TRAFFORD, Pa -- John Walko Racing (JWR) has announced a driver development program for the 2009 season. The JWR driver development program will work with young race drivers to enhance their climb up the motorsports ladder as they move from karting and school based formula car race series.

By using JWR Racing's extensive experience in the motorsports' world, the program will develop driver's skills through proven methods that have been used by John Walko's race drivers. Utilizing the Star Mazda and Formula Ford 2000 Zetec cars, JWR will custom develop testing programs to an individual drivers needs. 

Working within the JWR program drivers will begin to develop advanced skills beyond the world of school series and karting. Drivers will work with different chassis setup parameters including shock settings, spring rates, aerodynamics and general chassis dynamics.

By working with experienced race engineers JWR drivers will start developing the necessary communication skills between engineer and driver to improve and adapt a racecars setup to match their needs. Being able to utilize the Star Mazda and the FF2000 car will allow for a two tier approach to testing and racing. As the JWR drivers grow and develop in the FF2000 car they can immediately advance to the higher powered Star Mazda racecar within the same team. 

Along with advancing a drivers technical understanding of motorsports, JWR will work with drivers to help map out a path best suited to advance their careers. There are so many different options currently in the motorsports arena that having a proper plan is almost as important as having the fastest driver. 

"A proper testing program is so often overlooked as a young driver moves up the motorsports ladder," team owner John Walko stated. "What we want to do is shorten the learning curve for drivers by offering a development program that prepares them for the next step in their career, while allowing them to still focus on their karting or lower level formula car race programs. We have worked with several drivers within our race teams that have benefited from extensive testing programs. Our new development program is just a natural progression of our race programs." 

John Walko Racing will use the Beaverun Motorsports Complex as the main track for the driver development program. The challenging 12-turn circuit, located one hour from the JWR race shop near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, offers significant cost benefits to drivers by limiting travel and track rental costs for the development program. 

JWR already has already signed Charles Anti to a 2009 test program and is in talks with several other drivers about testing programs for the 2009 season. The former Star Mazda Team of the Year is also working on race programs for the 2009 season and has cars available for every event on the Star Mazda calendar. 

John Walko Racing, the 2006 Star Mazda Team Champions, has established a national reputation as one of the top teams in Jr. Formula Car racing. Formed by race engineer John Walko, JWR has found success in SCCA Formula Ford, Formula Continental, the Formula Ford 2000 Zetec Championship and the Star Mazda Championship.

John Walko Racing drivers have amassed 4 SCCA Runoff wins, 11 professional and 22 amateur wins, 37 professional podiums, 12 amateur podiums and 30 pole positions. Operating out of a state-of-the-art race shop in the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania suburb Trafford, John Walko Racing currently competes in the Star Mazda Championship. 

For test and race opportunities please contact John Walko Racing via email, [email protected] or by phone (412) 414-3304.

TRAFFORD, Pa -- Charles Anti has announced that he will return to the cockpit of a Star Mazda car this season. After taking a year away from motorsports to focus on his studies, Anti will rejoin John Walko Racing for an extensive testing program in 2009. The focus of the tests will be to re-acclimate Anti to the Star Mazda car. Anti is currently planning to return to the Star Mazda Championship for a full campaign in 2010. 

"I didn't want to just jump back into racing cold turkey," Anti stated. "I want to get back in the car in 2009 to test to relearn the car, so I can come back prepared to race in 2010. John (Walko) and his team were able to put together a test program that will allow me to get back into the swing of driving as well as work on development for 2010. This will allow me to really focus on my driving as well as putting together a top notch marketing program for sponsors for the 2010 race season." 

"This is a great way for Charles to get back into the series," team owner John Walko said. "The cars have changed a little bit since he has been away, with the biggest difference being the radial tires. A season of testing will get him better prepared for 2010. We are really looking forward to continuing our relationship with Charles this year." 

