Mike Cooper Wins 1st Race of Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup

The first race of the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup, which took place at Homestead-Miami Speedway, as part of the Grand Prix of Miami week-end was won by Mike Cooper, of Syosset, N.Y. This was Cooper’s second-career win in the series. The podium was completed by Pole-sitter Jeff Mosing, of Austin, Texas, and Dean Copeland, of Bowie, Md.

Cooper started the race second in the No. 6 AMG Racing/VEND3.com MX-5 Cup. Four laps into the race, he managed to take the top position, subsequently battling Jeff Mosing. During lap 9, both Mosing and Copeland passed Cooper. Starting from that point, the three offered an explosion of entertainment, battling for the lead until lap 19 of the 28-lap event. Cooper eventually took the lead and held on to it, winning by 1.212 seconds over Mosing’s No. 10 ALARA Racing/RaceNowForAutism/Frank’s International MX-5 Cup.

“The three cars were pretty equal – me, Dean and Jeff,” Cooper said. “I was better in some places and they were better in some places. So, it was actually hard to get by one another. I knew that we had pretty equal cars and that they’d be pushing each other to go, trying to catch up to me. And, that I’d be punching a hole in the air. But, once we were out that far, I was just able to focus, hit my marks, and do the lap times we needed to do to stay out front and get the win.”

The Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup Series will have its next race held at Road Atlanta (April 29-May 1).