Matt Machiko of Pittsburgh, Penn. is joining the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, after a dominating 2016 in SCCA’s Formula Mazda.

Machiko captured the highly coveted SCCA Super Sweep, which included the national points championship, divisional championship, key note event win, and national championship Runoffs win. Matt’s banner 2016 comes from years of experience capturing numerous karting championships, track records in Prototype Lites 2 and a divisional championship in Formula Continental.

Machiko noted that, “Pro Mazda is the logical next step in my career after conquering the club racing world and competing in the #MRTI and #MRT24 shootouts in 2016. Andersen Promotions has done a fantastic job at the whole Mazda Road to Indy program but specifically Pro Mazda for 2017.”

However, Matt’s Pro Mazda effort isn’t without fight and determination. The 26-year old Pittsburgh native is juggling multiple demands to chase his dream of becoming a Verizon IndyCar Series driver one day. He completed a dual major from Penn State in 2013 to land a sales & trading job at a large U.S. bank to fund his racing efforts. He said, “I come from a family that has always been involved in motorsports at the club level but I didn’t have the knowledge from an advertising, marketing, and sponsorship perspective. I had to carve my own path by going to school and landing a full-time job that could support my racing career.”

Right now Matt only has funding to complete a partial season but lack of sponsors is not holding back this talented driver to invest in his own future.

Keep an eye out for Machiko in St. Petersburg this coming weekend in his Pro Mazda debut! To learn more about matt, visit www.mattmachiko.com.