{"id":19174,"date":"2015-10-07T14:53:02","date_gmt":"2015-10-07T21:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=19174"},"modified":"2015-10-07T14:53:02","modified_gmt":"2015-10-07T21:53:02","slug":"nascar-drive-for-diversity-program-set-to-kick-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/nascar-drive-for-diversity-program-set-to-kick-off\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Drive for Diversity Program Set To Kick Off"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"NASCAR<\/a>
(Photo by Sarah Crabill\/NASCAR via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Twenty-two drivers have three days to battle it out for a spot in the motorsport industry\u2019s top driver development program, the NASCAR Drive for Diversity (D4D), set to commence at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va., Oct. 19-21, 2015.<\/p>\n

Now in its 12th year, the annual Combine invites promising ethnically diverse and female drivers, ages 14 to 26, from across North America to test out their talents over a three-day period in order to identify members of the NASCAR D4D Class of 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinding and developing diverse athletes who will represent the future of NASCAR is at the core of our organization\u2019s mission,\u201d said NASCAR Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Jim Cassidy. \u201cEvery year, the bar is raised with talented applicants who have the potential and determination to succeed. We\u2019re proud to watch our graduates in the national series and develop more diverse talent to join them in the years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

In partnership with Rev Racing, the Max Siegel-owned race team, D4D offers racing opportunities in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKPSE) and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series (NWAAS) for one full season, providing drivers with equipment, mentoring, and racing competition experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could not be more excited about this year\u2019s NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine to select the 2016 Class of Rev Racing drivers,\u201d said team CEO Max Siegel. \u201cComing off of our sixth consecutive multiple race winning season, we are focused on continuing to make our program and approach world class, as we prepare these young drivers to advance into the national series.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NASCAR D4D Combine has proven successful in identifying and developing future racing stars of the sport. Current D4D member Collin Cabre secured Rev Racing\u2019s second win of 2015 with a victory at the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season finale at Dover International Speedway. In addition, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Larson and NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers Darrell Wallace Jr. and Daniel Su\u00e1rez, leaders in the series\u2019 Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings, are among the graduates of the program.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s drivers include 13 women, notably the youngest combine participant ever at 14 years old, Macy Causey. Also participating are four stars from the NASCAR Mexico Series: Abraham Calder\u00f3n, Enrique Contreras, Rub\u00e9n Garc\u00eda Jr. and Santiago Tovar.<\/p>\n

Returning to defend their spots in the program are current NASCAR Whelen All-American Series drivers Dylan Smith and Natalie Decker.<\/p>\n

Driver combine participants will be evaluated on their driving skills and will also be tested on a series of strength and agility exercises at Hampton University.<\/p>\n

Fans can follow the Combine on Twitter at @NASCARDiversity and @RevRacing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
First Name<\/strong><\/td>\nLast Name<\/strong><\/td>\nAge<\/strong><\/td>\nCity<\/strong><\/td>\nState\/Country<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hannah<\/td>\nAdair<\/td>\n21<\/td>\nTulsa<\/td>\nOkla.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jairo<\/td>\nAvila<\/td>\n20<\/td>\nAlhambra<\/td>\nCalif.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kayli<\/td>\nBarker<\/td>\n18<\/td>\nLas Vegas<\/td>\nNev.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nicole<\/td>\nBehar<\/td>\n17<\/td>\nOtis Orchards<\/td>\nWash.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Abraham<\/td>\nCalderon<\/td>\n26<\/td>\nMonterrey<\/td>\nMexico<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Macy<\/td>\nCausey<\/td>\n14<\/td>\nYorktown<\/td>\nVa.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Enrique<\/td>\nContreras<\/td>\n22<\/td>\nSan Antonio<\/td>\nTexas<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Madeline<\/td>\nCrane<\/td>\n17<\/td>\nMeansville<\/td>\nGa.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Claire<\/td>\nDecker<\/td>\n20<\/td>\nEagle River<\/td>\nWis.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Natalie<\/td>\nDecker<\/td>\n18<\/td>\nEagle River<\/td>\nWis.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Juan<\/td>\nGarcia<\/td>\n17<\/td>\nBogota<\/td>\nColombia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ruben<\/td>\nGarcia Jr.<\/td>\n19<\/td>\nMexico City<\/td>\nMexico<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ali<\/td>\nKern<\/td>\n22<\/td>\nFremont<\/td>\nOhio<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Enrique<\/td>\nLimon<\/td>\n17<\/td>\nMexico City<\/td>\nMexico<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mariah<\/td>\nMcGriff<\/td>\n20<\/td>\nVail<\/td>\nAriz.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Becca<\/td>\nMonopoli<\/td>\n26<\/td>\nLakeland<\/td>\nFla.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Erika<\/td>\nNewcome<\/td>\n20<\/td>\nPickerington<\/td>\nOhio<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hannah<\/td>\nNewhouse<\/td>\n18<\/td>\nTwin Falls<\/td>\nIdaho<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vanessa<\/td>\nRobinson<\/td>\n25<\/td>\nLas Cruces<\/td>\nN.M.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dylan<\/td>\nSmith<\/td>\n23<\/td>\nConcord<\/td>\nN.C.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Walter<\/td>\nThomas<\/td>\n16<\/td>\nIndianapolis<\/td>\nInd.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Santiago<\/td>\nTovar<\/td>\n22<\/td>\nMexico City<\/td>\nMexico<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twenty-two drivers have three days to compete for a spot in the motorsport industry\u2019s top driver development program, the NASCAR Drive for Diversity.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":19176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1082],"tags":[3530,3528,127,3527,3529,1101],"class_list":["post-19174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","tag-d-nascar-whelen-all-american-series","tag-d4d","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-drive-for-diversity-program-set-to-kick-off","tag-nascar-kn-pro-series","tag-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/CS_NCWTS_GreenFlag_091915-e1444254704574.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-4Zg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19174"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19179,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19174\/revisions\/19179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}