Forever MX-5 Magazine

Mazda Plans 25 Drivers in a 25-Hour Endurance Race!

Posted on 30. Nov, 2009 by jeffz in Motorsports

Rick Weldon (who organized this spring’s Miatas at MRLS event) has options for the longest endurance race in America.  More than he wants to count.  Actually, Rick crunched the numbers to realize that he has over a trillion driver combinations…. in just the first nine hours!

Weldon will be managing the driver rotation for the Mazda “25 in 25” team.  Mazda, which has the largest pool of road racers in the country, and quite likely the largest percentage of OEM employees with competition licenses, has assembled a very special team to cap off the 2009 season.  25 drivers will take a turn at the wheel of the same car, the largest driving team ever assembled for the annual NASA season ender.

The “25 in 25” team will be racing a Mazda MX-5 Miata that has competed in the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup series with a few modifications for the endurance race.  The car and team was assembled with help from Mazda partners at BP, BFGoodrich Tires, and Mothers.  This was an “after-hours” project where many of the employee drivers also contributed elbow grease to the car preparation.

The drivers range from Lyn St James, who has multiple class wins in the 24 Hours of Daytona to drag racer turned road racer Ed Bergenholtz who has never raced at night or in an endurance race.  Open wheel aces John Edwards, Simona De Silvestro, Dane Cameron and  Frankie Muniz will be sharing the seat with sports car veterans Eric Foss, Todd Lamb, Justin Piscitell, Patrick Dempsey, and Jason Saini.  The team will also include a few journalists who have competition licenses and experience.  It’s a diverse team like no other.

“The idea was generated by so many of our racers hearing about the Thunderhill race and simply wanting to come out and have fun.  Make no mistake, the on-track action is very serious, but the atmosphere here is on the sport and having a good time” noted John Doonan, the MAZDASPEED business development manager who spent a great deal of his personal time helping to assemble the team.  “It’s the Mazda way to help each other succeed.  We’re happy to have so many Mazda employees as well as our partners at BP, BFG, and Mother’s collaborating together.”

The “25 in 25” team will be one of many Mazda MX-5s and RX-8s in the field.  19 of the 72 cars entered will be Mazdas including the defending overall race winners from Team MER.

The MAZDASPEED “25 in 25” Driver Lineup:

Mazda employees: John Doonan, Jim Jordan, Randy Miller, Weldon Munsey, Truman Pollard, and Ken Saward.  Jeremy Barnes will be the “super-sub” in case anyone misses their flight to Sacramento.

Mazda racers from other series: Ed Bergenholtz, Simona De Silvestro, Patrick Dempsey, Brothers Mark & Mike Jenkins, and Frankie Muniz.

MAZDASPEED Ladder Alums: Dane Cameron, John Edwards, Eric Foss, Todd Lamb, Justin Piscitell, and Jason Saini.

Media Guests: Dan Edmunds from Edmunds.com, David Pratte from Modified magazine, and Aaron Robinson from Car and Driver magazine

Special guest racers: Deanna Brooks, Jim Holloway, & Lyn St. James.

Mazda Dealer and motorsports supporter: Richard Fisher

Remembering Those We’ve Lost

In a special tribute, the car will also be carrying the names of four MAZDASPEED family members whom we lost in the past year; Carol Tremblay, Neil Warrior, Tom Thrash, and Takayoshi Ohashi.

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Tags: MAZDASPEED, MX-5, racing