Shift Up Now Athletes Sally Mott and Ashlyn Speed competed in rounds 11 and 12 of the 2025 Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin at VIRginia International Raceway on August 22-24, 205.
Both Athletes recently earned the “Top Finishing Female” award during the recent Mazda race weekend at Mosport, and at VIR, Mott continued the streak with an 11th-place finish. Driving the No. 15 Iron Dames inspired livery for JTR Engineering, Mott is a Collision Careers supported athlete.
The race weekend began on Friday with two practice sessions, and was Speed’s first time on the 3.27-mile, 16-turn track. She piloted the No. 31 Whelen Engineering entry for Hendricks Motorsport.
Both practice sessions were chaotic, with an abundance of red flags that limited the amount of laps turned. As a result, Speed ran just six total laps before it was time to prepare for the following morning’s qualifying.
On Saturday, the red-flag theme continued. Before most of the 33-car field had a chance to record a flying lap, an incident and subsequent cleanup created a one-lap shootout at the end of the session.
Despite a strong lap for Mott, traffic in the final corners cost her significantly, leaving her with a 21st-place spot on the starting grid for race one. Speed suffered a similar fate, only getting to run a few laps and qualifying 26th.
Later that day, the first 45-minute race began at 5:50pm ET. After the qualifying incident, 31 cars would start the competition. Following one pace lap, the field lined up two by two for the start, with Mott on the inside of row 11 and Speed on the outside of row 13.
Mott made a good start, staying toward the inside as the field fanned out four-wide into turn one. Then, as the track switched back to the left for the NASCAR bend, she slotted in line and kept to the inside, emerging in 18th place after the first few corners.
Before the end of the first lap, a full-course yellow emerged, and after a short cleanup, Mott was immediately back to progressing through the field. During the short green flag before another yellow, she advanced to 15th.
Twenty minutes remained after the second yellow cleanup. This time, Mott got shuffled back a few spots on the restart, but maintained her spot in the lead pack as it broke away from the rest of the field. Over the next 15 minutes, she took advantage of opportunities that advanced her up to 12th place.
The final yellow flag flew with five minutes left in the race, and race control opted to throw the white flag with the double yellow flags, meaning the field would end the race on the next lap, under caution.
Mott’s 12th place made her the “Top Finishing Female,” and she advanced an additional spot to 11th after a post-race penalty was assessed to one of her competitors. In addition, her fastest lap in race one gave her an eighth-place starting position for the second race.
“I feel like I really improved my pace, mindset, race craft and aggressiveness on track,” said Mott. “I stood my ground and made up ten positions. I’m proud of my race, but not fully satisfied with the result. Every race still feels like drinking from a fire hose - I’ve got a lot to learn, but I’m getting better each time out.”
Meanwhile, Speed set her personal-best lap times of the weekend and had a strong run, advancing nine spots to finish in 17th.
On Sunday morning, race two began at 10:40am ET under bright, sunny skies. Mott started on the outside of row four, and Speed on the outside of row 13.
During the pace lap, Mott’s tire started going flat, causing her to lose the ABS before the first turn on the first lap. When the field went four-wide into turn one, contact with another car sent her into the right side of the track. The contact was reviewed and deemed to be a racing incident, but Mott was forced to retire from the race.
Speed also got caught up in the chaos when the incident in the front caused an accordion effect throughout the field. She was assessed a penalty for contact, but safety car periods allowed her to recover to the back of the pack. She made her way back to 21st before the checkered flag fell.
Next up, the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Series heads to Braselton, GA for rounds 13 and 14 of the championship, at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on October 8-10, 2025.
