Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda Celebrates 35 Years of Great Racing

The Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda proudly celebrates its 35th anniversary throughout the 2008 season, and this is another watershed year in the long and winding history of Atlantic.

After 10 years of ownership by Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. (CART) and its successor, Champ Car World Series, LLC; the Atlantic Championship went back out on its own in early 2008 when Champ Car was united with the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. Also stemming from the “reunification” at the top level of American open-wheel racing is the fact that the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is again the sanctioning body for Atlantic for the first time since 1976.

While there have been several of changes from the standpoint of administration, however, series president Vicki O’Connor remains at the helm, as she has been since 1985. Another thing that hasn’t changed is the fact that the series continues to host world class drivers and teams in North America’s longest-running open-wheel driver development series.

Since 1974, the Atlantic Championship has been churning out drivers that have gone on to superstardom in various forms of motorsport all over the world. From Formula 1 legends such as Gilles Villeneuve, Jacques Villeneuve and Keke Rosberg, to IndyCar heroes like Bobby Rahal, Danny Sullivan, Jimmy Vasser and Danica Patrick and many, many more, Atlantic has proven time and again to be one of the most effective driver development series in the world.

The 2008 Atlantic Championship features another strong crop of racers battling for the series championship. A long-time haven for aspiring open-wheel racers from the United States and Canada, this year’s group of drivers is no exception. Canadian drivers such as James Hinchcliffe, Kevin Lacroix and Daniel Morad have proven to be lightning-fast in Atlantic machines, while American racers like Carl Skerlong, Jonathan Bomarito, Jonathan Summerton and Dane Cameron have also shown the skills in Atlantic to be successful at the next level.

That being said, the Atlantic Championship has also become a favorite finishing school for international racers. Dutchman Junior Strous appears poised to be a championship contender throughout the 2008 season, while Swiss female racer Simona De Silvestro became the second woman in Atlantic history to win a race with her popular victory in the 2008 season-opener in Long Beach. The series has also earned the respect of 1992 Formula 1 World Champion and 1993 IndyCar World Series champion Nigel Mansell, who chose Atlantic for his two sons, Greg and Leo, to take the next step in their development as racing drivers this year.

The 2008 Atlantic Championship features a challenging, 11-race schedule that blends prestigious and historic venues and events with newer facilities. The schedule features events on the streets of Long Beach; Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca; Circuit Mont-Tremblant; Edmonton’s Rexall Speedway; Road America; the streets of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec; the brand new New Jersey Motorsports Park; Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City, Utah and Road Atlanta.

In addition to racing at some of the most prestigious facilities in North America, the 2008 Atlantic schedule also affords drivers in the series an opportunity to showcase their abilities in front of influential team owners and officials in the IndyCar Series, American Le Mans and Grand-Am series, among others.

Every Atlantic driver takes to the track in a state-of-the-art Swift 016.a chassis powered by a 300-horsepower Mazda-Cosworth engine and riding on Cooper Atlantic racing slicks. The Atlantic machines are capable of traveling at speeds near 175 miles per hour, and every race features popular and exciting standing starts.

The list of Atlantic graduates over the past 34 years reads like a “who’s who” of open-wheel racing royalty. Rahal. Vasser. Villeneuve. Sullivan. Andretti. Rosberg. Hornish. Rice. Wheldon. Patrick. Every one of the aforementioned drivers used the series as a springboard to legendary careers in open-wheel racing worldwide, and it is that heritage that has given the Atlantic Championship the right to declare itself “the premier open-wheel driver development series in North America.”

In addition to those who have gone onto stardom in open-wheel racing, however, are drivers such as Hornish, Patrick Carpentier and A.J. Allmendinger, who are now plying their trade in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Likewise, former Atlantic champions Simon Pagenaud and Johnny O’Connell are currently top competitors in the American Le Mans Series racing against other former Atlantic racers like Luis Diaz, Alex Figge and Tom Sutherland, among others. Meanwhile, Atlantic grads Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney are the reigning Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype champions and mix it up on a regular basis with other Atlantic grads such as Joey Hand, Michael Valiante, Ryan Dalziel, Bill Auberlen and many more.

Simply put, drivers who use Atlantic as their stepping stone to the next level are prepared to race wheel-to-wheel with the best drivers anywhere.

Undoubtedly, several drivers in the 2008 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda will go on to stardom in the future. Who will those drivers be? Only time will tell…

More Atlantic 101:  Overview  |  Fast Facts  |  History  |  Driver Roster