LEEDS, Ala. (May 3, 2025) - As one of only two drivers in the field to have previously raced Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup at Barber Motorsports Park, Tyler Gonzalez (No. 57 BSi Racing) put the lessons he learned five years ago at the picturesque Alabama circuit to claim a robust third victory of the season in Saturday’s Round Five race.
Gonzalez came home just over one second ahead of a hard-charging Nate Cicero (No. 19 Saito Motorsport Group), with Westin Workman (No. 13 BSI Racing) shaking off the lousy luck that has plagued the opening two weekends of his 2025 season to claim his first Mazda MX-5 Cup podium of the year.
As the ominous pattern of yellow, green and red on the radar drew closer to the track ahead of the race, IMSA race officials declared the 45-minute sprint to be a wet race and the entire field obliged by switching to Michelin rain tires.
But the radar wasn’t moving as quickly as anticipated, with the 33-car pack taking the green flag in near-dry conditions. However, after a clean opening stanza, the rain soon came as the drivers adjusted to the rapidly changing surface lap after lap. A brief break to recover Bobby Gossett (No. 44 McCumbee McAleer Racing) from the Turn 8 gravel set the stage for an intense 30-minute run to the checkered flag.
Gonzalez took the lead from polesitter Jeremy Fletcher (No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing) just before the yellow, taking advantage of a battle between Fletcher and Workman.
“I got a really good run through that first set of Esses and was able to carry my momentum around the outside of him going into that second set and that chicane,” Gonzalez said.
From there Gonzalez pulled away from the competition battling for the final two podium spots. At one point, Gonzalez had a remarkable lead of four seconds.
“It was a tough race,” Gonzalez said. “It was a battle of attrition. BSI gave me a great car. We didn't know if we were going slick tires or drys, but we were on a slick setup. I think everybody was. At the end of the day, it was a good race. It was fun. I said in a Daytona, I'll say it again. I love driving these cars.”
It took several laps for Cicero to secure the runner-up spot, but once he did he chased Gonzalez down and quickly closed the gap.
“Nate was driving a great race,” Gonzalez said. “I mean, I was staring in my mirror the whole time and he never made a mistake. For a while, I was saving a little bit, but he was catching us, no doubt about that. In the end there, when the rain started to pick back up, I think we had a little bit more left than him.”
By the checkered flag Cicero had decimated Gonzalez’ lead to just one second.
“I knew it was 20 minutes to go,” Cicero said. “I thought the gap was a little big, but I said on the radio tell me the gap every lap, and it was coming down every single lap, but it just wasn't quite enough time there at the end. I was putting in consistent fast laps, but the gap was just too big.”
It was a nice comeback for Cicero who had dropped several positions in the opening laps of the race.
“It was a pretty tough race as the conditions were changing every lap,” Cicero said. “We had a lot of pace on used wets, so I think it came to us when the track was a little bit less damp. It just wasn’t enough time to catch Tyler [Gonzalez]. The gap was too much. I think I fell down a little bit on the start, so that wasn't great, but I made up for it, made some good moves and I’m happy with P2.”
Once Gonzalez took the lead, Workman was happy to play tail gunner for his teammate. He wasn’t able to hold off Cicero, but he did put up a successful defense against Fletcher and his MMR teammate Justin Adakonis (No. 23 McCumbee McAleer Racing).
“The run was really good. I'm happy for my teammate, Tyler Gonzalez. He ended up taking the win there. At this point, I'm kind of out of the championship contention, so my biggest goal is to help my teammates win the championship. I think we did a good job of that today with Tyler [Gonzalez] getting the win. And I'm just happy to finally be on the podium again. I've been struggling a lot this year, but we've had great pace at every single race we've been to this year. I'm glad to finally have something to show for it.”
Fletcher and Adakonis completed the top five, with Adakonis being the highest placed of the rookie class.
The Penske Shocking Performance Award was given to Parker DeLong (No. 42 Parker DeLong Racing) who skipped qualifying due to the conditions. Starting 32nd on the grid, DeLong made his way to 16th by the finish.
Fresh off their starring roles in ‘First to the Finish,’ a new Prime Video docuseries about women in Mazda MX-5 Cup racing, Sally Mott (No. 15 JTR Motorsports Engineering) narrowly beat out Heather Hadley (No. 54 Hendricks Motorsports) for the top finishing female award.
The Takumi Award, for the highest finishing driver over the age of 40, went to Cody Powell (No. 6 JTR Motorsports Engineering), his first such award of the season.
Sunday’s Round Six race is predicted to be under sunny skies, which could produce very different results from Round Five. It will go green at 8:55am ET with live streaming on the RACER and IMSA YouTube channels.