Nathanial Sparks is a racing driver who last raced in Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin for Sick Sideways Racing. Sparks is a one-time champion (2016), with 3 wins and 15 podiums from 51 starts.[1]
A Racer Rating of 3,214 ranks Sparks 4815th of 17,494 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the low five figures. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file, decayed for time since their last race.
| 2019-09-21 | Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca · ND2 | P13 | −20 |
| 2019-09-21 | Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca · ND2 | P22 | −131 |
| 2019-09-01 | Portland International Raceway · ND2 | DNF | −151 |
| 2019-08-31 | Portland International Raceway · ND2 | P15 | −67 |
| 2019-07-28 | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course · ND2 | P16 | −67 |
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | DNFs | Poles | Points | Pos | Gain/Loss | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | ▸Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | Sick Sideways Racing | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | P19 | −796 | 3,452 |
| 2018 | ▸Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | Sick Sideways Racing | 13 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | P4 | −50 | 3,961 |
| 2017 | ▸Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | Sick Sideways Racing | 14 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | P3 | +496 | 4,453 |
| 2016 | ▸Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | OOTSK Performance/Bimmerworld | 12 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | P1 | +827 | 4,239 |
| Rival | Rating | Raced | Ahead | Behind | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🏳️ Hernan Palermo | 3,166 | 40 | 28 | 12 | 70% |
| 🇺🇸 Ashton HarrisonFIA SILVER | 3,805 | 34 | 33 | 1 | 97% |
| 🇺🇸 John DeanFIA BRONZE | 3,294 | 34 | 12 | 22 | 35% |
| 🇺🇸 Zachry LeeFIA BRONZE | 3,402 | 33 | 25 | 8 | 76% |
| 🇺🇸 Robert StoutFIA SILVER | 3,634 | 32 | 9 | 23 | 28% |
| 🇵🇷 Bryan OrtizFIA SILVER | 3,366 | 32 | 11 | 21 | 34% |
| 🇺🇸 Alex BachouraFIA BRONZE | 3,340 | 31 | 22 | 9 | 71% |
| 🏳️ Luke Oxner | 3,398 | 30 | 16 | 14 | 53% |
| 🇺🇸 Keith JensenFIA BRONZE | 2,575 | 30 | 29 | 1 | 97% |
| 🇺🇸 Drake KemperFIA BRONZE | 3,078 | 29 | 15 | 14 | 52% |
| 🇺🇸 Robert NoakerFIA SILVER · 2× CHAMPION | 5,433 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 42% |
| 🇺🇸 Eric CurranFIA GOLD | 5,403 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100% |
| 🇺🇸 Patrick GallagherFIA SILVER · 1× CHAMPION | 5,243 | 16 | 3 | 13 | 19% |
| # | Driver | Series | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4,805 | 🇦🇷 Pedro Serramalera | Star Mazda Championship | 3,218 |
| 4,806 | 🇫🇮 Tomi Limmonen | Formula Renault Eurocup | 3,218 |
| 4,807 | 🇺🇸 Christian Bach | IMSA Pilot Challenge | 3,215 |
| 4,808 | 🇨🇦 David Richert | Formula Renault Eurocup | 3,215 |
| 4,809 | 🇯🇵 Hiroaki Nagai | Super GT | 3,215 |
| 4,810 | 🇮🇹 Marco Betti | Formula Renault Eurocup | 3,215 |
| 4,811 | 🇺🇸 Michael Guasch | IMSA Prototype Challenge | 3,215 |
| 4,812 | 🇫🇷 Romain Favre | European Le Mans Series | 3,215 |
| 4,813 | 🏳️ Thad Moffitt | NASCAR Truck Series | 3,215 |
| 4,814 | 🇬🇧 Bradley Philpot | BTCC | 3,214 |
| 4,815 | 🏳️ Nathanial Sparks | Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | 3,214 |
| 4,816 | 🇺🇸 Chris Spada | GT4 America | 3,213 |
| 4,817 | 🇺🇸 Cole Moore | Trans-Am | 3,213 |
| 4,818 | 🇦🇺 George Proudford-Nalder | British F4 | 3,213 |
| 4,819 | 🇬🇧 James Raven | Formula Regional Americas | 3,213 |
| 4,820 | 🏳️ Kelly Gallant | Star Mazda Championship | 3,213 |
| 4,821 | 🏳️ Peter Ensor | SCCA Runoffs | 3,213 |
| 4,822 | 🇬🇧 Ryan Bensley | BTCC | 3,213 |
| 4,823 | 🇺🇸 Preston Lambert | Euroformula Open | 3,212 |
| 4,824 | 🇷🇺 Roman Beregech | Formula Renault Eurocup | 3,212 |
| 4,825 | 🇳🇱 Daan van Kuijk | Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup | 3,211 |
Nathanial Sparks was a semi-professional driver who competed in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin from 2016 to 2019. His Racer Rating of 3,214 places him at the semi-professional level, meaning he was capable of winning in one-make and pro-am fields but did not compete regularly among full-time professionals at the top championships. He recorded 51 starts across his career with 3 wins and 15 podiums, finishing on average in seventh place. He won the 2016 Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin ND1 championship in his debut season, establishing himself quickly in the series with Sick Sideways Racing.[1]
Sparks had a strong head-to-head record against several of his most frequent rivals, notably finishing ahead of Hernan Palermo 28 times across 40 shared races and ahead of Ashton Harrison 33 times in 34 encounters. However, he struggled against some stronger competitors in the field; John Dean and Robert Stout both finished ahead of him substantially more often. More notably, Sparks occasionally finished ahead of drivers from higher professional tiers, including established Silver-graded and Gold-graded professionals: he beat the much stronger Robert Noaker eight times, Kyle Kaiser twice, and Patrick Gallagher, who was also a 2017 Mazda MX-5 Cup ND1 champion, three times. These results were occasional rather than patterns and do not reflect a consistent ability to compete at that level.
Sparks competed exclusively in the Mazda MX-5 Cup throughout his career. His performance declined in his final season in 2019, when he failed to score a podium in 12 rounds and finished nineteenth overall. He has since retired from racing. His 2016 championship win and his early success in the series remain his most notable achievements.