I've had some decent racing in the Mazda cup before. On the very few occasions when I do race it anymore, I will qualify the best I can. Then if I'm starting in the top 3, I will start on the grid and race. If I am mid pack or further back, I will most likely start from the pits for the challenge. You can pick up a bunch of places on the first couple of laps just from attrition. After that follow people around, watch how they drive and decide whether it would be better to attempt a pass or give a little pressure and wait until they make a mistake.
Every race is what you make of it. Even if you are not fighting for the win, you can still have a good race and learn something. In the Mazda cup, one of the best skills I learned was accident avoidance. Every incident you get is at least partially your fault. Even if someone rams you from behind. I've had people try that and I swerved at the last minute and watched them wreck themselves. So if all you can do is Mazda Cup, then make the best of it and learn as much as you can. Maybe try oval racing too. You never know, you just might like it. My suggestion would be to wait until it is at Charlotte though.
Another thing you can do once you get into at least a D license series. Try to race the same time every week. After a while you will start to recognize the drivers and get to know who you can trust. I race the IndyCar oval fixed series every Monday night at 11:15pm EST/4:15 GMT and I check the entry list before the race and know almost every driver in there and who I can trust to run side by side with and who to avoid. I have had some great races just by knowing who I'm racing with. After a while it becomes almost like league racing.