{"id":7619,"date":"2024-09-26T11:26:20","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T15:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/?p=7619"},"modified":"2024-09-26T11:26:20","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T15:26:20","slug":"pt-autosport-announces-finalists-for-the-third-annual-aspiring-driver-shootout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/2024\/09\/26\/pt-autosport-announces-finalists-for-the-third-annual-aspiring-driver-shootout\/","title":{"rendered":"PT Autosport announces finalists for the third annual Aspiring Driver Shootout"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eight candidates will vie for a racing partnership with the team\u2019s junior racing program<\/em><\/p>\n

MILLVILLE, NJ (September 26, 2024) \u2013 PT Autosport today announced the eight finalists who will compete in its third annual Aspiring Driver Shootout in November at New Jersey Motorsport Park, with the winner earning a racing partnership and the chance to join the team\u2019s junior racing program.<\/p>\n

The Aspiring Driver Shootout winner will receive up to a $250k driver partnership (with $50k guaranteed). Second place earns $10,000 toward a racing school or coaching program while third place gets $5,000.<\/p>\n

The team received 225 applications (60% more than last year) from aspiring drivers located all over the world, spanning four continents, four countries, and half the U.S. states. Applications came from a diverse base of gender, ethnicities, education levels and social backgrounds \u2013 including students and graduates from 125 different universities and 98 high schools. Those applications were whittled down to 88, who received an intensive second round of scrutiny to set the final list of candidates.<\/p>\n

Of the eight selected candidates, two are returning from the 2023 Shootout.<\/p>\n

Among those reviewing the applications and making the (difficult) final decisions were PT Autosport team principal Jason Myers and head of driver development \u2013 and the team\u2019s Porsche Carrera Cup North America driver \u2013 Alex Sedgwick. Both noted the number and caliber of this year\u2019s applicants.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really excited for this year\u2019s crop of shootout contestants,\u201d said Myers. \u201cIt was the largest and most diverse field of applicants we\u2019ve ever had, along with the most prepared and well-sorted applications. I think we\u2019re going to have a very close competition. Only two veterans are returning so we\u2019ve got five other new applicants along with our eSports winner, so we\u2019ve got a great swath of experience and\u00a0backgrounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur first shootout winner and Toyota GR Cup standout Henry Drury will be in attendance, helping with operations and other tasks,\u201d continued Myers. \u201cHenry is really the epitome of what we look for in a PT Autosport driver: dedication, competition, fitness, along with a great attitude and work ethic. We couldn\u2019t have done better finding him our first year out so we are now looking forward to another winner of similar\u00a0caliber!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was extremely difficult to decide on the finalists this year,\u201d said Sedgwick. \u201cThat was one of the reasons we decided to narrow the field down to eight, in order to give maximum attention to these candidates, and to enable them to have a little bit more track time, and a little bit more focus from our coaches to really try and get the most out of them \u2013 which I think will pay off in the assessment process. They must have an understanding that this is where the hard work starts. This is the start of a very long, hard road to getting to where they all aspire to be, so I’m looking forward to what we see in November. I’m looking forward to getting to New Jersey \u2013 it will definitely be an interesting couple of days.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The Finalists are:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joao Marcos Ribero (Johnny) Carvalhal<\/strong>
\nAge: 23
\nFrom: Born in San Diego, California and lives in Dallas, Texas
\nExperience: is an MSF level two instructor and NASA advanced driver
\nHobbies: sailing, going to music festivals, martial arts, skiing, exploring new countries and video games
\nNote: is a graduate of TCU<\/p>\n

\nLiam Crystal<\/strong>
\nAge: 22
\nFrom: resides in Tempe, Arizona, carries Brazilian and South African citizenship
\nExperience: after an extensive karting career, tested Porsche GT3 Cup and junior formula cars
\nHobbies: traveling, trying new foods and activities, keeping fit in the gym and running outdoors
\nNote: has raced in the UAE, Europe, and South Africa<\/p>\n

\nNicky Hays<\/strong>
\nAge: 23
\nFrom: Huntington Beach, California
\nExperience: after an extensive karting career, finished third in the 2019 F4 France series, and ninth in the US F4 series, fourth in the 2020 FRA series, seventh in the 2022 USF2000 championship, competed in the 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup North America
\nHobbies: building track cars (he and his father compete in a Honda CRX), working as a sales agent in real estate, mixed martial arts
\nNote: no. 1 bucket list item is to win\u00a0the Long Beach Grand Prix \u2013 a race he has attended since the age of 5<\/p>\n

\nZach Hollingshead<\/strong>
\nAge: 21
\nFrom: Lake City, Florida
\nExperience: raced with Ocala Gran Prix and as a TB Kart factory driver, SCCA Porsche GT3 and Spec Miata race winner, crews for Copeland Motorsports in the Toyota GR Cup
\nHobbies: basketball, building cars, iRacing, fashion, photography
\nNote: is also an experienced driver coach<\/p>\n


\nBryce Rodriguez<\/strong>
\nAge: 21
\nFrom: Beacon, New York
\nExperience: after an extensive karting career, graduated from the Skip Barber GT Racing school, 2022 Aspiring Driver Shootout runner up
\nNote: is an accomplished sim racer<\/p>\n

\nAaron Smith<\/strong>
\nAge: 23
\nFrom: Hollywood, South Carolina
\nExperience: accomplished sim racer
\nHobbies: mowing the grass and meeting new people
\nNote: races with the PT Autosport by Amped Sim Racing Team<\/p>\n

\nMax Stallone<\/strong>
\nAge: 18<\/strong>
\nFrom: Austin, Texas
\nExperience: karting, ChampCar endurance series, NASA and SCCA Spec Miata, Toyota GR Cup Esports league
\nHobbies: surfing, wakeboarding, iRacing, reading my bible and hanging out with friends
\nNote: aspires to one day start his own motorsports organization that provides racing to underfunded young drivers<\/p>\n

\nAlexandro Vielma<\/strong>
\nAge: 19
\nFrom: La Habra, California
\nExperience: accomplished sim racer and karting driver, has raced Spec Miata and Porsche Spec Boxster, Radicals and US F4, earned a spot in the Prodigy Three Championship
\nHobbies: running (has competed in cross country & track at the NCAA D1 level)
\nNote: co-captain for More Than Miles Track Club, promoting clarity through movement<\/p>\n

The winner will receive extensive coaching and racing experience designed to assist progression to an advanced racing series within the team\u2019s structure, or with one of the team\u2019s operational partners. The 2022 winner, Henry Drury, graduated from Porsche Club of America races to the Toyota GR Cup this season, earning his first series podium last month at Road America.<\/p>\n

The Shootout will take place November 11 to 13 at the team\u2019s main headquarters, New Jersey Motorsports Park. The candidates will undergo an extensive series of examinations to decide the winner: media interviews, driving (including sim work), and fitness testing, then a full day of driving \u2013 with the evaluation process (including eliminations) taking place throughout the day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eight candidates will vie for a racing partnership with the team\u2019s junior racing program MILLVILLE, NJ (September 26, 2024) \u2013 PT Autosport today announced the eight [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7620,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,9,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-feature","category-pt-autosport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7619"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7621,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7619\/revisions\/7621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}