Anti's Star Mazda Career spanned two seasons, both competing with series stalwart John Walko Racing. Anti scored a career high fifth place finish during his 2006 rookie season, which helped John Walko Racing score the series Team Championship. The Pittsburgh native's 2007 campaign showed a lot of speed, however bad luck negated what would have been solid results and Anti placed 13th in the championship. In 2008 Anti took a year away from motorsports to focus his attention on his studies at New York University. 

Anti is currently working on updating his official website www.CharlesAnti.com. 
Look for more announcements from John Walko Racing regarding their 2009 plans in the coming weeks. 

John Walko Racing, the 2006 Star Mazda Team Champions, has established a national reputation as one of the top teams in Jr. Formula Car racing. Formed by race engineer John Walko, JWR has found success in SCCA Formula Ford, Formula Continental, the Formula Ford 2000 Zetec Championship and the Star Mazda Championship.

​ John Walko Racing drivers have amassed 4 SCCA Runoff wins, 11 professional and 22 amateur wins, 37 professional podiums, 12 amateur podiums and 30 pole positions. Operating out of a state-of-the-art race shop in the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania suburb Trafford, John Walko Racing currently competes in the Star Mazda Championship. 

TRAFFORD, PA (October 29, 2007) -- The 2007 Star Mazda Series closer at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was a successful effort for the John Walko Racing team both on and off the track with a top five finish, two top tens and a highly coveted year end award for crew member Kate Gundlach. 
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Gundlach, JWR's data acquisition engineer for all three entries, was awarded the Performance Friction Crew Member of the Year Award at the season ending awards banquet, a consensus award for the most valuable member of a particular team whose efforts have also benefited other teams and the series. For team owner John Walko, it was a much deserved award for an integral member of the team. 

"We had a very good race weekend but the high point had to be Kate winning the Star Mazda Crew Member of the Year Award. It was a total surprise to everyone so it was very exciting for the team as well as Kate. This award is particular significant I think as it is voted on by peers and then the final decision is made by Star Mazda management. To even be considered for the award, let alone win it, requires impressing a lot of people along the way." 

The award was also particularly important in that Kate is truly a homegrown talent. Like Walko, she is a Pittsburgh native with family ties to the local racing community. Her first professional work though was as an intern with JWR while working toward her mechanical engineering degree at the University of Pittsburgh. Along the way she has parlayed the opportunity in to a full time career that also involves the roles of team parts manager, test engineer and soon race engineer of the team's third car. 

"I am proud of what Kate has accomplished. She came to the team with the raw tools and has developed in to an integral part of our organization. Kate is the second member of the team to have earned the Star Mazda Crew Member of the year award along with Caleb Stream. Developing talent outside of the car as well as inside is very important to our team and something we take considerable pride in." 

Kate echoed the sentiments of her team owner regarding the team's approach. 
"Winning this award was a big surprise to me! I have to thank John and the whole crew; they are responsible for developing me to where I am today and deserve the credit for this award. >From John to engineers Steve (Dreizler) and Eric (Langbein) to mechanics Caleb and Scott (Gates) each has invested time in helping me develop as part of this team. Their commitment to the overall team is what makes this group successful. I also have to thank John Walko Sr. and drivers Charles (Anti) and Russell (Walker) as well as their families. It has been a very rewarding experience working with everyone associated with John Walko Racing." 

Of course the trip to Monterey, California involved more than the awards banquet as the team returned to a three car effort with Californian John Zartarian behind the wheel of the third car for the first time since the second round in Houston. Zartarian lead the way with a fifth place finish followed by Russell Walker in tenth. 

According to Walko, the return to a three car effort always seems to provide an extra spark for the team. 

"As usual the team works better with three cars, things were automatic, the atmosphere was more upbeat, everybody was doing their normal jobs and everything worked great. In all it was a pretty good weekend." 

"Johnny did a great job, for only driving the car twice this year and to finish top five in this field is an accomplishment. He was actually second in one of the early sessions and that always helps to get all the cars moving forward. Russell had a good race as well, picking off some spots in the race and running a smart, clean race" 

Both drivers found speed early, netting second fastest laps in different practice sessions. JWR's other full time entry Charles Anti had an uphill battle at times but was very fast on race day. 

