Before we get too deep, let’s be clear: These brand-new, forged 15-inch diameter wheels come in two widths, with the 7-inch variant being fully Spec Miata legal, making them the only forged wheels approved for Spec Miata. The 8-inch version, meanwhile, is a great choice for NA and NB Miata drivers in road racing classes like Super Touring® Under, some autocross applications, and other enthusiasts.
Both versions are light, strong, and built for the rigors of racing – exactly what you would expect from a Mazda Motorsports and Rays Engineering partnership.
“We have been monitoring the wheel market over the years and have seen two trends that keep repeating,” said Josh Smith, Mazda Motorsports’ Manager of Motorsports Business Development. “One is the instability in the market of manufactures coming and going in the 15-inch wheel market. This makes it difficult long term to have wheels you know that will always have a supply when needing to replace one wheel from time to time. The other is no one was making a forged wheel that was SM legal.
“With this, we engaged a conversation with Rays, our wheel partner, to develop and make a 15-inch wheel mold in the popular ZE40 design specifically for Spec Miata,” Smith explained. “During that time, we also asked what is possible out of the same fording mold.”
The 15×7 Spec Miata version features a 4×100 bolt pattern with a +25mm offset, a 54.1mm center bore, and weighs 13.2 pounds. The 15×8 Performance version comes with the same 4×100 bolt pattern and 54.1mm center bore, but has an offset of +30mm. The 15×8 wheel weighs in at the same 13.2 pounds as the 15×7.
Both wheels utilize a forged monoblock construction based on the Rays ZE40 design, which offers exceptional durability, so it’s no surprise that they are JWL+R Spec 2 Certified, meeting elevated Japanese safety and performance wheel standards.
The wheels are available in black, gunmetal, and silver, with center caps to match.
For more images and part numbers, click here. Then, order your wheels at the Mazda Motorsports parts store.
Photos courtesy Mazda Motorsports
The Sports Car Club of America™ is calling on its members to shape the future of the Club. If you’ve ever thought about serving on the SCCA® Board of Directors, now is your chance. Elections for 2026 will be held in SCCA’s Areas 3, 4, 9, and 11, with nominations open through Oct. 1, 2026.
This year’s elections feature a combination of Areas with fresh opportunities and experienced incumbents. Lyn Hodges Watts, Area 3’s current Director, is completing her second and final term, meaning her Area will elect a new Director in 2026. Meanwhile, Area 5’s David Brown, who was appointed by the Board in 2026 to fill the position that became available when Dayle Frame chose to step down in order to head the Road Racing Competition Committee, will be running for his first elected term. In Areas 9 and 11, the current Directors are David Vodden in Area 9 and Peter Bollenbecker Jr. in Area 11; Bollenbecker will be seeking reelection, while at the time of this article, Vodden was undecided.
All SCCA members in good standing in Areas 3, 4, 9, and 11 are strongly encouraged to run for their Board of Directors position regardless of whether there is an incumbent seeking reelection.
Whether you’re a long-time SCCA member or a rising voice in your Area, this is your moment to make an impact. Don’t wait, though, as the nomination window closes Oct. 1.
Step up, be heard, and help drive the future of the SCCA.
Becoming an Area Director
If you live in an Area slated for a Board of Directors election and meet the Club’s Bylaws requirement of residing there by April 30 of the election year, and you’re also a member in good standing, consider running for the Area Director position.
The image below will give you an idea of the geography and who your current Area Director is. You can confirm your Area by checking your Region of Record once you log in to SCCA’s Member Account Portal.
SCCA Board of Directors elections are staggered in order to manage turnover on the Board, so you’ll need to plan ahead when running for a seat on the SCCA Board of Directors. For that, here’s the election cycle for the next three years:
- 2026 election: Areas 3, 4, 9, and 11
- 2027 election: Areas 1, 5, 7, 8, and 13
- 2028 election: Areas 2, 6, 10 and 12
The 2029 election will cycle back to Areas 3, 4, 9, and 11, and so on.
The Details
Before running for Area Director, you should read up on what the SCCA Board of Directors does. For that, check out this article from 2023 explaining what Board members do and what experience they bring to the table, and then read this other article from later that year where Board members offered advice to anyone considering running for the position. Some of the Board members in those articles have since moved on from the Board, but what they discuss is still very applicable.
