What makes Newman Wachs Racing driver, John Edwards, nervous these days? Edwards joined Entergy Nuclear CEO, Mike Kansler, in throwing out the first pitches at the Mississippi Braves baseball game in Jackson, Miss., at the "Nuclear Clean Air Energy" Night on June 26.

This task caused some apprehension for Edwards; the 18-year old from Cincinnati, OH, who would much rather guide his Atlantic Championship race car at nearly 170 mph than throw a baseball in front of thousands of eager fans. Fortunately, both Edwards and Kansler both made quick work out of the traditional opening act of America’s pastime, and joined nearly 4,000 fans as they watched the Mississippi Braves go down to the Birmingham Barons in the closing innings.

"I’m just glad I didn’t bounce the pitch on the way to home plate, and I’m proud to be here to promote a good cause– the benefits of nuclear energy," a smiling Edwards said.

It was a night of food, fun, and fireworks at Trustmark Park, home to the Mississippi Braves, a farm team of the Atlanta organization, as Edwards, team owner Eddie Wachs, and the Entergy-sponsored race car helped to spread the message about the benefits of "Nuclear Clean Air Energy" to the fans attending. The event was also an opportunity for Entergy employees at Entergy’s national nuclear headquarters in Jackson and their nearby nuclear power facility, Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, to meet their driver, see the race car and enjoy the baseball game.

“We were just struggling for pace all weekend. I was just following Borja (Garcia) and couldn’t get close enough to pass…but some of that is just the nature of the track. It’s really too bad for us. Everyone is going to have their off-weekends, but ours just happened to be on a weekend where there were double points available. We’ll come back from this and I’m sure everyone else will have their “off-moments” as well, putting us right back in the mix of things.”

John finished 5th in race 1 at New Jersey. He passed his way up to fourth, made a mistake under braking to give P4 back to his teammate, and came home 5th. The car is not what it needs to be according to the team, and he and his teammate are about 1 second off Summerton and Simona. They will come back tomorrow. John starts P6 after struggling in qualifying.

Quote from John:
“We moved up a few positions so that was good for the points today, but we still don’t have the pace of the leaders (Summerton and De Silvestro). We’ll see what we can do tonight and aim for the podium tomorrow.”

Driver Gap Best Lap

Driver Gap Lap Time
John Edwards 0 01:11.8
Simona De Silvestro 0.033 01:11.8
Jonathan Summerton 0.449 01:12.2
Borja Garcia (R) 0.695 01:12.5
Markus Niemela 1.127 01:12.9
Tonis Kasemets 1.185 01:13.0
Frederic Vervisch (R) 1.373 01:13.2
David Garza 2.865 01:13.6
James Winslow(R) 2.874 01:14.7
Max Lefevre (R) 4.064 01:15.3
Richard Zober 5.482 01:16.6
Frankie Muniz 12.203 01:23.1
Michael Nacol (R) 15.083 01:25.7
Michael Mallinen (R) 16.353 01:28.1

“I'm looking forward to going back to New Jersey. I enjoyed driving the track last year, and finished well there despite an incident in race 2 that put me back to third from the lead, only a few laps from the end. Hopefully this time we can be fast and stay out of trouble to get back to the top step of the podium!”

HDNet’s first two live television presentation of the Mazda Atlantic Championship are Saturday and Sunday, June 13 and 14, when the Atlantic Championship contests its first doubleheader of the season at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

“We are absolutely thrilled that Atlantic Championship races will be carried on HDNet,” said Atlantic Championship President Ben Johnston. "We are delighted that one quarter of our schedule will be featured on live television with coverage of the doubleheaders in New Jersey and Chicago. The excitement provided by our drivers and teams is tailor made for high definition television, and we are grateful to MAZDASPEED for making this a reality.”

John leads the championship standings by five points, 36-31, over Simona De Silvestro heading into the doubleheader, which will be Rounds 3 and 4 of the 12-race 2009 championship.

