Road racer Stout goes sprint car racing with Davey Hamilton's team

Sports car racer Robert Stout is shifting gears in his young career moving into the seat of a 900-horsepower asphalt sprint car in the "King of the Wing" series. Driving for IndyCar and Super Modified star Davey Hamilton and under the tutelage of legendary chassis builder Bob East, Stout will join Davey Hamilton Jr. on the Hamilton Gerhardt Race team behind the wheel of the No. 23 Lucas Oil supported sprint car.

Stout, a two-time National Champion has spent the last five years competing at the highest level of professional sports cars racing in both the IMSA Continental Tire series and the Pirelli World Challenge Series. In 2010, Stout became the youngest winner and champion in the history of the World Challenge series and delivered Scion their first ever Manufacturers' Championship.

Even with his years of experience in sports cars, Stout acknowledges 2015 will be a big learning curve. The 1,600lb winged sprint cars make over 900hp and produce a tremendous amount of downforce courtesy of a huge top and front wing. They are one of the most aggressive oval track cars on the planet and require lightning-quick reflexes.

"I can't wait to get behind the wheel of this No. 23 Lucas Oil monster and start getting some seat time," said Stout. "What a great opportunity it is to drive for someone like Davey Hamilton and Rick Gerhardt! Davey is an animal in these things and has so much experience in the racing industry, including years of success in Indy cars. I feel like I am joining the motorsports dream team at HGR and Bob East, who has won so many championships with Beast Race Cars. It doesn't get much better!

"Davey's son D.J. ran the series last year and even at 18 has a lot of experience coming out of karting and has already been behind the wheel of an Indy Lights car. It will be great to have a solid teammate to bounce things off of throughout the season. This should be a lot of fun!"

"We are really excited about Robert joining our team for the 2015 King of the Wing series," said Hamilton, president of the KoW series. "Robert's experience in sports cars and working at a driving school has kept him in a racing environment and having a two-car team we feel he will adapt to the sprint cars quickly. Robert should be a strong contender for rookie of the year."

Stout, a full-time high performance driving instructor at the BMW Performance West Center, will compete against some of the best asphalt winged sprint car drivers in the country for the full 11 race King of the Wing season. His name will join past HGR drivers Tony Stewart and Mike Lewis who had so much success with HGR in the past.