IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The 'KBB Races a Mazda Miata - Part 1: Skip Barber Race School' video recently was honored with the 'Best Audio-Visual' award during the 2012 Dean Batchelor Awards from the Los Angeles-based Motor Press Guild (MPG), announces Kelley Blue Book www.kbb.com, the leading provider of new and used car information.  The Motor Press Guild is the largest automotive media association in North America. 

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The award-winning video, first published on both KBB.com and YouTube in February 2012, highlights the experience of racing a Mazda Miata at the famous Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.  With training from the Skip Barber Mazda MX-5 Race School, Micah Muzio, managing editor of video for Kelley Blue Book, learned what it takes to win behind the wheel of Mazda's popular roadster.  The 'KBB Races a Mazda Miata - Part 1: Skip Barber Race School' is one component of a three-part video series, with the first video featuring Muzio preparing for fender-to-fender racing.

"We strive to not only create award-winning vehicle video reviews for hundreds of new cars on the road today, aiding car shoppers to make the most informed decision possible, but also to create entertaining content like the 'KBB Races a Mazda Miata - Part 1: Skip Barber Race School' video for automotive enthusiasts," said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com.  "The recent honor from the MPG Dean Batchelor Awards confirms our commitment to providing KBB.com visitors with videos that offer a unique combination of entertainment and information."

Established in 1995, the Dean Batchelor Awards recognize excellence in automotive journalism.  Each year, MPG presents the Dean Batchelor Award and Best of the Year winners to the journalists judged to have produced pieces of work which best represent the professional standards and excellence demanded by Dean Batchelor during his life as an editor, writer and chronicler of the automotive industry. 

The 2012 Dean Batchelor Awards were presented during the annual awards banquet on December 11 at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.  This is the second time Kelley Blue Book has received an important award at the Motor Press Guild's Dean Batchelor ceremony.  KBB.com also was honored with the 2010 Dean Batchelor Award for 'Best Audio-Visual' for its 'Ford F-150 Raptor Video – On Land, Through Water, In the Air' video.

To view the library of feature and vehicle review videos from Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com, visit www.youtube.com/kbb. To subscribe to an RSS feed of the latest videos and news stories from the expert editors of Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com, visit http://rss.kbb.com/kbb-car-news.

For more information and news from Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com, visit www.kbb.com/media/, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kelleybluebook (or @kelleybluebook), like our page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kbb, and get updates on Google+ at https://plus.google.com/+kbb/.

About Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com)
Founded in 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, is the only vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the industry. Each week the company provides the most market-reflective values in the industry on its top-rated website www.kbb.com, including its famous Blue Book® Trade-In and Suggested Retail Values and Fair Purchase Price, which reports what others are paying for new cars this week. The company also provides vehicle pricing and values through various products and services available to car dealers, auto manufacturers, finance and insurance companies as well as governmental agencies. KBB.com provides consumer pricing and information on cars for sale, minivans, pickup trucks, sedan, hybrids, electric cars, and SUVs. Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com ranked highest in its category for brand equity and was named Online Auto Shopping Brand of the Year by the 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend^® study. Kelley Blue Book Co. Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of AutoTrader Group.

SOURCE Kelley Blue Book