Jim Daniels
Beginning with the Utah round of the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car series, Mazda veteran Jim Daniels will be piloting a MAZDA6 sedan for Tri-Point Motorsports. Daniels, the 2006 MX-5 Cup Champion, will join forces with Charles Espenlaub and 2007 MX-5 Cup Champion Jason Saini. While Jeff Altenburg and Tri-Point have enjoyed many successful years together, including a championship year in 2007, they have decided to part ways.
Tri-Point will also welcome a new sponsor to one of their MAZDA6s at Miller Motorsports Park – FidoWash. FidoWash is a self-service dog washing machine which offers everything you need to bathe and dry your dog for one low price.
He qualified for the Runoffs in SM early with four events in three different cars with poles and wins. He then jumped into the 2007 MX5 SSB and dominated the Mid-Div for the title. The limited effort (minimum events in each class to qualify) was enough to secure Jim as the Runoffs favorite and he was picked to win both SM and SSB by Sportscar magazine. Then SCCA pulled the SSB car from competition and Jim lost all motivation for the Runoffs in either class. 2007 looked to be over at that point. But wait, there’s more… Jim drove the Meathead Racing ’99 Spec Miata to a championship in the ARRC sprint race and backed it up in the Enduro with the class and overall win the next day in the Whitis Motorsports ,99 Spec Miata. On to 2008 with two teams in two different series and maybe the ARRC too…
SSB 2007
On nearly a perfect day for racing at Miller Motorsports Park, Jim Daniels, of Germantown, Tenn., had a perfect day on the track winning his fourth consecutive SCCA Pro Racing SIRIUS Satellite Radio Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Hankook race, while clinching the Drivers’ Championship in the process. Daniels’ teammates Jason Saini, of Fort Worth, Texas, and Anders Hainer, of Hidden Hills, Calif., finished second and third, respectively.
Jim Daniels leads teammate Jason Saini en route to cliching the inaugural MX-5 Drivers' Championship.
Jim Daniels, of Germantown, Tenn., started from the pole and led every lap of today’s SCCA Pro Racing SIRIUS Satellite Radio Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Hankook Round Six race, part of Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres, to take his fourth win on the season inch even closer to the inaugural series championship. Anders Hainer, of Hidden Hills, Calif., and Todd Buras, of Melbourne, Fla., completed the top three. Complete Story
(l-r) Anders Hainer, Jim Daniels and Todd Buras celebrate on the podium.
Jim Daniels, of Germantown, Tenn., was out for a Saturday afternoon drive as he drove flag-to-flag to capture his third SCCA Pro Racing SIRIUS Satellite Radio Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Hankook victory of the season. Daniels’ Round Five victory was part of the Portland Grand Prix at Portland International Raceway. Local driver Brad McAllister, of Portland, Ore., finished second, 17.911-seconds behind Daniels
Jim Daniels captures his third MX-5 Cup win of 2006 at Portland International Raceway.
Jim Daniels, of Germantown, Tenn., held off Team MER teammate Jason Saini, of Forth Worth, Texas, by 0.174-second to win Round Four of the SCCA Pro Racing SIRIUS Satellite Radio Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Hankook Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Daniels moved into the championship lead by a thin margin of one point. Team MER looks to have momentum heading into the second half of the season.
Jim Daniels (front) leads teammate Jason Saini en route to his second win of the season at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
After missing practice for his children’s graduations and then losing a transmission during qualifying, a clean race just would not have fit the type of weekend Jim Daniels, of Germantown, Tenn., had. So, it seemed right that the driver had to overcome more transmission problems, along with several lead changes, to take the checkered flag in Memorial Day”s SCCA Pro Racing SIRIUS Satellite Radio Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Hankook race, part of the Rolex GT Series Challenge at Lime Rock Park. Todd Buras, of Melbourne, Fla., finished second, 0.161-sec. behind, followed by Erik Stearns, of Van Buren, Ohio… read complete story at mx-5cup.com
Jim Daniels (front) barely leads Todd Buras during Monday’s MX-5 Cup race at Lime Rock Park.
Cresson, TX, Team MER Shops. Recognized as an accomplished driver in a verity of cars, Jim Daniels has accepted an offer to assist SCCA Enterprises Inc. with a “Myth Busting” project. The mission of this project is to see if a talented driver can be competitive in a mediocre car. Thus busting the “myth” that only those who know the secrets, buy the secrets or have been racing in the SRF class for many years have a chance to be competitive.
“He wanted to do it anyway and as a non-regular to the class I am able to try something interesting. We are going to build him a motor that is at the very bottom of the dyno window and publicize this fact. Jim’s job is then to go out and do as well as he can with a “worst case” motor.” – Erik Skirmants, SCCA Enterprises Inc..
Team MER will field chassis #150 on loan from John Weisberg at Berg Racing. Jim will be racing Nationals at Memphis, Topeka and Roebling Road. Visit www.jimdaniels.com, www.s3mag.com or the soon to be launched Team MER website, www.motorsportenterprises.com, for more news regarding the “Myth Busting” SRF project.
Cresson, TX, Team MER Shops. The late “silly” season driver seat swapping has settled at Team MER. The final driver lineup for the 2006 MX5 Cup presented by Hankook has Jim Daniels, Jason Saini, Eric Stearns, Deborah Loth, Todd Lamb, Ben Hohn and John Kuitwaard completing the season roster for Team MER. It was also announced that a 8th car is available although plans to rent or sell it have not been determined. Team MER will be launching their new website in the coming weeks. Watch for more exciting news regarding sponsors and promotional events at www.motorsportenterprises.com.
Germantown TN., Jim Daniels will join drivers Charles Espenlaub, Scott Bradley, Ken Dobson, Johnny Kanavas, Robert Davis, Tim Buck, Jeremy Barnes, Scott Kaluza, Andy Bornhop (of Road & Track Magazine), and Mark Gilles (of Automobile Magazine) for a factory-backed, 2-car assault on the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) 25 Hours of Thunderhill Endurance Race Presented by the U.S. Air Force, Dec. 2-4 2005.
With Mazda’s announcement of the 2006 Mazdaspeed MX-5 Cup Presented by Hankook Tires, which will utilize the brand new and redesigned 2006 Mazda MX-5 Miata, the team plans to use The 25 as development ground for the brand new race car(s). Mazdaspeed Motorsports will field a pair of brand new MX-5 Miatas for the event. The 25, held at Thunderhill Raceway Park, in Northern California, brings on all types of conditions, close competition and, of course, an extreme test of endurance…
This will be the eighth year NASA has organized this unique race and believes it will be one of the best years ever. Last year’s starting grid saw over 60 cars take the green flag! This prestigious west coast event brings teams from all over the world to compete. The green flag is set to fly at 12:00 pm on Saturday, December 3 at Thunderhill Raceway Park.