From there, there’s a form to fill out, and on that form, you’ll need to gather 20 member signatures from your Area, submitting that to the SCCA National Office prior to the Oct. 1 deadline.
Mail the completed form to:
SCCA
Attn: Aimee Thoennes
6620 SE Dwight St.
Topeka, KS 66619
The form can also be emailed to [email protected].
The “National BoD Election Nomination Form” is found under the General Information tab of SCCA’s File Cabinet (log into the Club’s Member Account Portal, click “Member Resources,” then “File Cabinet”). There, you’ll also find the “SCCA Election Procedures for the Board of Directors” document that covers all of the requirements in greater detail.
Familiarizing yourself with SCCA’s governance documents like the SCCA Bylaws, Operations Manual, and BoD Handbook (all found in that same online location), is also a good idea.
Still have questions? Contact SCCA’s Aimee Thoennes or one of the current Directors.
Photo by Blake Ellis
Several beautiful venues are visited each year by the Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour (HST), and Portland International Raceway (PIR) is most certainly one such stop. With osprey and eagles soaring overhead, SCCA’s Oregon Region executed another excellent affair May 9-10, 2026, during HST’s fifth event of the season.
Sunday morning opened with 15-minute qualifying for each of the six run groups around PIR’s 1.977-mile, 12-turn circuit near the Columbia River. The afternoon then saw magnificent conditions with temperatures hovering in the low 70-degree range for 35-minute or 25-lap contests that decided who stepped upon the victory podium to receive commemorative bottles of Mazza Vineyards sparkling wine.
A Spring Getaway
Floridian Ken Kannard has spent the last couple weeks racing his way across the United States. To start, he loaded up the RV at home in Sebring, and headed to Jennings, OK, to be part of the HST weekend at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit. There he drove the No. 5 Hoosier/Mazda/Carbotech/JPM Mazda Miata, an F Production (FP) car being developed with help from Jesse Prather who brought the machine down from Topeka, KS, for that event.
Immediately after that gathering, Kannard headed west to spend time with family in Colorado, then made his way to the Northwest for the HST weekend at PIR. In Portland, however, Kannard met up with his No. 51 Northwest Cable Construction/Hoosier/JPM/Carbotech Acura Integra, another FP car of his which was hauled out from Prather’s shop in Kansas by Joey Smith.
While Kannard spent a little time competing in Spec Racer® Ford some years ago, the bulk of his experience and success have been in Production classes.
“As opposed to a spec class, in Production you can do things to the car a little beyond stock,” Kannard said about his Production preference. “There are still a lot of stock components, and that’s why they call it Production, but the ruleset is pretty good. Plus, there’s a very good family of people in Production.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s E, F or H Production … I just found this community of people in Production racing who are awesome,” Kannard continued. “These people are friends, as well as competitors. You go out and have beer with your friends at night, then you race hard against them the next day. We’re all in this together to have fun and be competitive.”
Even though Kannard lived in Portland when he was a younger man, this was actually his first time on course at PIR. It was a bucket-list stop for him; with only Lime Rock Park, Summit Point Motorsports Park and Barber Motorsports Park still on his “to do” list.
Kannard was certainly competitive this weekend in Oregon, taking back-to-back FP victories. A couple HST trophies and bottles of Mazza Vineyards sparkling wine certainly made the trip worthwhile.
“It’s a fun track,” said the 25-year member of SCCA about PIR. “It has a lot of high speed, and I like that style of driving. On the two long straights, I can get into fifth gear. And there are some high-speed turns at the end of the backstraight. It’s just a good track and I enjoyed it.”
One-Man Band from New Zealand
A shelf above the fireplace is where Ross Murray keeps his trophies, which means he must have one long fireplace since the accomplished racer has gathered many, many trophies over his 30 years with SCCA. That fact is strange since the Cal Club member didn’t originally fancy himself a driver.
“Racing was what the rich people do. You never thought it was in your budget,” Murray stated. “That’s why I never necessarily thought about doing racing.”
Born and raised in New Zealand, Murray was establishing a welding business in the mid-‘80s when he decided to visit California with a couple friends before hunkering down and getting serious about his future. A devotee of the TV show Hawaii Five-0, the 25 year old was instantly enamored with California and Marina del Rey to be specific. He hung out for as long as he could, then went back to New Zealand before returning to The States again. That rhythm went on for a bit until Murray just decided to make the U.S. his new home.