As you can see we have a new look to our website. We would like your feedback and commments. Please write us at TrnNFlt@yahoo.com to let us know what you like, and what you think needs improving. We want to keep our interested friends up to date and informed. Thanks for letting us know.

John finishes P2 at Miller, second to Simona de Silvestro. John got by Summmerton and Vervich on the start (quoting John: "we were four wide going into turn one, Niemla, Vervich, me and Summerton. I had nowhere to go in the middle, locked tires with Summerton and he was pushing me toward Vervich but there was no room. It was crazy. Niemela dropped tires and it cleared out from there - can't wait to see the video") John simply drove his race from there on. Simona was the class of the field today. There was simply no catching the Team Stargate entry who won by a nearly 10 second margin. Details to follow. (submitted by Michael Edwards).

Qualifying left something to be desired. John qualifies P4 behind Simona, Vervich, and Summerton. Clearly he and the team are of the opinion that they should have put it together better than P4, but races have been won from further back. Miller Motorsports Park is not a great place to pass, so the start will be important. We will keep you posted.

Day 2 Practice and John is P2.



“It was a good session, but we’re still a little under four tenths (of a second) off,” said John. “I’ve got to keep the big picture in mind for the championship. We’ve always said we’re aiming for the top three every race. That’s what wins championships, so I’ve got that in mind. At the same time, I want the glory. I want pole tomorrow and to win the race on Sunday. We’ll go back and work on it, but it’s going to be tough. They’ve been dominating every practice session here. It’s going to be tough to beat Simona tomorrow, but we’ve been taking bites out of it. We’ll see if we can get it done tomorrow.”

The Thursday practice session showed that we have some opportunity for improvement. John finished the day P4. Three drivers were clustered at about John's time, but one driver was 0.6 sec quicker. John felt that the car was actually performing quite well, and some detailed analysis was in order to sort out the optimal performance. The team has confidence this can be done today in the final two practice sessions before qualifying. Stay tuned.

Newman Wachs Racing drivers John Edwards and Markus Niemela are both winners at Miller Motorsports Park. John dominated his Star Mazda race in 2008 and Markus won his Atlantic Championship race, both leading flag to flag.

“With John leading the championship after his stellar performance in Sebring, we’d obviously like to hold on to that lead," explained Eddie Wachs. "Fortunately for Markus, the series will allow one race to be dropped, so he is very much still in the fight as well. Both of these drivers are capable of winning on any given weekend. It is important for NWR and our sponsors that we perform well and I have no doubt in my mind that we can deliver.”

Said John, “I'm excited to be going back to Miller, after winning last year's Star Mazda race there. It's a very cool track with a lot of fast corners and small elevation changes at just the right time. Although it is nothing like Sebring, we've been doing some testing on tracks similar to what we'll see at Miller, so I'm confident that we'll have a setup that's comfortable to me.”

The 2008 Star Mazda Championship was filmed and chronicled for a movie. We have just received the trailer. Edited from over 140 hours of footage shot across the United States and Canada, this feature length, documentary follows a dozen drivers from around the world including John as they compete in the Star Mazda race series, a dividing line between the aspiring and the truly professional race car driver.

The drivers compete for the one thing that will move them closer to a career in professional racing: a $750,000 Grand Prize providing a full season ride in the Formula Atlantic Championship. Driven to Race pulls no punches as it tells the stories of these remarkable young people. It is a wonderful story of the competition leading to John's 2008 championship!

John and Newman Wachs Racing (NWR) have partnered with The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), and Entergy Nuclear to promote the "Nuclear. Clean Air Energy" public awareness program. The goal is to make the public aware of environmentally clean ways to produce energy. In addition is the use of motorsports to promote recruiting efforts to college students about possibilities for careers in the nuclear power industry. NWR has created an innovative program with Entergy and NEI to aid in the industry’s recruiting efforts.

