For the first time in its history, Mazda MX-5 Cup competed on an oval track, the storied NASCAR venue Martinsville Speedway. How hard can it be? Turn left and go fast, right?
One of those participants was Andy Jankowiak. He certainly understands oval-track racing, competing in a variety of classes, from indoor midget races to stock cars at the Daytona superspeedway. Andy’s road course experience, however, is limited to the annual ARCA race at Watkins Glen and tracking a Miata at that same track to prep for the big event.
“It’s like a street stock and a TQ midget got drunk and made a baby,” says Andy of the experience. “Low horsepower and light. They drive like a street car, and it’s a ton of fun. The power shifter is cool.”
Andy Jankowiak (2) at Martinsville. Photo courtesy Mike Paris/Andy J Racing.
Two-time MX-5 Cup champion and eventual Martinsville winner Jared Thomas knows ovals, too. He raced late models on short tracks for a few years.
“With an oval, you have to be really spot on with the setup, getting that car as perfect as it can be for both ends of the track,” Jared explains. “Where with a 15-, 20-turn road course, that car is not going to be perfect in every single corner. You got to improvise as a driver and make it work as best as you can. On an oval, you got to be meticulous with your feedback [to the crew], making sure you’re getting the most of your setup.”
Jared dug into his old oval-track notes to see what they had done on flat paved ovals. With a Mazda MX-5 Cup car, though, your adjustments are relatively limited.
Yes, you have caster, camber, toe. Yes, there are double-adjustable shocks and adjustable anti-roll bars. However, unlike a road course, on an oval you want that setup to help the car go in just one direction.
“When coming up in circle track, I got to work with [short-track legend] Gary [St. Amant] some, and he told me, ‘The three L’s to circle track are low, light and left,’” Jared says. “When you’re thinking of any kind of adjustment to the car, you got to use those three.”
Mazda MX-5 Cup rules specifies the springs: 500 lbs./in. ones on the front and 300 lbs./in. on the rear. For Martinsville, they eased the placement of where you can put those springs. So, of course, the 500s go on the right, 300s on the left.
While moving ballast to the left side would be ideal, Jared says they struggled to find places to put it. Trying to use stagger,…
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