{"id":2784,"date":"2016-09-22T09:36:40","date_gmt":"2016-09-22T16:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/turo.com\/blog\/?p=2784"},"modified":"2025-04-14T05:03:02","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T12:03:02","slug":"the-mazda-road-to-indy-wraps-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/turo.com\/blog\/gearheads\/the-mazda-road-to-indy-wraps-up\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mazda Road to Indy wraps up"},"content":{"rendered":"

A landmark season for Team Pelfrey<\/span><\/h2>\n

For the last six months, we\u2019ve been following along on 16-year-old racing prodigy Robert Megennis\u2019 racing circuit, as he tears through his inaugural season on<\/span> the Mazda Road to Indy<\/span><\/a>. His electrifying season came to a close the weekend of September 9 at Laguna Seca, and it did not disappoint.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the afterglow of winning the coveted Rookie of the Year and Hard Charger awards, we caught up with Rob to hear about his landmark season, and what\u2019s next for this ambitious young driver.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"rob-in-times-square\"<\/p>\n

FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS: TELL ME ABOUT THEM AWARDS!<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u201cThe Hard Charger was intense,\u201d Rob recounts. \u201cIt\u2019s awarded to the driver with the most passes throughout the season. I had 67 passes total, the next runner up had 32. It\u2019s not necessarily an award you want to get. We had issues all year with qualifying \u2014 our highest qualifying rank was fifth, but we were usually somewhere between eighth and 15th. In Toronto, we broke down in qualifying so started at 18th.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It was these middle-of-the-road qualifying rankings that enabled him to cultivate his passing skills \u2014 if he hadn\u2019t been behind a bunch of cars to start with, he wouldn\u2019t have had to pass them all. However, it seems like a pretty handy skill to have in your back pocket. \u201cIn Toronto, we started 18th, and halfway through the race I was up at fifth \u2014 it was out of control.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m only slightly aggressive on the track, or as my coach likes to say \u2018proactive\u2019,\u201d he jokes. \u201c[The Hard Charger] isn\u2019t the award you want, but it\u2019s definitely not the award you don\u2019t want.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And Rookie of the Year? That seems like an award you\u2019d definitely want. \u201cYeah! And I didn\u2019t expect it going into the season, with really great rookies coming in from England and New Zealand and all over the world,\u201d he says. A rookie is defined as a driver in their first season \u2014 Rob was among 18 other rookies in their first season in the USF2000 division, and was the youngest driver at the tender age of 15 (now 16). Most competitors are between 18 and 23 years old, and Rob finished a whopping 48 points ahead of the runner up rookie.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"rob-gets-roty-award\"<\/p>\n

Typically, the first year in the series is spent getting to know the tracks, and then the next year is focused more on competing and winning. And the Rookie of the Year typically is the favorite to win the next year.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Mazda Road to Indy is a feeder series to educate and prepare young drivers to move up the Indy totem pole. Right now, Rob\u2019s at the USF2000 level. Were he to get a Mazda scholarship (a cool $365,000 to pay for you to move up a level), he would move up to Pro Mazda. If you win Pro Mazda, you move up Indy Lights, and then get a $1 million check to race an IndyCar in the Indy500 \u2014 pretty much every race car driver\u2019s dream.<\/span><\/p>\n

DOES THE PRESSURE EVER GET TO YOU?<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel stressful; it feels hectic. The pressure doesn\u2019t really affect me that much. I\u2019m just there joking around, then I get in the car and I\u2019m serious. I don\u2019t crack under pressure; I thrive on adrenaline.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

WHAT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF YOUR SEASON?<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u201cDefinitely making the podium at St. Pete\u2019s. Finishing in third place in the first race of the season, as a rookie, standing on a podium in front of 100,000 people \u2014 it was ridiculous. And no one saw it coming, which made it even more fun.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"rob-on-st-pete-podium\"<\/p>\n

WHAT’S THE MOST EXCITING PART OF NEXT YEAR’S JUNKET?<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u201cThey\u2019re bringing in a new car for USF2000 next year. The current car was designed in 1999 \u2014 the year before I was born. So I\u2019m really excited to get in the new car, and go for the championship. It\u2019s so much fun I just wanna get back out there!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Congratulations to Rob and all of Team Pelfrey! We can\u2019t wait to see what next year has in store.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read on for a full run down of Rob\u2019s accomplishments from his rookie season in USF2000<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Or watch his highlight reel for a peek into the driver\u2019s seat.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ride along with Rob<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A landmark season for Team Pelfrey For the last six months, we\u2019ve been following along on 16-year-old racing prodigy Robert Megennis\u2019 racing circuit, as he tears through his inaugural season…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2805,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,54],"tags":[356],"class_list":["post-2784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-gearheads","tag-mazda-road-to-indy"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t