The first event for 2009 will be this year’s American Nuclear Society Student Conference, April 1-5 in Gainesville, Florida. John, along with his Swift 016 "Nuclear. Clean Air Energy" race car, is participating in the conference held at the University of Florida. John will discuss both the 2009 racing season and career opportunities in the nuclear energy industry. Scott Peterson, Vice President, Nuclear Energy Institute: "At a time when students across college campuses have a lot of concern about getting into the work force, nuclear engineers are in great demand as the nation begins designing and building advanced nuclear power plants."

Eddie Wachs, Team Owner, NWR: "Today, the majority of Americans believe that we should expand the use of nuclear energy in America. The renaissance has begun. There is no question we will see a new nuclear involvement in the U.S. to match what many other countries are doing in the rest of the World. This is all good. We can’t take the credit for this, but Paul Newman was, and I am, a big advocate of nuclear energy. If Paul were here today he’d be standing right beside me as we continue to support this important initiative."

John Edwards scored his first career Atlantic victory and a $50,000 winner’s paycheck in Friday’s season opener at Sebring International Raceway. Driving the No. 36 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Nuclear Clean Air Energy/NEI/Entergy machine for Newman Wachs Racing, Edwards started second and charged into the lead on the race’s standing start ahead of polesitter Jonathan Summerton. From there, the 18 year old Cincinnati, Ohio resident never looked back, cruising to a 4.7-second victory over rookie Frederic Vervisch. Edwards’ victory eclipsed a previous best result of second, which he achieved at Toronto in his rookie Atlantic season of 2007. Last year, Edwards competed in Star Mazda and took the series championship. “It was an incredible feeling just pulling into pit lane and seeing all of the cameras coming to me,” said Edwards. “It was a great race. I have to thank my engineer, Nick Harvey, and the team for putting the car together, because it was really easy to drive, I just kept looking forward and pulling a gap.”

John Goes Quickest in Qualy 2 for P2 Start

The fastest driver in qualifying today was John Edwards from Newman Wachs Racing. Edwards’ best lap in final qualifying was 1:54.100 (116.740 mph), which guaranteed him second on the starting grid. However, his fastest qualifying lap overall was actually the third-quickest time on Wednesday at 1:53.715 (117.135 mph).“We’re starting P2, but we made big improvements from yesterday and I got it together on track,” Edwards said. “I was a whole lot more consistent and I think we were P1 most of the session today. I ended first, but unfortunately the track was slower today. That’s just how it goes in the two-session format. Jonathan’s on pole, but we’re here at Sebring and there’s a couple of long straightaways, so hopefully we can stay with him and maybe see if we can draft by him and win tomorrow.”
Starting Lineup for Round 1 of 2009 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda:
1. Jonathan Summerton, No. 19 Genoa Racing, 1:53.571, 117.283 mph.

