Historically speaking, the prize for winning the Spec Miata Championship has been some cash and prizes and the prestige of winning it all among the largest and most competitive field of amateur drivers in the country. If you can put it all together to win a Spec Miata Championships, you’ve really accomplished something.
This year has so much more in store for the Spec Miata Champion.
This year, the Spec Miata Champion at the NASA Championships presented by Toyo Tires stands to win upward of $80,000. That’s the biggest purse ever offered in amateur motorsports, and the idea for the Toyo Tires Classic began where else? In Las Vegas.
At last year’s SEMA show, Toyo Tires Senior Manager of Motorsports Marc Sanzenbacher and NASA Vice President Jeremy Croiset were brainstorming ideas for a championships race. They were looking for something big, something new and unprecedented.
“Marc wanted to do something that had never been done before,” Croiset said. “He wanted to bring together a group of Miatas that was bigger than anything we’d ever seen before, and he wanted to give away a lot of money to try to make that happen.”
At that point, NASA and Toyo Tires combined forces to create the biggest Spec Miata invitational race with the biggest purse in history. The size of the purse will be determined by the number of entries. The minimum number of entries required to qualify for the $80,000 purse is 115 cars. At press time, there were 89 cars registered.
Rules at Circuit of the Americas limit the number of cars on track to 85, so to get two good groups, more Spec Miata drivers will need to step up and register for this year’s NASA Championships.
“This will be the richest purse in Spec Miata competition,” Sanzenbacher said. “Our goal was to put together a program that would bring Spec Miata competitors together in a way that has never been accomplished before. Our hope is that this new program will provide Spec Miata competitors with an annual pilgrimage that combines the camaraderie and festivities that NASA events are known for — combined with a financial benefit that has never been seen in the community. We look forward to the tremendous competition we expect to see at this event.”
There’s also more money to be won throughout the field. For example, five drivers will be drawn at random to win $1,000 and there are two hard charger awards for $2,500 each. There is also prize money for first through fifth in run groups A and B, again, depending on the total number of cars registered.
“Some of the details are still a bit up in the air,” Croiset said. “The biggest unknown is how many people are left out there that are going to register.”
The prize structure for the Toyo Tires Classic aligns with the overall strategy of the contingency plan for NASA Toyo Bucks. Rather than rewarding just the podium finishers, the Toyo program spreads the wealth, which benefits racers throughout the field.
“We’re really excited to announce this new program with our long-time partner Toyo Tires,”, said Croiset. “This new program demonstrates a level of commitment to the amateur racing community that is nearly unprecedented. We fully expect this to be the largest Spec Miata competition in history at one of the best tracks in the country.”
So, what are you waiting for? Sign up now for your chance to be part of history at the Toyo Tires Classic at the NASA Championships presented by Toyo Tires!
To sign up and for more information about the event, visit https://nasachampionships.com.
