Zak Brown to Drive in Kool/Toyota Atlantic
5 March 1998
Worthington, Ohio: - Active Motorsports will partner with Weider Publications and driver Zak Brown to field a team in the 1998 Kool/Toyota Atlantic Championship. The team will enter all of the Atlantic events this year, with 25-year-old Zak Brown driving the No. 23 Weider Publications entry.Formed in late 1997, the Worthington, Ohio-based Active Motorsports is owned by George Greco, Jason Kloster, and Malcolm Ross. Greco will serve as team manager for the program, while Jason Kloster will handle the duties of business director. Joining the team as race engineer is veteran Mark Weida. Weida's resume as a team owner and engineer includes three Indy Lights Championships, a front-row qualifying effort in last year's Indy 500 with driver Vincenzo Sospiri, and winning the 1997 Clint Brawner Mechanical Excellence award.
"We started Active Motorsports because racing is our passion," said team co-owner George Greco. "Our partnership with Zak Brown and Weider Publications allows us to pursue our goal of establishing a first-class Atlantic team.
"The introduction of the new Swift chassis and 15-inch Yokohama tires in this year's Atlantic series makes this an ideal time to start a new team. Everyone will be at the same point on the learning curve, making it a level playing field."
Brown, of Indianapolis, enters his first full season of Atlantic competition. Since 1993, he has raced in seven Atlantic events, scoring three top-ten finishes. Last year, competing in the Sportscar GT2 Championship in a factory Porche, Brown scored second-place finishes in the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring.
A native of Los Angeles, Brown started racing go-karts at age 14. At 18 he won his first professional race at the Formula Ford 1600 championship event at Donington Park in England. He continued racing in Europe for the next five years in the Opel Lotus and British Formula 3 Championship. Brown's interests do not end with racing, in 1994 he opened a sports marketing firm-Just Marketing, Inc. Then in March of 1996 he began Zak Brown's Track Attack, a racing school based at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
"I have all the faith in the world in the Active Motorsports team formed by George, Jason, and Malcolm," Brown said. "Coupled with the stature of Weider Publications and the vast experience that Mark Weida brings to the table, we have a promising program for the 1998 Kool/Toyota Atlantic Championship. Although this is a new team, we have a wealth of experience and knowledge coming together here."
Weider Publications Inc. is the largest publishing corporation today for the health, fitness, and active consumer market place. Each month the magazines published by Weider Publications reach up to 20 million consumers. Titles under Weider Publications include: Men's Fitness, Shape, Muscle & Fitness, Flex, Senior Golf, Living Fit, Prime Health and Fitness, Fit Pregnancy, Jump, and Shape Cooks.
"We have been working with Zak for three years now and we look forward to building on our relationship in the Atlantic championship," said Peter Miller, senior vice president of magazine development at Weider Publications Inc. "Motorsports is an ideal venue for us because the demographics of the racing fan runs parallel with our readership. On top of that, Zak is a great spokesperson who presents the same image that Weider Publications presents in our industry."
In addition to the multi-year contract with Weider Publications as primary sponsor, Spectra-Precision and Laundry Sportswear join the program as associate sponsors. The Kool/Toyota Atlantic Championship, an open-wheel "training ground" program for future stars of the sport, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. The 1998 season starts at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Saturday, April 4.
