It’s high tech versus high school in search of $100,000 prize - Speedway Digest

Mazda Motorsports announced seven-teen year old high school student Mason Filippi (Alamo, CA) and forty-nine year old high tech executive Mark Drennan (San Jose, CA) as finalists for their 2015 Mazda Road to 24 Shootout. On November 8th-10th they will square off against each other and seven other drivers at Carolina Motorsports Park for the single largest prize in grassroots motorsports, a $100K Mazda Scholarship to compete in the 2016 Battery Tender MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires professional racing series.

Filippi, a senior at Walnut Creek’s Berean Christian High School, races in the highly competitive Spec Miata class and clinched the 2015 National Auto Sport Association (NASA) Teen Mazda Challenge – West Coast title. Drennan manages recruiting organizations for Silicon Valley technology leaders and won the Spec Miata class at NASA’s 2015 Western States Championships at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and the Eastern States Championships at Virginia International Raceway.

Their accomplishments earned them a place among twenty-three drivers nominated as semi-finalists for the shootout. The nine finalists were selected after submitting a short video presentation and business proposal detailing their racing goals, funding strategy, and cooperative marketing plans.

“I am so excited to compete in the Mazda Road to 24.” said Mason. “I am honored and thankful to represent Mazda from the West Coast Teen Mazda Challenge. The shootout will be one of the best opportunities in my life! I am looking forward to tackling the challenges Mazda has planned for me. I can’t wait!”

“It’s taken many years of hard work to finally realize my goal of getting to the Mazda Road to 24 Shootout.” said Drennan. “I’m absolutely thrilled and thankful for the opportunity to prove to Mazda that I am not only the fastest driver on track, but also their best partner off track.”

The racers will be tested on the track for their driving skills, and in the garage for their technical understanding of the sport. The aspiring professional racer who wins the prize will have 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.

Filippi and Drennan are teammates supported by the same race shop, TFB Performance in Sonoma, and compete against each other in races organized by NASA and the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) at Northern California region race tracks – Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Sonoma Raceway, and Thunderhill Raceway Park.

Drennan says about Filippi, “Mason’s an exceptionally talented driver and a super nice young man. I enjoy spending time at the track with him and his parents who are close to my age. I’m really looking forward to sharing what’s certain to be an amazing experience with him.”

“Mark is one of the best guys I know on the track and off, he is always kind and willing to help out up and coming drivers. His talent is next level as shown in every race car he gets into. I am looking forward to pursuing our racing careers together!” Filippi says about Drennan.

The Mazda Road to 24 is a Mazda Motorsports program that provides a series of scholarships supporting drivers up a well-defined racing ladder to reach the ultimate level in sports car racing in North America. From grassroots racing through professional categories such as the Global MX-5 Cup, the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and the Cooper Tire Prototype Lites powered by Mazda, championship-winning drivers earn scholarships all the way to potentially becoming a Mazda factory driver in the Prototype category in the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship (becomes the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2016).

There is a similar program for open wheel racers, the Mazda Road to Indy program which offers a scholarship ladder supporting racers from karting all the way to the Indianapolis 500. This year, Mazda will award more than $2,340,000 in scholarships to winning drivers in sports cars and open wheel categories.

Additional information about the Mazda Road to 24 shootout, and 2016 MX-5 Cup race car, can be found atwww.mazdamotorsports.com Mazda Motorsports will be providing live social updates from the Carolina Motorsports Park event on Twitter at @mazdaracing and with hashtag #MRT24.

Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through nearly 700 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at www.mazdausamedia.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.