Car racing was developed as a sport almost as soon as the first automobiles rolled off the assembly line. At first, car racing drivers engaged in their hobby as a pastime but as the years passed, many of these racers became professionals who raced for a living.
The great race car events bring upwards of a quarter million fans who come to the race courses to watch the drivers compete and see the souped up cars. Millions more, including those who engage in virtual competition through free games online, watch on the screen either as part of an afternoon of relaxing TV viewing or as a participatory bettor.
Racing aficionados enjoy watching the old favorites but they may also want to watch some of the newest up-and-coming drivers on the scene.
Chase Elliot
Chase (William Clyde) Elliott II is the son of racer Bill Elliott. He competes full-time as a stock car racer (races on oval tracks that measure between 0.25 to 2.66 miles). His preferred car is a Chevrolet Camero ZL1.
Elliot has been racing all his life and started competing in the big stock car races in his teens. In his racing career’s third season he won the Miller Lite, the Blizzard Series and the Gulf Coast championship which earned him the Georgia Asphalt Pro Late Model Series Rookie of the Year award. Elliot is the first driver to win all four of the USA’s largest short-track races including the Snowball Derby, the World Crown 300, the Winchester 400 and the All American 400.
Elliot competed in nine NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event in January 2013 and won a career NASCAR pole position with a lap speed of 125.183 mph. This made him the youngest polel-sitter in the Truck Series history.
Elliot starting driving the No. 24 car in the Xfinity series as he moved up to the Spring Cup Series om 2016. There he was sponsored by NAPA, 3M, Kelley Blue Book, Mountain Dew and SunEnergy. He was named the Rookie of the Year award and won the pole with a speed of 196.314 mph. He is the youngest pole-sitter in 500 history, winning that accolade at age 20.
This year Hendrick Motorsports announced that Elliott will be driving No. 24 which is the number that his father drove during most of his racing career.
Lando Norris
Lando Norris is an eighteen-year-old British driver who has already won the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award. As part of the prize Norris won a year McLaren’s sim driver which can provide him invaluable experience in working within a top F1 team. McLaren boss Zak Brown has already identified Norris as a future world champion.
Norris has already won two Formula Renault 2.0 championships including the 2015 MSA Formula championship and the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup in 2016.
He drove in the M2 Competition as part of the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand in 2016 and achieved six wins throughout the season. In competition in the New Zealand Grand Prix Norris won the championship on his first attempt. He also competed in the final round of the Macau Grand Prix, where he finished 11th, and in the European Formula 3 Championship.
Norris moved to the European F3 in 2017 where he teamed up with the legendary Carlin squad.
Daniel Ticktum
Daniel Ticktum has been winning competitions around Europe, including in Formula and Championship races.
Ticktum began his career in karting at age eight where he was noticed for his agility and speed on the track. He’s been competing on the International scene since 2012 after having won the British FKS Championship, the British Open Championship, the National ABkC Super One Championship and the British Grand Prix Championship. Only one other driver in history has achieved such a record win.
Ticktum competed in international competitions while still in high school. He finished in both the WSK Masters Series and the WSK Euro Series as the highest placed rookie. H received the KFJ Andrea Margutti Trophy – an award that was previously won by F1 stars such as Robert Kubica, Giancarlo Fisichella and Danill Kvyat. He also served as the Vice Champion of the WSK Masters, In BRDC Formula 4 Championship, during his first test with Lanan Racing, he broke the lap record at the Brands Indy circuit.
Throughout 2015 and 2016 Ticktum continued to soar, competing in the final round of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship in Hockenheim and in the Macau Grand Prix. 2017 finished with a bang, bringing Ticktum into the Red Bull Junior Team to race in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 with Arden International. He also won at Hungaroring and is now looking at a full schedule for 2018.
Richard Verschoor
Richard Verschoor is one of the youngest new racing stars. He was born and raised in Holland where he had an early racing career in karting.
From karting Verschoor moved to racing single-seaters and joined the SMP F4 Championship in 2016. In Sochi he won the opening race and then enjoyed a series of ten consecutive wins, taking the championship title with three races to spare. He claimed his second title in dominant form in the Koiranen GP’s series F4 Spanish Championship.
Verschoor stepped up to Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 2017. He is now racing with the Josef Kaufmann Racing team where he hopes to emulate their win of the last two Eurocup driver titles.
