AARON TELITZ CAPTURED TARMAC MAGIC TO WIN THE 2016 PRO MAZDA CHAMPIONSHIP IN HIS RICE LAKE WEIGHING SYSTEMS’ SPONSORED RACE CAR.

A midnight black, single-seat, open-wheel Indy racing car whirs around the final curve. Its yellow racing stripes blur into the Rice Lake Weighing Systems side logos, and with a final acceleration, car number 82 brings in the title of Pro Mazda Champion, the second tier of competitive racing in the Mazda Road to Indy Series. Standing atop of the winner’s podium, race car driver Aaron Telitz is showered by champagne while the crowd of racing enthusiasts cheers with a momentous roar, and the realization that Aaron’s next race will be under the Indy Lights brings him a feeling of overwhelming joy.

With a championship under his belt, Aaron’s next race will be on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida in the Indy Lights series, the third and final rung on the Mazda Road to Indy racing ladder. The Mazda Road to Indy is the only driver development program in the world to fund a champion driver’s scholarship to advance towards their dream to race in the Indy Car Series. The Mazda Road to Indy is truly a race car driver’s dream.

Rice Lake Weighing Systems is not only sponsoring Aaron’s race car, but has also provided a DeckHand™ Rough-n-Ready floor scale system that is used at Mazda Road to Indy races to weigh-in all drivers after they compete. Since weight and speed go hand-in-hand, each race car and driver must weigh-in over a specified minimum weight to ensure a lighter car doesn’t have an unfair advantage. After each race, drivers make their way to the official weigh-in tent where their cars are loaded onto weigh platforms, then drivers step onto the DeckHand and the totals are summed. An underweight sum is a serious offense; drivers can be disqualified from their race after-the-fact and suffer the agonizing blow of having a stellar race being taken away from them.

Racing is both a science and an art form. Not only does weight play a large part, but every component in a race car plays a crucial role in the overall performance. There’s one element though that cannot be traced back to a part, component or even mechanical concept—the driver’s intuition. A skill that Aaron has full throttle, intuition is what separates the good drivers from the great. When a team, race car and that elusive skilled driver come together, magic happens on the tarmac. The Aaron Telitz magic had no short supply in 2016.   

Although Aaron has to leave his number 82 race car and his team behind at the start of the new season, Aaron is doing what he does best—racing ahead to the next challenge with unwavering confidence, Rice Lake Weighing Systems’ support, and a group of family and fans who believe the future for Aaron Telitz is winning under the Indy500 Lights.