"Russell followed John's lead, setting the second fastest lap in the following session, and stayed in the top ten almost all weekend. Charles had a slow start on the weekend but moved up some spots early in the race and was running very quick laps. He was just all by himself after going off in turn five so his results didn't actually reflect how competitive he was in the race. 

The team now moves in to the off season but does not plan on resting for long. Testing has already begun at BeaveRun Motorsports Complex with more dates being added to the schedule soon. There are also ongoing discussions about racing in the Star Mazda Winter Series that begins in November at Buttonwillow in California followed by dates at Firebird Raceway and Phoenix International Raceway in December and January respectively.

Drivers interested in testing or discussing racing plans for the Winter Series or the 2008 season should contact John Walko Racing as soon as possible. 

TRAFFORD, PA (October 15, 2007) -- The John Walko Racing team headed to Road Atlanta with a lot of confidence that this could be a weekend to remember in the 2007 season for teammates Russell Walker and Charles Anti. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a memorable weekend for the wrong reasons however according to team owner John Walko.

"It was an unfortunate ending to what was a good event at Road Atlanta. There is an unwritten rule in racing that regardless of what else happens, don't take out your teammate. At the end of the day though that is exactly what happened as Charles got in to the rear of Russell ending both of their days. At that point all we could do was pack up and look forward to the finale at Laguna Seca." 

The incident occurred late in the race as the duo was moving to the front of the pack. An opening lap melee involving six cars was deftly avoided by both drivers. The evasive action kept them in the race but dropped both entries to the very tail of the field. 

After moving methodically through the field and in to the top ten in the closing laps, Anti attempted a bold move that backfired as the two JWR drivers made contact, sending Walker airborne. Walker's day was over and Anti was penalized as a result dropping both drivers to finishing positions that did not reflect their competitiveness in the race. 

While the ending was obviously not what the team was looking for, Walko noted that both drivers had performed very well to that point. 

"Leading up to the race it was a fairly solid effort on the part of everyone. Both drivers stayed consistently in the top ten in nearly every session and the cars worked flawlessly. It was fairly uneventful with just a good overall team effort. We did miss a little on the qualifying set-up but it only cost us a few spots, something we were confident that would be overcome by our drivers based on our race package." 

While the results did not meet expectations at Road Atlanta, the team heads to the season closer at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California with the knowledge that they have fast race cars along with an added presence in the return of their third car. 

"We are really excited about getting back to Laguna Seca; it is a great event at a fantastic venue. I'm also looking forward to welcoming back John Zartarian to the team as our third driver for the weekend. Our whole effort seems to elevate it itself when we run the third car so we are looking forward to a great race for all three drivers." 

Zartarian will make his second start for the team in 2007, having finished twelfth at Houston in the second event of the season. John is a native Californian and looks to the race at Laguna Seca as having home field advantage. 

Testing programs for 2008 resume shortly after the finale. Drivers interested in testing or discussing racing plans for the 2008 season should contact John Walko Racing as soon as possible. 

Charles Anti
"It was a solid, clean weekend but we just never seemed to get fully on-track. The new car worked well and I was comfortable within a few laps. The changing conditions all weekend made it difficult to get in to much of a flow though. It was a strange race too, starting dry and then raining on the second lap. We actually had to make a green flag tire change pit stop which was kind of cool. The yellow came out though right after and all the cars that didn't pit when we made the call had a lap on us. From that point on it was just a matter of finishing the race near the front of the group on our lap which we did."

Russell Walker
"The whole race was pretty crazy. Pitting under green to change tires unfortunately cost us a lap. It was frustrating as we were really fast in the wet, making up spots, but we were a lap down so we could only move up so far. It's another one of those races, frustrating, but we'll just move on to Atlanta and look for that first win. We've been fast there in testing and it is almost like a home track for me so I'm really looking forward to being there."

