Erwin gets nod for Schmidt IPS team.

Former IRL IndyCar Series contender Brandon Erwin will drive the No. 99 Natural Golf / Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry in the Infiniti Pro Series, beginning with next weekend's season opener at Homestead/Miami Speedway.

Texas born Erwin, who competed in four IRL events during the 2001 season for McCormack Motorsports, will be making his IPS debut at the 1.5-mile Homestead oval. However he believes his experience will help him to come to terms with the Dallara-Infiniti cars in good time.

"I am extremely honoured to have been chosen to drive the Natural Golf entry," said Erwin. "I have always dreamed of one day competing in the Indy 500, and hopefully running in this series will give me the experience necessary to get there. This is just one more step in the process and I greatly appreciate Natural Golf's support."

Erwin, from Denton Texas, began his racing career in karting at the age of 11. Since competing in the IRL in 2001, he has been racing regularly in winged Sprint Cars at The Devil's Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas, where he has multiple feature wins and finished in the top 3 for the season.

"I am thrilled to have Brandon driving one of our entries this year," said Schmidt. "He showed great promise in the IRL, he just didn't have enough funding for a complete program. We have been working jointly since that time to get him on our team, and I am pleased we were able to get it done and position ourselves to compete for the championship with more than one entry. Furthermore, it's an honour to begin a long term relationship with Natural Golf in this exciting series."

"As we prepare for a possible IPO this year, the exposure, brand building and business partnering that motorsports and Sam Schmidt provide made this a perfect fit to our marketing strategy" said Andrew Wyant, President of Natural Golf. "We are excited about having such an experienced driver as Brandon, who gives the Natural Golf entry a chance for the championship and significant exposure."

Natural Golf, founded with the motto, "We want to help you be a happy golfer!" accomplishes this through a series of programs. Utilizing instructional videos, golf equipment, instructor-led training and ongoing support, the company is confident your game will improve and you will lose strokes.

Erwin replaces 2002 contender GJ Mennen in the Schmidt lineup.

Sam Schmidt Motorsports also campaigns the #9 Super 8 entry for driver Tom Wood and the #6 entry for Lloyd Mack, younger brother of 2002 Indy Racing League rookie George Mack.