DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 22, 2026) – Reigning Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin Champion, Jeremy Fletcher (No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing), began his quest for title number two by winning the Motul Pole Award at Daytona International Speedway.

Fletcher turned his quickest lap, a 2:09.418, on the last lap of the 20-minute qualifying session. He bested former champion Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) by 0.062-second to earn his sixth-career pole position.

New this year, drivers had the option of either queueing up at pit out or going to their pit boxes as they were released on to pit lane. The order of drivers released onto pitlane was determined by championship points, putting Fletcher at the front of the line. Most of his rivals opted to stop in their pit boxes and leave pit lane with their team.

“I think we were the only ones that rolled the dice the first time around,” Fletcher said. “We were the only ones that really lined up out of the main top 10 usual guys. We ended up doing a drive through and the gamble paid off. We got right in behind the BSI Racing pack. Fortunately, for us, they [BSI drivers] were not too aggressive, and were willing to work with us. Justin Adakonis (No. 23 McCumbee McAleer Racing) was leading me most of the lap, and then I picked up Will Robinson (No. 51 McCumbee McAleer Racing) in the bus stop, and it was a big draft game from there.”

Round One of the 2026 Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup season goes green at 5:15pm ET, Thursday, January 22, with live streaming coverage on the IMSA and RACER YouTube channels. Round Two is slated for 10:00am ET on Friday, January 23.