Steve Dreizler, Engineer for Charles Anti
"It's not often we have to deal with pit stop strategy but we did this week. Looking back at where we were though, given the conditions, we made the right call. Unfortunately the yellow came out before everyone pitted and it ended up costing those of us that did a lap. From Charles' stand point, he toned it down for the conditions this race and did exactly what he needed to do. He was clean every session, went faster each session and drove well in the race. He did as much as he could have done under the circumstances with the yellow and losing a lap."

Eric Langbein, Engineer for Russell Walker
"Russell had a better weekend than the results showed. He was P1 in the first session, demonstrating his speed in the wet once again. In the race he was turning some of the very fastest laps of the race before his off. If there was one thing that we came away with from Mosport it was that we need to maybe adjust our intensity - Russell needs to push harder earlier in the event, which will allow us to improve the package more for the race, and leave a little more room for error in the race. He continues to be very, very fast so it just comes down to a little fine tuning now to put him on the podium."

Mosport Results:
1 James Davison
2 Lorenzo Mandarino
3 Dane Cameron
10 Charles Anti
20 Russell Walker

Drivers interested in joining JWR for upcoming tests are encouraged to contact the team soon. Also, drivers interested in discussing their 2008 racing programs should contact John Walko Racing at john@johnwalkoracing.com

TRAFFORD, PA (August 13, 2007) – With a trio of stout entries for the Star Mazda race at Road America, the John Walko Racing crew headed in to the eighth race of the season with a lot of confidence.

Early indications were promising as newcomer Steve Welk topped the charts early and JWR stalwarts Russell Walker and Charles Anti flirted with the top ten in practice early and often. Welk's success from the very start turned heads in the paddock but was not a huge surprise to John Walko.

"I've known Steve a long time and to be honest he went out and did exactly what I thought he was capable of in this series, which is run up front. He has the benefit of knowing Road America intimately with it being his home track but to be up front the very first time in a brand new car and staying there for the whole event was impressive."

Welk's impressive run continued in qualifying as the Wisconsin native stayed atop the leader board until the very end of qualifying. Unfortunately he had an off that resulted in a red flag and the loss of his fast lap as per Star Mazda rules.

"One small mistake cost Steve his fast lap but he still started in the top ten. We made some adjustments to the car before the race and he quickly moved up to the top five. He was on his way to a solid finish for his first time in the car but ended up on the wrong end of an incident that took him out of the race."

Anti showed flashes of speed all weekend long as well, never dipping far from the top ten in practice, qualifying or the race.

"Charles had the speed this weekend and really came to the track focused and ready to race. He was on a very fast lap in qualifying, probably one that would have put him in the top five to start the race, but made a mistake on the final turn dropping him to eleventh."

At the end of the day Anti came home with the top finish for JWR, placing eleventh. The results did not reflect where he had been running much of the race however.

"A top five was certainly within reach for Charles as he was running right in the mix with the lead pack. Another very small mistake cost him a great finish though as he bent a front wing after making contact with another car by just barely an inch. After that he did a great job just holding on to the car and reaching the end."

For Russell Walker the weekend seemed to be coming to him, placing in the top three in the final practice followed up with a seventh quick qualifying time.

"Russell had another strong run going at Road America. He was fast in practice and was solidly in to the top ten in qualifying as well. Each race it seems that he puts another piece of the puzzle together and inches closer to the front. Unfortunately it wasn't to be at Road America as he ended up off track, losing two laps in the process."

"Overall it was a strong showing in terms of speed but a few small mistakes kept it from being a completely successful race weekend. Hopefully we can turn that speed in to results as we head in to the last stretch of races. This crew never stops working so I'm confident that breakthrough race is coming soon."

Drivers wishing to join JWR for upcoming tests or races should contact John Walko Racing as soon as possible.

TRAFFORD, PA (June 25, 2007) – Charles Anti scored the high finish of the weekend for John Walko Racing finishing ninth on the shores of Lake Erie. Russell Walker's very strong run was thwarted by an accident while working his way in to the top five early in the race.

