April 6, 2000

To All FM Racers:

Mark your calendar for April 24^th, 8 p.m. EDT or 9 p.m. PDT, or set your VCR. Speedvision will debut its coverage of the Star Mazda Series Best Western Championship with a really great race from flag to flag, all throughout the field. The new in-car cameras worked fabulously well, with one shot from Chris McMurry’s car making the Speedvision news highlights reel. Derek Daly and Johnny O’Connell did the commentary from the booth and Calvin Fish did the coverage from pit lane and victory circle. Scott Bradley’s #19 car had one in-car camera, sponsored by Polycom.com and McMurry’s #30 had the other in-car camera, sponsored by Washburn Development. It’s going to be hard to squeeze all the action into one, 30-minute show. Don’t miss it!

Jane Anderson’s race report is enclosed, along with the Charlotte results and point standings.

Most of you should have received a copy of Champ Car with your April issue of Sports Car. Page 94 has a nice mention for the Best Western Championship as a rung on the ladder to CART. In Sports Car, there were a few FM items in "Fastrack" and a shot of Steve Cook’s rollover at Phoenix, p. 35. The rollbar update (by the way) is mentioned to be mandatory before 1/1/01. Several kits have been shipped already. The only back orders were those for tall rollbars, which should be cleared by 14 April. The mod has been praised for the way it makes the car look, although it was not intended to be a "styling" item. Thanks anyway.

Jane Anderson and Derek Daly have both requested any pre-race publicity you want to get out be copied to their email. Jane’s address is redrock@compuserve.com  and Derek’s is derek@derekdaly.com.

The schedule and entry form for the Buttonwillow Nationals April 29^th and 30^th are enclosed. This will be round two of the Star Mazda Series – West. It also counts for SCCA National points, if you are heading for Mid-Ohio and "The Runoffs." Testing Thursday will be FM only; Friday testing will be all classes.

The stainless steel belly pans are available now, P/N 030-139, $250.00 (adds 24 pounds). The latest edition of the Star Reporter is enclosed. Hope you enjoy it.

For those who would like to get Star FM news flashes and bulletins by email, you can go to the website, www.starmazda.com, and register to get everything electronically. Just click on "register…" and enter your email address, click again and it will all come automatically to the address you prefer.

See you at the races!

Sincerely,
Gary E. Rodrigues