Mazda Motorsports Gives Racers a Million Reasons to Race with Mazda

Mazda Cup racing

Mazda Motorsports has earned the reputation for the most supportive company in grassroots road racing. Part of that reputation was earned by Mazda paying for performance, namely cash payout to club racers across the country. Total payouts to Mazda club racers for 2016 successes exceeded $1,000,000. This is in addition to the $1,300,000 Mazda awards to champions in the professional ranks in the Mazda Road to Indy and Mazda Road to 24.

For 2017, Mazda has made enhancements to the program after listening to their racers. This year, in many classes, the payments will go deeper into the pack. While a win at the SCCA Runoffs still earns $5,000, finishing in second, third, and–for the first time ever—fourth place and sometimes as deep as fifth, will earn a Mazda racer money back from Mazda.

It has been noted that racing is the intersection of sport, technology, and commerce. Without the commerce, there is no money to develop the technology that makes the sport thrive. It’s all about the numbers. To borrow a phrase from Marketplace Money, Let’s Do the Numbers for Mazda Motorsports:

• Mazda paid out over $1,000,000 in contingency prize money to well over 400 racers in 2016. This is not the first time that Mazda has paid out over $1,000,000 in a single year.
• Mazda Motorsports has sold over $100,000,000 in parts since launching the program in the early 1990s.
• Mazda Motorsports and Long Road Racing have delivered over 125 Global MX-5 Cup race cars since October 2015. The car sells for the remarkable price of $58,900.
• On the professional side of the sport, Mazda has awarded 67 scholarships to 55 drivers since 2006. The cumulative scholarship payout now exceeds $10,000,000.
• Mazda racers have won 91 SCCA National Runoffs Championships.
• On any given weekend, more Mazdas are being road raced than any other brand.
• Mazda has a 55% market-share of all SCCA entries across club racing.
• Spec Miata is the single largest road racing class in America today. Mazda has sold over 3000 Spec Miata kits to date.

"Over the past four decades, Mazda has grown from a small player in racing to become the dominant force in grassroots competition. Thousands of customers choose our cars and products to race and our company to support them while racing. Our job is to provide them with the best possible parts and tech support; reward them with contingency, promote their accomplishments, and simply do right by them." noted David Cook, business development manager, Mazda North American Operations.