Profitable an Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Offered by BFGoodrich championship isn’t any simple feat. Profitable two of them, a lot much less two in a row, appeared not possible till Jared Thomas pulled off his second consecutive championship in 2023 (above). And whereas the primary one was particularly candy, despite the fact that it wasn’t clear who gained the title till nicely after the ultimate race ended, this one was proof that what he and the JTR Motorsports Engineering crew he launched in 2021, are doing is working.

“The primary one was type of that breakthrough second, however the second can also be very gratifying,” Thomas explains. “It was simply, actually, a validation that it was greater than luck the primary 12 months, to have the ability to come again and do it a second 12 months. It simply goes to indicate that the ton of effort that me and the remainder of the crew put in actually pays off, and there’s much more than simply luck that went into profitable each championships. There’s a variety of arduous work and ability put into it.”

Thomas got here into the double-header finale at Michelin Raceway Highway Atlanta this 12 months in a way more comfy spot than in 2022. The primary championship got here all the way down to 10 factors between he and Connor Zilisch in a remaining race that noticed Thomas need to claw his approach again from contact to complete shut sufficient to Zilisch. However the championship nonetheless wasn’t determined on the checker; it wasn’t till a post-race penalty was utilized to a driver who’d completed between them that the championship was decided in Thomas’s favor.

This 12 months, Thomas got here into the ultimate weekend with a extra comfy margin, and ended up 360 factors forward of Aaron Jeansonne – only a bit greater than the factors awarded for a race win.

“This 12 months was undoubtedly a little bit bit extra relaxed, not as on-edge,” says Thomas. “We had an excellent season for those who take a look at it as a complete. We had one unhealthy weekend on the St. Pete opener; that was our mulligan for the 12 months. We obtained it out of the system early after which simply actually labored on constant podium finishes after that. Being persistently within the high 5, I believe that’s actually what was capable of win it for us.”

Thomas factors to Highway America, a monitor the place he’d completed nicely however by no means achieved victory, as a spotlight of the season, due to a second-place end within the first race and a win within the second.

Watkins Glen was notable for a special cause; within the second race, he obtained knocked again to eighth with just a few laps to go. He was capable of claw again as much as fourth place to protect a top-five end.

It was that type of effort and perseverance that allowed Thomas to move into the finale with one thing of a buffer over title rival and fellow Mazda Motorsports scholarship winner Jeansonne.

Making the championship showdown one thing of an in-house affair, Jeansonne is Thomas’s teammate at JTR Motorsports Engineering. Jeansonne had one thing of a breakout 12 months in 2023, scoring his first wins within the sequence and ending second within the factors to safe a JTR one-two. After all, that meant Thomas (beneath, main Jeansonne at Michelin Raceway Highway Atlanta) needed to beat a teammate, buyer and good friend to say the title.

“As a driver, that’s powerful whenever you’re going up towards your teammate like that, however there was a variety of teamwork that went into that, and he had a variety of nice outcomes this 12 months,” says Thomas of Jeansonne. “Earlier than we got here into the season, earlier than we even went to Daytona, we had been preseason testing and we’re like, ‘You realize what, let’s exit and race this factor to the top and hopefully it’s us one-two.’

“However as a crew proprietor, having the highest two vehicles within the championship was actually type of a proud second for me and everyone right here at JTR,” he provides, “as a result of it simply goes to indicate that we had been capable of present that one of the best tools on the market to get the 2 high vehicles within the championship.”

Thomas plans to come back again subsequent 12 months and expects to have seven or eight vehicles underneath the JTR tent in 2024. Tune in subsequent season to see if he can develop into the primary three-time Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Offered by BFGoodrich championship winner.

* All Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Offered by BFGoodrich races are streamed reside on RACER.com and archived on The RACER Channel on YouTube. The seven-event, 14-round 2024 season begins at Daytona Worldwide Speedway with a Jan. 25-26 double-header. To view the total schedule and study extra in regards to the sequence, go to mx-5cup.com.