Before 1999, the Star Mazda Series, created by Gary Rodrigues, had a number of regional championships. With the formation of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), a National division, with backing from the Best Western hotel chain, was established to act as a support series for the ALMS. The inaugural championship was won by Joey Hand, who scored five victories in seven starts.

The 2001 Star Mazda North American Championship presented by Goodyear started on the first weekend of March at Texas Motor Speedway. For round two, the series traveled to Sebring International Raceway. Next, teams made their way to the West Coast for events at Sears Point Raceway and Portland International Raceway. The only stop in Canada took place at Mosport International Raceway on the weekend of August 17-18. At the beginning of September, the championship returned to California for the first of two visits to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The penultimate round was held at Road Atlanta, with the finale taking place at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

In addition to the National Championship, there were titles to be won in a Masters class (drivers 45-years of age and older), Red Line Oval Championship and four geographic divisions (West, Southwestern, Eastern and Northeastern).

The Star Formula Mazda is constructed by Valley Motor Center. The tube-frame chassis is fitted with shear plates, ensuring quick and easy damage repairs. The car weighs 1140-pounds and is equipped with a Mazda 13B rotary engine and five-speed transmission. The motor, which uses a 48 DCOE carburetor, produces 170-horsepower.

Round five of the 2001 Star Mazda North American Championship presented by Goodyear was held at Mosport International Raceway as a support event for the American Le Mans Series. Drivers would compete for twenty-six-laps around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course.

The start of round five for the 2001 Star Mazda North American Championship presented by Goodyear at Mosport International Raceway. Getting a clean getaway is the No. 11 Trackmagic.com Star Mazda driven by the pole-sitter Oliver Rowen. Behind Rowen is the other front row starter, Scott Jenkins, in the No. 31 Hasa sponsored Star Mazda. Trailing the leaders are Scott Bradley, Marc De Vellis and Chad Block.
Round five was an opportunity for Oliver Rowen and the Valley Motor Center team to redeem themselves and they did. In the previous race at Portland International Raceway, he crossed the finish line in fourth place but was moved to thirty-ninth for a technical infraction. At Mosport, Rowen topped the timesheets in practice and qualifying. He would lead the twenty-six lap race flag-to-flag for his first win of 2001.
Finishing in the runner-up position at Mosport International Raceway was Scott Jenkins. Jenkins was the winner of round three at Sears Point Raceway. During the qualifying session, he recorded the second-fastest time in the No. 31 Star Mazda prepared by Team Bucknum Racing. During the twenty-six lap contest, Jenkins challenged the winner, Oliver Rowen, but came up short by 1.631-seconds.
The final spot on the rostrum went to Scott Bradley. Bradley won the opening round of the 2001 Star Mazda North American Championship at Texas Motor Speedway. The current points leader drove the No. 14 World Speed Motorsports Star Mazda and qualified third-fastest. During the race, Bradley was challenged by a sticking throttle and pressure from the rookie Marc De Vellis but managed to capture third place.
Canadian and former SuperKart racer Marc De Vellis drove the No. 67 Star Mazda. He was leading the rookie-of-the-year point standings with a victory in the previous round at Portland International Raceway. De Vellis was gridded fourth for the start of the race and challenged the third-fastest qualifier, Scott Bradley but was not able to complete a pass. However, he turned the fastest race lap during the contest.
David Stover piloted the No. 15 World Speed Motorsports entry. This was only his second start in the series. Stover made his debut in the previous round. where he qualified twenty-second and finished twelfth. His performance improved at Mosport. After qualifying seventh, Stover passed the fifth place starter, Chad Block and inherited a position when Bret Arsenault fell out of contention to finish fourth.

FINISHSTARTDRIVERCARLAPSRETIREMENTS
11Oliver RowenStar Mazda26-
22Scott JenkinsStar Mazda26-
33Scott BradleyStar Mazda26-
44Marc De VellisStar Mazda26-
57David StoverStar Mazda26-
65Chad BlockStar Mazda26-
713Doug PetersonStar Mazda26-
811Michael StephensStar Mazda26-
912Tom NastasiStar Mazda26-
108Luis SchiavoStar Mazda26-
1117Scott KusyStar Mazda26-
1210Moses SmithStar Mazda26-
1314Glenn CooperStar Mazda26-
1416Rob WalkerStar Mazda26-
159Tim JenningsStar Mazda26-
1622Aaron OgusStar Mazda26-
1719J. J. FischerStar Mazda26-
1820Ed ZabinskiStar Mazda26-
1925Tom SporneyStar Mazda26-
2015Frank BainStar Mazda26-
2118Frank McCormickStar Mazda26-
2229Dan Tomlin IIIStar Mazda26-
2321Dan WeylandStar Mazda25-
2424Rick WaddellStar Mazda25-
256Bret ArsenaultStar Mazda25-
2627Ginni SwantonStar Mazda25-
2726Bryan WillmanStar Mazda25-
2828Marek RybkowskiStar Mazda25-
2923Marc Cota-RoblesStar Mazda15Did Not Finish

Copyright Notice:
All content (photographs and text) appearing on this website are the exclusive property of © www.zoompics.com and are protected under International copyright laws. The subject matter on this website may not be reproduced, copied, stored or manipulated.

© Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019

Return to home page.