BRASELTON, Ga. (October 2, 2026) - Some drivers rolled up to the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin Race 2 grid with everything to lose, while others only had winning on their minds. This mentality led to a wild battle for the Round 14 race win at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Friday. Parker DeLong (No. 42 PDR Racing) mastered a two-lap dash to the finish line for the victory, and Bobby Gossett (No. 44 BSI Racing) did his best to stay out of trouble and finish the race as the 2026 Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Champion.
A win in Thursday’s race gave Gossett a comfortable points lead over Justin Adakonis (No. 23 McCumbee McAleer Racing) coming into the final race of the season. This safety net was further widened when Adakonis opted to go to a backup car for Friday’s race, which meant he had to start last instead of from pole.
But for the top 12 starters in the 45-minute race, there were no championship implications. For these dozen drivers, the only goal was to win the race. It was no surprise then, that among this group the lead officially changed 11 times with six different drivers credited with leading a lap.
After starting from the back and making forward progress through the field, Adakonis’ day went from bad to worse. He had picked his way through the field and into the top 10, racing side-by-side with Gossett, when race officials noted the brake lights on his car were not working. All cars must have functioning brake lights to be on track and when it was clear the issue was not going to fix itself, Adakonis was forced to pit. Worse still, the problem couldn’t be fixed on pit lane, and he was unable to rejoin the race.
The season finale narrowly went without a full-course yellow, but with seven minutes left on the clock, the safety car was deployed so Nathan Nicholson (No. 56 Advanced Autosports) could be removed from the Turn 10 gravel trap.
Racing resumed for a two-lap dash to the finish. Last year’s champion Jeremy Fletcher (No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing) led the field back to green, but he had last year’s Road Atlanta race winner, DeLong, right on his bumper.
On the final lap, DeLong took the lead from Fletcher in Turn One. Fletcher tried to retake the top spot in Turn 10, but DeLong saw it coming, played defense, and made it to the checkered flag by 0.164-second over Fletcher. It is the second year in-a-row that DeLong has won the final race of the season.
“I definitely I love this track,” said Delong from victory lane. “It really, really understands my driving style. It's really fast and flows, so I think it works out great for me. I thought it was going to be one lap to go, and it was two on the restart. So, I just tried to finish, get a little bit of a gap if I could. I knew he was going to get to me on the back straightaway, but I just kept it going. It's great.”
It wasn’t the repeat championship Fletcher was hoping for, but a runner-up finish was a great way to end a tough season.
“I've been in the series for a long time, but I don't know if I'll be back next year so I really would like to have gone out with a win,” said Fletcher. “You know I could have moved Parker (over to get the position), but he raced me clean for 44 minutes out of the 45, so there was no reason to do that. Just kind of kept my nose clean, wanted to bring the car back. You know, it needs some resale value so we can go racing next year! But the McCumbee McAleer boys all year have been so strong. I’ve got to thank The Holster Stores, Simpson Racing Products and everyone that’s been a part of this. It's been a good year. A lot of ups and downs, but we've always had speed no matter what. And we come here, we put on a show, and we're always there at the end of the weekend.”
Goulart was making a guest appearance in the series and most definitely had a very focused mindset as he once again spent time out front.
“It was basically a win or go home,” said Goulart. “We had nothing to lose coming into here with it being a one-off event. I can't thank the Saito Motorsports Group enough for giving me this opportunity this weekend. I knew it (the finish) was definitely going to be wild. I think I needed that just to have a shot to get on the podium. It's great to get a podium. It's been a little while for me, so good to get back on there. A good way to end the year.”
Gossett finished the race in ninth. Though he didn’t stand on the race podium, he did get to hoist the 2026 MX-5 Cup Championship Trophy in victory circle.
“Honestly, we were just working the pack pretty good,” said Gossett. “I unfortunately made a mistake and actually bumped off my own teammate and lost like seven positions. That really did set us back a lot. We started making up ground again, and then at some point they told me that Justin [Adakonis] was out, and then I realized that it was just full relax mode. You know, don't do anything too crazy, and that's what we did. I still wanted to race Jared [Thomas], but obviously it got aggressive, and wasn't worth it at all, and then I just kind of let him go by after that.
“I can't believe it,” Gossett said of his championship. “I think my mentality, it was almost like a switch, honestly, from last year to this year. There’s a lot of mental stuff when it comes to MX-5 Cup and just being confident in yourself and being aggressive. I think that just switched. Also, I changed teams and BSI is great. I think getting third at Daytona, which is kind of more of a luck track, gave us more confidence. I think if that didn't happen, this year could have gone way different.”
Gossett’s twin sister Ellie (No. 77 BSI Racing) scored the $1,500 that goes to the highest finishing female, while Jameson Riley (No. 66 JTR Motorsports Engineering) claimed the Takumi Award. Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) scored the Penske “Shocking Performance” award for his run to sixth at the finish. Race 1 pole sitter Frankie Barroso came home 20th, but none the less closed out the season as the Rookie of the Year.
The drivers and teams will celebrate another record-setting 2026 Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup season this evening at Chateu Elan. Shea Adam and Tommy Kendall will play host at the year-end party as over $500,000 in Mazda prize funding will be awarded.