The Mazda MX-5, known in the United States as the Mazda Miata, made its US market debut in May 1989 as a model year 1990 car. The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) placed the car in the Showroom Stock C class for production vehicles with a 1,600 cc engine. As the car's popularity grew, the SCCA developed a dedicated class for it. After an exhibition race at Road Atlanta in 1999, an SCCA regional class launched in 2000.
In 2003, Mazda launched the Mazdaspeed Miata Cup with separate Pacific and Atlantic championships. The series' first race was held at BeaveRun Motorsports Complex on May 3 and 4, 2003. The introduction of the third-generation Mazda MX-5 coincided with the launch of a unified national pro series in 2006, which opened at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Chip Herr won the inaugural race from pole position, and Jim Daniels claimed the first championship.
The series grew steadily through the late 2000s. Todd Lamb dominated the 2009 season, winning eight consecutive races out of ten. The series introduced its first standing start in 2010 at New Jersey Motorsports Park, having previously used rolling starts exclusively. For 2012, the series created a partnership with the Skip Barber Racing School to bring in young drivers, with Bryan Hixon being the first driver to win that class.
Championship victories in this period went to Jason Saini (2007), Eric Foss (2008), Todd Lamb (2009), Brad Rampelberg (2010), Michael Cooper (2011), Stevan MacAleer (2012), Christian Szymczak (2013), and Kenton Koch (2014) — the latter marking back-to-back wins for Alara Racing and team principal Ken Murillo. The final season of the third-generation car was won by John Dean II.
In November 2014, Mazda unveiled the fourth-generation Global MX-5 Cup car at the SEMA tradeshow. The 2016 season launched the Global MX-5 Cup with the new fourth-generation Mazda MX-5, featuring a 2.0-liter Skyactiv-G four-cylinder engine. The car is built at Mazda's Hiroshima factory before conversion to cup specification. Development was handled by Mazda North American Operations and Long Road Racing. The championship winner received a $200,000 scholarship package; the inaugural Global champion was Nathanial Sparks.
For 2017, sanctioning transferred from SCCA Pro Racing to IndyCar, with Andersen Promotions — which also runs Road to Indy series including USF2000, Pro Mazda, and Indy Lights — taking over promotion. The series joined the IndyCar paddock at several events including the Grand Prix of Alabama and the Honda Indy Toronto.
Beginning in 2021, the series entered a new sanctioning agreement with IMSA, aligning with select WeatherTech SportsCar Championship events while retaining a single IndyCar event at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
The current car uses the fourth-generation ND-platform MX-5. From 2016 to 2018, the series ran the ND1 specification. In 2019, an updated ND2 class was introduced alongside the legacy ND1 cars, creating a two-class structure. The ND2 upgrades included an increase to 181 horsepower, a revised Bosch ECU with a 7,500 rpm limit, and a motorsport-oriented SADEV sequential gearbox. Long Road Racing ceased operations in 2019 and responsibilities were transferred to Flis Performance.
Starting with the 2016 season, the Mazda MX-5 Cup Global Invitational brought together nineteen drivers from eight countries in a standalone shootout format at the end of the season. The inaugural edition was won by champion Nathanial Sparks. Former FIA GT1 driver Gabriele Gardel also participated in the inaugural event.
The Global Mazda MX-5 Cup car appears in iRacing as a licensed single-make racing car used in the platform's MX-5 Cup series. The car is widely regarded as one of the best entry-level sim racing cars on the service due to its mechanical simplicity, close racing characteristics, and the relatively low barrier to entry compared to high-downforce machinery. iRacing's MX-5 Cup series attracts large grids and is commonly recommended for new iRacing members learning racecraft in wheel-to-wheel competition.