Atlanta, Georgia – January 20 – Chris Meredith signed to drive the Elan DP02 factory prototype car driven to the championship and winning all but one race last season in IMSA Lites L1 by his friend Adam Pecorari. The car will be prepped and maintained by Comprent Motor Sports of Athens, Ga, the sole distributor and parts supplier of the Elan DP02 racecars. In addition to Comprent’s team of engineers, mechanics and data specialists, Chris will also be supported by the engineers from Elan Motorsports Technologies who helped design the DP02 and the new DP01 Champ Car. In February, Chris will be traveling to Athens to begin working with the team who plans testing at Carolina Motorsports Park in preparation for the season opener at Sebring, Florida in support of the famous 12 hour race. “I’m extremely excited to have been selected to drive the Elan Factory Prototype DP02 and to be supported by Elan and Comprent, my goal is to beat my friend Adam’s win record from last season, win the championship and move into the American Le Mans Series. Finalizing our plans this late in the year and moving to sports cars has delayed our sponsorship plans but I’m sure it will all move very quickly now that our plans are firm.”
Palmetto, Florida – November 3 – Chris Meredith returned to Group Four Park and tested an IMSA Lites car with last years team and IMSA Lites winners Cape Motorsports. Chris turned extremely competitive times and adjusted to the car very quickly. The Capes were glad to have Chris back after a successful Zetec season and are looking forward to winning the IMSA Lites series again with Chris next season after winning every race but one with Adam Pecorari in the series inaugural season in 2006. “The car was really fun to drive and I hope to be spending most of the winter in Florida instructing at Sebring and helping to develop the car and practicing in go karts with last years teammate JR Hildebrand.”
ELKHART LAKE, Wis., Sept. 25 - Finishing fifth in a series as competitive as the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000 Championship is hard enough.
Chris Meredith of Potomac, Md., has now done it two years in a row.
Driving the Cape Motorsports Van Diemen RF02 No. 3 sponsored by Meredith International (MII), a security consulting firm, as well as the Bertil Roos RacingSchool, the 19-year-old driver ran into some bad luck in the first half ofthe season-ending doubleheader at Road America on Saturday but he finished astrong sixth on Sunday to place fifth in the national point standings after 14 events.
Along the way he finished on the podium three times this season and he was int he top five six times. In addition he qualified in the top five for every race except one.
That one race was Saturday's rainy contest on Road America's 4.048-mile road course, in which Meredith started 12th. He got off to a great start, advancing to eighth by the end of lap one. He passed Noah Bystrom for seventh on the next lap for seventh place. He moved up to fifth with three laps down when the leader, J.R. Hildebrand, went off course and Meredith got around Gerry Kraut.
Lap four was even better for Meredith, as he passed both Ricardo Vassmer and Jason Byers to nail down third place, trailing only the eventual winner, Dane Cameron, and the eventual runner-up, Steve Welk.
He was running comfortably in third when trouble struck with five laps down. An errant stone caused the car's throttle to stick, forcing Meredith to lock up the brakes and spin in Turn One. He ended up stuck in a gravel trap, his race over.
Two laps later a full-course yellow came out, it started to rain even heavier, and the scheduled 12-lap event was called complete with nine laps down. Meredith's official finishing position was 23rd.
"Cape Motorsports gave me a fantastic car for the rain," Meredith said afterwards. "We went from 12th to third and I was closing on Steve Welk, and then the throttle stuck and I went off in Turn One. A stone got lodged between the pedal and the pedal stop I think. But there for awhile we were getting a couple guys every lap."
The weather and Meredith's luck was much better on Sunday. He set the fifth-fastest lap of Saturday's race which would have earned him the fifth starting spot on Sunday, but he actually got to start fourth when Hildebrand lost the pole due to a penalty.
Meredith was flying at the start on Sunday, advancing as high as second initially before dropping to fifth by the end of lap one. Jason Byers got around him on lap two to push him to sixth, but he was back in fifth again two laps later when Dane Cameron ran into problems.
Noah Bystrom got around him with eight laps down to make Meredith sixth again, and that's where he was running when the checkered waved after a dozen trips around the 4.048-mile road course.
