Mazda Racing Announces $75,000 Prize, the Biggest in All of Club Racing - Speedway Digest

The Mazda Club Racer Shootout is the single largest prize in club racing. Since 2007 Mazda has annually promoted one talented club racer to the professional ranks. The $75,000 prize funds a drive in the 2015 SCCA Pro Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires.

The heart and soul of Mazda Motorsports is club racing, and supporting those racers who have invested in racing a Mazda. The criteria for the shootout is to identify the aspiring professional racer who has the best range of skills required to succeed. These skills include speed, consistency, race craft, technical feedback, and off-track business, marketing and PR skills. History has shown that a driver will be limited in success if they are lacking in multiple areas.

John Doonan, Director of Motorsports, noted: “Our shootout has become a signature event for Mazda Motorsports. Without exception, every driver who won the shootout proved to be competitive in MX-5 Cup, with several developing solid professional careers. Each year we tweak the competition. This year marks the inclusion of iRacing simulation racers and a new set of business criteria for the judges.”

In past years, typically a dozen to 18 racers qualified for the first level of the competition. Each has won a recognized championship over a minimum number of competitors. The next step is for the racer to submit a business presentation and video, which will be reviewed and scored by a team of motorsports and marketing professionals. From those proposals, the finalists will be selected and advance to the winner-take-all shootout.

The final shootout will be at Buttonwillow Raceway Park on December 2^nd where the racers will be tested on the track for their technical skills.

The 15 currently identified semi-finalists for 2014 are as follows:

Club/Series Racer

Skip Barber Racing School (Summer Series) Sam Adams

NASA Eastern States Championships (PTE) Ben Anderson

SCCA National Championship Runoffs (Formula Mazda) Mike Anderson

SCCA National Championship Runoffs (T4) Danny Bender

NASA Eastern States Championships (Spec Miata) Alex Bolanos

Canadian Touring Car Championship – B-Spec Champion Normand Boyer

iRacing MX-5 Cup (Season 3) Steven Diem

NASA Spec Miata Teen Challenge (West) Joey Jordan

SCCA National Championship Runoffs (Formula Atlantic) Conner Kearby

iRacing MX-5 Cup (Season 2) Evan Maillard

NASA Spec Miata Teen Challenge (Rocky Mountain) Zachary Munro

Toyo Tires Spec Miata Championship (Canada) Aaron Pettipas

SCCA National Championship Runoffs (E Production) Matt Reynolds

SCCA National Championship Runoffs (Spec Miata) Erik Stearns

Skip Barber Racing School (Winter Series) Jim Wilby

There are a few remaining slots that will be identified between now and November 9^th:

Club/Series Season concludes on:

NASA Spec Miata Teen Challenge (Texas) November 2nd

Worldspeed Formula Car Championship November 9th

NASA Western States Championships (Spec Miata) November 9th

NASA Western States Championships (TBD) November 9th

Additional information about the Mazda Club Racer shootout can be found at www.mazdamotorsports.com

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.