TEAM USA: Candidates shine at steamy Scholarship Shootout

ABOVE: top row l. to r.: Chris Pantani, Peter Baron, Neil Enerson, Gerardo Bonilla, Jim Leo, Gil de Ferran, Jeremy Shaw, Nicholas Cape, Jonatan Jorge, RC Enerson, Tristan Nunez and Lawson Aschenbach.
Front row l. to r.: Oliver Askew, Konrad Czaczyk, Tim de Silva,
Robert Megennis, Andre Castro and Kyle Kirkwood.

The adjudicating panel faces a tough challenge in the next few days to select two Team USA Scholarship winners from a high-quality group of six candidates who took part in a shootout hosted by Cooper Tire and the Lucas Oil School of Racing on Thursday at a sweltering Palm Beach International Raceway in Jupiter, Fla.

The six finalists were Oliver Askew, 19, from Jupiter, Fla.; Andre Castro, 17, from New York, N.Y.; Konrad Czaczyk, 19, from Jupiter, Fla.; Tim de Silva, 20, from Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.; Kyle Kirkwood, 17, from Jupiter, Fla.; and Robert Megennis, 16, from New York, N.Y.

The candidates were addressed directly at the beginning of the day by two-time IndyCar champion and 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran, plus Director of Marketing, Event Marketing and Motorsports at Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Chris Pantani and Team USA Scholarship founder Jeremy Shaw before venturing out onto the 10-turn, 2.034-mile road course in the Lucas Oil School Rays.

Their performance both in and out of the cars was assessed and critiqued by an array of judges who also included Lucas Oil School of Racing founder Neil Enerson and COO Todd Snyder; five-time Indy 500 starter Johnny Unser, who serves as a driver coach and adviser for the Mazda Road to Indy and Cooper Tire; former scholarship winner Tristan Nunez, now part of the factory-supported Mazda Motorsports team in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship; four-time Pirelli World Challenge champion Lawson Aschenbach; Peter Baron, whose Starworks Motorsport team has earned class wins in both the Le Mans 24 Hours and World Endurance Championship; Verizon IndyCar Series driver RC Enerson; accomplished driver coaches Jonatan Jorge and Gerardo Bonilla; and Nicholas Cape, co-owner of the Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing team which has won an astonishing 10 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda titles since 2000.

"It never fails to amaze me how differently drivers approach the same challenges," said de Ferran (pictured, second from left). "I had a great time getting to know the contestants and enjoyed witnessing their progress during the day. Jeremy chose an interesting, talented and diverse cast to participate in the shootout. I am confident Team USA will be well represented this year!"

"I can't say enough how professional and how talented the candidates were in the Team USA Shootout," added Unser. "The level of talent was way beyond what I expected to see and the whole program was something I wish every young driver in the country could somehow have the opportunity to go through, well done!"

"I was really impressed with the approach and professionalism of all the candidates," said Cape. "They all did a mega job and improved throughout the day. The team Jeremy assembled worked really hard to give the candidates the best possible opportunity to shine, and although there can be only two winners, the experience that all six drivers take away from today will for sure help them in their racing careers."

All six youngsters also benefitted from an introduction to an online training course about sponsorship acquisition from acknowledged expert Brian Sims and a fitness test by PitFit Training's Jim Leo.

"No matter what happens from now on, my experiences so far with the Team USA Scholarship have been beyond anything I could have imagined four months ago when I started racing Skip Barber," said Castro. "I had a moment at Palm Beach when I realized the incredible amount of racing skill, talent and experience that was present in both the drivers and the judges. That was a pretty crazy realization. The Lucas Oil School of Racing also did a great job hosting the shootout and I really enjoyed working with all of the instructors and judges."

Two winners will be chosen and invited to contest the prestigious Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, England, on October 21-23 and the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone on November 4-6. Team USA Scholarship drivers have enjoyed success at both events in the past. In 2008, Josef Newgarden became the only American driver to win the Festival, while fellow IndyCar racer Conor Daly (also in 2008), Connor De Phillippi (2009), who currently races for Audi in European sports car competition, and Nunez (2012) claimed victory at the Walter Hayes Trophy.