Star Mazda President to meet with young drivers

In response to the international excitement generated by the announcement of the new Mazda Road to Indy program that will provide scholarship funding for the champions of each series (USF2000, Star Mazda and Indy Lights) to move up and compete at the next level, Gary Rodrigues, founder and President of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, will travel next week to Indianapolis and England to meet with top young drivers from around the world.

"There has been huge interest from drivers around the world, and they all have questions they'd like answered about the Star Mazda Championship and the Mazda Road to Indy," says Rodrigues, who founded the Star Mazda Championship in 1990. "Mazda and INDYCAR have been advertising the program in Autosport, and we have a lot of information up on the StarMazda.com web site, but we're asking these young drivers and their sponsors to make a major decision about the direction of their future. We want to do everything we can to help them make the right decision, and give them the information they need to put a good program together, whether it's for Star Mazda or another Mazda Road to Indy series. So I'll be scheduling meetings with drivers next week in Indianapolis at the 'State of INDYCAR' meeting and in England at the AUTOSPORT International show; any young driver or sponsor interested in meeting should call my cell phone at (818) 620-2283. If you can't get through that way, send me an e-mail at Gary@StarMazda.com and I'll get back to you."

Rodrigues will be in Indianapolis on Tuesday, January 11 at the Westin Hotel. The State of INDYCAR meeting takes place from 4 – 5:30 pm ET and will feature presentations by INCDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard, top INDYCAR marketing and competition officials, IZOD representatives. The AUTOSPORT International Racing Car Show takes place January 13-16 at the NEC in Birmingham, England. Rodrigues will be available all day Thursday, Jan. 14 and Saturday, Jan. 16.