2008 Ford Focus News
SIX SPOTS TO BE AWARDED IN DRIVER TALENT SEARCH
Six Spots to be Awarded in Driver Talent Search
SACRAMENTO, California - The national talent search for the driver development program conducted by Ron Sutton's Winner's Circle launches today. Supporting sponsors, K&N Filters, Lucas Oil & Sunoco Racing Fuels will be awarding six spots in the 2008 Shoot-Out to young, talented drivers from various forms of youth motorsports.
Ron Sutton's Winner's Circle (RSWC) is an established talent scout and development program, providing long term, comprehensive racing and career development for up and coming drivers focused on NASCAR careers. RSWC drivers are raced, coached, groomed, trained and molded, within a professional racing environment, into what top pro teams look for when hiring drivers.
Many Midget and Sprint Car racers today, honed their driving skills driving something smaller. K&N Filters, Lucas Oil & Sunoco Racing Fuels have stepped up to award positions in the Shoot-Out to one participant from each of the following six series: IKF International Karting Federation, Snap-on Stars of Karting presented by IndyCar Series, Superkarts! USA, Legends/Dwarf Car Racing, Quarter Midget Racing and Micro-Sprint/TQ/Dirt Kart Racing. The Shoot-Out application process is open to all drivers 11 to 19 years of age, with race winning backgrounds.
RSWC has seen great drivers come into USAC Focus Midget, Midget and Sprint Car competition from youth series including the likes of Ryan Kaplan, Bobby Grewohl, Benny Moon, Brendan Langlois, Jace Meier, Daniel Adler, Beau DeBard, Brennan Newberry and Jeff Oleen.
After coming out of karts, as many young drivers do, Grewohl won eight out of eight SCCA Formula Ford events scoring six pole positions and the Western States Championship along the way. In USAC Ford Focus Midgets, Grewohl won several poles and podium results before breaking the unofficial track record at the Kentucky Speedway in an Indy Pro Series Car earning him a spot in the Target Chip Ganassi development program. Continuing his winning ways, Grewohl has scored poles, trophy dash and main event wins in USAC Midgets and NASCAR Late Model stock cars.
Kaplan won in Focus Midgets, Midgets and Sprint Cars and is now getting close to winning in NASCAR Late Model Stock Cars. After their Focus Midget success, both Moon and Meier moved to the NASCAR Late Model series winning poles, trophy dashes and main events on their career path to NASCAR.
Langlois, Newberry and Oleen continue to impress in the USAC Ford Focus Midget series as they all have scored strong results and wins. These drivers are looking to follow in the foot steps of Jace Meier and Benny Moon.
After running dirt Midget and Sprint Cars in the Midwest, Adler stepped into the USAC Ford Focus Midget pavement series with the help of RSWC. Since being in the program, Adler has claimed pole positions, trophy dash wins and main event victories as he looks to take a step towards a career.
The Shoot-Out process is designed to identify talented, young, up and coming drivers from across the United States and Canada with the talent, potential and commitment to achieve a driving career in NASCAR. RSWC is currently accepting resumes through October 15th, 2008. RSWC expects to receive over 600 resumes, as they have in the past, and narrow it down to approximately 30 to 40 drivers to test. The Shoot-Out is conducted over two 3-day weekends in early November, in identical race cars, on an asphalt oval track in Northern California.
Sutton has said, “We’re not looking for a number … We are looking for young talent that has real potential to go all the way to NASCAR Sprint Cup.” Day one of the Shoot-Out includes a seminar for parents and drivers, "The Real World Good, Bad & Ugly of Driver Career Development" and a training course for drivers on driving strategies, expectations and terminology. Three separate tests for the young drivers include body fat fitness, a written problem solving test and psychological analysis.
Days two and three are on track, with drivers getting five 20-lap sessions on track, with coaching, to show their talent. Judges evaluate the drivers on 45 points, with the key areas being coachability, accurate feedback, focus, motivation, training retention, communication skills, personality, aggressiveness, learning rate, confidence and lap times.
The talented drivers selected for the RSWC development program through the Shoot-Out will have a training program designed specifically for their age, experience and development stage, then be placed with a top team in the racing series that fits best.
The career development program consists of 12 veteran driver coaches, over 20 classroom topics and eight organizations fielding 24 race teams, all dedicated to develop drivers in the RSWC program. The teams are a balance of Open Wheel and Stock Car oval track race teams ... with Road Racing added … to develop highly versatile and accomplished winning drivers.
In the USAC series, RSWC races drivers as young as 12 years old in Junior Ford Focus Midgets with 125 hp. At 180 hp, the Ford Focus Midgets are a great training series for ages 14 and up. “Full” Midgets with 380 hp and 800 hp Sprint Cars are for drivers 16 plus. Skip Barber Race Series or SCCA Formula Fords and F2000 cars are used to develop young drivers’ road racing skills early, at ages from 12 to 17. NASCAR Late Model Stock Cars and Grand National Stock Cars are the final stepping stones in the RSWC program, with only the star level talented Drivers being introduced to top NASCAR Cup Teams.
Young winning drivers ages 11 to 19, and their parents, are encouraged to get all the information and answers to common questions from the web-site, then submit their resume in time to be considered. The web-site is www.Winners-Circle-Racing.com
Autosports Media
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Mike@AutosportsMedia.com