MX-5 Cup racing at Road America. Credit: Mark Weber

TOPEKA, Kan. (Jan. 10, 2009) – For its fourth season, the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup will expand to 10 rounds, making stops at some of the finest road courses in North America, as well as several new venues.

The 2009 MX-5 Cup season begins as the previous two did, as part of The Mitty Classic at Road Atlanta. MX-5 Cup will join Historic Sportscar Racing, May 1 – 3, to showcase the modern fun of MX-5 Cup alongside the classic racing machines of years past.

Two weeks later, MX-5 Cup is off to beautiful Monterey, Calif., where the series made its debut in 2006. MX-5 Cup joins the Grand-Am Rolex Series and KONI Challenge, May 15 – 17, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the Monterey Festival of Speed.

A doubleheader at New Jersey Motorsports Park, in Millville, N.J., follows on June 12 – 14. The Mazda Grand Prix will bring the Mazda racing family together, as MX-5 Cup joins Star Mazda and the Atlantic Championship at the recently constructed Thunderbolt Raceway.

The halfway point of the season is marked by two tracks new to MX-5 Cup. On July 17 – 19, the series joins Grand-Am once again for the Porsche 250 weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Ala. The teams will then make a short trip north to meet up with their fellow Mazda series once again as well as the SPEED World Challenge Championships, July 24 – 26, at the Autobahn Country Club. The Mazda Grand Prix marks the first professional event at the Autobahn Country Club, which is located in Joliet, Ill., just outside of Chicago.

The MX-5 caravan won’t have to travel too far for the following round in Elkhart Lake, Wis. For the second year in-a-row, the series will take part in the combined American LeMans Series/SPEED World Challenge weekend at Road America, Aug. 14 – 16.

From one four-mile track to another, MX-5 heads to Miller Motorsports Park with Grand-Am, Sept. 18 – 20. The Tooele, Utah course has hosted a round of MX-5 Cup action in each of the series’ previous three years.

The 2009 season ends Oct. 2 – 4, with a doubleheader at scenic VIRginia International Raceway, in Alton, Va. It will be the series’ first trek to VIR, where it joins KONI Challenge.

“I couldn’t be happier with the 2009 MX-5 Cup schedule,” Mazda North American Operations Alternative Marketing Manager Jim Jordan said. “It’s the perfect mix of classic American road courses and new, exciting venues. There’s something there for everyone, which will encourage the kind of racing we’ve come to expect from this great series.”

“SCCA Pro Racing and Mazda have worked together to create a fantastic schedule for MX-5 in 2009,” SCCA Pro Racing President and CEO Robert Wildberger said. “It’s great to see MX-5 heading to tracks SCCA Pro Racing has yet to venture, like Autobahn Country Club and Barber Motorsports Park. We’re proud to watch MX-5 Cup expand the SCCA Pro Racing footprint.”

With an outstanding schedule in place, all races broadcast on cable TV and the continuance of Playboy as a title sponsor, MX-5 Cup appears poised for another successful season. The Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup also remains a part of the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development Ladder, offering the 2009 MX-5 Cup Champion a Mazda ride in SPEED Touring Car and welcoming one amateur racer to the series via the MX-5 Cup Shootout for Mazda road racing champions.

To learn more about MX-5 Cup, visit www.mx-5cup.com.

2009 SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup Schedule

Date	Venue	With
May 1 - 3	Road Atlanta	HSR
	Braselton, Ga.
May 15 - 17	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	Grand-Am
	Monterey, Calif.
June 12 - 14	New Jersey Motorsports Park *	Atlantics/Star Mazda
	Millville, N.J.
July 17 - 19	Barber Motorsports Park	Grand-Am
	Birmingham, Ala.
July 24 - 26	Autobahn Country Club	SPEED World Challenge/Atlantics
	Joliet, Ill.
Aug. 14 - 16	Road America	ALMS/SPEED World Challenge
	Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Sept. 18 - 20	Miller Motorsports Park	Grand-Am
	Tooele, Utah
Oct. 2 - 4	VIRginia International Raceway*	KONI Challenge
	Alton, Va.

* - Doubleheader

SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup

Stepping up in place of the former Mazdaspeed Miata Cup, the Mazda MX-5 Cup made its debut in 2006. Featuring identical MX-5s on spec tires, the Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup gives drivers the opportunity to run on high-profile weekends in an economical, entry-level racing series. The 2009 MX-5 Cup schedule features 10 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. For more information, visit www.mx-5cup.com.

TOPEKA, Kan. (Dec. 10, 2008) – WC Vision and SCCA Pro Racing have announced three more dates that will be added to the 2009 SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Championships calendar, including one brand-new venue.

World Challenge will return to Mosport International Raceway, but will trade its traditional August date for a May date in 2009. Both Touring Car and GT will make the trip to Bowmanville, Ont., Canada, May 15 – 17, to headline the Victoria Day Speedfest Weekend. Fans will have the opportunity to enjoy three World Challenge races, as the event will be a doubleheader for the Touring Cars.

July 24 – 26, the series will make its first-ever trip to the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Ill, near Chicago. Both classes will race alongside Cooper Tire Atlantics, Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup and the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup. Opened in 2005, the 3.54-mile road course has received rave reviews from racers and is destined to become a new World Challenge favorite.

A staple on the World Challenge calendar, Road Atlanta returns in 2009. The penultimate rounds for the GT and Touring Car Championships will take place during the prestigious Petit Le Mans weekend, Sept. 23 – 25.

An additional July date will be added shortly.

For more information about World Challenge and the 2009 schedule, visit www.world-challenge.com.

2009 SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge Schedule

Date	Venue	With
March 18 - 20	Sebring International Raceway	ALMS
	Sebring, Fla.
April 17 - 19	Grand Prix of Long Beach (GT Only)	ALMS/IRL
	Long Beach, Calif.
May 15 - 17	Mosport International Raceway (TC Double & GT)
	Bowmanville, Ont. (Canada)
May 22 - 25	Lime Rock Park (TC Double & GT)	Grand-Am
	Lime Rock, Conn.
July 24 - 26	Autobahn Country Club	Atlantics
	Joliet, Ill.
Aug. 7 - 9	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	ALMS/IRL
	Lexington, Ohio
Aug. 14 - 16	Road America	ALMS
	Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Sept. 23 - 25	Road Atlanta	ALMS
	Braselton, Ga.
Oct. 9 - 11	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	ALMS
	Monterey, Calif.

Divided into two separate series and races (SCCA SPEED GT and SCCA SPEED Touring Car), the SCCA SPEED World Challenge Championships are America’s top production car-based series. SCCA SPEED World Challenge events are a maximum of 50 minutes in length, feature standing starts and the world’s most popular manufacturers racing head-to-head. For more information see www.world-challenge.com.