In any group as large as the drivers, teams, crews and personnel involved in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, there are bound to be some stories that are out of the ordinary. These, of course, will change, evolve and expand as the season goes on, but now, before the first race, here’s a rundown of what we thought the media might find interesting. You are invited to check back periodically as we will update this section when new stories come to light.

For more information, photos, or to be put in contact with any of these teams or people, please contact Star Mazda Communications Director Peter Frey at (818) 906-6997 or StarMazdaPR@aol.com.

The Alumni
The Star Mazda Championship is the college basketball, the triple-A baseball, the Junior A hockey of auto racing, the high-speed training ground for future stars of the sport. What stars, you ask? Too many to name them all, but the short list includes the most recent American Formula One driver Scott Speed, Indy Car stars Marco Andretti and Graham Rahal and prototype phenom Colin Braun. Also on the list is the newest addition to Michael Waltrip’s NASCAR Sprint Cup team, Michael McDowell, who won the 2005 Star Mazda Championship, went on to race prototypes and Indy Cars and then was Rookie of the Year and finished 2nd in the 2007 ARCA RE/MAX championship in his first year racing stock cars.

The Graduate
One of the unique things about the Star Mazda Championship is that it is a part of the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development Ladder. This unique sponsorship program reaches all the way from karting to Champ Car with Mazda-provided sponsorships for the champions in each series on the ladder to move up to the next level. 2007 Star Mazda champion Dane Cameron will race in the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Presented by Mazda in 2008, and replacing him - courtesy of a Mazda ladder sponsorship - on the JDC Motorsports team is hot young graduate Joel Miller, the 2007 Skip Barber National Series champion. He dominated the Skip Barber series with 5 wins and 10 podiums in 14 races and shows all the signs of one of those young drivers destined for great things.

Media Behind the Wheel
Star Mazda drivers compete in identical high-tech open-wheel cars that feature a carbon fiber chassis, fully-adjustable ‘pushrod’ suspension and a sequential 6-speed gearbox. Power is provided by Mazda’s legendary ‘Renesis’ rotary engine that produces 240 horsepower, top speeds of over 150 mph and 0 to 60 mph acceleration of 2.8 seconds… yet is so reliable that it can last an entire racing season without a re-build. These cars are so bullet-proof that there are opportunities for qualified members of major Motorsports media organizations to get behind the wheel of a Star Mazda racer. These opportunities occur several times per year, take place under controlled conditions at specific locations and require that arrangements be made with the Star Mazda series well in advance.

The Women Behind the Wheel
While female racing drivers are not the jaw-dropping novelty they were in past years, there are still relatively few in open-wheel racing and the Star Mazda Championship is please to have at least two running in 2008. Driving for Andersen Racing is Juliana Gonzalez Bermudez, a 16 year-old student/racing car driver who was born in Columbia and lives in Mexico City. She started racing karts in 2002, and won several Mexican national championships before switching to open-wheel cars in 2005. She ran two very successful seasons in the FF2000 series in 2006-2007 and will be a prime contender for the Star Mazda Championship 'Rookie of the Year' honors in 2008. Also a notable competitor, though not actually behind the wheel, is Michelle Kish, Team Administrator for Andersen Racing and Team Manager of the Andersen Racing Star Mazda Championship effort.

The other female driver currently confirmed for the 2008 Star Mazda Championship season is Kristy Kester, a 19 year-old sophomore Biomedical Science major at Texas A&M. Her resume includes six years of karting and the Formula Enterprise series, where she compiled a record of 3 poles, 2 wins, 3 fastest laps, and numerous top-3 finishes. She will have her brother, J.C. Kester, as a teammate when Kester Racing makes its debut at Sebring.

The Family Teams
Kester Racing is one of several family-owned teams competing in the Star Mazda Championship and has the unique distinction of a brother/sister driver lineup. Joining Kristy Kester on the grid at Sebring will be her brother, J.C. Kester, who has seven years of kart racing under his belt, including two IKF regional championships and two IKF national road racing championships. He was class valedictorian at Grandfalls-royalty High School and is currently majoring in manufacturing and mechanical engineering at Texas A&M University.

