DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For the first 41 minutes of the Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires race, the top four cars never traded places and never left each other’s bumpers. When the timing screen refreshed, it was Wagner in first by .108-second. “I was playing catch-up for the first 43 minutes of the race,” Wagner said. In only his second-ever Mazda MX-5 Cup race, Paley gave Wagner a little bump and hung in his draft, getting a pull to second place at the line. “I think I was sitting P8, in the second pack, and the first pack had pulled a few seconds ahead, so that yellow really helped us out. I came out P5 then had some help from behind to catch the leading four cars. “The finish was wild,” said Thomas, who won the closest-ever Mazda MX-5 Cup race last year with a .0009-second victory at NJMP.

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