It was the second event weekend of the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BF Goodrich and Max Opalski was looking to build upon his solid results from January's event at the Daytona International Speedway. Taking on the Streets of St. Petersburg this past weekend, Opalski continued his presence in the top-ten and left the weekend sitting seventh in the overall championship point standings. 

Eager to run laps for the first time on the weekend, MX-5 Cup drivers lined up to take the track, only to wait. Issues with track communication delayed and eventually canceled the first opportunity to practice on the Streets of St. Petersburg. With the first practice scrubbed, the pressure to make no mistakes was apparent as the drivers needed all the time on track they could get before qualifying.

Second-year driver Opalski was anxious to push his weekend results past what he has earned before. Despite qualifying and starting race one in the 15th position, Opalski was able to push his number two, Windows by Opal Enterprises branded car into the top-ten, with his fastest lap from race one scoring him a P8 starting spot for race two.

“The track is tricky,” explained Max Opalski. “Because it is a street course there are certain areas that are rough to be racing over and that can cause a lot of issues when cars are close together. Also, the conditions are always changing which makes it challenging. I think with the lack of a first practice it just took us a bit longer to get the speed that we wanted but we found it in race two.”

Opalski, eager for his first career podium finish, battled his way forward in race two from eighth to P4 before contact and a cut tire forced him to pit lane for repairs after the unavoidable contact. From there, the young challenger was only able to claw his way back to finish 16th.

“Disappointing as we were running really well and in a similar position to where I was in Daytona,” explained Opalski. “We are right there on the verge of a podium result, and I know that it will come soon!”

The Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BF Goodrich schedule will take a short break until their next race and pick back up in May on the West Coast at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca from the 12th through the 14th.

For more information on Max Opalski, please search for him via his social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by searching Max Opalski Racing.