Wright Debuts in Pro Mazda Series This Weekend at Road America

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For Immediate Release
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Wright Debuts in Pro Mazda Series
This Weekend at Road America
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ELKHART LAKE, Wis., June 22, 2017 - Kris Wright of Wexford, Pa., is making his series
debut in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires this weekend at Road
America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. On Thursday afternoon he qualified an amazing fifth
for his first Pro Mazda race ever, which is scheduled to get the green flag at 2:35
p.m. Eastern time (1:35 p.m. local) on Friday.
Wright, who will turn 23 on July 17, is one of 11 rookies in a field of 15 competing
in the doubleheader featuring the second step on the Mazda Road to Indy development
ladder.
Wright is driving the No. 12 Elan sponsored by Esmark Steel Group and PPG. Esmark
Steel Group is a Chicago-based steel company, and it will entertain some of its 
clients at the races this weekend as part of its marketing partnership with Kris
 Wright Motorsports. Esmark Steel Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Esmark, Inc.,
is one of the United States' leading processors and distributors of value-added 
flat-rolled steel and the third-largest U.S. producer of tin plate steel.

Kris Wright (left) with coach Nic Jonsson (right)

Wright's Pro Mazda car is fielded by one of the top teams in formula car racing,
 JDC MotorSports of Savage, Minn., which has won this series' championship three
 times (with Tristan Vautier in 2011, Adam Christodoulou in 2009, and Dane Cameron
in 2007). Wright also competes in the IMSA Prototype Challenge series in a car fielded
by JDC MotorSports, and he'll race that car next weekend at Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Wright had also been doing the first step on the Mazda Road to Indy program, the
 USF2000 series, this year. However, when his driver coach, sports car veteran Nic
Jonsson, learned of the opportunity for Wright to advance to the higher series with
JDC, they took it. Wright will now finish out the Pro Mazda season with JDC as well
as continue to race with that team in Prototype Challenge.
"I'm working with a lot of the same people that I'm already working with in Prototype
Challenge, including the team's engineer, Walter Preston, so we thought it would
 be a good fit," Wright said. "I have a lot to learn, but we're definitely starting
off well. JDC has been unbelievable this week so far. They really know this series
and this track."
Wright added that he's still learning the intricacies of driving a Pro Mazda car.
"I tested a Pro Mazda car once for only about 20 minutes at another track about 
three weeks ago, but that was it before today," he said Thursday evening.
Wright only did four laps in Thursday's solitary practice session, and was 11th 
overall. "It was wet in the practice and we were waiting to go out on slick tires,"
he explained. "We waited to see if there would be a dry line that would come up 
as more cars were on the track."
During the first qualifying session later on Thursday he was able to knock 20 seconds
off his best time in practice when he turned a 2:12.168 (109.334 miles per hour)
 on the third of eight laps he completed in that session. That was good for seventh
place, but he advanced two more positions when two other drivers were penalized 
after the session.
"It was a dry track for the first qualifying session, but there were some damp spots,"
Wright reported. "We're really excited that I could come away with a top-10 time
 in qualifying, and to move up to fifth was even better."
Another qualifying session will be held Friday morning.

The twin 40-minute races are scheduled to start at 2:35 p.m. Eastern time (1:35 
p.m. local) on Friday and 3:05 p.m. Eastern (2:05 p.m. local) on Saturday. They 
both support Sunday's Verizon IndyCar Series headliner.
At 4.048 miles, the 14-turn Road America road course is one of the longest tracks
an American driver will face during his career. Although this is Wright's first 
time driving a Pro Mazda car here, he's competed here a handful of other times in
other series such as Pirelli World Challenge and the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar
Challenge series.
More information is available on Wright's Web site at KrisWrightMotorsports.com.
 Fans can also follow him on Facebook at Kris Wright Racing. The Pro Mazda series'
website, which offers live timing and scoring, is at promazda.com.
The races will be shown on Road to Indy TV, the Road to Indy TV app, and dedicated
broadcast channels on demand via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and the Xbox One official
app.
# # #
For more information, contact:
BurnsGroup PR
Ph: +1 770 329 7134
barbara@burnsgrouppr.com [mailto:barbara@burnsgrouppr.com]
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