"The car was a little loose at the beginning, but I knew I had to finish in the top five or just outside it," Meredith said after the race. "I would have had to have a much better weekend to pull off third in the points, and after Saturday's race I didn't want to risk wrecking my car, which is already sold, and jeopardizing fifth in the points. The car was oversteering too much to do any better than sixth today, but overall it's been a pretty good year. I want to thank everyone at Cape Motorsports - Dominic, Nicolas, Dean, Corey and Don - for all their help this year. They gave me the best car that they could, and I really appreciate it.
"Now I'm going to focus on the Star Mazda race at Road Atlanta on Friday," he added. "It'll be my first Star Mazda race ever, but hopefully I can score a good finish there.
"I hope to test as much as possible in the off-season," he added. "I really want to advance to the Indy Pro Series next year. That's what I really want to do, but we'll have to wait and see.
"I think my qualifying improved a lot this year," he added. "Overall I think the most important thing I learned was how to be more aggressive yet conservative at the same time. I improved in learning how to drive the car to its limits, not under or over them."
The Road America FF2000 doubleheader supported a Champ Car World Series headliner.
For more information see Meredith's Web site at chrismeredithracing.com; the team's Web site at capemotorsports.com and the series' Web site at cooperseries.com. For Meredith's results in this coming weekend's Star Mazda race at Road Atlanta, see andersenracingteam.com and starmazda.com.
LEXINGTON, Ohio, Sept. 17 - Chris Meredith of Potomac, Md. made grounds towards his goal of improving on his fifth-place finish in last year's point standings by placing fourth and third Saturday and Sunday, respectively, in National Auto Sport Association (NASA) Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000 action at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Driving the Cape Motorsports Van Diemen RF02 No. 3 sponsored by Meredith International (MII), a security consulting firm, as well as the Bertil Roos Racing School, the 19-year-old driver qualified third for Saturday's race and finished fourth in it, and qualified fourth for Sunday's race and finished third in it. Sunday's result was the third podium finish of the year for Meredith, who has qualified in the top five for every race so far this year.
Each driver drops his two worst finishes for the final tabulations for the championship. With the drops, unofficially Meredith is fifth in the overall point standings with two more races remaining in the 14-race 2006 season. Fourth place is held by Jason Byers, who finished behind Meredith in both races this weekend.
Although J.R. Hildebrand clinched the championship on Saturday, the battle for second through fifth is very close and will be settled next weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. in the final doubleheader of the year. Those races will be support events to a Champ Car World Series headliner.
Both races at Mid-Ohio were 20-lap, 30-minute contests on the track's 2.400-mile road course. A chicane was added that made the course a bit longer than it was when the series appeared here in May, but the lap times remained similar since some curbs were also ground down, allowing the drivers to cut some corners tighter than they could in the past.
Meredith was embroiled in the best battles of both races at Mid-Ohio.
On Saturday Ricardo Vassmer got by Meredith on lap one and then they were the stars of the show, as they dueled lap after lap. Byers lay directly behind them in fifth, just waiting for a chance to pounce on either of them if their battle got out of control and they crashed, spun or bobbled.
Neither made a mistake, however, and Meredith crossed the finish line in fourth, a couple of car lengths behind Vassmer and with a healthy margin in front of Byers in the 18-car field.
"I was definitely faster than he was in some places," Meredith noted afterwards about Vassmer. "I wish they hadn't added the chicane, because every time I went into Turn One I was faster.
"My car was really good; I was pushing him as hard as I could," Meredith added. "I tried him a couple of times going into Turn Seven, but I couldn't get by him. He raced me clean though, absolutely.
"About halfway through the race I blistered my front tires and developed an understeer, and from that point on I just held on to fourth," he added. "I'm pretty happy to get the fourth-place points today."
The pressure increased on Meredith on Sunday, as in that race he was in the middle of a three-car race for second place.
He was fourth on lap one but then moved into third when polesitter Dane Cameron got off course on that lap and damaged his car's front wing. He stayed in third the rest of the way, sandwiched between Slade Miller and Vassmer, but he withstood all the pressure to end up on the podium.
