Hearn Motorsports Earns Two 2005 Podiums, Readies For New Driver

Hearn Motorsports Earns Two 2005 Podiums,

Readies For New Driver

  

 


LAS VEGAS, Nev., April 25, 2005 - In the first two Star Mazda Series North
American Championship events of 2005, Hearn Motorsports' No. 70 has earned
two podium finishes. The car which accomplished that feat is now open to
interested drivers. Matt Jaskol, Las Vegas, Nev., opened the season for
Hearn in the Darrell Soppe-engineered entry with a second-place at Sebring
International Raceway- where the Richie Hearn-owned operation put two cars
on the second row of the grid. The team traveled to Road Atlanta for
round-two of the Star Mazda Series and, with an entry list of 43 cars, the
No. 70 took fourth in qualifying and third in the race. Jaskol sits second
in the overall standings but will not compete at the upcoming round at
Mid-Ohio on May 22. His departure from the Las Vegas-based operation leaves
one of the most successful seats in the series immediately available to a
new driver. The changes to the No. 70 program do not impact the No. 77
Thienes Engineering entry of Brian Thienes who currently sits second in the
Expert Division point chase.

 

"Matt did a great job for us," Hearn commented on the change. "However,
neither one of us has been able to put together the right funding to
continue on with Matt in the car. Unfortunately, this level of racing is
tough. It is a great value to a sponsor but we haven't been able to find the
right fit yet. The Star Mazda Series has a terrific TV package with SPEED.
We have some great tracks like Sebring, Road Atlanta and Montreal with F1.
We'll race on the Pikes Peak oval and at Portland and Road America plus we
close the season at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. It puts us in front of great
crowds at good tracks. But, we are still working on taking all of that to
the next step and putting together a sponsorship deal. So, right now, we are
looking for someone with the talent and the funding that wants to run up
front. There is no doubt the car and the team are capable of winning races.
We've proven that." 

 

Hearn's commitment to win- which goes back to his own driving championships
in karting, the 1995 Toyota Atlantic title, multiple Indy 500 starts and the
'96 IRL IndyCar Series victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) as well as
a ride with Sam Schmidt Motorsports in next month's Indianapolis 500-
carries through to the two-car Star Mazda effort. The No. 70 earned one Star
Mazda pole position and two podium finishes in its debut season in 2004.
Soppe, whose expertise has included successful efforts with Penske Racing,
Newman-Haas Racing and Team Menard, and Hearn each bring valuable tools to
talented, young drivers looking for the best equipment to show their skills.

 

"I know Matt is working on some things and we are too," continued Hearn.
"But, we have a great seat available for someone to step into right now. We
designed this team to be a three-car effort and we have proven at Sebring
that we can run all three cars at the front. Right now our focus is to put
two, race-winning cars on track at each race. The 70-car is capable of
winning races. Matt showed that in the first two races and Rafa [Raphael
Matos, 2004 Hearn Motorsports driver], showed that last year. There isn't a
better ride in the paddock than what we are offering right now, ready to go
for Mid-Ohio."


 

For more on Hearn Motorsports and its 2005 Pro Formula Mazda Series' effort
please visit  <http://www.hearnmotorsports.com/> www.richiehearn.com. More
on Brian Thienes can be found at  <http://www.thienesengineering.com/>
www.thienesengineering.com. 

 

Interested drivers and/ or marketing partners should contact Richie Hearn at
 Richie@RichieHearn.Com. 

 

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Digital images and complete bio information available upon request. 

Editors, please do not publish any contact information other than web sites.
Thank you. 

 

Contact: Tom Moore, Hearn Motorsports, Inc.: 

615-778-1614 (office), 615-509-5000 (cell), tom@darkhorsecom.com