- It will be Novelist vs Motorsports Writer at the Portland Mazda MX-5 Cup Race -

July 14, 2008 (Irvine, Calif.) – The reading habits of MAZDASPEED staffers will be on display at the Mazda Grand Prix of Portland in the Mazda MX-5 Cup race on Sunday July 27th. Making guest appearances will be Garth “The Art of Racing in the Rain” Stein, and Sam “Fast Guys, Rich Guys, and Idiots” Moses. Each is an accomplished writer and racer, with very different career paths, but both calling Portland their home track.

Garth’s novel The Art of Racing in the Rain (Harper) is currently on the New York Times bestsellers list for fiction. Sam’s book, Fast Guys, Rich Guys, and Idiots is considered a classic among racers. The 1986 epic was re-released last year by the University of Nebraska Press.

While the MX-5 Cup race will have at least two dozen other racers, Sam and Garth are aiming at the bragging rights as the highest placed scribe.

Sam notes that "The graphics on our MX-5s will be our book jackets, which means my car will have a checkered flag on it, and Garth's car will have a dog on it. Tells you something about their drivers, right there."

Garth observed that “Hemingway said the only three real sports are auto racing, mountain climbing and bull fighting. Well, I have great respect for my competitor, Sam Moses. But at the end of the day, he should stick to mountain climbing, because in the sport of auto racing, I will prove to be the champion, and Mount Hood isn't that far away...."

Fans of race cars, novelists, journalists, idiots, and philosopher dogs, are encouraged to join the fun at Portland International Raceway the last weekend of July.

Prior to the race, Sam and Garth will be signing their respective books at Auto Town Mazda in Milwaukie, Oregon, on the evening of Thursday, July 24th. Auto Town Mazda is located at 16903 SE McLoughlin Blvd. The signing will be from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. Both books will be available for purchase at Auto Town Mazda that evening with all proceeds from the sales being donated to the Oregon Humane Society (OHS). Sam and Garth will also be visiting the OHS on Friday the 25th to meet their adoptable namesakes. This is in conjunction with the Mazda supported “Adopt-A Shelter Animal” program began last season with MUTTS Comics and The Humane Society of the United States.

About Garth Stein

Stein is the author of three novels: The Art of Racing in the Rain (Harper, 2008); How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets (Soho Press, 2005), which won a 2006 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award, and was a Book Sense Pick in both hardcover and paperback; and Raven Stole the Moon (Pocket, 1998). He has also written a full-length play, Brother Jones, which received its first production in Los Angeles, in February, 2005, and was described as "brimming with intensity," by the L.A. Weekly.

About The Art of Racing in the Rain

Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver.

Through Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn't simply about going fast. Using the techniques needed on the race track, one can successfully navigate all of life's ordeals.

On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through. Having learned what it takes to be a compassionate and successful person, the wise canine can barely wait until his next lifetime, when he is sure he will return as a man.

A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life . . . as only a dog could tell it.

For more information, go to www.goenzo.com

About Sam Moses

Sam Moses was a staff writer for Sports Illustrated on the motorsports beat for 17 years. In three decades as an adventure writer, he has climbed the sheer face of the mysterious Carstensz Pyramid in New Guinea, the tallest mountain in Oceania, led there by erstwhile cannibals; raced cars and motorcycles at Daytona, including once setting the world motorcycle speed record for 24 hours; and descended the remote and treacherous River of Doubt in the Brazilian Amazon, retracing the 1914 expedition of Theodore Roosevelt, among other adventures. As deputy editor at AutoWeek, he won automotive journalism's prestigious Ken Purdy Award and the Mario Andretti High Performance Award for Media. He is the author of At All Costs: How a Crippled Ship and Two American Merchant Mariners Turned the Tide of World War II, released by Random House in 2006 to rave reviews. He's now working on It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This: The True Life Adventures of Señor Madre and the AngloArabAsian Brothers, the memoir of a single dad.

About Fast Guys, Rich Guys, and Idiots

Moses was assigned by Sports Illustrated to go racing and write about what happened. The core of his story lies in the heartland of stock car racing, where he finds a spot on a team whose owner is a tough Louisiana oil man, its crew chief a lanky, laconic Texan, and its number-one driver a hairy-chested leadfoot who learned fast driving on backwoods Georgia roads. From small-time races to glittery grands prix, Fast Guys, Rich Guys, and Idiots lays bare the greed, lust, and desperation of every driver for time behind the wheel, and a faster car. It explains the perfectionism behind taking a turn at the limit, and describes the intoxicating thrill of stealing down the Daytona backstraight at nearly 200 miles per hour. It is a personal odyssey that peers over the cliff of change and into the pit of obsession.

For more information, go to www.sammoses.com

About Mazda

Mazda is the brand of choice for road-racers across North America. More than 9,000 grassroots racers compete in various classes with the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and the National Auto Sport Association (NASA). Racers who are years away from earning a driver’s license can now begin their professional motorsports careers in the Mazda family. A driver can begin in karts and progress through the Skip Barber series, Club Racing Formula Mazda, professional Star Mazda and finally to Formula Atlantic, all with Mazda. No other car company has ever connected the dots this way.

On any given weekend, there are more Mazdas on the road-race tracks of America than any other brand of vehicle. At the track, you’ll see MX-5 Miata, RX-8, MAZDA3, MAZDA6, RX-7 and other vintage Mazda models competing, because every Mazda has the Soul of a Sports Car. In fact, the largest road-racing class in the world is Spec Miata, with more than 1,500 first- and second-generation Miatas tearing up America’s racetracks, making it the most-raced production car in the world. Mazda’s involvement in motorsports extends to its relationship with Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, one of the world’s premier road-racing circuits, and the Skip Barber Schools for driving and racing.

Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., Mazda North American Operations oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada and Mexico through nearly 900 dealers. Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada, Inc., located in Ontario, Canada, and in Mexico by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City.