BRASELTON, Ga. (Oct. 10, 2025) – The 2025 Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin season ended in its traditional way: a wild last lap that had everyone second-guessing who would win at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
The winner of that one lap sprint to the finish was Parker DeLong (No. 42 Parker DeLong Racing) who won the first Mazda MX-5 Cup of his career.
There was no guesswork needed when it came to the championship. By taking the start and having several cars drop out of the race early, Jeremy Fletcher (No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing) secured the 2025 Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Championship and the $250,000 prize that comes with it.
Fletcher’s only challenger for the title, Nathan Nicholson (No. 56 Advanced Autosports), retired halfway through the race with mechanical trouble, further securing his championship.
It seems that since the championship was settled, the Mazda MX-5 Cup field decided that drivers without a race win should tussle for victory. Only five laps into the 45-minute race, the top six cars were all drivers without a MX-5 Cup win to their name. That pack included three notable rookies: Helio Meza (No. 27 BSI Racing), Noah Harmon (No. 7 BSI Racing) and Justin Adakonis (No. 23 McCumbee McAleer Racing).
The leader of that pack when the first full-course caution came out, however, was Nicholson, who needed maximum points to steal Fletcher’s championship.
It came as a shock, when, during the yellow, Nicholson slowed to a stop on track. He jumped out of his car to check the battery and under the hood, but it was no use, his day was done.
When the race restarted, it was Harmon at the front, dueling with fellow rookie Marcello Paniccia (No. 19 Saito Motorsports Group). Soon DeLong was on the scene to crash the party. DeLong scored his first series podium at Road Atlanta last year and was on form once again this year.
He took the lead just before the second and final full-course caution came out.
The track crew worked quickly to clean up the accident scene and there was enough time left on the clock for a single-lap dash to the checkered.
Paniccia was all over DeLong’s bumper but waited until Turn 10 to make his move. Delong took a defensive position, so Paniccia tried braking deeper on the outside. His car got unsettled and he dropped a wheel off track on corner exit. Paniccia needed to lift to keep his car straight and DeLong was home free to take his first-ever MX-5 Cup race win.
“This was amazing,” DeLong said. “We've worked really hard for this. I was fast here last year, and we had good pace all weekend. Yesterday, we struggled a little bit and made some mistakes, but we got a good night’s rest and came for the win today.”
The winner circle was an emotional one. PDR is small team run by Parker and his father Bill. They had a large group of family in attendance for the finale.
“We've worked so hard,” DeLong said. “No one understands how much work we put in, and it's just me and my family doing this. This really means a lot.”
Harmon followed DeLong across the line by 0.119-second. While it was great to end the season on the podium, it wasn’t enough to surpass Meza for Rookie of the Year honors. He did, however, secure the team championship for BSI Racing with his runner-up result.
“It was definitely a wild one,” Harmon said. “It was kind of a classic MX-5 Cup race to finish the season, so I was super happy with it and everyone at BSI who put in a lot of work and I can’t thank everybody enough. Thanks to Cube3 and Streetside Classics for even making it possible. I think there were a lot of moments that could have been better this season, but it’s nice to go out on a high.”
Adakonis has learned a lot from teammate Fletcher this year and it paid off Friday at Road Atlanta with his first MX-5 Cup podium.
“My teamate Jeremy Fletcher was really helpful in that race helping me navigate through traffic, he has been helping me all year with that. To have him there with me in the pack after starting 12th was great. Thanks to the MMR guys, they have been giving me good stuff all year, so it has been a long-time coming and it is great to get a podium. I'm glad we were able to get it done today. It is great to end the season like that.”
Finishing fourth, Meza was able to stay ahead of Harmon in the point standings and earn the Rookie of the Year title.
Two-time MX-5 Cup Champion Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) completed the top five.
There is still one more race left for MX-5 Cup, but it’s not a points race; the series returns to Martinsville Speedway, October 23, for a money race, where the winner receives $25,000.
All races from the 2025 Mazda MX-5 Cup championship are available to watch on demand on the IMSA and RACER YouTube channels.