Ten young drivers, ranging in age from 16 to 23, have been selected as candidates for this year’s Team USA Scholarship. Ultimately, two winners will follow in the footsteps of a long line of accomplished professional drivers – headed by Jimmy Vasser and Bryan Herta who claimed the first two scholarships in 1990 and ‘91, respectively – by gaining an opportunity to take part in several international auto racing events later this year including the Formula Ford Festival and the Walter Hayes Trophy meeting in England.
The winners also will earn an invitation to the Mazda Road to Indy $200k USF2000 Scholarship Shootout – and a chance to emulate Oliver Askew, who secured both a Team USA Scholarship and the MRTI Scholarship in 2016. Askew now leads the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and is chasing another Mazda Scholarship which would enable him to graduate to the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires in 2018.
Oliver Askew at Brands Hatch in 2016 [Jack Mitchell/JAM Photography image]
The selection panel will include Verizon IndyCar Series driver Spencer Pigot; IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Championship leader Joel Miller; Indy Lights race winner Aaron Telitz; Indy Lights team owner Brian Belardi; factory Porsche driver and current Pirelli World Challenge series leader Patrick Long; Cooper Tires Technical Consultant and five-time Indy 500 starter Johnny Unser; Chip Ganassi Racing Managing Director Mike Hull; Mazda Motorsports’ Operations Manager Kyle Kimball; Mazda Road to Indy promoter Dan Andersen; American Honda Motorsports Manager T.E. McHale; Assistant Manager, Marketing, Honda Performance Development George Harmon; PitFit Training president Jim Leo; Bell Racing USA Director of Motorsports Chris Wheeler; and Juncos Racing Indy Lights Race Engineer Peter Dempsey.
This year’s Team USA Scholarship candidates with age, DOB, hometown and current racing affiliation are as follows:
• Sabré Cook, 23, Grand Junction, Colo., GPfour Championship Road Racing
• Konrad Czaczyk, 20, Jupiter, Fla., F1600 Formula Tour Championship (Canada)
• Elliot Finlayson, 21, Yorkville, Ill., GPfour Championship Road Racing
• Aaron Jeansonne, 18, Sulphur, La., Lucas Oil School of Racing
• Kyle Kirkwood, 18, Jupiter, Fla., F4 U.S. Championship powered by Honda (front page photo)
• Jonathan Kotyk, 23, Atlantic Beach, Fla., F1600 Championship Series
• Jacob Loomis, 17, Corinth, Texas, F4 US Championship/Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda
• David Osborne, 21, Cincinnati, Ohio, F1600 Championship Series
• Simon Sikes, 16, Martinez, Ga., Skip Barber Racing Series
• Carter Williams, 18, Clovis, Calif., Formula Car Challenge Presented by Goodyear
Team USA Scholarship graduates prior to the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race. From the left: Connor De Phillippi, Joel Miller, Andy Lally, Memo Gidley, Joey Hand, Dane Cameron, Tristan Nunez, Bryan Sellers, Conor Daly, Buddy Rice, Spencer Pigot and Trent Hindman. [Jeremy Shaw image]
LIME ROCK LUNCH – SAVE THE DATE
Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017
