Houston, TX - Ryan Verra, of Calgary, Canada, concluded his rookie season in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda this past weekend in Houston. The Marlin CNG Services Grand Prix of Houston took place on the challenging Reliant Park street course, which has not been around since 2007. Although there was a lot going on with track repairs and conditions, Verra was able to finish with enough points to clinch the second-place trophy in the National Class Championship battle.      

This season held many challenges for Mazda Road to Indy driver Verra which he met. Verra will bring what he has learned this season into the competitive 2014 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda for next year.

Quotes:

Verra on the Marlin CNG Services Grand Prix of Houston:  
"This race weekend was both an interesting and a challenging one to say the least. Not only with a very bumpy and fast street course, but the track modification to turn one and weather conditions made it quite the challenge, but that's what we're here to do. Houston is an amazing city and this was an amazing course which taught me a lot. All in all, I had a clean race and was able to get the points needed to finish second in the National Championship."

Verra on the 2013 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda season:

"Going into my rookie season, I didn't have nearly as much experience as the other drivers, but I was able to pick up a lot running with them and made up a lot of speed every time I got in the race car. After the crash in St. Petersburg, which left me with a few injuries and a loss of a car, I was only able to get one test day in the entire season making it difficult to get truly comfortable with this type of car; so I basically showed up on race weekends and gave it my all. A double win at Laguna Seca going into Houston was just enough to get me a second-place finish in the National Class, and it was a great feeling. Off track, I was able to visit and support an animal shelter and mentor some great kids in California. A big accomplishment I'm proud of was taking the Driven 2 Research project into the race track, raising awareness and funding for cancer research and giving race fans the opportunity to honor their loved ones."  

For More Information on Ryan Verra:

Visit his website at: http://www.verrasport.ca

Follow him on Twitter: @ryanverra

Driven to Research: http://www.crs-src.ca/DrivenToResearch