“I met a girl, got a boss who loved me … and it just became too easy to stay,” Murray recalls. “I was so naïve about life and things in general. When I came to Marina del Rey, I thought that was America. I had no idea places like Oklahoma existed. Not a clue.”
Murray later founded a small metal-fabrication shop in Marina del Rey doing stainless steel work on boats. He then stumbled upon racecar work through mutual friendships and some dirt car competition. He assisted in the build of an early American Sedan® (AS) car, then was asked to help out at Willow Springs International Raceway for an event.
“That’s not what I do. I’m a welder,” was Murray’s response to the request. “I don’t know anything about running a racecar, or tire pressures and all that stuff.”
One thing followed another, and Murray built a reputation as a sage crewman. Later, he had the chance to get behind the steering wheel and things just progressed.
“I started American Sedan in 1997, and I had buddies along,” Murray said. “I’ve never had a paid crew. But I had buddies who were various construction guys, plumbers and roofers, but never a professional mechanic. But those guys kind of go away, you know. They have lives, they have families. When they were single, it was a good time to go to the track with Ross and hang out, drink beer and barbeque. But as time goes on … it has become just myself.
“Normally you get up early and work on the car, go qualify, then this or that … but to race the car, work on the car, load the car, and then try to drive home is sometimes a challenge. If I can get 200 or 300 miles in after a weekend, I’m grateful.”
What keeps Murray going? Well, two first-place trophies for winning AS races at PIR this weekend in the No. 74 Hoosier Ford Mustang probably helps. But there has to be more, right?
“There are weird things that keep coming along that you want to keep doing,” was Murray’s explanation. “Each year there seems to be some other reason to swap classes or do a different car.”
Sunday Race Winners
Below are provisional race winners from Sunday’s Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour conducted at Portland International Raceway in Oregon. Each entry includes Car Class: Driver Name, SCCA Region, and Car. An asterisk (*) denotes drivers with a weekend sweep in the class.
*American Sedan: Ross Murray, Cal Club, Ford Mustang
B-Spec: Derrick Ambrose, Oregon Region, Mazda 2
*E Production: Austin Bradshaw, Oregon Region, Mazda RX-7
*F Production: Ken Kannard, Atlanta Region, Acura Integra
*H Production: Bill Okell, Oregon Region, MG Midget
*Formula Enterprises® 2: Jon Mcclintock, Oregon Region, SCCA Enterprises FE2 Mazda
Formula F: John Hill, Oregon Region, Crossle 35F
*Formula Vee®: Quinn Posner, Northwest Region, Protoform P3
*GT-1: Michael Mcaleenan, Northwest Region, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo
*GT-2: Brad Mcallister, Oregon Region, Ford Mustang
*Spec Miata: John Salerno, New England Region, Mazda Miata
Spec MX-5: Christian Hoagland, Cal Club, Mazda MX-5
*Spec Racer Ford Gen3: Caleb Shrader, Oregon Region, SCCA Enterprises SRF3
*Super Touring® Lite: Jared Korth, San Francisco Region, Mazda MX-5
*Super Touring Under: Marc Hoover, Cal Club, Mazda MX-5
*Touring 1: Ed Gless, Northwest Region, Pontiac GTO
*Touring 2: Scotty B White, Northwest Region, Ford Mustang GT
*Touring 3: Gamaliel Aguilar-Gamez, Northwest Region, Nissan 370Z
*Touring 4: Scotty B White, Northwest Region, Ford Mustang
It’s Go, Go, Go for Mid-O
There are 2,440 miles between PIR and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, which is where HST’s next soirée happens May 15-17, 2026, for a fantastic three-day event hosted by SCCA’s Ohio Valley Region. Registration is open now for both Drivers and Volunteers to avail themselves of a wonderful weekend along the lush, 2.4-mile, 15-turn, natural terrain circuit that hosted SCCA’s Runoffs® for years.
As usual, racing from Mid-Ohio will be presented live, online and for free thanks to the popular HST video broadcast. But before then, competition from Portland can be enjoyed in hindsight thanks to the on-demand video playback at the SCCA YouTube channel. Sunday victory podium celebrations can also be viewed at the Summit Racing Equipment SCCA Road Racing Facebook page.
Photo: Ken Kannard came all the way from Florida to claim both F Production wins at PIR during the HST weekend.
Photo by Doug Berger