2. John Edwards, No. 36 Newman Wachs Racing, 1:53.715, 117.135 mph.

3. Frederic Vervisch (R), No. 17 Genoa Racing, 1:53.625, 117.228 mph.

4. Harald Schlegelmilch (R), No. 21 Conquest Racing, 1:53.810, 117.037 mph.

5. Borja Garcia (R), No. 6 Condor Motorsports, 1:53.984, 116.859 mph.

6. Markus Niemela, No. 1 Newman Wachs Racing, 1:54.083, 116.757 mph.

7. Jonathan Bomarito, No. 26 Mathiasen Motorsports, 1:54.206, 116.631 mph.

8. Simona De Silvestro, No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds, 1:54.525, 116.306 mph.

9. Frankie Muniz, No. 77 Team Stargate Worlds, 1:54.846, 115.981 mph.

10. Matt Lee, No. 2 Jensen MotorSport, 1:54.955, 115.871 mph.

11. Tonis Kasemets, No. 35 Polestar Motor Racing, 1:55.036, 115.790 mph.

12. Max Lefevre (R), No. 7 Condor Motorsports, 1:56.130, 114.699 mph.

13. James Winslow (R), No. 12 Conquest Racing, 1:56.531, 114.304 mph.

14. Mirl Swan (R), No. 88 Swan Racing, 1:58.965, 111.966 mph.

15. Sadat Yelkin (R), No. 75 Swan Racing, 1:59.275, 111.675 mph.

16. Ahsen Yelkin (R), No. 29 Swan Racing, 2:00.304, 110.720 mph.

17. Chris Lee (R), No. 68 Swan Racing, 2:01.561, 109.575 mph.

18. Michael Nacol (R), No. 3 Jensen MotorSport, 2:01.619, 109.522 mph.

19. Michael Mallinen, No. 71 Swan Racing, 2:04.026, 107.397 mph.

Results from Qualy 1 Sebring: John is P3

Summerton gets pole in qualy 1. Teammate is second. John is the first "non-Genoa" car in P3.

“Third is not the worst thing that could happen, but it’s not what we wanted after being quickest in the first two sessions,” Edwards said. “I got in a little traffic in the beginning and should have found a better gap. That got me a little unfocused and I started taking too many mistakes. I sort of found my way there at the end but ran out of time. It’s too bad, but hopefully the track will be better tomorrow once more rubber gets laid down, and then we can go for the real pole instead of just the early pole.”

John on Top Again in second Practice

Sebring International Raceway / 3.7 miles
March 18-21, 2009 / Sebring, Florida
Atlantic Championship Practice 1
1 1 Atl 36 John Edwards Newman Wachs Racing 1:54.023 116.819 13 -.--- 15
2 2 Atl 26 Jonathan Bomarito Mathiasen Motorsports 1:54.114 116.725 15 0.091 15
3 3 Atl 1 Markus Niemela Newman Wachs Racing 1:54.543 116.288 13 0.520 15
4 4 Atl 6 Borja Garcia(R) Condor Motorsports 1:54.573 116.258 16 0.550 17
5 5 Atl 78 Simona De Silvestro Team Stargate Worlds 1:54.969 115.857 8 0.946 14
6 6 Atl 17 Frederic Vervisch(R) Genoa Racing 1:55.012 115.814 7 0.989 13
7 7 Atl 19 Jonathan Summerton Genoa Racing 1:55.082 115.744 12 1.059 14
8 8 Atl 77 Frankie Muniz Team Stargate Worlds 1:55.082 115.744 15 1.059 17
9 9 Atl 21 Harald Schlegelmilch(R) Conquest Racing 1:55.382 115.443 9 1.359 16
10 10 Atl 2 Matt Lee Jensen MotorSport 1:55.460 115.365 14 1.437 14
11 11 Atl 12 James Winslow(R) Conquest Racing 1:56.412 114.421 13 2.389 13
12 12 Atl 7 Max Lefevre(R) Condor Motorsports 1:57.007 113.839 5 2.984 12
13 13 Atl 35 Tonis Kasemets Polestar Motor Racing 1:57.758 113.113 3 3.735 11
14 1 C2 75 Sadat Yelkin(R) Swan Racing 1:59.333 111.620 12 5.310 12
15 2 C2 88 Mirl Swan(R) Swan Racing 2:00.362 110.666 9 6.339 11
16 14 Atl 3 Michael Nacol Jensen MotorSport 2:01.444 109.680 6 7.421 15
17 3 C2 71 Mike Mallinen(R) Swan Racing 2:02.496 108.738 15 8.473 15
18 4 C2 68 Chris Lee(R) Swan Racing 2:04.854 106.685 8 10.831 10
19 5 C2 29 Ahsen Yelkin(R) Swan Motorsports

Sebring Press Release: John on Top in First Practice

The 36th anniversary season of the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda gets underway on Friday at Sebring International Raceway as part of the American Le Mans Series 12 Hours of Sebring.

This weekend’s race is the first of 12 for the Atlantic Championship in 2009, with a $1 million payday awaiting the series champion at season’s end and a $50,000 prize for this weekend’s race winner.

