The Ladder Report: Mar. 10 Edition

Well, it's been a busy week. 

There have been several driver announcements this week which is very encouraging after a relatively quiet winter. The grids may not be as full as we had hoped, but they are improving.  Here are a few of this week's announcements...

Skip Barber National Championship

Trebing and Pigot Win Opening Rounds- Two Floridians won the opening two-rounds of the 2010 Skip Barber National Championship, which, ironically, or perhaps not, were held in Florida at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  Dennis Trebing, of Cape Coral, Fla., won Round 1 and Spencer Pigot, of Windermere, Fla.,  won Round 2.  As usual the races were very close and featured several lead changes.

USF2000 National Championship

Patrick McKenna Signs with Cape Motorsports- Irishman Patrick McKenna, who won the prestigious Motorsport Ireland Dunlop Young Driver of the Year Award, has signed with Cape Motorsports for the 2010 USF2000 National Championship.  McKenna, 22, spent the 2009 season in the ultra-competitive MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain. 

Sage Karam Signs with Andretti Autosport- Sage Karam, 15, of Nazareth, Pa., has signed with Andretti Autosport for the 2010 USF2000 National Championship.  Sage has truly impressed me in both karts and cars and I fully expect him to be a standout driver in 2010.  Watch for continued development throughout the season from this talented youngster. 

Josh Fielding Joins the Road-To-Indy- British karting standout Josh Fielding, 20, will join Patrick McKenna at Cape Motorsports for 2010.  This will be his first full-season in the car ranks. 

Chris Miller Plans to Pull Double Duty on the Streets of St. Petersburg- Chris Miller, who won the 2009 F2000 Championship, plans to run both the USF2000 and Star Mazda events during the St. Petersburg, Fla. stop. 

Star Mazda

Juncos Racing Signs Conor Daly- After evaluating some options in Europe, Conor Daly has decided to return to the Star Mazda Championship in 2010.  Last season, while competing in Star Mazda, Conor finished 3rd in the overall championship with 1 win, 1 pole position, 6 podiums and 9 top-five finishes. 

Hayden Duerson Commits to a Two-Race Deal with Juncos Racing- Hayden Duerson, 18, has signed a two-race contract with Juncos Racing to run the opening two events of the 2010 Star Mazda Championship.  Duerson has a pretty impressive resume in the karting and Skip Barber ranks. 

David Ostella Returns with AIM Autosport- Canadian David Ostella will return to Star Mazda competition this season with AIM Autosport.  He will join Michael Furfari who signed with the team in early January.

Indy Lights

James Winslow Tests with Sam Schmidt Motorsports- James Winslow, who competed in the 2009 Atlantic Championship, recently tested an Indy Lights car with Sam Schmidt Motorsports.  The 27-year-old British driver is hoping to join the Indy Lights field full-time in 2010.

Carmen Jorda Signs with Andersen Racing- Carmen Jorda, 21, who was initially linked to Walker Racing, has signed with Andersen Racing to run a full-schedule in the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights series.  She completed her first test with the team last month at the Barber Motorsports Park open-test. 

Junior Strous Joins HVM- After being released from his contract with Team Moore Racing, Junior Strous has signed with HVM Racing for 2010.  The initial plan is to run a full Indy Lights schedule with the possibility of testing/racing in the IndyCar series later this year. 

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