​Both drivers showed promise during the Grand Prix of Cleveland despite starting the weekend nearly a full session behind the rest of the field noted team owner John Walko.
"We were all really looking forward to racing at Cleveland as it is as close as we have to a home track. Unfortunately things started out a little rough as Charles lost an engine and Russell had an electrical program half way through the opening session."

Walker qualified in the fast group while Anti unfortunately was relegated to the first group thanks to missing much of his practice time. According to Walko, the opening group just had too big of a hurdle to climb.

"Charles had his back against the wall in qualifying unfortunately. Losing the engine cost us valuable track time and as a result he didn't have the lap times that would put him in the first group where he would typically be. The rubber from the series before proved to be a bad match and nearly everyone in the first group struggled."

"Russell on the other hand had the benefit of a clean track and qualified seventh, which is probably where we should have been in relation to the front runners after missing most of a session."

Each driver shined at various times during the race with Walker turning very fast laps early in the race and pressuring the leaders. Anti made a spectacular move on a restart then had a furious battle with Ron White and later Devin Cunningham, eventually settling in for a ninth place finish.

"Charles did a great job in the race, picking his way through the pair of accidents and moving in to the top ten. The rest of the race he found himself in a dogfight with some of the series leaders and held his own. It was a nice finish to what was at times a frustrating outing."

"At race time Russell got caught out at the start and dropped a few positions. It didn't faze him though and he started picking people off each lap, setting the fastest laps of the race at the time. He was flying, it was fun to watch! He was the most competitive I've ever seen him. Unfortunately he caught the wall at the exit of turn eight chasing down Ron White and that was the end of his day. Russell is proving himself as one of the quick guys; his time is going to come very soon."

Next on the JWR schedule is two days of testing at BeaveRun MotorSports Complex, including work on the new tire package, followed by the seventh race on the schedule the Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto. All three cars will be in attendance at the test with both Walker and Anti scheduled to drive. Drivers wishing to join JWR for the test should contact John Walko Racing as soon as possible.

Eric Langbein, Engineer for Russell Walker
"Russell continues to impress us; he was first quick on the first day of practice. He is obviously showing his abilities to be as fast as the competition who are all more experienced at the pro level of racing. He had a very mature race for his experience level, overcoming handling issues that were a result of being hit at the start and coming home with a top ten. He has made tremendous progress in the time that he has been with us, and now we can start working on the fine details of race craft. He obviously has speed and is competing on level with drivers who have as much as ten years of pro level driving experience. I have no doubt that he can do it."
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Russell Walker
"We've been top two before, but never have been fastest at the end of the day like we did this race. We hope to stay there; that’s where we're supposed to be. We keep building and building and doing what we need to do and not letting the results, good or bad, affect us. The race didn't start as planned, we got together with someone and knocked the toe-in out. It took a lap or two to get up to speed before the lap times started to drop down again. I was happy with the result all things considered. Although we know we can run up front, we just have to stay there now. We are overdue for that first win. I'm excited about our set up going to Portland, maybe this can be the place."

Steve Dreizler, Engineer for Charles Anti
"Charles had a bit of an up and down weekend. In the race he had a great start, between some other people's mistakes and making a few very heads up passes, he made it up to sixth place and stayed there for quite a while. He had a slight off towards the end of the race, losing a few positions and ended up finishing eleventh. One aspect of our program that we have been working on is feedback and communication between us and in that respect we certainly made progress this weekend. In the end he did get the car all the way home and we'll head to Portland looking for a strong race."

Charles Anti
"This race was a new experience for me. It was a very long event, combined with what felt like a very long race. In my two years in the Star Mazda Series, this is the first time we've had a race go flag to flag, where I had to be on top of my game for 45 minutes straight. The results weren't bad, but I came away from the weekend with a goal: improving my concentration and conditioning for when we, hopefully, have more clean races.

Miller Motorsports Park Results:
1 Lorenzo Mandarino
2 James Davison
3 Jonathan Goring
8 Russell Walker