If times from Tuesday’s promoter test day at Sebring are any indication, 2008 Star Mazda champion John Edwards may be the man to beat on Friday afternoon. Edwards topped the Tuesday time charts with a best lap at 1:53.957 in the No. 36 for Newman Wachs Racing. The 18-year-old from Cincinnati, Ohio returns to the Atlantic Championship this season after a one-year absence during which he claimed the Star Mazda title. Two years ago, Edwards became the youngest driver in Atlantic history at the age of 16 and scored a career-best result of second at Toronto.

Edwards is joined on the two-car NWR team by defending Atlantic champion Markus Niemela. Niemela posted the sixth-quickest time in Tuesday testing, but the Finnish racer will undoubtedly be heard from frequently throughout the weekend and the entire season.

The driver who finished just behind Niemela in the 2008 championship standings, Jonathan Bomarito will once again pilot the familiar black and yellow No. 26 machine for Mathiasen Motorsports. Bomarito led the series last year with three victories and looks to be back on pace for the season opener with a second-quickest lap at 1:54.255 in Tuesday’s test.

As is always the case in the Atlantic Championship, the 2009 field features a number of talented rookies looking to make names for themselves in North America’s longest-running open-wheel driver development series. Belgian Frederic Vervisch is one such driver. The former champion of ATS Formula 3 and Asian Formula 3 posted the third-quickest time of the test at 1:54.296 aboard the No. 17 Genoa Racing entry. He and Edwards have a "history" from Formula Renault having been involved in a spectacular three car high speed wreck 2 1/2 years ago as Vervisch flipped multiple times down the backstretch at the Salzburgring in Austria.


Series newcomer Borja Garcia of Valencia, Spain completed the top five in Tuesday testing with a lap at 1:54.873 in the No. 6 CJ Consulting entry from Condor Motorsports. Garcia—who previously competed in GP2, the World Series by Renault and Superleague in Europe—quickly got the attention of his fellow Atlantic competitors last week in testing at Palm Beach International Raceway, where he topped the time charts for all four sessions in the two-day test.

Just behind Niemela, who posted a time of 1:55.020, was another driver returning to the Atlantic Championship after a one-year absence, Matt Lee of Syosset, N.Y. Lee turned a best lap at 1:55.157 in the No. 2 machine for Jensen MotorSport.

Jonathan Summerton, who finished third in the 2008 Atlantic Championship standings wrapped up a deal with Genoa Racing over the weekend was eighth fastest on the day at 1:55.283.

Team Stargate Worlds teammates Simona De Silvestro and Frankie Muniz completed the top 10 in testing. British racer James Winslow, who was announced as driver of the No. 12 Conquest Racing entry on Monday, posted the 11th-fastest lap of the test at 1:56.904.

Garcia’s Condor Motorsports teammate, French rookie Max Lefevre, was 12th in testing at 1:57.395 in the No. 7 DOTMOBIL machine. Lefevre won the 2008 West European Formula Renault Challenger Cup title, as well as the 2007 French Formula Ford championship.

Atlantic Season underway with First Test

Second-quickest in the first Atlantic test session was our own 2008 Star Mazda champion John Edwards in the No. 36 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Nuclear Clean Air Energy/NEI/Entergy machine for Newman Wachs Racing. John posted a best lap at 1:07.556 in Wednesday’s morning session, which turned out to be the session in which every driver at the test turned in their quickest time.

"It seems like we were second all the time, almost every run, even there at the end when the track was hotter," said Edwards. "Garcia and I both put new tires on and we were timing him, and we were still about a tenth (of a second) off. It was pretty frustrating, but there at the end we were a little closer. Obviously, on the time sheets, you won’t see that because of the way the track was. It was a lot slower. I’m really happy with the test. We got a lot done and we were obviously quick the whole time. Maybe not quickest, but they’re not awarding any points here, so we’re not extremely worried about that, but it would have been nice to top the charts at least once. We’re looking forward to Sebring. It’s completely different than this, very bumpy and very fast, as opposed to sort of medium speed and extremely smooth here. It’s going to be a completely different game there and I’m looking forward to it."

