Mazda North American Operations is responsible for the sales, marketing and customer parts and services support of Mazda vehicles in the United States. Headquartered in Irvine, California and selling through more than 700 dealerships across the US, Canada and Mexico, Mazda sells the MAZDA3, MAZDASPEED3, MAZDA5, MAZDA6, MAZDASPEED6, MX-5 (Miata), RX-8, CX-7, CX-9, Tribute, MPV and B-Series truck.

Mazda’s racing heritage goes back to the 1968 Marathon de la Route, a grueling 84-hour endurance race, where a Mazda Cosmo 110-S finished in fourth place. Since then, Mazda or Mazda-powered vehicles have visited victory circle in virtually every major race or racing series around the globe, including road-racing, rallying, drag racing, sprint cars, autocross and drifting. Mazda’s greatest motorsport victory was the winning of the 1991 24-Hours of Le Mans, the only Japanese manufacturer in history to ever achieve such a feat, despite the efforts of other larger and better-funded companies.

Beginning in 2006, Mazda expanded its motorsports participation to include the Champ Car Atlantic Championship. All Atlantics are now powered by identical Mazda-supplied stock block, Cosworth-engineered, 2.3-liter MZR engines producing 300-horsepower. The MZR powers the MAZDA3, MAZDASPEED3, MAZDA5, MAZDA6, MAZDASPEED6, MX-5 (Miata), CX-7, Tribute and B-Series, the Ford Fusion, Focus, Escape and Ranger, and the Mercury Milan. It is indeed versatile, ranging from 1.6-liters and 105-hp as fitted to the B-class MAZDA2, all the way to the 276-hp direct-injection turbo version fitted to the MAZDASPEED6sedan.

The extension of Mazda's motorsports involvement to the Champ Car Atlantic Championship is the highest rung on the company's open-wheel motorsports ladder -- budding drivers can advance through:

• Mazda sponsored kart races
• Skip Barber Racing Series presented by Mazda
• Formula Mazda or MZR-powered Formula SCCA
• Star Mazda presented by Goodyear
• Cooper Tires Presents The Champ Car Atlantic Series Powered by Mazda

On any given weekend, there are more Mazdas on the road-race tracks of America than any other brand of vehicle. Mazda’s motorsport involvement even extends to the nation’s premier road-racing circuit, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and the premier driving/racing school – Skip Barber.

For more information visit www.mazdausa.com.

Headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is a global competitor in the replacement tire industry specializing in the design, manufacture, marketing and sales of passenger car, light truck, medium truck tires and subsidiaries that specialize in motorcycle and racing tires, as well as tread rubber and related equipment for the retread industry. Cooper has manufacturing facilities on three continents, and sales and distribution networks around the world. The company provides a full line of tires to meet the needs of virtually all consumers, from everyday motorists to the most demanding high performance, off-road and motorsports enthusiasts.

Cooper has been designing and manufacturing some of the world’s best tires since 1914. This long heritage has blessed the company with a wealth of experience at the forefront of the global tire business. Experience counts for a lot; fortunately, Cooper has plenty. The company has been racing on two wheels and four since the 1950s. Over the years Cooper has competed at every level of competition, from grassroots club series to Formula One, Le Mans 24-hour endurance events, drag racing, rallycross and even ice racing. Cooper currently supplies more than 150 race series and championships around the world and recently won the contract to supply control tires to the prestigious and demanding British GT Championship for the 2006-2008 seasons.

In another impressive achievement within global motorsports, Cooper holds the contract as the exclusive tire supplier to an innovative open-wheel series – the A1 Grand Prix. A1GP pits driver against driver and country against country for the first time in history. The first A1GP season yielded 13 podium finishes across six continents, completing 102,905 racing miles, with every mile driven on Cooper A1 tires.

After building a strong foundation in the first A1GP race season, Cooper is raising the bar and looking to race competitively among the best. That’s why, starting in 2007, Cooper is slated to be the official tire and presenting sponsor of the Champ Car Atlantic Championship.

Champ Car Atlantic is the ultimate test for the world’s fastest cars and most legendary drivers. And now, the Atlantic series is heading to the track with Cooper Atlantic tires powering all of its 300-horsepower machines. Working closely with chassis manufacturer Swift Engineering and engine partners Mazda and Cosworth, Cooper will produce and supply the exclusive high-performance racing slicks and rain tires that will equip all Atlantic cars. After conducting extensive testing with the newly-designed Swift chassis, Cooper will provide a tire that allows for optimal performance of the car, tire and driver.

For more information, visit Cooper’s web site at: www.coopertire.com.

In order to create, design, produce and deliver a fleet of new generation Atlantic race cars in about eight months time, the Champ Car Atlantic Championship needed a manufacturer that was capable of extraordinary feats. Fortunately, Atlantic already had that in its partner Swift Engineering.

Makers of Atlantic chassis since 1987, Swift was certainly used to creating the cars that raced in North America’s top open-wheel development series. The previous models of Atlantic machines made by Swift – the 008.a and the 014.a – were awesome cars that provided countless memorable moments on the race track. But when the new direction of the Champ Car Atlantic Championship was announced on July 30, 2005 Swift officials signed up for a project of immense proportions.

