Series Milwaukee round six preview

STOCK CARS AND ROTARY ROCKETS AT THE MILWAUKEE MILE THIS WEEKEND -- STAR MAZDA OPEN-WHEEL CARS SET FOR 100 LAPS OF WHEEL-TO-WHEEL RACING

* The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is the college baseball of Indy-style auto racing, a high-speed training ground for future stars of the sport with a $1.5 million prize fund. Graduates of the series include Nationwide Series racer Michael McDowell, currently 11th in the points as driver of the #47 Daugherty Racing / Tom's Snacks Toyota, as well as Indy-car stars Marco Andretti, Graham Rahal and Raphael Matos.

* This is the first of two oval tracks on the 2009 Star Mazda Calendar (including 100 laps under the lights with the ARCA RE/MAX series at Iowa Speedway on July 10). In Star Mazda pre-race testing at the Milwaukee Mile last month, the fastest lap was turned by the youngest rookie in the series, 16 year-old Michael Furfari. Driving the #13 Juncos Racing / Furfari Paving Mazda, the 5-ft.5-in., 120-pound student from Toronto turned a fast lap of 27.548 (130.681 mph) -- in 2008, the pole speed for the Nationwide race was 121.298 mph.

* The Star Mazda Championship features a race-within-a-race for Expert (ages 30 -44) and Master (45 and older) Series drivers; company presidents and entrepreneurs in high-speed, wheel-to-wheel battles with top young drivers from around the world. Chris Cumming of Vancouver, B.C. is leads the Experts while Californian Mike Guasch is the top-scoring Master.

* Hot drivers to watch include Venezuelan racer Jorge Goncalvez (#72) who turned the second fastest time in testing, and third-fast driver Englishman Richard Kent (#33) who won last weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Also a contender is another Englishman, Adam Christodoulou (#11), winner of two races so far this year and he turned the fastest lap in testing on the Iowa Speedway oval.

-credit: mazda