Defending series champion Markus Niemela made it two Newman Wachs Racing machines in the top-three spots. The Finn logged a best lap at 1:07.881 in the No. 1 Mr. Jones/Nuclear Clean Air Energy/Entergy/NWR entry. Niemela just signed with the team last week and was still adjusting to his new surroundings in the series-sanctioned test.

1. Borja Garcia (R), No. 6 Condor Motorsports, 1:07.286.
2. John Edwards, No. 36 Newman Wachs Racing, 1:07.556.
3. Markus Niemela, No. 1 Newman Wachs Racing, 1:07.881.
4. Frankie Muniz, No. 77 Team Stargate Worlds, 1:07.919.
5. Harald Schlegelmilch (R), No. 21 Conquest Racing, 1:08.116.
6. Frederic Vervisch (R), No. 17 Genoa Racing, 1:08.155.
7. Jonathan Bomarito, No. 26 Mathiasen Motorsports, 1:08.268.
8. Matt Lee, No. 22 Jensen MotorSport, 1:08.322.
9. Simona De Silvestro, No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds, 1:08.344.
10. Alexander Rossi (R), No. 16 Genoa Racing, 1:08.366.
11. Max Lefevre (R), No. 7 Condor Motorsports, 1:08.600.
12. Michael Nacol (R), No. 2 Jensen MotorSport, 1:11.124.

News from the Atlantic Championship

"John and Nick Harvey Celebrating the 2008 Star Mazda Championship at Laguna Seca, and planning for the Atlantic Championship for 2009"

eFormulaCarNews.com has reported that over $3.5-million in prize funds is scheduled to be awarded in 2009. Edwards Motorsports can confirm that sources within the Atlantic Championship community have indicated that the prize fund for the upcoming 2009 season will feature both an extensive per race fund and a hefty champion's bonus.

It is believed that the winner of each 2009 Atlantic Championship race will receive $50,000 in prize money, with further money paid down to 10th place. In total, $1.5 million will be paid out in race prize money. Perhaps more importantly, the 2009 Atlantic Champion bonus will returm with the series champion being presented with a check for $2 million at the conclusion of the season. Unlike the previous champion's bonus, this is prize may be used by the driver to help fund his 2010 campaign in any race series worldwide.

In addition to the prize fund, the meeting also generated a lot of answers the teams had with regards to the 2009 season.

With the new prize fund in place, the Atlantic Championship is now posed to enjoy yet another superb season of competition. EFCN will be working to continue developing this story in the coming days. Stay tuned, as John has alot invested. The good news is that his sponsorship is with Mazda, a faithful team with a great track record of support for their drivers. Here's hoping the Atlantic Series sorts out as planned.

On with the New Year and a New Season

AIM Autosport
Series Champion, Rookie of the Year
4 wins, 8 podiums, 4 pole positions in 11 races

In the span of a few short months at the start of the 2008 calendar year, John went from near disaster to a career high. Initially, without a ride for ’08 John convinced his dad that he could and would win the Star Mazda Championship. John agreed to a one race "test" and proved his potential by winning by a 14 second margin. The family made the "big bet" and Edwards joined AIM Autosport for the 2008 season of the Star Mazda Championship. He immediately became a force to be reckoned with. Despite not have a teammate to share data and having never raced the Pro Mazda car previously, John scored four wins (Miller, Portland, New Jersey and Road Atlanta) and eight podium finishes en route to his first junior formula car title. In doing so, he will return to the Atlantic Championship after a one-year absence via the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder program, driving for Newman Wachs Racing next season.

John is currently preparing for the coming year. He and we look forward to keeping you posted on his progress.