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USF2000 Driver Title to Be Determined
Between Karam and McKenna at Road Atlanta

PALMETTO, Fla., Sept. 23 - After 10 races contested on street circuits,
oval speedways and road courses, two young drivers still have a chance to win
the inaugural driver's title in the Championship class of the "Cooper Tires
Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda" heading into the
final event, a doubleheader at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga. at 5 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 30 and 8:45 a.m. Friday, Oct. 1.

The 30-minute races are support events for the Petit Le Mans Powered by
Mazda2, the season finale of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila
Patron.

The USF2000 championship - and a scholarship package from Mazda valued at
$350,000 - will go to either 15-year-old Sage Karam of Nazareth, Pa. or
23-year-old Patrick McKenna of Dublin, Ireland. The money will help fund the
champion's racing next year on the next step in both the MAZDASPEED Motorsports
Driver Development program and the Road to Indy - The Star Mazda
Championship presented by Goodyear.

Either Karam or McKenna will also win the VP Fuels Rookie of the Year award.

Karam drives the red No. 8 Van Diemen Mazda that is sponsored by the
Michael Fux Foundation, Comfort Revolution, Bell Helmets, Alpine Stars, Walters
Web and Artrotondo.com.

McKenna drives the white No. 2 Van Diemen Mazda fielded by Cape Motorsports
with Wayne Taylor Racing. He is sponsored by Willsborough Transport,
Motorsport Ireland and the Irish Sports Council.

Karam currently has a 55-point advantage over McKenna in the driver point
standings, 285 to 230. He has won seven events to McKenna's two. He's never
been out of the point lead, and the championship is his to lose.

There are 33 points up for grabs in each race at Road Atlanta. Even if
McKenna has a perfect weekend and wins every point available, Karam can sew up
the title with a finish of tenth or better in Thursday afternoon's race.

Karam has won all but one of the Cooper Tires "Don't Give Up a Thing" pole
awards presented so far this year. Each pole is worth one point, as is
leading the most laps of a race, setting the fastest race lap or finishing 20th
or worse.

Karam's team, Andretti Autosport, has already clinched the team title in
the Championship class.

It would take a huge dose of Irish luck for McKenna to become the champion,
and he needs strong finishes to hold on to the runner-up position for the
year. Should he have problems at Road Atlanta Mikhail Goikhberg could
wrestle that position away from him. The latter, from St. Petersburg, Russia,
drives the blue No. 10 fielded by JDC MotorSports.

Karam, McKenna and Goikhberg have been joined by a host of other top guns
in the series' inaugural season. Additional rising stars such as Raphael
Abbate, Zach Veach, Martin Scuncio, Javier Barrales, Martin Sala, Matthew
Powers, Terrick Mansur, Josh Fielding, Anthony Furfari and Benjamin Searcy have
given notice that they're serious about a career as a professional race car
driver. Even veteran Tonis Kasemets joined in the fun and ended up winning
one of the races at Autobahn Chicago.

Two other drivers who can be added to that list are Luke Ellery of
Melbourne, Australia, who will make his international debut in the USF2000
doubleheader at Road Atlanta, and top Skip Barber National driver Felix Serralles of
Ponce, Puerto Rico, who is also entered in the USF2000 races.

Although the USF2000 series' top class is open only to Van Diemens, any car
that meets the current SCCA Formula Continental rules is eligible to
compete in the series' National class. AcceleRace Motorsports' Ardie Greenamyer
of Louisville, Ky. currently leads the National class point standings over
Pabst Racing Services' J.R. Smart of Madison, Wis.

Greenamyer, who will be in the No. 28 sponsored by Bidazzled.com, Hi-Rise
Equipment and Sabelt, has six class victories going into Road Atlanta so he's
ahead in the fight for the top prize, a $20,000 package consisting of a
new, race-ready, Mazda MZR 2.0 engine and additional pieces needed to convert a
Zetec Van Diemen to Mazda power. Smart, who drives the Smart Motors No. 9,
has four victories to date.

The Road Atlanta action includes practice at 8 a.m. and 12:50 p.m. on
Wednesday, Sept. 29 and qualifying at 9:20 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 30. (There's
also an optional test day on Tuesday, Sept. 28.)

The pole for Friday's race will go to whoever sets the fastest race lap on
Thursday.

For more information as well as live timing and scoring during the official
practice sessions, qualifying and the races, see USF2000.com.

Mazda is also giving another scholarship valued at $150,000 to the champion
of the BF Goodrich/Skip Barber National Series Presented by Mazda to help
that driver advance to the USF2000 series next year. The Skip Barber
championship is also being determined at Road Atlanta. Spencer Pigot of Windermere,
Fla., who will turn 17 on Wednesday, Sept. 29, has a big lead in those
standings. Three other drivers - Isaac Lyons, Felix Serralles and Dennis Trebing
- are also eligible for that title.




About Mazda:

On any given weekend there are more Mazdas on the road courses of America
than any other brand of vehicle. MX-5 Miata, RX-8, MAZDA3, MAZDA6, RX-7 and
other vintage Mazda models are all popular race cars because every Mazda has
the soul of a sports car. In fact, the largest road-racing class in the
world is Spec Miata. With more than 2,500 first- and second-generation Miatas
tearing up America's racetracks, it the most-raced production car in the
world. Mazda's involvement in motorsports extends to its relationship with one
of the world's premier road courses, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Salinas,
Calif., and the Skip Barber Schools for driving and racing.

Celebrating its 40th anniversary in the United States in 2010, Mazda North
American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, Calif. It oversees the
sales, marketing, parts business and customer service of Mazda vehicles in the
United States, Canada and Mexico through nearly 900 dealers. Operations in
Canada are managed by Mazda Canada, Inc., located in Ontario. _Operations in
Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City.

For more information see MazdaUSA.com.

About Cooper Tire & Rubber Company:

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is a global company that specializes in the
design, manufacture, marketing and sales of passenger car and light truck
tires and subsidiaries that specialize in medium truck, motorcycle and racing
tires. With headquarters in Findlay, Ohio, Cooper Tire has manufacturing,
sales, distribution, technical and design facilities within its family of
companies located in 10 countries around the world.

For more information visit Cooper Tire's Web site at coopertire.com.

About the Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship
Powered by Mazda:

Many top drivers in the IZOD IndyCar Series and endurance sports car racing
honed their skills in F2000, and the Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000
National Championship Powered by Mazda is an important training ground for
rising stars.

Debuting in 2010, it is the revival of the very popular USF2000 series of
1990 through 2006. Sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, it is the first
step on its Road to Indy ladder system, preceding Star Mazda and Firestone Indy
Lights.

It is also part of the prestigious MAZDASPEED Motorsports driver
development program. The top driver in the series' Championship class earns a
scholarship package from Mazda valued at $350,000 to help him or her advance to Star
Mazda the following season.

USF2000 races are contested on road courses, street courses and ovals in
order to give the series' drivers experience on all the different types of
tracks they will face as they proceed up the ladder.

For more information visit USF2000.com.