Bell Racing Sponsors Corey Lewis

Corey Lewis Racing is proud to announce that Bell Racing has added him as a Sponsored Driver.

“We added Corey to the Bell Racing Team because his record, determination, and desire to succeed is aligned with our current sponsored champions.” Rory Overmyer, Racing & Sponsorship Coordinator, Bell Racing (http://www.bellracing.com/)

Bell Racing USA LLC is the world’s leading auto racing and karting helmet company. More Champions in all forms of racing have worn Bell Helmets than any other brand. The Bell name is synonymous with innovation, technology, engineering excellence and superior helmet performance.

Teen Safe Driving Program

In the fall of 2010, Corey partnered with Brown Daub Chevrolet of Nazareth to present a teen safe driving program with American Idol contestant and fellow Nazareth resident Tyler Grady.

Through Corey’s affiliation with Skip Barber he was able to secure a pair of single day driving school passes for two attendees of the program.

Pictured here is Corey along with Tyler. Tyler’s band Wailing Waters was regularly touring the region at that time and beginning in 2012 he’ll be lead singer for The Next.

Long Overdue Post

The sometimes problem with blogs in the era of Twitter and Facebook is remembering to update them.

We’re going to try to do a better job, by summarizing current activity, but if you want the latest, be sure to connect using the social media links in the right sidebar.

Corey has continued his pursuit of becoming an IndyCar driver by maintaining a rigorous training schedule. This summer he was hired by the prestigious Monticello Motor Club to serve as a Senior Driving Instructor, which kept him behind the wheel of elite sportscars throughout the summer and fall.

He continues to attend college and is working hard to put a package together for 2012.

The Economy and Racing

Clearly this has been a tough economic time for drivers to secure sponsorship. Yesterday, Junior Open Wheel Talent made a post listing 30 drivers, “all of whom would make an excellent addition to a team looking for a driver.”

The good news/bad news is that Corey Lewis made the list.

To add to the story, teams have been reaching out to drivers (at least to ours), and several have made very good offers, but the onus remains on the driver to secure funding in order to compete.

Corey continues to train and we are confident that hard work and persistence past the point of common sense will pay off!

To learn more visit www.coreylewisracing.com

2010 Season

The 2010 for Star Mazda got started last week and this week both Star and IndyLights are in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Unfortunately, we were unable to put together a sponsorship package to start the season, but we did make progress and are continuing to work toward a program that will get Corey seat time this season with an eye on a full 2011 campaign.

In addition to interest we received from teams in Star Mazda, we now have opportunities with IndyLights programs, which will provide sponsors with options and greater opportunities.

To learn more about sponsorship read our prospectus.  If you are interested in being a sponsor or helping to broker a sponsorship deal, contact Ross Nunamaker (ross@thenunamakergroup.com).

Star Mazda Sebring Open Test

We are in Sebring for the Star Mazda Championship Series Open Test with Team GDT.

Track times are on Friday (8:00 – 9:10; 1:00 – 2:10), Saturday (9:25 – 10:35; 2:25 – 3:35), and Sunday (10:50 – 12:00; 3:50 – 5:00).

Corey is driving with Team GDT on Sunday.  The initial plan had been to compete for all three days, however, a sponsor fell through only a week prior and cost considerations have limited his track time.

Corey will be having some business meetings on Friday and Saturday and will be working with Team throughout the weekend.

We would like to mention, an agreement in principle, has been made with The Kelly Heinz-Grundner Brain Tumor Foundation to continue to pursue a racing initiative for their Get Your Head In The Game awareness campaign.  You can see the new potential sponsor on the wings of the car this weekend and learn more about them here.

The Star Mazda Series press announcement indicates over twenty cars are registered, and this what they had to say about Team GDT:

Also entering his third season of Star Mazda Championship competition is Expert Seriescompetitor J.W. Roberts, owner of Team GDT. He finished 2nd in the Expert Series in 2008, 4thin 2009 and looks to have his most competitive season ever in 2010 with the addition of fastyoung newcomer Corey Lewis to the team. Lewis won eight Skip Barber Regional Series races in2008 and has already competed with Team GDT, winning a race in the 2009-2010 MoleculeFormula Mazda Challenge West Coast winter series.

@CLRacing will be posting updates on Twitter throughout as information is made available.

The Rumor Mill

This week both eformulacarnews and Junior Open Wheel Talent reported on the 2010 season.

eformulacarnews has a running forum topic identifying who they think is running with whom in the 2010 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear (visit the forum here).  They have 34 driver slots in the list, which should make for some strong fields and great races this coming season.

In that forum was this update made on 12/9/09:

EFCN has learned from sources close to the team, that Team GDT is close to finalizing the young trio of Corey Lewis, Ashley Freiberg and Kyle Marcelli for the 2010 season. All three raced in the Skip Barber National series last year. Lewis scored eight wins in 2008 Skip Barber Regional competition and won a race in the 2009-10 Star Mazda Winter Series season-opener. Freiberg, scored one podium finish this past year in the National series and has visited victory lane in Skip Barber Regional competition. Marcelli scored two IMSA Lites wins and three Skip Baber National podium finishes in 2009, won once in the 2008 F2000 Championship Series and captured the 2007 Ontario Formula Ford Challenge title with three wins.

Clearly the intention of Corey is to run with Team GDT (notice the bright yellow and white car on the banner;-), but there are business details that need to be ironed out and nothing has yet been finalized for the season, but…

Junior Open Wheel Talent accurately reports on the January open-test.  Corey will be driving for the team at Sebring:

The Team GDT testing lineup looks pretty solid.  Kyle Marcelli will bring a fair amount of experience with him to the test and should be a valuable asset to the team.  Corey Lewis and Ashley Freiberg have both shown a ton of potential and I’m looking forward to watching their development in 2010.  Stay tuned for future updates.

Morning Call on Corey Lewis

Thanks to Morning Call Sports Editor Keith Groller for his article today on Corey Lewis.

The article recounts Corey’s win at Infinion and current attempts to secure sponsorship for the 2010 Star Mazda Championship with Team GDT.

While Corey is unable to compete in the Winter Series races 2 and 3 in Phoenix this weekend, it appears he will be at the open test in Sebring in January with Team GDT.

More Media Coverage

The press continues to report on the opening race of the winter series:

• The Vallejo Times-Herald
• Motorsport.com
• Topix (picked up the Express-Times article)

And, look for an article from the Morning Call next week.

Junior Open Wheel Talent Reports on Lewis

JOWT reports on Corey Lewis’ victory in its Linkage article.