TrueCar, Inc. to Sponsor American Racer Gustavo Menezes in 2011 Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear

SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- TrueCar, Inc., an automotive solutions provider focused on changing how cars are sold, today announced their sponsorship of 16 year-old Gustavo Menezes, a young rising star in open-wheel racing.  The sponsorship of Menezes at Juncos Racing in the upcoming Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear represents the company's first foray into motorsports.

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"We also see Gustavo much like TrueCar. He is young, passionate, pure and full of potential," said Scott Painter, CEO of TrueCar, Inc.  "We are thrilled, not only to be getting involved with Motorsports because of our passion for auto, but we are most excited about having found such an inspiring and genuine talent."

TrueCar will assume the primary sponsorship on Menezes' Juncos Racing Star Mazda race car as it takes to the track for the 11-race Star Mazda Championship, the second rung of the Mazda Road to Indy driver development program and the third rung of the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development ladder.  The Road to Indy ladder system gives racers the developmental opportunity to learn the profession and earn their way into an IndyCar ride.

Despite his age, the American-born Menezes is a grizzled veteran in racing terms, having been behind the wheel for nearly 10 years. He has been racing at the highest levels in the ultra competitive sport of karting since 2000 and won his first championship (California State Championship) at age 7.  He has raced for the prestigious Italian factory racing team at Tony Kart, which has seen the likes of Formula 1 world champions Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.

"I'm just thrilled to have an industry powerhouse like TrueCar on my side," said Menezes.  "After 10 years of racing karts, the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a Star Mazda race car in the Road to Indy ladder system will help me achieve my goal of competing with the world's greatest drivers in the IndyCar Series.  It is a challenge I'm really looking forward to."

Menezes will race in 2011 for Juncos Racing, an elite racing team that finished 2010 with a driver's championship and a second place in the team standings. Menezes' associate sponsors include Safety Park, Oakley, Performance Physixx, and Fitness Concepts.

About Gustavo Menezes

American born 16 year-old, Gustavo Menezes, enters this year's Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear with ten years national and international top-level karting experience. Menezes, who is fluent in three languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese has seven domestic karting championships and international wins in world championship karting. During the past four years Menezes raced primarily in Europe and was a top Tony Kart factory international driver along side such renowned racing teammates as Michael Schumacher and Buddy Rice. Menezes lives with his family in Santa Monica, CA. For more information, please visit www.gustavomenezes.com

About Juncos Racing

Juncos Racing is centrally located in Vero Beach, Florida, U.S.A. to offer diverse levels of racing year round. Juncos Racing operates out of a state of the art facility which houses vehicles suitable for all levels of racing, from go-karts to open wheel Formula race cars. It is one of the few teams in the United States which offers a development program starting from racing go-karts to racing professional open-wheel race cars. The team's goal is to provide young and older drivers alike with a foundation upon which they can build a career in motorsports. Juncos Racing offers two and three-day racing schools which cover theoretical and hands-on driving techniques. 

About Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear 

Now entering its 21st year of competition, the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is one of the premier open-wheel driver development series in the world with prizes for 2011 valued in excess of $1.5 million. The series is part of the new MAZDA ROAD TO INDY that will provide scholarship funding for the champions in each series (USF2000, Star Mazda, Indy Lights) to move up and compete in the next level – all the way up to the IZOD IndyCar series and the Indy 500. The 11-race 2011 season includes six races held on IndyCar weekends, and tracks include road courses, street circuits and both long and short ovals. The Star Mazda Championship features standing starts, wheel-to-wheel racing at 160 mph, unlimited testing to accelerate driver development and budgets a fraction of other top open-wheel ladder series.  For more information on the Star Mazda Championship and the Mazda Road to Indy, please visit www.starmazda.com or contact Star Mazda Communications Director Peter Frey at [email protected] / (818) 398-5733. 

About TrueCar, Inc.

TrueCar, Inc. is an automotive solutions provider focused on changing how cars are sold by providing a significantly better customer experience while helping qualified dealer partners to gain incremental market share and reduce costs.  TrueCar.com is a transparent, visual publisher of new car transaction data.  TrueCar.com price reports help both dealers and consumers to agree on the parameters of a fair deal by providing an accurate, comprehensive and simple understanding of what others actually paid for the identically equipped new car over the last 30 days both locally and nationally.  TrueCar, Inc. works with a national network of nearly 5,000 Certified Dealers that provide up-front, no-haggle, competitive pricing to assist some of the nation's largest and most well respected membership and service organizations to meet the auto buying needs of their members and customers.  These partnerships include American Express, AAA, USAA and more than 60 others.  Collectively these audiences represent over 1M in-market customers each month.  TrueCar, Inc. is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA and has offices in San Francisco.  The company was founded in 2005 and has been profitable since 2009.  With nearly 200 percent year-over-year growth TrueCar has driven over 200,000 sales and is developing a suite of transaction oriented products and services centered on transparency and radical clarity as a result of comprehensively analyzing market data and information.

You can follow TrueCar on Twitter and become a fan of TrueCar on Facebook. 

Disclaimer

This press release and the information contained herein is for noncommercial use on "as-is, as available" basis and may be used for informational purposes only.  TrueCar makes no representations or warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information contained in this press release and the results of the use of such information, including but not limited to implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.  The information contained in this press release may include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors.  Neither TrueCar nor any of its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates or respective partners, officers, or directors, employees or agents shall be held liable for any damages, whether direct, incidental, indirect, special or consequential, including without limitation lost revenues or lost profits, arising from or in connection with your use or reliance on the information presented in this press release.

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SOURCE TrueCar, Inc.