He was just 0.37 of a second behind second place at the checkered.
"I think I was a tiny bit faster than Slade, but he got a better start than I did," Meredith said after the race. "We were nose to tail the whole way; it was very exciting. I had a lot to watch; I had to pay attention to Slade's gearbox and Ricardo's nose.
"I didn't have any close calls, but I had some hairy corners," he noted. "I did my best to keep the car under me. Every time I'd get close Slade would pull away a little at the next corner.
"My car was good; it was better than yesterday," he added. "The tires were dropping off a little at the end, but they kept together. Now we'll go to Elkhart Lake next week and try for another podium or maybe a win."
For more information see Meredith's Web site at chrismeredithracing.com; the team's Web site at capemotorsports.com and the series' Web site at cooperseries.com.
POTOMAC, MD., - June 21 – Chris Meredith earned his first podium of the season at race number 3 at the famed Mid Ohio Sports Car Track. Chris managed to qualify third behind his two teammates J. R. Hildebrand and Dane Cameron giving the Cape Motorsports team a sweep of the top three qualifying positions.
During the first race, Chris quickly moved into 2nd place following a first lap incident that eliminated one of his teammates, Dane Cameron. Chris continued in 2nd place battling with Jason Byers for the position the entire race until Jason finally made the final pass with 2 to go, giving Chris 3rd place and his first podium of the season.
“It was a great race between Jason and me, we have raced side by side a lot the past couple of years and I know he will always race me cleanly”. “While I’m absolutely thrilled with a podium I am disappointed it wasn’t second and that all the battling between Jason and me let JR get away from us”.
Even with the constant battle between Jason and Chris, he was able to finish almost 5 seconds ahead of Nick Haye in 4th.
Race four started with Chris 4th on the grid and quickly moving into 3rd place behind teammates JR Hildebrand and Dane Cameron. Chris was able to open up almost a 4 second lead on Andy Knight of New Zealand in 4th place until a double yellow came out because of an on course accident allowing all the car of Knight to close up the 4 second gap. On the restart Knight was able to get around Chris for 3rd place. After following Knight closely for two laps to determine the best place to pass the slower car, Chris made his move on Knight at turn 1 only to be closed down on by Knight. To avoid the contact, Chris swerved and spun the car putting him from 4th to last place in the field.
In the remaining laps, Chris was only able to make up some spots to move into 21st before the checkered flag.
The next round of the Cooper Championship Series will be held in Portland, Oregon in support of the CHAMP Car World Series the weekend of June 16-18, 2006.
POTOMAC, MD, May 13 – Chris Meredith got the season off to a good start at Road Atlanta this weekend by qualifying and finishing 5th in the first race of the season. Chris posted times in the top five during all practices leading up to qualification and ultimately qualified in 5th position.
During the first race Chris battled Jason Byers and Ricardo Vassmer for position 3 thru 5 with Chris finally finishing in 5th. While disappointed he was still pleased for a top 5 in the first race of the season. Sunday brought torrential rain storms while the cars were on the starting grid. All the teams but one decided to leave the cars on slick tires in hopes that the rain would subside during the race. Unfortunately the rain never stopped until well after the finish of the race.
During the second race in rainy and slick conditions, Chris made his way up to 4th and when a double yellow came out because of cars off the track he was back in 5th. On the restart disaster struck when he decided to lay back and get a run on the cars in front of him in hopes of a podium finish, but much to his surprise, and everyone else’s the pace car abruptly slowed just before pulling off into pit lane just as Chris crested the hill leading onto the front straight. Chris jammed on the brakes on the rain soaked and slick track to avoid hitting the cars in front of him and spun putting the rear wing into the tire wall. After a brief pit stop to evaluate the wing damage he was sent back out with a severely bent rear wing assembly. He fought back from last place to finally finish in 17th place.
The next round of races will be at the famed Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio the weekend of June 19-21.
