CHEVY CHASE, Md. (Dec. 16) — Throughout recent years, GEICO has had a knack for pairing itself with top-flight racers in several series, and Colombian Martin Cardenas is proving to be no exception. Cardenas, who recently signed to race the GEICO Suzuki in 2012 for Chris Ulrich Racing in the AMA SportBike class, was recently selected as the SPEED.com AMA Pro Road Racing Rookie of the Year on the strength of a fourth-place finish in the elite SuperBike category. In 2011, Cardenas had three podium finishes, including a rookie-year victory a feat no other active rider in the SuperBike class can boast. Next year, Cardenas will return to the SportBike class, where he was the 2010 champion and has collected a record total of 16 victories during the 2009 and 2010 campaigns.