The task was clear. Create a new breed of Atlantic race car that bigger and sleeker than the previous models and capable of handling more horsepower and higher speeds so the young racing talent driving the cars could be better prepared to make the jump into the 750HP monsters of the Champ Car World Series. This was a challenge, but certainly an attainable goal. Then there was the time element. With the 2006 season fast approaching and the demand very high to compete in a new 300HP rocket-in-training on some of the most challenging road courses in the world, it quickly became clear that Swift had its work cut out for them.

That’s where the Swift thinking came in. With more than 30 of the new Atlantic Swift 016.a models already ordered from teams all over the world within the first month of the announcement, Swift officials boldly promised to deliver 40 of the new machines to series competitors by March 8, 2006. That left just 226 days from the time the new-generation Atlantic series was revealed to the world until the time the teams took possession of their new equipment. Using their years of design experience and a good old-fashioned work ethic, workers at the Swift plant in San Clemente, California rolled up their sleeves.

After countless weeks of round-the-clock production shifts, Swift followed through on its promise. On March 8, 40 cars were delivered to Champ Car Atlantic teams making it the largest delivery of race car chassis at one time in the history of U.S. motorsports.

Entering 2006, Swift chassis have been responsible for 174 Atlantic race wins – the most in the 32-year history of the series. Thanks to Swift thinking and Swift action, that number is sure to soar along with the bright future of the Champ Car Atlantic Championship.

For more information on Swift, please visit www.swiftengineering.com.

Cosworth Racing entered a new era in 2005 under the ownership of Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven, two of the men that purchased the Champ Car World Series one year earlier. The duo purchased Cosworth from Ford in November of 2004, and have strived to maintain the standard of success set by the legendary engine manufacturer.

Cosworth Racing was born in 1959, when two young engineers, Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth, for whom the name Cosworth is derived, recognized the potential of a new passenger car engine developed by Ford of Britain. The duo was examining various production engine designs that could be the backbone of a single-seat racing series and quickly agreed that the new Ford engine offered the most promise. Thus began what many regard as the most successful racing partnership in history, with Cosworth-prepared, four-cylinder Ford engines dominating many European series over the next several years, including Formula Junior, F3, F2 and several sports car series. Not to mention the incredible DFV engine that further secured the roots of Cosworth in the earlier years of the F1 series.

The 2006 season will see Cosworth continue its commitment to racing success as the sole supplier of engines to the Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford. Fans will hear the scream of turbocharged engines at Champ Car races around the world as the entire Champ Car World Series grid will once again be powered by a version of Ford-Cosworth’s race- and championship-winning XF engine, dubbed the XFE.

This season will also bring about a homecoming for Cosworth. From the beginning of the series in 1974, Cosworth engines powered the Atlantic championship for 16 years of racing, generating more than 190 series victories.

In 2006, teamed with Mazda, Cosworth engines return to the Atlantic Championship for the first time since 1989. The new 2.3-liter, 300-horsepower Mazda-Cosworth MZR engine will equip all Atlantic cars this season as the series enters its next generation with the renewed relationship of an experienced and trusted racing partner helping to lead the way.

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In addition to providing high performance Bosch Spark Plugs to all Atlantic competitors, the Robert Bosch Corporation offers cash awards to the top three finishers at each event this season for a season-long contribution of $7,200.

Performance Friction provides the braking systems on all 2006 Atlantic cars and is the Official Brake of the Champ Car Atlantic Championship. Serving as a contingency sponsor for the first time this season, Performance Friction will also award the top series rookies for their performance. At each race this year the top finishing rookie will receive a free set of PFC brake pads. The owner of the team that captures Rookie-of-the-Year honors in Atlantics will receive their choice of either a full year of brake pads or four car sets of discs/peg drive assemblies.

Impact Racing enters the Champ Car Atlantic Championship as series sponsor for the first time this season. The manufacturer of racing suits and helmets will sponsor cash awards for series competitors at each event and at the conclusion of the season. The company will award $300 to the winner of each race $200 to the second-place finisher of each event. A $1,000 bonus will also be divided among the top three finishers in the championship this season. For more information please visit www.impactraceproducts.com.

In 2006, Tilton Engineering will provide parts including the clutch, starter and pedal assembly on all Atlantic cars. The company will also award $150 product certificates to the first-, third- and fifth-place finishers at each race. The 10th-place finisher will receive a $50 product certificate from Tilton Engineering.

As the Official Automotive Finish of the Champ Car Atlantic Championship, Sherwin-Williams will sponsor the Atlantic Design Award this season. Sherwin-Williams representatives and lucky Champ Car fans will judge the liveries of all Atlantic race teams at eight select events in 2006. Sherwin-Williams will award a $4,000 bonus to the team selected to have best design at each of these events. The company will also present a $10,000 award to the team chosen to have the best livery for the entire 2006 season.

Visit www.planetcolor.com for more information.

In addition to being the spec muffler of the Champ Car Atlantic Championship in 2006, Coast Fabrication offers a $2,000 award to this year’s series champion and a $1,000 prize awarded to the top series rookie in 2006.