POTOMAC, Md., Oct. 11 - Chris Meredith overcame adverse conditions at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) to finish in the top 10 in the final two rounds of the Formula Ford Zetec Cooper Tire Championship Series last Sunday. Entering VIR seventh in the championship standings, Meredith earned 31 points in the last two races, allowing the18-year-old rookie from Potomac, Md. to claim fifth place in the championship for the 2005 season.
"We were able to meet our goals for the season," said Meredith, the highest-placing American rookie. "I wanted to learn about the car, learn about driving the car, and finish in the top five in the championship."
Unforgiving and challenging, the three long straightaways at the 3.27-mile VIR allow the southern Virginia track to produce some of highest speeds in the championship series. Race day at VIR dawned dark and overcast, with continued showers producing a slick and treacherous circuit for Sunday morning's penultimate round of the championship.
After qualifying sixth for the final two rounds, Meredith quickly moved into third place in the first race, where he pressured eventual race winner Alan Sciuto and J.R. Hildebrand for the victory. "We decided to run a half-dry and half-wet setup in case the track started to dry," said Meredith. "Those guys were running a full-wet setup, and that made it easier for them to open up a gap."
An intense battle lasting several laps with fourth-place starter Robert Podlesni ensued before Podlesni moved into second place. "We swapped positions several times," said Meredith. Once in fourth place, Meredith kept within striking distance of the leaders, finishing 18 seconds ahead of Nick Haye, who placed fifth.
In the final round of the championship Meredith quickly picked up two positions from his sixth-place starting spot but then he became involved in an incident with Joey Foster, dropping him to tenth. Foster, who started from the back of the grid, "ran into my left sidepod, forcing me off the track," Meredith said. He was able to keep the car under control and returned to the track in tenth place.
Once back on the track, Meredith noticed his engine water temperature was starting to rise. "My radiators became packed with mud when I went off course and the engine began to overheat," he explained.
Although changing to a full-dry setup for the second race of the day proved fruitful, the overheating engine hampered performance. "The car was set up well for the second race. It was really fast in the corners," Meredith noted.
Faced with the rising engine temperature, Meredith was forced to slow down on the long straightaways to keep the engine from expiring. Like a true professional, Meredith was able to bring the car home on the lead lap in ninth place.
Asked to identify a high point of the season, Meredith responded, "It was the whole season, really. Obviously there are going to be highs and lows, but we started the season well and ended the season well. I would like to thank my mechanic, Brian Medlin; my engineer, Terry Jinks; Kevin Kloepfer, who owns Comprent Motor Sports; Andrew Prendeville, my driver coach this season; and Steve Dreizler, for adding his expertise at the VIR races. Our mindset was to finish the championship in the top five, and we accomplished that goal."
While plans for the 2006 season have yet to be finalized, Meredith feels he has gained invaluable experience regarding the car, working with engineers and driving the car. As for the coming year, Meredith said confidently, "I've gained enough experience to contend for the championship next season."
For more information, see Meredith's Web site at www.chrismeredithracing.com; the team's Web site at comprent.net and the series' Web site at cooperseries.com.
POTOMAC, Md., Aug. 11 - Chris Meredith of Potomac, Md. moved into fifth place in the national point standings for the Formula Ford Zetec Cooper Tires Championship following a doubleheader at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Aug. 6-7.
Meredith was consistently in the top 10 throughout the weekend with his MII Security/Comprent Motorsports No. 79, although he had challenges to deal with in both 12-lap races. He ended up 10th in the first race and eighth in the second one after starting tenth in both races, which featured 30-car fields.
In the first half of the doubleheader on Saturday the 18-year-old driver saw what looked like a top-five finish disappear only two laps from the checkered. He was battling for fifth place when the car driven by the driver he was dicing with suddenly slowed in turn three with mechanical difficulties. With no here to go Meredith ran into the back of the other driver's car, losing his wn Van Diemen's nose, front wing and shock cover in the process. Somehow Meredith hung on to take the checkered flag in tenth place despite the damage.
Meredith dropped back to 12th at the start of the second race on Sunday, and it quickly became apparent why when his car developed engine problems. Since Road America is a 4-mile road course with some very long straights, he had his hands full but he still managed to finish eighth in that event.
