After a relatively tame Race 1, Justin Adakonis emerged victorious after a fierce late-race battle, completing a weekend sweep for McCumbee McAleer Racing in Race 2 of the Mazda MX-5 Cup at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course aboard the No. 23 Mazda MX-5.

Julian DaCosta started from pole position in his BSI Racing No. 95 Lightning McQueen-inspired MX-5 and led the field to the green flag. Once racing got underway, Ethan Jacobs quickly made a move on DaCosta to take the lead in the No. 99 JDH Racing-prepared Mazda.

Jacobs’ stint at the front was brief, however, as DaCosta reclaimed the lead before Saturday’s race winner, Jeremy Fletcher, piloting the No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing entry, charged past both drivers to move into the top spot. Adakonis soon followed Fletcher through and settled into second place.

Fletcher maintained control of the race until just over 15 minutes remained, when Adakonis overtook his teammate to assume the lead. The battle at the front was then neutralized by a full-course caution following a frightening incident at Turn 4 involving championship contender Jared Thomas. Thomas, driving his self-owned No. 96 Mazda, flipped after entering the sand trap, bringing out the yellow and bunching the field back together.

The caution set up a sprint to the finish with less than 10 minutes remaining. Adakonis maintained the lead on the restart, but Jacobs wasted little time mounting a challenge and successfully wrestled the top spot away. The battle intensified as Adakonis, Jacobs, and DaCosta fought for the lead, with Adakonis eventually reclaiming the position from Jacobs.

Jacobs made one final attempt to take the victory but was unable to find a way around Adakonis before the checkered flag. Behind them, Parker DeLong passed DaCosta for the provisional final podium position, though a post-race penalty elevated DaCosta back to third place in the final results.

“I saw him (Jacobs) setting up that one by China Beach (Turn Four) and I thought back to that move I made on Jared [Thomas] at St. Petersburg,” Adakonis said. “I tried to set it up there and then cross him over. I went pretty deep, so I thought he would go in deeper, but he did a great job getting it stopped and turned. I saw him open up out of Turn Nine, so I just kind of stuck in there.”

Leaving Mid-Ohio, Adakonis now holds a commanding 250-point lead in the championship standings over Jared Thomas, who entered the today’s race atop the points table. Ethan Jacobs’ impressive performance also moved him to the top of the rookie standings, where he holds a slim 10-point advantage over Frankie Barroso.

The Mazda MX-5 Cup now takes another month-long break before returning north of the border to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park for two more 45-minute races, scheduled for July 10-12.

 

Image Courtesy to McCumbee McAleer Racing