Bamber to run Martinsville MX-5 Cup race

Two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Earl Bamber will run in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin invitational race at Martinsville Speedway on Thursday, Oct. 23.

Bamber will drive a No. 31 Whelen Engineering-sponsored car, set to be fielded by Kimberlee Hendricks and her Hendricks Motorsports. He’s coming off an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP campaign with Cadillac Whelen (Action Express Racing), which included back-to-back wins to close out the season, at Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans. Bamber was also part of a historic 1-2 finish for Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA in the WEC 6 Hours of São Paulo.

Bamber is the first Le Mans overall winner to race in MX-5 Cup – the Kiwi has also won championships in the FIA World Endurance Championship (2017 LMP1) and the IMSA WeatherTech series (2019 GTLM).

It’ll be Bamber’s first oval race, as he’ll compete for a $25,000 prize and a famous Ridgeway grandfather clock in Thursday’s 100-lap non-championship race.

“I’m really excited to do the MX-5 Cup race at Martinsville,” Bamber said. “I’ve always wanted to drive on an oval, so I can't say thank you enough to Whelen and to Sonny Whelen for making this happen.

“I’m not sure how it's going to go. I think there's some really talented drivers that are in that series, so I'm just there for the experience, to learn, to have a lot of fun and, like I said, tick one of the boxes on something I've always wanted to do.”

The 100-lap race is slated to start at 6pm ET on Thursday, Oct. 23, with live streaming available on the RACER YouTube channel.