Driving Sports

Racing has never been cheap, but it's getting a little easier in 2010. Motorsports-related companies are stepping up in a big way this year to help amateur and pro racers stay on track.

It's no surprise that Mazda is leading the way -  the company is world-famous for its support of amateur and pro racing. Winners and top-placing Mazdas in a variety of disciplines and classes are eligible for awards at most nationally-sanctioned club and pro motorsports events this year.

For example, every Mazda or Mazda-powered car in SCCA Club Racing is completely covered, with special contingencies at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs, June Sprints, and for Triple Crown winners. Plus, a tow fund is available for anyone towing more than 200 miles to the Runoffs. Plus, there's a special fund for the ARRC at Road Atlanta in the fall.

SCCA Solo autocross events are covered at the Pro Solo, Solo National Tour, and Solo National Championship levels.

Mazda hasn't forgotten NASA, either. There are contingencies at NASA regionals and at the Championships at Miller Motorsports Park. There's even a special award for the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill.

Pro Racing is covered with contingencies in ALMS, Grand-Am, Playboy MX-5 Cup, and SCCA Speed World Challenge.

Drifters are covered in Formula Drift, and Redline Time Attack has its own contingency fund, too.

On the dirty side, Competitors in the United States Rally Championship and the Rally America National Championship have a generous contingency in both  AWD and 2WD classes. SCCA RallyCross also has a contingency fund.

When it's all added up, this is going to come to hundreds of thousands of dollars Mazda's putting in the pockets of amateur and pro racers running Mazda products. If you ever wondered why so many racers choose Mazda, wonder no more. You can find out full details at www.mazdaspeeddevelopment.com.

But that's not all. Yokohama Tire Corporation is returning to SCCA as a contingency sponsor for the 2010 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour and Solo National Championships. Yokohama’s ADVAN Neova AD08 tire is now eligible for the SCCA’s contingency program for the series and championship.

For specific contingency details on participating SCCA classes, eligibility and decal requirements, visit www.scca.org.

If you happen to live in the San Francisco Region of SCCA, they've struck a deal with Sunoco for contingencies in their regional racing program. San Francisco Region is home to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Infineon Raceway (formerly known as Sears Point), and of course, Thunderhill Raceway Park. So in addition to three of the best tracks in North America, SFR and Sunoco are laying out the coin for regional racers.

There are surely other contingencies out there for racers, but all three of these crossed our mailbox today, and we thought it was worth a shout-out to these companies who are helping keep us all on track.