As the SpeedSource, Dempsey Racing and Team Sahlen's Mazda RX-8 GRAND-AM GT teams get ready for the first ever sportscar race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a new footnote will be added into the century of automotive innovation at the brickyard.

For over 100 years the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has seen, and heard, an amazing array of engines at the annual Indy 500. These have ranged from the mighty Offenhauser to the scream of the Novi V-8 and the whoosh of the turbines. This Friday, when the green flag drops on the GRAND-AM Brickyard Grand Prix, Mazda will add the distinctive wail of the rotary engine into the Indy history books and soundtrack.

“Mazda has been proud to be a partner of the Indy community via the Mazda Road to Indy for several years now. Having our cars race on the IMS track is an exceptional honor for us. Mazda has wins at Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring, Spa, and many other world famous tracks. Now we can strive to add Indy to that win list&Rdquo;, noted John Doonan, Director, Mazda Motorsports, Mazda North American Operations.

Mazda is already setting sights on another historical note for 2013 when the Mazda SKYACTIV-D clean diesel engine will debut in the new GRAND-AM GX class. This will be the first modern diesel to ever race at Indy, and the first diesel of any type to race here in over 50 years.

After eight of 13 races in the GRAND-AM GT Championship, Mazda is ranked third among eight manufacturers, and Mazda drivers Sylvain Tremblay and Jonathan Bomarito are fourth in driver points, having scored one win earlier this season. Mazda was the 2010 GRAND-AM GT Manufcaturers Champion. Mazda racer Wayne Nonnamaker is ranked second among the Pro-Am drivers competing for the Bob Akin Cup.

In addition to the GRAND-AM race, Mazda will have multiple MAZDASPEED3s and MX-5s in the Brickyard Sports Car Challenge for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Mazda drivers Pierre Kleinubing, Derek Whitis, and Tom Long are ranked 1-2-3 in ST driver points and Mazda teams i-MOTO and Freedom Autosport are 1-2 among ST teams after seven of ten races. Mazda is third among nine manufacturers in the ST class. Mazda is the defending champion in the ST class.