Brad Jaeger will drive for Brian Stewart Racing in next year's Indy Pro Series, as the team attempts to successfully defend back-to-back entrant championship titles.

The 21-year old, who won the Pacific Formula 2000 Championship in 2004 before graduating to Star Mazda, impressed during two tests with the team, which ran Wade Cunningham to the 2005 IPS drivers' title, having already achieved Indy Lights success with the likes of Paul Tracy, Cristiano da Matta, Bryan Herta and Jaques Lazier.

"We're really looking forward to working with Brad," team owner Brian Stewart said, "He was a frontrunner in Star Mazda and now it's our job to take him as a rookie and make him into a race winner."

Jaeger's racing roots developed in shifter karts at a track owned by the family of three-time Indy Pro Series race winner Travis Gregg and, after competing in a handful of Sports Car Club of America regional events in 2002 'just for fun', he began racing competitively in 2003, finishing second in the Sport 2000 National Championship. This past season, he made seven starts in the Star Mazda Championship, winning the pole at the season's first race, but missed the middle of the season after suffering injuries in a multi-car pile-up at Montreal, before returning for the season's final two races.

"I'm really excited to get on board with Brian Stewart Racing," Jaeger admitted, "The programme they have is exactly what I need. They've proven themselves as a team that can help a driver progress, get them to their prime - that's what I need.

"Getting back for the last two [Star Mazda] races was a good step back. Now, I'm looking forward to competing in the Indy Pro Series. The cars are amazing. My first time on an oval was in a test with Brian Stewart Racing at Nashville Superspeedway last May, and that couldn't have gone better. The car wasn't quite set up right, but I was still only two-tenths of a second off of Wade Cunningham's times. I walked away with a feeling that the Indy Pro Series is where I wanted to be."