The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear today announced the completion of the series’ 10-weekend, 17-race schedule for 2012 with the addition of the Iowa Speedway on June 22-23. 

This will be the series' fourth visit to the high-speed, 0.875-mile tri-oval located in Newton, Iowa. 2010 series champion Conor Daly holds the series lap record at 21.933 sec. at a speed of 143.338 miles per hour, which was set in qualifying before his victory in the race itself. Other Star Mazda winners at Iowa Speedway include Firestone Indy Lights competitor Peter Dempsey at the series' debut in 2009, and current Star Mazda driver Sage Karam in 2011, who went on to become Rookie of the Year and finish 5th in the championship.

"We're delighted to be going back to Iowa Speedway with IndyCar and look forward to another exciting race... and one that will be on television both throughout the U.S. and globally on Discovery's Velocity channel and ESPN International," said Gary Rodrigues, founder and President of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear.  "Our mission is to provide drivers with the most comprehensive education possible to prepare them to move up and compete in Firestone Indy Lights and IndyCar.  Naturally, this includes racing on ovals, natural terrain road courses and street circuits, all of which are represented in our 2012 schedule. 

“With a strong international field of young drivers, global TV coverage and the Mazda Road to Indy scholarship for our 2012 champion to move up and compete in the 2013 Firestone Indy Lights series, this is shaping up to be a big year for the Star Mazda Championship."

On-track action begins with an official Star Mazda Championship series test at Barber Motorsports Park March 19-20, the first official series test.  From the Barber test, teams will head directly for the IZOD IndyCar Series'  high-profile season-opener, the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, March 24-25.