INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.  — On two different race tracks, just a few miles apart, race fans can witness both the present and the future of the sport as history is written, and Rising Star Racing looks to be a factor in both.

Opening the holiday weekend’s racing activities will be the “Night Before the 500” at Lucas Oil Raceway as the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires stages the traditional oval outing with a 90-lap sprint on Saturday night. Then on Sunday, the Greatest Spectacle in Racing will see Rising Star Racing driver Josef Newgarden look to race into history and earn a spot on the Borg-Warner Trophy with a victory in the Indianapolis 500. 

Carrying the Rising Star Racing colors in the Pro Mazda Saturday night shootout will be championship points leader Spencer Pigot for Juncos Racing, and Neil Alberico driving for Cape Motorsports with WTR. Both drivers have similar goals but arrive at the event with different experiences the last time out. 

The Indianapolis Grand Prix marked a breakthrough for the rookie racer Alberico, who scored a podium finish in Race 1 before getting spun out on lap one of Race 2 and then staging a huge comeback drive to once again enjoy a big result with a second-place finish in race two. A double-podium weekend showed that the young Californian is quickly coming to grips in his first year in the Mazda ranks. 

For Pigot, the goal is to return to the form that saw him take victory in the opening four races of the year before a disappointing Indianapolis weekend threatened his impressive lead in the championship standings. Both drivers arrive with the momentum of the recent test and Oval Clinic that the Anderson Promotions-owned series staged earlier this month.

The weekend opens with a promoter test day on Friday, with the grid due to be set at 4:55 PM local time in qualifying ahead of the anticipated 8:25 PM race start.