive all day. […] He really jumped in after I was carried out and appeared very impressed with the best way that the dealing with improved. That’s at all times encouraging to listen to and we had been fairly related on the stopwatch there. I feel we had been each inside a tenth. That’s encouraging for me seeing that I can tempo with the blokes that do that on a regular basis.”
Subsequent Up: Race Day
The 100-lap Mazda MX-5 Cup exhibition race at Martinsville can be paired with the 200-lap season finale of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour on Saturday October twenty sixth. For a driver like Jankowiak, who already races within the Modified Tour, and now has expertise behind the wheel of the MX-5 at Martinsville, racing each could be a simple guess.
“I’m very fortunate to have a very good buddy with Teddy Marsh and he’s going to work actually exhausting to place a deal collectively to have the ability to run this Mazda race,” Jankowiak mentioned. “Then my automotive proprietor within the Whelen Modified Tour is Steve, […] I by no means know what he’s going to do however you recognize we’ll wait and see what’s occurring.”
A enjoyable drive would be the convincing issue for any driver not within the MX-5 sequence to discover a journey for the October race. Regardless of who finally ends up behind the wheel, these MX-5s on an oval will make for an thrilling look ahead to followers and provide one thing fairly completely different than what most have witnessed at Martinsville.
