Rising Star Racing team ready for Barber Motorsports Park

Rising Star Racing drivers Josef Newgarden (above), Spencer Pigot, and Neil Alberico will be racing this weekend as the Verizon IndyCar Series and the Pro Mazda Series travel to Barber Motorsports Park for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.

Josef Newgarden will be looking to return to top form for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing in the 90-lap race after having run strongly all weekend long in Long Beach, only to be knocked out of the race lead and forced to retire early.

Newgarden has two starts at the 2.38-mile central Alabama road course with a best finish of ninth in last year’s event. He and his Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing team logged plenty of laps with the No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda at the facility in March during a two-day IndyCar open test.

Pigot and Alberico are both eager to return to the seats of their Pro Mazda machinery as it’s been a month since the Pro Mazda Series last raced through the streets of St. Pete.

Pigot won both races at St. Pete when he dominated in his No. 7 Doug Mockett & Company/Rising Star Racing/Vitamin-DPro App/California Scents/Juncos Racing machine and took it to victory lane on both Saturday and Sunday. Pigot already has a good amount of experience at the Barber circuit and will look to use that to his advantage in this weekend’s Pro Mazda double header. He won the Winterfest Championship at Barber earlier this year when he placed first and second in each race. He completed a Pro Mazda test there late last year and was also part of the Porsche Young Driver Academy at Barber in 2012 when he did some laps in a GT3 Cup car.

“I'm really looking forward to going back to Barber - it's one of my favorite tracks,” said Pigot. “Lots of high speed corners and elevation changes. It's a ton of fun to drive! We were very fast there in the WinterFest and we've improved since then so I think we're looking good for a strong result. We've had a successful start to the season. I think every time we are on track we learn more about the car and are always improving it. We're getting to know each other better within the Juncos Racing team and I think we will get stronger as the year goes on.”

Alberico also had a strong opening to the 2014 Championship in his No. 2 Bondurant School/eFormulaCarNews.com/J&M Trophy Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing entry with two sixth place results at St. Pete. He also competed in the WinterFest at Barber Motorsports Park and captured two top-five finishes.

“I’m very much looking forward to the next event at Barber,” said Alberico. “We have had plenty of track time this year between series testing and the Winterfest to collect data on this track. I believe that as a team we are well prepared for the race next week, however we need to continue to work hard to get ahead, not just on par.”

Pigot leads the championship into Barber with 65 points while Alberico currently sits sixth in the standings.

For the first time, all three Rising Star Racing drivers will utilize the ConnectedDriver biometric system during the weekend. ConnectedDriver uses state-of-the-art personal biometric monitoring technology to capture and convey real-time updates on the driver condition, the same way that teams use telemetry to monitor their race cars.

ConnectedDriver will provide fascinating insight into the demands on an elite driver's body in the race car and will allow RSR's drivers to custom tailor their training programs specifically to each race track.

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