Events

There is, perhaps, no car manufacturer more committed to growing motorsports than Mazda; and no car more responsible for that than the MX-5 (Miata). On any given weekend, there are more Mazda’s raced than all other manufacturers combined, with much of this volume attributed to the MX-5 at both the professional and grassroots levels.

The “blink of an eye” takes about 125 milliseconds. It takes about 50 milliseconds for you to form a first impression of a new face. For a hummingbird, it takes 12.5 milliseconds to beat its wings. What does it take to win an MX-5 Cup race?

One millisecond.

At first glance, Johnson Valley, California looks deceivingly empty. But there’s a lot of history tucked into that great, wide nothingness. Beneath the cracks in the dried earth lie the story of a vast, ancient lake. And within the humble cliff rocks — some of which date back billions of years — lies the birth story of the earth itself.

Close your eyes and think of a Ford Mustang. You probably pictured it in red, right? The color red and Mustangs are synonymous not just in car culture but in pop culture, too. In many ways, muscle cars were made to be red. They’re bold. They’re loud. They’re fast. And they’re deeply American.

Although it’s only a few hundred miles south of Los Angeles, Baja California, Mexico might as well be another planet. Ruled solely by the elements, its 55,000 square miles of brutal, desolate landscape. A vast wilderness populated only by the occasional farm, beach resort, or the ruins of an old 18th-century Spanish mission.

At least, for most of the year.

Would you take time off from your day job to fly to San Diego, hop in a van to a remote desert location in Baja California, Mexico, and sleep in a tent all day so you can stay up all night changing tires and fueling trucks for strangers in the middle of nowhere?