Concord, NC. (June 1, 2018) Two additional drivers will join Rev Racing’s youth driver line-up as part of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program. Kaylee Bryson, 17, and Hayden Swank,16, will compete with previously announced Rev Racing youth drivers Isabella Robusto and Nick Sanchez. All four drivers will compete at the Bojangles’ Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The youth program targets drivers age 12 to 17 to compete in the INEX Legend Cars and serves as an entry point to the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program. Selected youth drivers are year-long members of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity team roster.
After several months of evaluation, youth drivers are chosen based on recommendation, historical success, and overall driving performance.
“As it remains a goal of ours to focus on the growth and development of both our academy-style program and youth participants, we want to connect with these drivers as early as possible,” said Max Siegel, owner of Rev Racing. “The sooner we can start providing the proper guidance to these individuals, the more prepared they are to grow into different series.”
Swank, a native of North Carolina and a resident of Woodstock, Ga., began his quarter midget racing career at the age of seven. Swank promptly won his first 10 races and spent four years racing quarter midgets before he graduated to Bandoleros, winning six of his first seven races. In 2014, he won the Bandit class at the Bandolero National Championship. Swank finished second in Thursday Thunder Outlaw points standings in 2015, which led him to be recognized with the David Ragan Award for the 2015 season.
Bryson is an accomplished race car driver from Muskogee, Okla. Bryson started racing winged karts in 2010 when she was eight-years old. In her first two and a half years of racing winged karts, she accumulated 50 total wins. In June 2012, she made the transition to Restrictor Micro-Sprint Cars. She continued her winning ways 2013-2015, by winning a total of 16 races in Restrictor Micro-Sprint Car ranks. In 2016, Bryson ran two Restrictor Micro-Sprint Car races which resulted in two wins early in the season. She moved up to A-Class and Outlaw Micro-Sprint Cars and claimed multiple top-three, top-five, and top-10 finishes. She claimed the 2016 Port City Raceway A-Class Rookie of the Year and Points Championship honors. The 2017 race season brought two A Feature wins, including the Donnie Ray Crawford Memorial Championship and her first Outlaw Micro-Sprint A Feature win in Shawnee, Okla. Bryson also made her rookie start at The Chili Bowl Nationals in January.
Robusto, 13, will join Rev Racing for her second season. Robusto earned one podium finish, two top-fives and eight top-10s in the 2017 Bojangles’ Summer Shootout. She took first place in Young Lions U.S. Legend Cars/INEX division at the sixth-annual Battle at the Big Top (BATBT) at Texas Motor Speedway in April. Robusto placed second in overall points, winning three poles in six races. She was the only female Legend car driver in attendance and became the first female to win a race in a Legend car at the BATBT, guarantying her a starting spot in the 2018 Asphalt Nationals at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 25-27.
Sanchez, 16, is currently running full-time in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series with Rev Racing. Sanchez participated in the Youth Driver Development Program in 2017, earning five podium finishes, six top-fives and one win, garnering a fifth-place finish in the 2017 championship point standings. Sanchez’s Legend car performance ultimately earned him a chance to compete in the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Combine and secure a season-long ride in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series with Rev Racing. Sanchez most recently came off his first top-10 finish at South Boston Speedway in the NASCAR Whelen All- American Series.
“This program cultivates growth and seizes the opportunity for development in drivers at the earliest age possible,” said Jusan M. Hamilton, NASCAR senior manger of racing operations and event management. “Drivers who are successful and show promise are considered to compete for a chance at the next level of the program in the Late Model Series.”
The 2018 Bojangles’ Summer Shootout will kick-off with a practice session on June 5th. See http://legendsnation.com/2018/02/07/schedule-released-25th-anniversary-bojangles-summer-shootout/ for more details.
About NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States. NASCAR consists of three national series (Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR XFINITY Series™, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™), four regional series, one local grassroots series and three international series. The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. Based in Daytona Beach, Fla., with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit http://www.NASCAR.com and http://www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).
ABOUT REV RACING: Headquartered in Concord, NC, Rev Racing, owned by Max Siegel, operates the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Program, which is the industry’s leading developmental program for ethnic minorities and women drivers and pit crew members. For more information about Rev Racing visit http://revracing.net or follow us on Twitter @RevRacin.
