USTCC Round 3 - MX5 Hooked Up and Driving Through the Field

Race Report June 24 2025 - Andy Chittum - Mad Man Motorsports 

The June 20somethingith NASA weekend event has long been a staple of fabulous conditions and a legendary track coming together bringing the most epic racing action of the year.  United States Touring Car rejoined NASA Norcal the Weekend of June 21st for Round 3 of the 2025 season, and the teams came ready to bring every ounce of speed to reach the top step of the podium. 

Mad Man Motors, fresh off their victory in Round 2 at Laguna Seca 3 weeks earlier lined up for qualifying with the rest of the teams Saturday morning with hopes of setting a PR at the twisty 2.52 mile course, but it would be a challenge given that USTCC would running a combined qualifying session with the NASA C group, sharing the track in a mixed class session would make it harder to find room for a clean lap. 

Chittum managed the traffic masterfully though, and after diving to the pits was able to find a clean bit of track and on his second hot lap set a 1.50.4 lap time, his personal best in the Hankook-equipped Mazda SMX MX5, .2 seconds from USTCC Sportsman lap record of all time, and legitimately fast for any non-aero 2 liter NC MX5. 

Sunday afternoon, Chittum lined up on pole position surrounded by k24 equipped Hondas, BMWs, and the other Sportsman competitors and with the drop of the green flag, the typical USTCC standing start launched 15 cars up the hill into turn 2, two wide all the way through to turn 6.  Chittum managed a good start, and was initially overtaken by the more powerful cars, but once the field was up to speed, he was able to pass several faster class TC cars on the inside of T3 and outside of T6.  Finally, he passed the GogoGear FK8 Civic going into T11, and came into clear air with the top two TC cars well down the road.  

Chittum then settled into long term speed mode pushing for the fastest speed possible while keeping the Mazda in its temperature performance limits, dropping into steady low 1.51s and high 1.50s while working to reel in the faster TC and GT cars ahead.  Six laps later, the powerful yet heavy TC cars were slowly coming into view, and finally by lap 9, Chittum had caught them and drove on toward the front of the field.  Finally, the sole GT car still leading the race came into view.  

While BMW M4 had earlier in the race been much faster, it appeared to be having some tire issues late in the race, and had slowed significantly allowing Chittum to catch up just as the white flag flew.  Even though Chittum was able to poke the nose of the MX5 around the M4, its driver was able to take advantage of its 2.5x power advantage and steam head 1.6 seconds ahead of the MX5 to the checkered flag.  

Race Highlights Video: 

https://youtu.be/PiVFQHdzz9g

Join Andy Chittum and Mad Man Motorsports for Round 4 of the United States Touring Car Championship August 31st at Thunderhill Raceway, where the team once again will race a 2.5 hour endurance contest for victory! 

USTCC Round 2 - Laguna Seca Comeback to Victory

 Press Release May 24th - Andy Chittum - Mad Man Motorsport

Chittum Wins Round 2 at Laguna Seca with astounding comeback victory 

May 23rd and 24th the United States Touring Car Championship was back in action a mere two weeks after the 2.5 hour endurance race at Sonoma Raceway.  Mad Man Motorsport was riding high from an authoritative victory, but the endurance race relied on a combination of teamwork and car management, while a sprint race back at Weathertech Laguna Seca would be pure speed and nothing else, beginning with the signature touring car standing start on the front straight of the challenging 2.238 mile course.  

Qualifying saw colder than usual temperatures, with sea air keeping the track cool and relatively slippery, challenging the drivers to keep get their cars up to temperature and set down a fast lap.  Chittum quickly got the big Hankook tires up to temperature and, clearing some space in the field, put down two quick laps both right at a 1:43, quick times for the 2 liter Mazda MX5.  Pulling in for the team to check tire temperatures and pressures, the team looked to have Pole Position in hand, so pulled in to the pits to see if anyone else in the USTCC Sportsman class could challenge.  

Unfortunately, right about that time, one of the TC class cars had an incident in the famous corkscrew turn, and clearing the wreck took the rest of qualifying time, bringing the session to a close early.

Next morning race day proved to be even more challenging weather wise with a fog front rolling in to the ocean-adjacent track, and while the track wasn't exactly wet during the busy race schedule, it remained rather slippery in spite of the repaving within the last year.  

18 cars lined up to take the green flag, with Chittum on pole position for Sportsman class, with Tom Lepper also on the front row in GogoGear.com's legitimately fast K24 fortified EG civic.  This proved to be quite the challenge as Lepper and Chittum left the line neck and neck, but with an additional 1500rpms and 400ccs of torque, he pulled away as both cars banged 3rd gear, and quickly gained 10 lengths on the MX5 down into the Andretti hairpin, passing some of the TC cars.  

Chittum, for his part took advantage of the superior braking of the MX5 and threw the little car well up the inside of the hairpin, gaining much of the advantage back.  The two cars battled, however, once Chittum was able to get more momentum going, he was able to double under Lepper entering turn 3, then absolutely send the car into T4, running uncontested into T5, and negating the Honda's power advantage.  From that point, Chittum was able to pull out a gap, put some out of class cars between them, and drive it home to victory.  

USTCC will return to Sonoma Raceway June 21-22 for Round 3, where once again, a standing start and intense wheel to wheel racing will decide the winner. 

USTCC Round 1 - 2.5 Hr Enduro Win

  Press Release May 11th - Andy Chittum - Mad Man Motorsport

The 2025 USTCC Season kicked off May 10th and 11th with a 2 1/2 hour endurance race around the iconic 2.52 mile course that twists through the hillsides and offers some of the most challenging corners on the schedule. 

Saturday found Chittum in the distinctive bright orange Mazda MX5 ready for warmup and qualifying.  Having practiced in March at the twisty track, the team was ready, however, the team was surprised to find some minor rubbing with the meaty Hankook F200 tires in an area of the MX5 body that had previously been repaired, and the team quickly jumped to action to clearance the area and have the car ready.  Given the issue, Chittum was limited to just 3 hot laps in qualifying lest a tire be compromised, but still managed pole position ahead of former series champion Tom Lepper driving GogoGear's powerful engine swapped EG Honda Civic. 

The beefy Hankooks needed a just little more room than the previous spec. 

Finishing the work and prep Sunday morning just before the grid closed, Chittum managed to slowly pull away from the Sportsman field, balancing speed from the grippy Hankook tires while keeping gas consumption low on the 2 liter Mazda engine.  A few yellow flags and other broken cars helped at the beginning of the race, but Chittum settled in for a full 40 lap stint aligning gas consumption perfectly with the end of the pit window toward the end of the race. 

The Mad Man Motorsport team gave Chittum a clockwork pitstop with 10 gallons of fuel, a quick check over the car, and discharged him back to the fray just 5 seconds over the mandated pit stop time.  

Once back on track Chittum found himself approximately 27 seconds ahead of second place and was able to cruise the last half of the race to victory.  

Victorious team - Chittum still squinting from a Champagne blast to the eye.  Will work on that technique next race.

Andy Chittum and the Mad Man Motorsport team will return with the Mazda MX5 at round 2 of the United States Touring Car series at Laguna Seca on May 24th.  Stay tuned to USTCC.com and Chittum.net for more hard charging race action!