TOPEKA, Kan. (Aug. 3, 2015) – Sports Car Club of America drivers have a clear path from Club Racing to the Indianapolis 500, if they show the talent, after an announcement on Saturday that the Runoffs will be a part of Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $200K Scholarship Shootout.
Joined by other major open-wheel and karting champions, newly-crowned Formula F and Formula Continental National Champions will be given the opportunity to compete for a $200,000 prize to compete in the 2016 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. In addition, the F1600 and F2000 Championship Series Champions, sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing, will also be included as affiliated series feeding this program.
The Shootout will be an unprecedented event, bringing the champions of North American and international series together for the first time in a knockout-style format. Each participating series will be able to offer its 2016 champion an “entry ticket” to the Shootout, which will be a hotly contested event in the fall of next year. The winner will be awarded a $200K scholarship from Mazda to enter USF2000 in 2017.
A total of 15 drivers will be invited to take part in the Shootout program. Each participating series will be designated as an Official Feeder Series of the Mazda Road to Indy. Series currently confirmed include:
• SCCA Runoffs – Formula F and Formula Continental (USA) sanctioned by SCCA
• F2000 Championship Series (USA) sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing
• F1600 Formula F Championship Series (USA) sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing
• BRSCC F1600 (England) sanctioned by BRSCC
• Formula Car Challenge Presented by Goodyear (USA) sanctioned by NASA
• Pacific F2000 (USA) sanctioned by SCCA/NASA
• Australian Formula Ford (Australia) sanctioned by Formula Ford Association Inc.
• ROTAX MAX Challenge (USA) sanctioned by MAXSpeed Group
• Skip Barber Race Series Champion (USA) sanctioned by Skip Barber
• Team USA Scholarship (USA)
“Mazda prides itself on providing the most comprehensive scholarship and ladder system for drivers in open wheel and sports cars,” said John Doonan, Director of Mazda Motorsports in North America. “Now, with the Scholarship Shootout, we can expand the Mazda Road to Indy entry-level opportunity to young champions from around the world. From an aggressive grassroots program to a well-defined ladder system to the top levels of racing in North America, Mazda strives to help develop superstars of the future.”
Current drivers who have moved up the ladder with scholarship programs from Mazda include Luke Gabin, who entered USF2000 with a $200K scholarship in 2015 after winning the Skip Barber Championship Shootout; Florian Latorre, the reigning USF2000 champion who graduated to Pro Mazda; 2014 Pro Mazda champion Spencer Pigot, who has four wins and four poles to date this season in Indy Lights, the most by any driver; and Gabby Chaves, who drives for Bryan Herta Autosport in the Verizon IndyCar Series after capturing last year’s Indy Lights crown.
“The response from the various series about this new program has been incredible and we are thrilled to have them as partners as we help the rising stars of the sport take the next step in their career in USF2000 on the Mazda Road to Indy path,” said Dan Andersen, Owner and CEO of Andersen Promotions. “I have to thank our terrific partner Mazda for thinking outside the box and opening up this opportunity to so many more drivers. It will be exciting to bring together all of the series champions and watch them compete.”
Full details on the all series involved in the Shootout and competition details will be distributed in the coming months.
The program continues to outline the path from the SCCA National Championship Runoffs to professional racing. Any Club Racing National Champion who wins in a Mazda powered vehicle continues to be eligible for the Mazda Shootout, placing the winner into the Battery Tender Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires each season.
More information on the SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB, September Sept. 21-27, can be found here.
Image: A train of Formula F cars laps Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca at the 2014 SCCA Runoffs.
Credit: Mark Weber
