MONTEREY, Calif. – Honoring a countryman will make the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires title-deciding doubleheader weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca complete for Santiago Urrutia.
Urrutia, 19, of Uruguay, is wearing a special helmet design as a tribute to Gonzalo Rodriguez, who died from injuries sustained in a practice crash Sept. 11, 1999, during the CART race weekend at the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course. He was 27. Rodriguez was driving in his second race Penske Racing; he placed 12th at Belle Isle a month earlier.
“As a Uruguayan, it is very special for me to come to Mazda Raceway,” said Urrutia, who will attempt to claim the series title and corresponding scholarship to Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires for the 2016 season. “He is a hero in Uruguay; he’s my hero, too.
“I am grateful for everything he did for the sport in Uruguay. We are only three million people and he worked hard to get to Indy car. I am giving the helmet to his foundation in Uruguay and I hope to one day be the second driver from Uruguay to race in Indy car.”
Urrutia, who has three wins among eight total podium finishes in 14 races in a Team Pelfrey car, is atop the standings by 29 points over Neil Alberico of Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing.
“I didn’t think I would be fighting for the championship in my rookie year,” said Urrutia, who competed in the GP3 Series in 2014. “It would change so much to win the championship.”
Recognizing Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda points leader Nico Jamin will donate his prize money from the doubleheader races this weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to The B+ (Be Positive) Foundation, one of the nation’s leading organizations fighting childhood cancer.
September is national Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Jamin’s USF2000 team, Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing, clinched the entrant title with two races left.
Of note
Veteran Indy car driver Davey Hamilton, who placed fourth in the Oswego 200 supermodifieds race last weekend in New York, this weekend will drive a big rig at Motorsport Park Hastings in Nebraska. “I’ll try anything at least once,” he said. … Jack Housby, a longtime friend and sponsor of A.J. Foyt, died Sept. 10 in Iowa after a battle with cancer. Housby attended 65 consecutive Indianapolis 500 Mile Races and was known for being Foyt's golf cart passenger on the grounds of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He was 80. Housby, who owned a stock car team at one time, also owned the largest Mack truck dealership in Iowa.