CHRIS KELLER HEADS TO FORMULA FORD'S 40TH ANNIVERSARY RACE AT ROAD
AMERICA AS DEFENDING CHAMPION
(Elkhart Lake, WI -- July 22, 2009) -- Chris Keller, last year's Formula
Ford Festival champion, will defend his place on the podium this weekend
as he heads to one of the country's most legendary road courses, Road
America in Elkhart Lake, Wisc., for Formula Ford's 40th Anniversary
celebration.
Along with a first-place finish in last year's event, Keller also
garnered top honors as the SCCA Formula Ford Runoffs Champion as well
as winning that club's "Rookie of the Year" Award, along with being
bestowed the prestigious "Mark Donohue Award" given to Keller for
outstanding performance, sportsmanship and competitiveness at the
Runoffs. Driving once again for Neil Porter in this year's Formula Ford
Festival, Keller hopes to repeat his success from 2008.
"I'm happy to be back on Neil Porter's crew for Formula Ford's 40th
Anniversary," stated Keller of this exciting opportunity. "It will
allow me to help keep the competition level up as the defending champion,
but will also give me some great seat time as I prepare for a jump to the
IRL Firestone Indy Lights Series in 2010. I have worked really hard to
get this program together, and want to thank Goodyear for providing tires
for this event."
One of the finest small formula car categories ever invented, and long
recognized as the training ground of choice for future F1, IndyCar, and
prototype sports car drivers, Formula Ford has produced more stars than
any other entry-level class.
World Driving Champions Ayrton Senna, Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt,
Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Jody Scheckter, Mika Hakkinen and Michael
Schumacher all drove Formula Fords. IndyCar drivers Michael Andretti,
Danny Sullivan, Jimmy Vasser, John Paul Jr., Eddie Cheever Jr., Paul
Tracy and Dan Weldon all learned their race craft in Formula Fords.
Sports Car Champions James Weaver, Andy Wallace, JJ Lehto, Stefan
Johansson, Jan Lammers, Geoff Brabham and Didier Theys all raced Formula
Fords. Designers like Ferrari's Rory Byrne, Williams' Patrick Head,
Reynard's Adrian Reynard, and Swift's David Bruns all penned Formula
Fords early in their careers. The list is virtually endless and the one
common denominator is Formula Ford.
Three generations of Formula Fords will be racing at Road America. The
burgeoning Monoposto Racing group will host an event for Historic Formula
Fords (1969 -- 1974). Second generation cars (1975 -- 1981) will be
featured in the always well-supported East vs. West Challenge series race
for Club Fords. The feature event for current generation Formula Fords
will be in conjunction with a Central Division SCCA National Points
Championship race. Marques represented include Crossle, Lola, Titan,
Reynard, Van Diemen, Swift, Citation, Tiga, and Piper, all powered by the
Ford 1600cc Kent Bold engine.
The Festival will also include opportunities to mingle with past National
Champions, engine builders, chassis manufacturers and more. Vintage
Formula Ford feature races will run on Saturday and Sunday.
The three-day event is tentatively scheduled to begin on Friday July 24
with test sessions for all cars entered for the weekend. The weekend's
event schedule will include practice, qualifying and races for all three
generations of Formula Fords, as well as a full slate of SCCA national
classes with the Milwaukee Region's Cat National event.
So whatever else your race plans are for 2009, whether driver, crew,
spectator, or race worker, be sure to put the date July 24-26 at Road
America on your calendar. It will be one great 40th birthday celebration
of the Champions Class, Formula Ford.
-credit: www.ChrisKellerRacing.com.