Although Meredith was gunning for two top-five finishes instead of two top-10 finishes, he was still very pleased to finish both events and earn enough points to take fifth in the point standings with eight races down and six to go in the 2005 season.
The next event is another doubleheader but it's quite a bit closer to home. It will be held Aug. 27-28 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. It is the series' second visit to Mid-Ohio this year. Meredith won the series' "Hard Charger" award at a race at Mid-Ohio in May when he finished sixth after starting 19th.
The Cooper Series is sanctioned by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It features open-wheel, single-seat race cars powered by either four-cylinder, double-overhead-cam, fuel-injected 2.0-liter Ford Zetec engines that produce around 170 horsepower or carbureted 2.0-liter Ford "Pinto" engines. The cars use Cooper Zeon racing slicks and they can reach speeds in excess of 140 miles per hour.
Drivers who have competed in this type of race car on their way to careers as professional race car drivers include Indy 500 winners Dan Wheldon and Buddy Rice; two-time Indy Racing League champion Sam Hornish Jr. and 1996 Champ Car World Series titlist Jimmy Vasser. For more information see Meredith's Web site at www.chrismeredithracing.com; his team's Web site at comprent.net and the series' Web site at cooperseries.com.
POTOMAC, Md., July 7 - With two good runs in the recent Formula Ford Zetec doubleheader at the Grand Prix of Cleveland behind him, Chris Meredith of Potomac, Md. is looking forward to his next event Aug. 6-7 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Competing on the 2.106-mile street course at Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport in support events to the Champ Car series June 25-26 was a great experience for the 18-year-old high school student. He finished eighth in the first race and seventh in the second event.
The weekend attracted a 40-car field for the Formula Ford Zetec Cooper Tires Championship Series doubleheader. Meredith, a rookie in the series, was behind the wheel of the MII Security No. 79 fielded by Comprent Motorsports.
Meredith qualified 13th for Saturday's race. He quickly moved up to seventh, and then was involved in a heated battle for the fifth, sixth and seventh positions.
Unfortunately another competitor's Van Diemen then lost a half-shaft in the middle of the backstretch, and Meredith ran over the debris with his car. "It damaged my car's nose and front wing, and after that I was just lucky to finish eighth," he said afterwards. "Our car was strong though," he added. "Without that problem we would have been in the top five."
He started 12th in Sunday's event and had advanced to sixth before too many laps were in the books. Fifth, sixth and seventh exchanged places several times but a rash of yellow flags occurred and Meredith was in seventh when time ran out.
"I think there were only nine hot laps in the 22-lap race," Meredith noted. "I probably had a fifth- or sixth-place car for that race. At the end there was just four one-thousandths of a second at the line between me and the car ahead of me. It was really close, wheel-to-wheel racing."
Meredith had never raced at the Burke Lakefront course before but he said the whole experience was fun. "It was packed, and it was amazing to be racing in front of so many fans," he said. "That was cool."The course was fun," he added. "There was a lot of high-speed stuff and it's wide, so that made for a lot of passing."
Meredith is currently eighth in the national point standings after six of 14 events.
"I'm looking forward to going to Road America in August," he said. "It'll be my first time there too."
Fans can see how he makes out via his Web site at www.chrismeredithracing.com.
The team's eb site is at comprent.net and the series' Web site is at www.cooperseries.com.
POTOMAC, Md., June 21 - Chris Meredith of Potomac, Md. will continue to get valuable experience towards his goal of becoming a professional race car driver when the junior at Churchill High School competes in two Formula Ford Zetec races this weekend which support the Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland.
Meredith, who turned 18 on June 14, will race on the same 2.106-mile street course at Burke Lakefront Airport that will host the Champ Car World Series on Sunday.
He'll qualify for the first race Friday night and then take the green in the first 30-minute event at 5 p.m. on Saturday with his MII Security Consulting-sponsored car. Both races are part of the Cooper Tires Championship Series.
Lap times from the first race will determine the starting line-up for the second event, which is slated to begin at 10:45 a.m. Sunday morning, approximately three hours before the Champ Car race gets the green flag.
