Tim Jennings to debut at Texas

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (26 February 2001) - Jennings Motorsports driver, Tim Jennings, will make his Star Mazda Series-North American Championship debut Sunday, March 4th in the TV series' opening round at Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, Texas. Tim is the 2000 National SCCA Central Division and Pro Formula Mazda Series for Central Division Champion.

After three championship karting seasons and two stellar years piloting his Formula Mazda, Jennings is ready for the challenge. "I really think we have a great opportunity to do well and finish consistently in the top five. That goal will put us in a great position for the championship. Being a newcomer to this series, we're going to find difficulties and challenges running up front with the best in the country at every race, but we're well prepared for this," said Jennings, who was attracted to the series by the different venues, publicity and television broadcast attention it receives.

On moving his racing career to the next level, Tim states, "You don't learn to race by passing guys that are five seconds slower than you. It's when you run against high caliber drivers, in equally prepared cars, that you learn how good of a driver you are."

Team chief, John Jennings, has a similar outlook about his son's newest opportunity, "We like to find a new challenge, accept it, plan for it and do our best to execute. When we do what we plan, and the results are good, we feel that we've met our challenge. That's what it's all about."

"We've never competed against the best Formula Mazda drivers and teams in the world," laments the elder Jennings. "It will be interesting to find out where we rank, especially against the (Formula Mazda) factory teams. If anyone knows how to make these cars go fast, it's the factory. We'll just do our homework the best we know, keeping our eyes and ears open to learn enough to get the car and driver to go as fast as possible. It will be a lot of fun."

The race weekend begins Friday, March 2nd, with an open test day. Saturday, March 3rd, involves three 30-minute practice sessions. Sunday, March 4th, opens with a 45-minute qualifying session, and the 45-minute race starts at 11:15am (CST). The headlining American Le Mans Series race follows with a 1pm start-time. The Star Mazda race will air at a later date on Speedvision.

Tim, a Downers Grove, Illinois native, is a full-time student at Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana), majoring in Mechanical Engineering Technology. The twenty-year-old is also a member of Purdue's All-American Marching Band, which performed at the 2001 Rose Bowl and Parade.

Nine races make up the professional Star Mazda Series-North American Championship, which airs on Speedvision and runs as a featured support series of the American Le Mans Series. Round 2 is March 17-18th with the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Jennings Motorsports is the only team competing in this series from the SCCA's Central Division. Based on Gasoline Alley in Indianapolis, the team handles full-support trackside service, prep, transport, sales, parts and rentals of Formula Mazdas.

A legendary, Mazda 13B rotary, engine powers the Formula Mazda, built by Star Race Cars. Dry weight is 1140 lbs, with a 5-speed transaxle, 4-wheel spec discs & calipers, and adjustable shocks, sway bars and wing angles.

www.jenningsmotorsports.com.