Noah Harmon Wins Mazda MX-5 Cup Race Two at VIR

Noah Harmon beat Jared Thomas in a dramatic finish to Sunday's Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup race at VIRginia International Raceway for his second win of the season.

Harmon, who competes full-time in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series in the No. 7 CUBE 3/High Point Rockers Chevrolet Camaro for Silver Hare Racing, took advantage of a free weekend to compete in the MX-5 Cup with Hendricks Motorsports. Harmon finished fourth in the first race of the weekend before taking the win on Sunday.

A late full-course caution set up a one-lap race to the finish, with Harmon leading entering the final lap. Thomas waited until the last possible opportunity to slipstream past Harmon for the win, coming up 0.07 seconds short.

“I was a little worried about the restart,” Harmon said. “But I knew I had my teammate Ethan [Lampe] in third and I knew if Jared [Thomas] popped out, Ethan was probably going to push me.

“Two wins feels pretty good, especially here at VIR. I think winning Daytona was awesome, but it definitely has a luck aspect to it. It was a lot of fun to lead a lot of laps today and just be up front. Our car was really good at the end of the race, and I think that that gave us a big advantage and being out front toward the end, I just had the motor cooler than everyone else, and I think that really helped us down the back stretch and even the run to the line, just being that few degrees cooler than Jared [Thomas] and the guys behind."

Harmon is currently fifth in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Driver's Championship following the eighth and ninth rounds of the season at Watkins Glen International.

The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli and CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series will be on track next at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada on September 3-5.

-Photo credit: Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup