Skip Barber Racing School Announces 2015 Karts to Cars Scholarship Shootout

The iconic Skip Barber Racing School Karts to Cars Scholarship Shootout is underway. Competitors have prepared themselves all year and are now in NOLA Motorsports Park in Louisiana to take on the competition.

In its 40th Anniversary, Skip Barber Racing School has trained the very best of motorsports talent and a majority of these individuals began their careers with the one-of-a-kind program originated at Skip Barber Racing School – the Karts to Cars Scholarship Shootout.

Taking the brightest karting talent and teaching them the ins and outs of racing in an open wheel ca,r as well as the full complement of skills necessary for success in motorsports including business development, media training and much more, the Karts to Cars Scholarship Shootout is the largest and single most important event for karters to begin their careers in car racing.

One of this year's TEAM USA Scholarship awardees, Dakota Dickerson, catapulted his career through the program where he won a scholarship to enter Skip Barber Racing School's Race Series. He currently sits in third position in the series.

Other notable participants of the program include Ryan Hunter-Reay, Josef Newgarden, Conor Daly, Alexander Rossi, Marco Andretti and this year's Indy Lights champion Spencer Pigot. All of these Skip Barber Racing School alumni have been named as potential F1 drivers by Autosport.

The international field of karters range in age with the youngest karter being only 14 years old. Everett Thomas will be a local favorite entering the competition. He is from Louisiana. Bayley Mickler traveled across the globe from Western Australia to compete.

Alongside the training that each competitor will receive, karters will also have the opportunity to receive scholarship prizes to enter the Skip Barber Race Series with the Champion winning a full season in the 2015 – 2016 Skip Barber Winter OR Championship Race Series held in the summer of 2016.

The awards for this year's competition are as follows:

• 1st Place: Full Season in the 2015 – 2016 Skip Barber Winter OR Championship Race Series
• 2nd Place: $15,000 Race Series Scholarship
• 3rd Place: $10,000 Race Series Scholarship

Further up the Skip Barber Racing Ladder, the Champion of the Championship Race Series will be awarded a $200,000 scholarship to race in 2017 in a professional series.

2015 Karts to Cars Scholarship Shootout Competitors: