DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. The Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin season is upon us and is shaping up to be one of the best yet. The series will start the year with a record Daytona grid of 35 cars from nine teams and a series record of six female drivers. Its an iconic way to kick off the 20th season of Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup racing.

All the main protagonists from last years championship battle are back, some of them on different teams.

Defending champion Gresham Wagner (No. 5 McCumbee McAleer Racing) leads a stable of seven entries for the North Carolina-based team, including last years third-place championship finisher Jeremy Fletcher (No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing).

Wagner, who is one of only two two-time series champions is one of a handful of drivers on the grid who knows what its like to win at Daytona. And winning at Daytona can be key, as the last four season champions have each taken at least one victory out of the Daytona season-opening weekend.

Each year, everyone is coming to Daytona to start their championship challenge and trying to get going on the right foot, to beat certain drivers, to leave with a certain amount of points, and so on, said Wagner. At the moment, the only race I have scheduled is Daytona so this year, Im here only because I really want to be, and to give Daytona another shot.

Whatever happens, Im not putting the same pressure on myself as other years. Ive already done everything there is to do, so this is just a victory lap around an awesome track and one of the best events of the season.

MMR will also welcome two new female drivers to the fray; Maite Cáceres (No. 12 McCumbee McAleer Racing) and Caroline Candas (No. 81 McCumbee McAleer Racing), both of whom have impressive international racing experience.

The other two-time Mazda MX-5 Cup champion Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) is back and searching for championship number three. The namesake of JTR Motorsports engineering is joined by a mostly unchanged lineup of experienced teammates. A notable addition, however, is Sally Mott (No. 15 JTR Motorsports Engineering) who has joined the squad for her sophomore season.

Speaking of Sally, the MX-5 Cup grid will have two of them in 2025. Spark Performance has added Sally McNulty (No. 78 Spark Performance), an accomplished touring car driver to its lineup.

Two of the Mazda MX-5 Cup Shootout scholarship winners have opted to join (relatively) new teams for 2025. Ashlyn Speed (No. 31 Hendricks Motorsports), who won the Mazda Women in Motorsports Initiative Scholarship will be part of Hendricks Motorsports and race alongside a former scholarship winner, Heather Hadley (No. 54 Hendricks Motorsports).

The big winner from the 2024 MX-5 Cup Shootout, Noah Harmon (No. 77 AAG Racing) will run with AAG Racing, which is the team he raced with in four MX-5 Cup races last year.

Harmon is lucky he comes into the season opener with experience racing MX-5 Cup at Daytona, having finished an impressive fifth in race two last year.

Its an amazing feeling going into the 2025 season as a shootout winner, Harmon said. Im super excited. I know theres a lot of support around me and Im just hoping I can make the best of it. Even seeing the shootout winner sticker on the car the other day was a super surreal feeling and Im really looking forward to representing Mazda in the 2025 season.

Heading into Daytona, I think its going to be really helpful that I have the experience from last year. I mean, no one can predict that race, but I think just kind of knowing, having a good idea of what can happen is really going to benefit me for the race.

The third scholarship winner, Helio Meza (No. 27 BSI Racing) has chosen BSI Racing for his 2025 season. A wise choice considering two of the last three Rookie of the Year drivers have come from BSI. This includes the most recent Rookie of the Year, Westin Workman (No. 13 BSI Racing) who returns for his sophomore season.

In parallel with the 20th season of MX-5 Cup is the 35th Anniversary of the Mazda Miata. Without the Miata there would not be Spec Miata and thus no MX-5 Cup.