Doug Smith Eager for Formula Ford Series Restart at Road America

ELKHART LAKE, Wisc., August 3, 2005 � After a break of over a month in the 2005 Formula Ford Zetec Cooper Tire Championship, Doug Smith is eager to slide back behind the wheel of the No. 35 Packers of Indian River LTD/ wirewheel.com/ Race-Sport.net Van Diemen. The open wheel, formula car series will take the �green flag' to restart its season this weekend at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin's historic Road America. The Plantation, Florida-resident will have two opportunities to earn his first Series victory with 30-minute events scheduled on both Saturday, August 6 and Sunday, August 7th. Doug, who is currently ranked fifth in Cooper Series points, will be making his seventh and eighth starts of the season driving the No. 35 for GTP Motorsports at the Ferrari Maserati Racing Days at Road America event. The long break, which came just as Doug and GTP owner/ engineer Glenn Phillips had begun to fine-tune their new Van Diemen chassis, was a grueling delay for the 2002 American Continental Championship runner-up who is eager to move up in the standings. Doug has used the time to continue to train for the physical requirements of the sport as well as stay sharp mentally by karting and instructing.The 4.048-mile, 12-turn Road America facility is a favorite for most true racers. The natural terrain circuit harkens back to the racetracks of the early years of the sport. The high-speed circuit plays naturally to Doug's driving skills with its long straightaways, challenging high speed and low speed turns as well as significant elevation changes. The track also offers several prime passing opportunities for experienced drivers in the equally matched Ford-powered, Cooper Tire-shod cars. The two events scheduled for this weekend mark the final swing towards the Cooper Series October season-finale at Sebring International Raceway. Following Road America, the next set of races will come at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 27 and 28th. Earlier in the year, the young Floridian piloted the No. 35 to a season-high fifth there. The penultimate event of the season will take place at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) on October 8th and 9th with the finale, The Cooper Festival, at Sebring on October 22nd and 23rd. Each of these tracks, hosting two races a weekend, are favorites of Doug's. Sebring is his “home” track and he has countless laps instructing at VIR. In many ways, the final races of the season played perfectly into his hands as Doug attempts to win his first career professional racing series championship.Doug Smith: “I am really excited to be back in the car after the month off. Besides learning a new track here at Road America, I will have the opportunity to work with Dean Meeks as my engineer. I have great respect for Dean's talents. I have run against his cars in the past and it will be a great opportunity to expand my experience by working with him.”For more on the Formula Ford Zetec Cooper Tire Championship, please visit www.cooperseries.com. ###