
RECAP/PHOTOS: Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Michelin And Rolex 24 Practice At Daytona International Speedway
by racerx55 January 25, 2025 0 commentsDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – On Friday, Daytona International Speedway hosted Rolex 24 practice and Round 2 of the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin.
Round 2 of the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin featured 35 cars that went head-to-head on the high banks of Daytona. Not long after the field took the green flag, leaders made contact and ignited a huge crash that involved much of the field. The lengthy cleanup left just 16 minutes of green flag action.
On the final lap, Jared Thomas passed McCumbee McAleer Racing’s Jeremy Fletcher in the chicane and never looked back as he piloted the JTR Motorsports Engineering No. 96 Mazda to Victory Lane. The victory marked the third (2022 & 2023) for Thomas at Daytona.
Todd Buras finished just 0.038 seconds behind Thomas to cross the line in second. Ren Messinger, Nathan Nicholson and Jagger Jones rounded out the top-five.
In final practice for the Rolex 24, Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing’s No. 40 Cadillac V-Series.R with drivers Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz and Kamui Kobayashi led the way overall.
Crowdstrike Racing by APRORECA’s No. 04 car with drivers Malthe Jakobsen, Toby Sowery, George Kurtz and Colton Herta, was fastest in LMP2 and was 12th overall.
In GTD Pro, Trackhouse by TF Sport, ran the fastest lap. The team’s No. 91 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R is being piloted by Ben Keating, Scott McLaughlin and NASCAR drivers, Shane Van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch. The team was 25th overall.
Van der Steur Racing’s No. 19 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo topped the speed chart in GTD. The car is being piloted by Maxime Robin, Roryvander Steur, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Anthony McIntosh. The team was 28th overall.
Below are images TheFourthTurn.com’s Christopher Vargas snapped at Daytona International Speedway on Friday.









































No Comments so far
Jump into a conversationNo Comments Yet!
You can be the one to start a conversation.