Improving driver development in and out of the race car was the goal of the final portion of the three-part Mazda Road to Indy Summit held May 22-23 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

The topics covered over the two days varied from a driver fitness and wellness talk and workout with Jim Leo of PitFit to building relationships with the media seminar with Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star

“I’ve been coming to these for the last few years, but this year’s has been very good,” said Pro Mazda driver Scott Anderson.

“The simulator presentation and the performance thinking seminar have freshened things up. It’s new stuff to me, but the media and marketing presentations are good to have too. Having professionals in the field coming to talk to us and telling us from their perspective what we need to be doing is important for any young driver coming up.”

Indianapolis 500 pole sitter Ed Carpenter visited the seminar to give tips on oval racing while RaceCraft1’s Kelly Jones and Peter Olach allowed the drivers to sample their simulator on a virtual Barber Motorsports Park.

 “You have a lot of professionals coming in to talk to you about subjects you wouldn’t ordinarily be able to talk to them about and take a lot notes to reflect back on when it comes time to drive the race car,” said Kyle Kaiser, who competes in Pro Mazda with World Speed Motorsport. “It’s very helpful to the drivers who haven’t heard these talks before.”

But the most memorable session was the performance thinking seminar by noted sports performance expert Dr. Jacques Dellaire, who spoke to the group for the first time. 

“That last session with the performance was completely new and different to me because he was talking about our mind which is very broad,” Kaiser said. “Not many people focus on what they are thinking about when they drive. I think that’s going to help me a lot in the future and this weekend.”