JDC MotorSports rookie poised to re-ignite USF2000 Championship season with Round Five at Lucas Oil Raceway LOS GATOS, CALIF. – American up-and-comer Neil Alberico will take on his latest racing challenge this Saturday (May 26), when the Californian races on the banked oval at Lucas Oil Raceway for Round Five of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. While the prestigious Night Before the 500 event will mark the first time the talented JDC MotorSports rookie has raced on an oval, pre-event testing has already indicated he is up to the challenge and ready to fight for top honors.
For over a month, Alberico has waited for the chance to get back behind the wheel of his No. 19 Kartel Motorsports/Bondurant School/RaceLite Protection/ Red Line Oil/JDC MotorSports racing steed. While such a long early season break can be trying for any racer, it has been even more frustrating for the former Bondurant Championship Race Series champion, having not garnered the results he desired or deserved the last time the USF2000 Championship cars raced in anger. That being said, Alberico will encounter a new racing challenge when he enters Round Five refocused to battle for wins...oval racing.
Given Alberico started his quest for a career in motorsports in karting before making the transition to junior formula car competition in North America and Europe, it should not come as much of a surprise he has never previously raced on an oval. He, however, does not enter one of the premier events on the USF2000 Championship calendar unprepared.
As part of an official in-season series testing program, the reigning Team USA scholarship winner recently took to the 0.686-mile oval at Lucas Oil Raceway. Focused on gaining valuable experience and working with the talented JDC mechanics and engineers to fine tune the car - vital in oval competition - Alberico rapidly came to grasp with this new form of racing. Applying the information gained from the Mazda Road to Indy Oval Clinic held one day prior at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as well as the feedback from his championship-winning team, the former British Formula Ford front-runner impressed by posting the fourth fastest lap in the opening outing.
Given JDC MotorSports has placed a car in the top-three in the previous two USF2000 Championship races at the short oval just down the road from the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the goal for Alberico is to build on his fine run in testing and re-ignite his charge for series supremacy.
"This series test at Lucas Oil Raceway Park was my first oval experience, and it went quite well," stated the 19 year-old Alberico. "I'm confident that JDC has given me a good car, and now it's just up to me to bounce back from my last two races and put the car where it deserves to be - up front. I'm super excited about the chance to race and showcase my skills during the Night Before the 500 and be part of the Indianapolis 500 festivities."
For Alberico, the on-track action at Lucas Oil Raceway begins on Friday (May 25), with three hours of pre-event testing. Round Five of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda officially commences on Saturday (May 26), with two 30-minute practice sessions prior to single-car qualifying. The Night Before the 500 race is slated to begin at 7:40 pm local time under the lights. Live timing and scoring will be available at www.f2000.com/Multimedia/Live.aspx
Those interested in supporting Alberico's rise up the motorsports ladder are encouraged to contact Neil Alberico directly @ nalberico@comcast.net.
Learn more about Neil Alberico at neilalberico.com and keep up to date via Twitter @ NeilAlberico and his Facebook page @ Neil-Alberico-Racing.
###
About Neil Alberico:
A native of Los Gatos, Calif., Alberico first started racing karts at the age of 10, competing in IKF region 11 action. Over the course of four seasons (2004-07), the young talent captured the Junior Sportsman, Junior Super Sportsman, and Junior Puma championship titles. In 2008, Alberico first got behind the wheel of a race car, graduating from the Skip Barber 2-day Advanced school at Laguna Seca prior to participating in the Formula BMW recruitment day at Miller Motorsports Park. Continuing to race in the karting ranks while raising funds to pursue a career in motorsports, Alberico won the Snap-On Stars of Karting Series National finale in Las Vegas in 2009, before finishing third in CKI National TAG Senior championship. Alberico built on this success in 2010, winning the TaG Senior class in the WSK North American Series, as well as the Bondurant Championship Race Series, capturing 10 wins in first full season of car competition. As part of the prize package for winning the Bondurant Championship, the teenager tested a Pro Formula Mazda with World Speed Motorsports and a Formula Atlantic Swift 016.a with Finlay Motorsports. In 2011, Alberico made his European racing debut, competing in the world-renowned Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain with Irish-based Cliff Dempsey Racing. Finish ninth in his maiden FF season, the Californian earned a Team USA Scholarships. As a Team USA driver, he captured a Semi-Final win and finished third in the historic 40th Formula Ford Festival. Alberico joins the Mazda Road to Indy program in 2012, driving for JDC MotorSports in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda.