MX-5 Cup Trades and Transactions

ABOVE: Chad McCumbee (left) and Stevan McAleer (right)

As one major league team departs the series, the door opens for a returning champ.

Like any race series, the SCCA Pro Racing Battery Tender Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires has its silly season, full of team changes and driver swaps. Perhaps the biggest news as we head into the 2015 season is the departure of CJ Wilson Racing.

"MX-5 Cup is where CJWR got started in racing as a team," says Andris Laivins, team manager for CJ Wilson Racing. "Over the off-season we spent a lot of time evaluating our team trajectory and decided to focus more of our energy on the endurance side of racing with our other Mazda ST cars as a way to streamline operations a little."

The departure of CJWR wont make it any easier on the rest of the MX-5 Cup field, however, as newly formed McCumbee McAleer Racing (MMR) team is stepping in. "Almost simultaneously, an opportunity arose for Chad [McCumbee] and Stevan [McAleer] with our mutual partner ModSpace to expand their footprint in the MX-5 Cup paddock," says Laivins. "They acquired some of our cars, and we have offered as much advice and support as possible on their new venture, but they don't really need it. Stevan and Chad are an integral part of the CJWR family, and I couldn't be more proud of them."

McAleer is the 2012 MX-5 Cup champion and will have no problem getting reacquainted with his old seat after spending the previous two seasons racing an MX-5 in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Street Tuner class for CJWR.

"It's pretty exciting to come back and try and win it as a team owner," says McAleer. "I don't believe that will be the case in the opening year, but as we develop as a team I would like to think we can be a threat in 2016."

McCumbee comes in with relatively limited road racing experience when compared to partner McAleer. "I came from the NASCAR ranks," says McCumbee. "I have only been road racing for about three years; I think I finally eclipsed the 30-race mark in my road race career."

Picking up cars from CJWR helped MMR get a jumpstart on the season, but they still have a lot of work leading up to the opening round at Sebring. "We took three of the four [CJWR] cars – we actually have my old racecar that won the championship in 2012," says McAleer. "We are going to start with two cars full time this year, with the third car being a guest car for ModSpace."

McCumbee has been able to call on his NASCAR past to help with the workload. "We have been able to acquire a couple key personnel that have been instrumental in my career," says McCumbee. "We've got a lot of good work going into these cars, and being here in North Carolina we have access to a lot of good resources."

In addition to MX-5 Cup duties, the MMR duo will be returning full time to Continental Tire with CJWR. "We're both going to run fulltime in the ST series again with ModSpace and CJ," says McCumbee. "The number one concentration is our driving duties in the No. 5 ModSpace car in the Continental series."

Pulling double duty as team owner-drivers in MX-5 Cup and drivers in Continental Tire will be a workout, with a number of the events sharing weekends. "Four of the [MX-5 Cup] rounds are on the same weekend as Continental," says McAleer. "So we will be swapping back and fourth. We will be quite busy."

To catch the latest in racing action from the 2015 MX-5 Cup series, or news on upcoming Global MX-5 Cup series, visit www.mazdamotorsports.com.