BROWNSBURG, IND. -- Kyle Kaiser was presented with the Quartermaster Hard Charger Award this past weekend at the "Night Before the 500" race at Lucas Oil Raceway Park. For much of the evening it looked as though the weather might be an issue. Fortunately, the clouds eventually parted and a delayed and shortened 52-lap race was run late into the evening.
"This was a successful first oval race for Kyle. We had a challenging weekend, especially in qualifying when Kyle had a big slide that cost us at least half a second, but in the end Kyle did exactly what he needed to in the race. He made some good assertive passes early on, and drove a good consistent race to bring it home in seventh," stated World Speed Motorsports Team Owner Telo Stewart.
The "Night Before the 500" has long been a focal point of the open wheel community dating back to the early 1960's when racing legends such as AJ Foyt would take part in the event prior to racing in the Indianapolis 500 the following day. In fact, Foyt was the first winner on the Lucas Oil Raceway Park oval in 1961, and then went on to secure his first Indy 500 win a few days later. Other past winners include Johnny Parsons, Jeff Gordon, and Kasey Kahne. Kaiser is currently 6th in points in the championship with five of sixteen races completed. Next up on the schedule is the Milwaukee IndyFest on the famous Milwaukee Mile oval on June 12th-15th.
About the series:
The Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires debuted in 2013 as a new series, replacing the Star Mazda Championship which ceased operation in 2012 after 22 years. It is the second official step on the Mazda Road to Indy ladder system with the series' champion awarded a scholarship package from Mazda to advance to Firestone Indy Lights competition the following year.
About Kyle Kaiser:
Kyle Kaiser was born in Los Gatos, California, on March 5, 1996. He started his karting career at the age of 7, winning multiple races before moving up to formula cars with Skip Barber Racing in 2010, winning the 2010 Western Region Rookie-of-the-Year title, finishing 2nd overall in the championship. Following a 3rd place finish in the 2011 Skip Barber Western Region Championship Kaiser joined World Speed Motorsports and captured the Pro Mazda class championship in the Formula Car Challenge, winning 8 races, and finishing on the podium in 11 out of the 14 races. When not on track, Kaiser is a high school junior at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California.