Two new Indy Pro Series teams set for 2007
Apex Racing and Team Moore Racing are two of the latest teams to join the Indy Pro Series for 2007 after successful testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Apex Racing founders Ken Losch and Ryan Ruth see the series as a natural progression for their three-year-old team. The team began in club Formula Mazda in 2005, where it gained experience and began to assemble everything needed to operate a winning organization with the goal of competing in the Indianapolis 500. In 2006, Apex Racing recorded two victories and nine top-five finishes in the Star Mazda Series.
This year, Losch and Mike Potekhen will compete in the 16-race season that begins March 24 on the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway oval. They participated in the two-day Open Test on the Homestead-Miami Speedway road course and oval Feb. 20 and 22. "We looked at many options for the upcoming season and we feel that the Indy Pro Series provides us with the greatest opportunity to grow our team," Losch said. "The Indy Pro Series gives us everything that we are looking for, and we feel that it will be the best place for our team to gain the experience needed to move up to the next level."
Mark Moore and Tom Wood formed Team Moore Racing earlier this month. Moore has more than 30 years racing experience in all levels of the sport, while Wood is chairman and managing director of Xtreme Coil, an oil drilling corporation with corporate headquarters in Calgary, Alberta.
Wood raced in the inaugural season of the Indy Pro Series in 2002 and has 15 top-10 finishes in 20 starts overall. He'll compete in the season opener – the Miami 100 – March 24 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
"We are off to a great start. I can't wait to get back to Florida for the race," Moore said.
Moore and Wood have competed together with Kenn Hardley Racing for the past 18 months, during which Moore has performed double duty as team manager and race engineer. Team Moore Racing will continue to manage Kenn Hardley Racing during the 2007 season. The combined effort also will utilize the same key personnel who have been instrumental in the team's success.
"We have a very successful working relationship (with Hardley), but with the expansion of the series the timing was right for us to form Team Moore Racing," Moore said. "This sport is a people business and we have all the right people in place to be a winning team. Tom and I are committed to making TMR one of the top teams in the sport." IRL PR