Nunez named keynote speaker at Sebring Awards Banquet

It isn’t unusual to find drivers from the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship series in Sebring. The roughness of Sebring International Raceway makes it a favorite testing facility for teams throughout the year.

On Friday evening, MAZDASPEED Motorsports/SpeedSource driver Tristan Nunez was in Sebring for a different reason, as he was the keynote speaker for the annual Highlands Today All-Highlands Parade of Athletes Banquet.

The event is held to honor high school student-athletes in Highlands County and give away scholarships to college-bound students. Highlands Today, the official newspaper of Sebring International Raceway, turned to the racing community for a bit of support and they responded in a big way. Not only did Nunez spearhead the charge, Mazda Motorsports and Sebring International Raceway both came through with impressive donations for the event’s raffle.

During his talk, Nunez spoke about distracted driving and also said that it was important to find what you’re passionate about and committing yourself to doing your very best in those endeavors.

“It was a blast,” Nunez said of giving the keynote speech. “It was so cool to see my peers; they’re athletes just like myself. We go through the same struggles and the same things that I went through when I was in high school, so it’s great to see them and interact with them.”

Nunez, who speaks at schools throughout the year on distracted driving, said Mazda has been a huge help in his efforts to spread the message.

“Mazda is very supportive, especially with Project Yellow Light,” he said. “It’s really important throughout the team.”

As Nunez and his Dnt txt n drV Foundation continue to grow, not only are new doors being opened, but he also is able to rekindle some previous relationships, such as the one he had with Cooper Tires when he competed in the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites.

“Cooper Tires is a new partner and I raced with them back when I raced Prototypes Lites,” Nunez said. “I have a great relationship with some guys there and after some meetings they were all for being a part of our new foundation. They’re our first partner and it’s really great to have them at board.”

Nunez and his teammates will return to action on Sunday, June 28, for Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen at the famed Watkins Glen International and he said things are definitely moving in the right direction for the Mazda team.

“We’re making little improvements here and there,” Nunez said. “The guys at the engineering shop are doing a great job with our cars. It’s really cool to see the improvements from the start of the year until now and we’re going to keep pushing.”

Provided by Gene Moody, Highlands Today