The Spec MX-5 Challenge Series takes an innovative approach to amateur racing:
• Marquee events across SCCA and NASA to help Spec MX-5 racers find the events likely to have the largest car counts
• A special Championship event (at Circuit of The Americas in 2020) with up to $100,000 in prizes
• 4 regular season racing series (West Regional, East Regional, Invitationals and National) designed to appeal to different driver interests
• A points system that allows competitors from all 4 regular season Series to race together at the Championship for common prizes
The regular season points system is different for each Series (West, East, National, Invitational). This is to allow drivers in very different Series to compete at a unified Championship. For details of the points system for each Series, see pages 5-7 of the Spec MX-5 Challenge Sporting Regulations. The key idea is that the leaders in each Series should carry over about the same level of points to the Championship. This puts some weight on the regular season, rather than making the Championship a one-track shootout.
Spec MX-5 Challenge distinguishes event entry from points registration in the rules. Entry is done with the host sanctioning body (SCCA or NASA) for each regular season race. These fees cover track rental, safety equipment, corner workers, tech and administration among other things. Points registration is done with Spec MX-5 Challenge, LLC and covers Series PR, administration, race direction, awards and prizes among other things.
Entry fees are set by SCCA and NASA. For Spec MX-5 Challenge races, these fees will be the same as for other competitors on the same race weekend. Spec MX-5 racers should be able to “double dip”, and relevant additional fees may apply if drivers wish to run a second class (e.g. STL or ST5).
Points earned during any of the 10 Marquee events of the regular season will need to be registered with Spec MX-5 Challenge, LLC if a driver wishes to compete in the Spec MX-5 Challenge Championship at COTA. National and Invitational drivers will automatically have their points registered. East and West Regional drivers need to complete a form for each event and submit it to Spec MX-5 Challenge, LLC to register their points. National, Invitational and Regional regular season points are significant because they set the carryover points that are part of determining Championship winners. There is a small admin fee for Regional drivers to register regular season points of $100 per event if registered before the event (or $250 per event if registered after the event). Drivers who only wish to compete in Regional races (i.e. drivers who do not intend to race at the Championship) do not need to register their points and will not earn Spec MX-5 Challenge points.
For the Spec MX-5 Challenge Championship event at Circuit of The Americas, drivers will pay an entry fee of $1000 for the race weekend. Spec MX-5 Challenge will have its own run group for this event. In addition, drivers may elect to run a test day at CoTA prior to the Championship, at an entry cost of $500. These fees cover the cost of track rental, safety and spectator management.
Regional Series drivers must also register for the event, to support Series administration, insurance, race direction, hospitality and awards, the cost for which is $1000. National and Invitational drivers are pre-registered and the registration fee is incorporated in National and Invitational service fees. Note that the top 15 drivers in each race can earn $150 per race in Mazda contingency money if they attend the championship to offset the Championship registration and test day fees. That means that a driver who finishes in the top 15 in 8 regular season races earns $1200 to offset registration/administration fees.