Fact vs. Fiction on the Race Track

IRVINE, Calif. – The reading habits of MAZDASPEED staffers will be on display at the Mazda Grand Prix of Portland in the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup race on Sunday, July 27th. Making guest appearances will be Garth “The Art of Racing in the Rain” Stein, and Sam “Fast Guys, Rich Guys, and Idiots” Moses. Each is an accomplished writer and racer, with very different career paths, but both calling Portland International Raceway their home track.

Garth’s novel The Art of Racing in the Rain (Harper) is currently on the New York Times bestsellers list for fiction. Sam’s book, “Fast Guys, Rich Guys, and Idiots,” is considered a classic among racers. The 1986 epic was re-released last year by the University of Nebraska Press.

While the MX-5 Cup race will have at least two dozen other racers, Sam and Garth are aiming at the bragging rights of the highest-placed scribe.

Moses notes that "The graphics on our MX-5s will be our book jackets, which means my car will have a checkered flag on it, and Garth's car will have a dog on it. Tells you something about their drivers, right there."

Stein observed that “Hemingway said the only three real sports are auto racing, mountain climbing and bull fighting. Well, I have great respect for my competitor, Sam Moses, but at the end of the day, he should stick to mountain climbing, because in the sport of auto racing, I will prove to be the champion, and Mount Hood isn't that far away...."

Fans of race cars, novelists, journalists, idiots, and philosopher dogs, are encouraged to join the fun at Portland International Raceway, July 25 – 27, for the Mazda Grand Prix of Portland. For more information visit www.mazdagrandprix.com.

Prior to the race, Moses and Stein will be signing their respective books at Auto Town Mazda in Milwaukie, Ore., on the evening of Thursday, July 24. Auto Town Mazda is located at 16903 SE McLoughlin Blvd. The signing will be from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. Both books will be available for purchase at Auto Town Mazda that evening with all proceeds from the sales being donated to the Oregon Humane Society (OHS). Moses and Stein will also be visiting the OHS on Friday, July 25, to meet their adoptable namesakes. This is in conjunction with the Mazda-supported “Adopt-A Shelter Animal” program began last season with MUTTS Comics and The Humane Society of the United States.

About Garth Stein

Stein is the author of three novels: “The Art of Racing in the Rain” (Harper, 2008); “How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets” (Soho Press, 2005), which won a 2006 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award, and was a Book Sense Pick in both hardcover and paperback; and “Raven Stole the Moon” (Pocket, 1998). He has also written a full-length play, “Brother Jones,” which received its first production in Los Angeles, in February, 2005, and was described as "brimming with intensity," by the L.A. Weekly.

About Sam Moses

Sam Moses was a staff writer for Sports Illustrated on the motorsports beat for 17 years. In three decades as an adventure writer, he has climbed the sheer face of the mysterious Carstensz Pyramid in New Guinea, the tallest mountain in Oceania, led there by erstwhile cannibals; raced cars and motorcycles at Daytona, including once setting the world motorcycle speed record for 24 hours; and descended the remote and treacherous River of Doubt in the Brazilian Amazon, retracing the 1914 expedition of Theodore Roosevelt, among other adventures. As deputy editor at AutoWeek, he won automotive journalism's prestigious Ken Purdy Award and the Mario Andretti High Performance Award for Media. He is the author of “At All Costs: How a Crippled Ship and Two American Merchant Mariners Turned the Tide of World War II,” released by Random House in 2006 to rave reviews. He's now working on “It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This: The True Life Adventures of Seņor Madre and the AngloArabAsian Brothers,” the memoir of a single dad.

About SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup:

Stepping up in place of the former MAZDASPEED Miata Cup, the SCCA Pro Racing Mazda MX-5 Cup made its debut in 2006. Featuring identical Mazda MX-5s on spec Kumho tires, MX-5 Cup gives drivers the opportunity to run on high-profile weekends in an economical, entry-level racing series. The 2008 MX-5 Cup schedule features eight races at prestigious events across North America, and with grids composed of roughly 30 cars at each race, MX-5 Cup has become one of the best shows in motorsports today. The season champion is awarded a factory supported Mazda ride in the series above. 2007 MX-5 Cup Champion Jason Saini is racing a MAZDA6 in the 2008 SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship. To learn more visit www.mx-5cup.com.