Nathanial Sparks is a racing driver who last raced in American Endurance Racing. Sparks is a one-time champion (2016), with 8 wins and 36 podiums from 88 starts.[1]
A Racer Rating of 2,898 ranks Sparks 9108th of 40,200 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the high 8,000s. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file, decayed for time since their last race.
| 2020-02-16 | Road Atlanta Class 2 | P3 | −24 |
| 2020-02-15 | Road Atlanta Class 2 | P10 | −210 |
| Rating won | Race | Series | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| +119 | Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca 2016 | Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | P4 |
| +106 | Sebring International Raceway 2018 | Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | P1 |
| +104 | Watkins Glen International 2016 | Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | P3 |
| +101 | Road America 2016 | Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | P2 |
| +100 | Watkins Glen International 2016 | Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | P5 |
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | DNFs | Poles | Points | Pos | Gain/Loss | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ▸American Endurance Racing | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P45 | −234 | 2,898 | |
| 2019 | ▸Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | Sick Sideways Racing | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | P17 | −797 | 2,898 |
| 2018 | ▸Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | Sick Sideways Racing | 13 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | P3 | −113 | 3,611 |
| 2017 | ▸Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | Sick Sideways Racing | 14 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | P3 | +349 | 4,143 |
| 2016 | ▸Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin | OOTSK Performance/Bimmerworld | 12 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | P1 | ↑623+718 | 4,011 |
| 2011 | ▸NASA | Mazda | 6 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P20 | +328 | 2,352 |
| 2010 | ▸NASA | 126081 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P13 | +269 | 2,025 |
| ▸BMW CCA Club Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P40 | −51 | |||
| 2009 | ▸NASA | Mazda | 15 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P9 | +746 | 1,806 |
| ▸BMW CCA Club Racing | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P18 | +89 | |||
| 2008 | ▸NASA | Mazda | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P71 | −378 | 972 |
| Rival | Rating | Raced | Ahead | Behind | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🏳️ Hernan Palermo | 3,015 | 47 | 33 | 14 | 70% |
| 🇺🇸 Zachry LeeFIA Bronze | 3,266 | 45 | 33 | 12 | 73% |
| 🇺🇸 Alex BachouraFIA Bronze | 3,161 | 43 | 30 | 13 | 70% |
| 🇵🇷 Bryan OrtizFIA Silver | 3,467 | 39 | 15 | 24 | 38% |
| 🇺🇸 Ashton HarrisonFIA Silver | 3,672 | 37 | 34 | 3 | 92% |
| 🇺🇸 Robert StoutFIA Silver | 3,448 | 37 | 10 | 27 | 27% |
| 🇺🇸 John DeanFIA Bronze | 3,182 | 37 | 14 | 23 | 38% |
| 🏳️ Luke Oxner | 3,132 | 37 | 19 | 18 | 51% |
| 🇺🇸 Keith JensenFIA Bronze | 1,427 | 35 | 32 | 3 | 91% |
| 🇺🇸 Drake KemperFIA Bronze | 2,751 | 32 | 17 | 15 | 53% |
| 🇺🇸 Eric CurranFIA Gold | 5,371 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100% |
| 🇺🇸 Patrick GallagherFIA Silver, 1× champion | 5,266 | 16 | 3 | 13 | 19% |
| 🇯🇵 Yuui TsutsumiFIA Silver | 5,220 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 50% |
| # | Driver | Series | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9,098 | 🏳️ Sebastion Rist | Zenith Racing Series | 2,900 |
| 9,099 | 🇬🇧 Adam George | American Endurance Racing | 2,899 |
| 9,100 | 🇬🇧 Jamie Alan Day | 24H Series | 2,899 |
| 9,101 | 🏳️ Rudy Junco | WEC | 2,899 |
| 9,102 | 🇧🇪 Beau Lowette | Spanish F4 | 2,898 |
| 9,103 | 🏳️ Christopher Hoy | WEC | 2,898 |
| 9,104 | 🇬🇧 Ethan Hammerton | BTCC | 2,898 |
| 9,105 | 🏳️ Kerry Micks | NASCAR Canada Series | 2,898 |
| 9,106 | 🇺🇸 Logan Stretch | SCCA Majors | 2,898 |
| 9,107 | 🏳️ Michael Munemann | WEC | 2,898 |
| 9,108 | 🏳️ Nathanial Sparks | American Endurance Racing | 2,898 |
| 9,109 | 🇦🇷 Roberto Urretavizcaya | Turismo Carretera | 2,898 |
| 9,110 | 🏳️ Timo Reger | IMSA Prototype Challenge | 2,898 |
| 9,111 | 🏳️ Brent Goforth | Trans-Am | 2,897 |
| 9,112 | 🇧🇪 Didier Theys | Formula 3 Macau | 2,897 |
| 9,113 | 🇯🇵 JP De Oliveira | Nürburgring 24 Hours | 2,897 |
| 9,114 | 🇯🇵 Kazuki Ota | GT World Challenge Asia | 2,897 |
| 9,115 | 🇮🇹 Michaela Cerruti | Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie | 2,897 |
| 9,116 | 🇺🇸 Jack Parriott | GT4 America | 2,896 |
| 9,117 | 🇺🇸 Jake Bonilla | SVRA | 2,896 |
| 9,118 | 🇯🇲 Jason Bedasse | Pro Mazda Championship | 2,896 |
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.