Oct 21, 2016
BRASELTON, Ga.—After an exciting IMSA Continental Tire Series season that included two wins, two podiums and a bid for the ST championship, Freedom Autosport had a disappointing finale at Road Atlanta that saw trouble for all three of its Mazda MX-5s.
The No. 25 ModSpace/Premier Building Systems/Spartan Cargo Trailers Mazda MX-5 of Chad McCumbee and Stevan McAleer moved into the ST points lead during round nine, so the co-drivers entered the final round with an eight-point advantage. McCumbee qualified third and, despite dropping back at the start, was in third after the first hour of the race—an especially impressive feat since McCumbee was racing with a broken right wrist.
McAleer drove the second stint and led the race at one point, but he pitted with fatal engine problems with just 18 minutes remaining in the 2.5-hour race.
The No. 25 Mazda ended the season fourth in ST points after a stellar year that included two wins and three fourth-place finishes. In fact, McCumbee and McAleer finished eighth or better in eight out of ten races.
Reflecting on the season, McCumbee said, “Overall it was an amazing year, from a pace and execution standpoint. Our entire ModSpace team did a great job. We were in a position to win yet another championship, and we just had a few little issues that are a part of the game we play. Everybody put a tremendous amount of effort into this event, and it showed, because even with my issues, we were still one of the fastest cars on the race track. Hats off to all the guys at Freedom, they worked their butts off. We deserved this championship, but we’ll start talking about next year and what it holds.”
“We were excited in October of last year to hear that we were joining Freedom Autosport with our ModSpace Mazda MX-5. They gave us a strong car all season, and we just got caught out with a couple of mechanical failures,” said McAleer. “I can comfortably say that (eventual ST championship winners) Spencer and Nick had nothing for us today, and I think that showed on the last restart. It’s a tough one to swallow, but we’ll bounce back.”