Mancuso Joins JDC Motorsports Star Mazda Driver Line-Up

In its continued pursuit of adding more race wins to its trophy case, JDC MotorSports has announced that Nick Mancuso will run a limited campaign in the 2011 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. As part of a multi-car effort by the two-time series champion, the American will make his junior formula car debut in the highly-rated driver development series.

Given JDC MotorSports’ history of helping talented drivers develop, both in and out of the cockpit, it should come as no surprise that the Minnesota-based team has added series newcomer Mancuso to its 2011 Star Mazda roster. The Illinois racer, having previously tested with JDC, will make the switch to junior formula action this coming season after focusing on sedan and sports car racing the past few years. With support from the Indeck Group of Companies, Lake Forest Sportscars, F.A.S.T. Race Products, and the Max Schewitz Foundation, Mancuso will run a limited campaign to start in the Mazda Road to Indy series, with the goal of finding additional funding to run more races in the future.

“Things have been coming together nicely for our team in the last few weeks and we are very excited to have added Nick to the driver line-up," stated Church. “This will be an exciting year and I couldn’t be happier with the drivers we have selected."

“I am incredibly excited that I will actually be on the Star Mazda grid this year," stated Mancuso. “JDC MotorSport's championship-winning record speaks for itself, so I know that we will have a competitive car. I can't thank my partners enough for making this happen, and I look forward to starting my journey on the Mazda Road to Indy. I am a bit of an unknown quantity in the open-wheel world, and I look forward to hopefully catching some people by surprise when the lights go out in St. Pete."

A native of Lake Forest, Ill., Mancuso joins JDC Motorsports in the Star Mazda Championship this coming season having raced exclusively in the sports car ranks in his young racing career. First getting behind the wheel in 2006, he immediately steered his way into victory lane, winning numerous races in SCCA Regional Sports 2000 competition. That trend continued one year later in National competition, culminating in a third place finish in the year-end SCCA National Championship Runoffs, and the Jim Fitzgerald Rookie of the Year award. Making the move up to the pro racing ranks, Mancuso was selected to take part in the inaugural Volkswagen Jetta TDI

Cup in 2008, before racing in the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 in 2009. Last season, the Illinois racer contested one race in the SCCA World Challenge, piloting an Aston Martin DB9 in the GT class.

Mancuso will join his JDC MotorSports teammates (Tristan Vautier and Chris Miller) at Barber Motorsports Park on March 14-16, when official series testing will take place at the Alabama road course as part of the INDYCAR Spring Training program. The 2011 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear commences on March 27th, with Round One on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. JDC will make further announcements regarding its 2011 driver line-up in the coming weeks, with the team currently evaluating additional racers, and interested parties urged to contact the squad.