With the end of the 10-weekend, 17-race 2012 season taking place this weekend at the Petit Le Mans, the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will see some of the most competitive, wheel-to-wheel action of the year as drivers battle to move up the championship rankings, and top teams debuting new drivers looking to gain experience ahead of a full 2013 campaign.

With the driver championship, Rookie of the Year and team championship all having been decided in the previous round at Mazda Raceway - and all won by English racer Jack Hawksworth and Team Pelfrey- what remains to battle for is every place in the championship from second place on down. 

There are 31 points available to win this weekend; 29 for the outright victory and one each for pole and fastest race lap.  With second-place Colombian racer Gabby Chaves at 330 points and third-place California driver Connor De Phillippi at 303 points, it's going to be a stretch, but not an insurmountable one, for any swapping of places on the championship ladder. 

Both have won races this season. Chaves (No. 19 JDC Motorsports / CLARO /  Marca Colombia / Tecpro Mazda) in Race 2 of the double-header at Mazda Raceway and De Phillippi (No. 2 Juncos Racing / ModSpace Racing / One24 Mazda) in the season-opener at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and on the Lucas Oil Raceway oval at the Night Before the 500 in Indianapolis on Memorial Day weekend.   Though De Phillippi has won more races, and in fact won the Star Mazda race at Road Atlanta the last time the series raced here in 2010, Chaves has had the more consistent season with eight podium finishes.  Chaves recently tested a Firestone Indy Lights car, and like Hawksworth, is a rookie on his way to the next level in 2013. 

Next on the list is Sage Karam, the 2010 USF2000 National Champion who won his 2011 Star Mazda ride with scholarship funding from the Mazda Road to Indy.  That inaugural season produced three wins, the Rookie of the Year title and fourth-place in the championship.  He has three wins to his name so far in 2012 and has left no doubt about his abilities to both win and race his way up through the pack from the back to the front.  Driving the No. 88 Andretti Autosport / Comfort Revolution Mazda, and would love nothing more than to finish off the season with yet another victory. With 299 points, his ability to move ahead of De Phillippi at 303 is a source of motivation to the former and concern to the latter.  Karam has also tested a Firestone Indy Lights car recently and, along with his 2012 Andretti Autosport teammate Zach Veach, seems set to move up next season.

Veach has had a very up-and-down season with just two podiums and currently sits 10th in the championship, though he has shown plenty of raw speed in his No. 77 Andretti Autosport / K12 / Zakosi Data Backup Mazda, and turned the fastest lap among both Firestone Indy Lights rookies and veterans last weekend's Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy Open Test on the F1 circuit at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Fifth in the championship is Finnish Racer Petri Suvanto, winner of the 2011 USF2000 championship.  Driving the No. 81 Team Pelfrey / Mazda Road to Indy Mazda, Suvanto has scored two podiums and finished in the top-six 13 times.

Among the new drivers making their debut this weekend with a view toward 2013 is Juan Camillo Acosta, 22, of Cali, Columbia, who will be joining series regular Andres Méndez at Team GDT.  Acosta will be making his first Star Mazda start ever after testing with the team on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oct. 10-11, where he set the team's fastest lap.

Another new face is Scott Anderson, the 2011 Skip Barber National Champion and MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development scholarship recipient.  The Colorado native is coming off a stellar 2012 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship presented by Mazda season that saw him net third place in the overall championship.  He carried that momentum into a recent test with the multi-time Star Mazda championship winning team JDC Motorsports of Lakeville, Minn., and will be driving for the team at Road Atlanta. 

Star Mazda on-track action at the Petit Le Mans weekend on Road Atlanta's 2.54-mile (4.088 km), 12-turn road course will come during Tuesday's promoter test day, with sessions at 10 a.m. and 2:50 p.m.  Official practice begins with a pair of half-hour sessions, at 10:15 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., Wednesday, Oct 17.  Qualifying for the PEAK Performance Pole Award takes place at 12:15 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 18, with all the drivers aiming for the Star Mazda track record of 1:18.328 set by Peter Dempsey in 2008.  The 2012 season finale of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is scheduled for 50 minutes and will take the green light for the series' spectacular F1-style standing start at 3:45 p.m., Friday, Oct. 19. 

Star Mazda Championship cars all carry two Replay XD1080 cameras to provide exciting driver POV footage for races that are part of the Mazda Motorsports Hour broadcast tape-delayed on Discovery's Velocity Channel in the U.S. and globally on ESPN International.  In the U.S., the race will air on Velocity at 12 p.m. ET, Saturday, November 24.