Indy Pro 2000 Category

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Patricio “Pato” O’Ward is on a roll. The Mexican teenager might still be competing on a race-by-race basis in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires due to budgetary concerns, but he continued his impressive start to the season for Team Pelfrey by scoring a clear victory this afternoon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix road course. O’Ward’s fourth victory in five starts came in the first of two races that will comprise the Pro Mazda Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires JuncosRead More

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Patricio “Pato” O’Ward is still working to secure a full-season drive with Team Pelfrey in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, but he certainly aided his quest this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park by winning both 40-minute races which comprised the Mazda North American Operations Presents the Pro Mazda Grand Prix of Alabama. Teammate Aaron Telitz chased O’Ward home for the third time in four races this season, while Garett Grist finished third for the second race in succession for Juncos Racing. O’Ward took fullRead More

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Team Pelfrey once again flexed its muscles in this afternoon’s third round of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires at Barber Motorsports Park. Wisconsin native Aaron Telitz led for most of the 40-minute contest, the first of two races this weekend that will comprise the Mazda North American Operations Presents the Pro Mazda Grand Prix of Alabama, but teenaged Mexican Patricio “Pato” O’Ward pounced soon after a restart in the closing stages to secure his second win of the season. Canadian Garett Grist completed theRead More

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Second-year driver Parker Thompson blitzed the field today in the first of two races which will comprise the Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix of Alabama this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. Thompson, 18, from Red Deer, Alb., Canada, led throughout the 22-lap race en route to a long overdue maiden victory in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, the first level on the Mazda Road to Indy open-wheel development ladder. Brazilian Victor Franzoni (ArmsUp Motorsports) and Thompson’s teammate, outside front row qualifier Anthony Martin, fromRead More

The essential mission of the Mazda Road to Indy is to serve as a development platform for the Verizon IndyCar Series and other major forms of motorsports – not just for drivers, but for teams, mechanics and support personnel as well. One such graduate is Dave Lehman, aka Rotor. Rotor worked for Belardi Auto Racing on both their Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires teams before heading up Team Pelfrey’s title-winning Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires effort. Moving up toRead More

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Locally based Team Pelfrey enjoyed a banner weekend in the opening two races of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. After young Mexican Patricio O’Ward claimed top honors yesterday in the first of two races that made up the Allied Building Products Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, today it was the turn of rookie teammate Aaron Telitz to taste the spoils of victory. O’Ward finished second, while Malaysian Weiron Tan charged up from fifth on the grid to ensure an impressive one-two-three sweep forRead More

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Two weeks ago, Patricio “Pato” O’Ward wasn’t even sure whether he would be competing in the 2016 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. After concluding a last-minute arrangement to rejoin Team Pelfrey for the first four races of the season just a few days before last weekend’s Spring Training pre-season test at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Ala., the second-year driver romped to an impressive maiden victory in today’s Allied Building Products Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. O’Ward, 16, from Monterrey, Mexico, had been edgedRead More

PALMETTO, Fla. – A combination of veterans and rookies will do battle this weekend on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., as the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires kicks off with a pair of races which will comprise the Allied Building Products Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. All of the combatants will be chasing a coveted Mazda Scholarship valued at over $590,000 which will assist the series champion in graduating one more step up the Mazda Road to Indy open-wheel development ladder to Indy Lights Presented by CooperRead More

Tampa, Fla. (March 8, 2016) – Patricio “Pato” O’Ward signed with Team Pelfrey for the St. Petersburg, Fla. and Birmingham, Ala. rounds of the 2016 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires after testing with the team at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday and Monday. “I am thrilled and massively thankful for the opportunity Team Pelfrey has given me,” said O’Ward. “I will start the season at St. Pete and Barber and hopefully, complete the whole year with them if everything goes to plan. Testing has gone great and asRead More

PALMETTO, Fla. – The Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires will include a revised sub-class for 2016 following today’s announcement that the Expert Series, which previously catered to drivers over the age of 30, will be brought more in line with the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Presented by Mazda and replaced by a new National Class. Pro Mazda represents the middle rung on the acclaimed Mazda Road to Indy development ladder which provides Mazda scholarships to assist drivers graduating from karting through USF2000, Pro Mazda and Indy Lights PresentedRead More