Post by QueenCityMotorsports.com on Jan 6, 2007 13:36:41 GMT -5
CINCINNATIAN TO DRIVE FOR BRIAN STEWART RACING
SPARTA, KY. - Cincinnati native Brad Jaeger will drive for Brian Stewart Racing in the Indy Pro Series in 2007 as the team attempts to successfully defend back-to-back championships.
The 21-year-old, who won the Pacific Formula 2000 Championship in 2004, impressed during two tests with the team.
“We’re really looking forward to working with Brad,” team owner Brian Stewart said. “He was a front-runner in Star Mazda. Now it’s our job to take him as a rookie and make him into a race winner.”
No team molds race winners like Stewart’s. The team won two Indy Pro Series championships and claimed four race victories with Wade Cunningham the past two seasons. The team was legendary in Indy Lights in the 1980s and ’90s, winning 31 races and two titles with drivers such as Paul Tracy, Cristiano da Matta, Bryan Herta and Jaques Lazier.
“I’m really excited to get on board with Brian Stewart Racing,” said Jaeger, who expects to graduate from Vanderbilt University with a degree in mechanical engineering in May. “The program they have is exactly what I need. They’ve proven themselves as a team that can help a driver progress, get them to their prime – that’s what I need.”
Jaeger’s racing roots developed in the Cincinnati area, including shifter kart events at a Camden, Ohio, track owned by the family of three-time Indy Pro Series race winner Travis Gregg. After competing in a handful of Sports Car Club of America regional events in 2002 “just for fun,” he began competitively racing cars in 2003, finishing second in the Sport 2000 National Championship.
This past season, Jaeger made seven starts in the Star Mazda Championship, winning the pole at the season’s first race and earning a 10th-place finish at Milwaukee. Jaeger missed the middle of the season after suffering injuries in a multi-car pileup at Montreal. He returned for the season’s final two races.
Jaeger will race at Kentucky Speedway, his “hometown” track, in August as the Indy Pro Series will run in conjunction with the IndyCar Series on August 11.
Kentucky Speedway’s eighth season of operation will span five weekends from May 12 to Aug. 11. The 66,089-seat venue will open its new season with the ARCA RE/MAX Series "Buckle-Up Kentucky 150" May 12, co-promote its first street stock “Frank Kimmel Enduro Invitational” May 26, follow up with its high-profile NASCAR Busch Series "Meijer 300 Presented by Oreo" weekend June 15-16, play host to the ARCA RE/MAX Series “Channel 5 150” and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series "Built Ford Tough 225 Presented by the Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers" July 13-14, and close its campaign with the first Indy Racing League IndyCar and Indy Pro Series twilight and night races in track history Aug. 10-11.
About the Indy Pro Series:
The Indy Pro Series is the premier ladder series for drivers and teams striving to compete in the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500. Primarily run in conjunction with the IndyCar Series, the Indy Pro Series’ 16-race schedule features seven races on ovals and nine races on road courses/street circuits, including both circuits at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Teams compete for more than $3 million in prize money in cars that are second only in speed to the IndyCar Series at most tracks they visit. The complete Indy Pro Series schedule is telecast on ESPN 2 and available through live Webcasts. Recent graduates of this fast and cost-effective series include Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter and Jeff Simmons. For more information on the Indy Pro Series, please visit www.indycar.com/pro.
SPARTA, KY. - Cincinnati native Brad Jaeger will drive for Brian Stewart Racing in the Indy Pro Series in 2007 as the team attempts to successfully defend back-to-back championships.
The 21-year-old, who won the Pacific Formula 2000 Championship in 2004, impressed during two tests with the team.
“We’re really looking forward to working with Brad,” team owner Brian Stewart said. “He was a front-runner in Star Mazda. Now it’s our job to take him as a rookie and make him into a race winner.”
No team molds race winners like Stewart’s. The team won two Indy Pro Series championships and claimed four race victories with Wade Cunningham the past two seasons. The team was legendary in Indy Lights in the 1980s and ’90s, winning 31 races and two titles with drivers such as Paul Tracy, Cristiano da Matta, Bryan Herta and Jaques Lazier.
“I’m really excited to get on board with Brian Stewart Racing,” said Jaeger, who expects to graduate from Vanderbilt University with a degree in mechanical engineering in May. “The program they have is exactly what I need. They’ve proven themselves as a team that can help a driver progress, get them to their prime – that’s what I need.”
Jaeger’s racing roots developed in the Cincinnati area, including shifter kart events at a Camden, Ohio, track owned by the family of three-time Indy Pro Series race winner Travis Gregg. After competing in a handful of Sports Car Club of America regional events in 2002 “just for fun,” he began competitively racing cars in 2003, finishing second in the Sport 2000 National Championship.
This past season, Jaeger made seven starts in the Star Mazda Championship, winning the pole at the season’s first race and earning a 10th-place finish at Milwaukee. Jaeger missed the middle of the season after suffering injuries in a multi-car pileup at Montreal. He returned for the season’s final two races.
Jaeger will race at Kentucky Speedway, his “hometown” track, in August as the Indy Pro Series will run in conjunction with the IndyCar Series on August 11.
Kentucky Speedway’s eighth season of operation will span five weekends from May 12 to Aug. 11. The 66,089-seat venue will open its new season with the ARCA RE/MAX Series "Buckle-Up Kentucky 150" May 12, co-promote its first street stock “Frank Kimmel Enduro Invitational” May 26, follow up with its high-profile NASCAR Busch Series "Meijer 300 Presented by Oreo" weekend June 15-16, play host to the ARCA RE/MAX Series “Channel 5 150” and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series "Built Ford Tough 225 Presented by the Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers" July 13-14, and close its campaign with the first Indy Racing League IndyCar and Indy Pro Series twilight and night races in track history Aug. 10-11.
About the Indy Pro Series:
The Indy Pro Series is the premier ladder series for drivers and teams striving to compete in the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500. Primarily run in conjunction with the IndyCar Series, the Indy Pro Series’ 16-race schedule features seven races on ovals and nine races on road courses/street circuits, including both circuits at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Teams compete for more than $3 million in prize money in cars that are second only in speed to the IndyCar Series at most tracks they visit. The complete Indy Pro Series schedule is telecast on ESPN 2 and available through live Webcasts. Recent graduates of this fast and cost-effective series include Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter and Jeff Simmons. For more information on the Indy Pro Series, please visit www.indycar.com/pro.