Also a family team is Goshen Racing, which will field a car in 2008 for Billy Goshen, the 2007 Formula TR Pro Series 2.0-Liter champion, a title previously held by such racing notables (and Star Mazda graduates) as Marco Andretti, Michael McDowell and Colin Braun. Goshen also won the 2007 West Coast Star Mazda Winter Series with one win, one pole and five podium finishes. His background includes three national karting championships and he is widely considered to be one of the top up-and-coming openwheel drivers.

The Father/Son Team
Perhaps the most unique team of all in competing in the Star Mazda Championship is the Father/Son racing duo of Master Series driver Dan Tomlin Jr. -- who scored two class wins and seven podium finishes last season -- and Dan Tomlin III, who scored three class wins and four podium finishes on his way to winning the 2007 Expert Series championship. This intensely competitive duo are immediately recognizable on track in their distinctive yellow and orange Team Tomlin cars, #58 for the father because that’s how old he was when he started racing, and #56 for the son. When the helmets come off, they are business partners in one of the largest real estate development firms in Texas. The Star Mazda Expert Series is for drivers aged 20 to 44 and the Master Series is for drivers 45 and older. The winner of the Expert and Master Series races each weekend join the top-three finishers on the podium.

Experts and Masters
Other notable Master Series drivers include Gerry Kraut and Chuck Hulse, who are teammates on the JDC Motorsports team. Kraut is a co-owner of JDC and CEO of a financial company called Dougherty & Associates. Hulse is an ex-sprit car and stock car racer who owns an electronics recycling company called Silicon Salvage. Racing in the Expert Series are teammates Dave Mundy, a co-owner of Mundill, one of the top teams in the Star Mazda Championship, and Keith Young, a Chevrolet dealer from Dallas Texas.

Young Hotshoes
Alex Ardoin, a Louisiana native driving for the Mundill team, is a returning race winner who scored his first, well-deserved victory in the final race of the 2007 season at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. He finished 6th in the championship with a record of one win, two podiums and four top-10 finishes. His flamboyant driving style thrills the fans and makes him a top contender for the 2008 championship.

Nick Haye, driving for JDC Motorsports, returns for a second full season. He scored two podium finishes, four top-5s and finished 4th in the 2007 championship, making him a top contender for this year’s championship. All the more impressive given that he was born with two club feet and, though they have been surgically corrected, must still have a special pedal setup in his car and a scooter to get around the pits because he cannot walk any great distance.

Yannick Hofman, a 19 year-old from Quebec, Canada, driving for Andersen Racing. He ran two Star Mazda races in 2007, surprising everyone with a 5th place finish on the technically challenging Trois Rivierès street circuit. He won the Skip Barber Race Series Championship in 2005 and finished 7th in the 2007 Formula BMW series.

Tom Gladdis, also driving for Andersen is, at 16, the youngest driver in the series. He’s a British racer who was born on the Isle of Wight and lives on the island of Gibraltar. He is a rookie to racing with just one season under his belt, during which he finished 6th in the extremely competitive Formula BMW UK series.

Scott Rettich, driving for Mundill, is a college business management major who is also a national karting champion and Formula Mazda champion who scored six top-10 finishes in the 2007 Star Mazda Championship.

Caio Lara and Carlos Henrique (Rick) Rosin, driving for Mundill, are a pair of fast young Brazilians making their U.S. racing debut in the Star Mazda Championship. Lara is a karting champion who switched to open-wheel racing in 2007 and scored ten podium finishes in a row in the Brazilian Formula Ford series. Rosin started karting at age 9, winning multiple championships before he graduated to racing in the Brazilian Formula Renault championship in 2005- 2006.

Eric Freiberg, driving for 2006 Star Mazda Championship winners World Speed Motorsports, is a college student and karting champion who made the switch to openwheel racing in 2005, ran the SCCA Formula Mazda series in 2006 and finished 11th in the 2007 Star Mazda Championship with five top-10 finishes.

Taylor Hacquard, also driving for World Speed is the 17 year-old son of a Mazda delaer in Vancouver, B.C. He’s a karting standout who did a full season of testing with the World Speed team in 2007 before making his Star Mazda Championship debut in 2008.