Meredith is currently eighth in the Formula Ford Zetec national point standings after four of 14 races scheduled for 2005. The circuit travels from Florida to Wisconsin during seven different weekends, hosting a doubleheader at each venue.
Meredith is a member of the Comprent Motorsports team based in Athens, Ga. He hopes to learn as much as possible in the Formula Ford Zetec series this year with an eye towards going for the championship next season. His long-range goals include competing in the Grand American Rolex Series or the American Le Mans Series.
Meredith qualified sixth out of 38 competitors at the season opener in April at the Road Atlanta Motorsports Complex in Braselton, Ga. He fought an ill-handling car all weekend but still finished tenth in the first race and eighth in the second race.
A clutch problem spoiled Meredith's run in the first race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in May, but he turned some heads in the second event. "I started 19th and finished sixth and won the Hard Charger award," Meredith said. He wants to continue to learn as much as possible, and therefore is eagerly anticipating the challenge that this weekend's races pose.
"It'll be my first time in Cleveland, but I'm looking forward to it because it should be a pretty good crowd and it should be fun running on the same program as the Champ Car and the Toyota Atlantic series," he said. "My goal is to have at least one top five."
For more information, see Meredith's Web site at chrismeredithracing.com; the team's Web site at comprent.net and the series' Web site at www.cooperseries.com
The first Cooper Championship Series weekend at Road Atlanta started out with great promise for Chris Meredith. After only two days testing in the Zetec car at Carolina Motorsports Park a few weeks earlier, Chris was consistently sixth or seventh fastest, just slightly out of the top five. Qualification saw him in sixth when the red flag came out because of an accident on the track. Chris told his crew chief that he felt his car was much better than sixth and felt sure he could put it in the top three or four if he could get a good clean lap. Unfortunately with only three laps left after the track reopened, Chris made contact with the wall in turn five dashing his hopes of a top five qualification. Still happy with his sixth place starting position out of 39 cars on the grid, the Comprent Motor Sports crew began working to repair and set up the car for the race later that afternoon. Unfortunately, during the race the car pushed badly and Chris had to fight to hold on to a tenth place finish in his first Zetec Pro race.
The next day would see Chris start in fourteenth position because of the previous days finish, but he quickly began moving up in the field when once again the car began pushing badly. Chris fought through the ill handling car to move from fourteenth to an eighth place finish leaving him in eighth place in the championship points after the first two races.
Following the second race, an inspection of Chris’ car revealed a broken rear sway bar, which cause the ill handling condition during most of the second race.
Chris said, “Since I had very little seat time and this was Comprent Motor Sports first Zetec Pro race, I think two top tens was acceptable, I think that the car they gave me in qualification was easily a top five and possibly a podium car if I hadn’t hit the wall. I was just trying a little too hard and I’m still getting used to the car. I like Mid-Ohio a lot and I’m really looking forward to that next race. My goal is to improve my position every race weekend this year and learn as much as I can.”
ATHENS, GA – Chris Meredith of Potomac, Md., signs with Comprent Motor Sports of Athens, GA to compete in the 2005 Formula Ford Zetec series, which is part of the Cooper Tire Championship.
Comprent Motor Sports started business in 1988 and has flourished over the years as a comprehensive racing preparation facility and service center for race vehicles. Its dedicated staff offers a myriad of preparation services to all levels of race teams and drivers. As well as racecar preparation services, Comprent also provides specialty services for shock absorbers, composite, transmission and transaxle and tub repair. This level of on-site repair has proven to be a valuable service in support of their racing efforts. Being an authorized dealer of Van Diemen chassis has kept team principle Kevin Kloepfer a busy man. His active interest and involvement in all facets of the business and years of experience have made him the “go to” guy for many racers. If a racer has a question then Kevin is the man to ask.
Chris delivered his newly purchased Zetec car to Comprent in February and completed an initial shakedown at the regional race at Road Atlanta. An extensive two-day test is scheduled at Carolina Motor Sports Park with his teammates Franklin Futrelle and Rich Zober in late March.
While MII Security will continue as a sponsor for the 2005 season, Chris is finalizing sponsorship plans with several other partners. An announcement will be released upon completion of these agreements.
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