The 2010 World Cup of Amateur Racing will be held in France from July 19 through July 25, and once again the North American Amateur Drivers Association (NAADA) will be represented in the prestigious international driving competition.
According to NAADA President Joe Faraldo, Alan Schwartz will be wearing the red, white and blue colours representing the United States, as he has done twice before.
“Schwartz has been selected to represent us (the U.S.) because he is the only active amateur driver with more than 300 career wins,” Faraldo explained.
Schwartz's 377 wins is second only to Austria’s Christian Mayr, who currently has over 400 victories.
The United States hosted the last World Cup in 2008 with competitions at various racetracks from Chicago to New York City. The U.S. representative that year was David Siegel.
“Siegel finished third in the competition, which was the best showing we ever had in the World Cup," Faraldo said. “He was the point leader going into the final rounds, but when his trotters made breaks he lost ground, but still ended up in third place only a few points from the top.”
Siegel, who’ll be watching closely the results of the races in the World Cup this year, had some good words about Alan Schwartz.
“Alan is a super driver, a great supporter of the game and shares a love for horses on and off the track. He and his wife Alicia are wonderful ambassadors and will represent well the hundreds of amateur drivers that reside in America.”
This year's World Cup will be contested at racetracks in and around Paris, France, with 13 nations involved in the competition. Besides the U.S., other counties participating include Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Germany, Spain, Holland, Finland, Switzerland, Denmark, Russia and France.
(Monticello Raceway)