Indianapolis, Ind. – For drivers racing in the Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tires Series, the unmistaken ambition is to race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the famous Indianapolis 500 one day.
Though not yet the big 500-mile race, Rising Star Racing drivers Spencer Pigot and Neil Alberico will look to make a step towards that goal and get a taste of racing at the prestigious Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) when the Pro Mazda Series takes to the new IMS road course this weekend.
The Pro Mazda event takes place in conjunction with the Grand Prix of Indianapolis which marks the Verizon IndyCar Series’ debut on the new 2.434-mile, 14-turn road course that incorporates the traditional oval Turns One and Two as well as the front straight of the iconic IMS oval.
Fellow Rising Star Racing IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden has two Indy 500 starts on the IMS oval and won the Indy Lights event there in 2011, but will take his first race laps around the road course this weekend in IndyCar’s inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis.
Newgarden tested his No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda entry last week during IndyCar’s first official test at the new track. But for Pro Mazda’s Pigot and Alberico, the weekend will see the young pilots on the track for the very first time.
Pigot has opened the 2014 Pro Mazda season in a big way. He has won all four races of the year in his No. 7 Doug Mockett & Company/Rising Star Racing/Vitamin-DPro App/California Scents/Juncos Racing machine and looks to continue that winning streak in the Indianapolis event.
“Racing at the Speedway is going to be an incredible feeling,” offered Pigot. “We’re going in with the best possible momentum and the best possible results so we’re just going to try to keep it going.”
Making his rookie campaign in the category, Alberico has picked up a string of positive results in the No. 2 Bondurant School/eFormulaCarNews.com/J&M Trophy/Rising Star Racing Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing car and sits sixth in the championship standings. He aims to score his first podium of the season this weekend.
“The month of May is going to be huge especially because we’re there at the road course as well as the night before the 500,” said Alberico. “It’s going to be really fun. It’s a great event. The fans in Indianapolis are awesome. We’ll be spending a lot of time there and I’m looking forward to it. It will be a big one if we win there.”
Newgarden has performed strongly through the first three rounds of Verizon IndyCar Series competition. He finished ninth at St. Pete and was leading at Long Beach when he was hit from behind and taken out of the race while leading the event. An eighth place finish in the most recent round at Barber Motorsports Park sees Newgarden hoping to build momentum at Indianapolis with another positive outing.
On track action begins on Wednesday, May 7 for the Pro Mazda competitors while the Verizon IndyCar Series will take its first practice laps on Thursday, May 8.