Nov 2, 2005
\nRancho Santa Margarita, Calif. (November 2, 2005) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c\u00e2\u20ac\u201c A veritable Who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Who in American racing, representing virtually every facet of the sport, has lent its support and credence to the Team USA Scholarship, which, in its 16th year, will give 17-year-old rising star J.R. Hildebrand of Sausalito, Calif., the opportunity to contest the upcoming Formula Palmer Audi Autumn Trophy in England.<\/p>\n
The series will comprise three races on each of two weekends: at Snetterton this coming weekend, November 5\/6, and at Brands Hatch on November 12\/13.<\/p>\n
Doug Mockett & Company, a Torrance, Calif.-based producer and supplier of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Fine Architectural Hardware For Your Fine Furniture,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d will remain as the program\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s primary sponsor for the second straight year.<\/p>\n
A variety of teams and drivers representing the Champ Car World Series, the Indy Racing League, the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series, plus one of the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most highly respected suppliers of auto racing safety equipment, Sparco USA, are among additional Scholarship supporters.<\/p>\n
Two Champ Car teams, Dale Coyne Racing and Mi-Jack Conquest Racing (owned by former Indy Lights champion driver Eric Bachelart and Mike Lanigan), are contributing to the program along with 1996 title winner Jimmy Vasser, who since claiming the inaugural award in 1990 has become one of the Scholarship\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s staunchest supporters, and 2001 Scholarship winner (and 2004 Champ Car Rookie of the Year) A.J. Allmendinger.<\/p>\n
Buddy Rice, who won a Team USA Scholarship in 1996 and went on to win the 2004 Indianapolis 500, represents the IRL along with 1991 Scholarship winner Bryan Herta, the winner at Michigan this year.<\/p>\n
Fellow former Scholarship winners Tony Ave (1992), Memo Gidley (1995), Paul Edwards (1998\/\u00e2\u20ac\u212299), Andy Lally (1999) and Joey Hand (2000) are now plying their trade to excellent effect in the Rolex Grand-Am series and have also pledged their support. (Incidentally, Lally will be seeking to clinch his second Grand-Am championship in as many years this coming weekend in Mexico City.) Also contributing from the sports car ranks is Bryan Sellers, who joined Allmendinger in winning a Team USA Scholarship in 2001.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m extremely grateful for the support of people like Doug Mockett and all these former winners \u00e2\u20ac\u201c who know first-hand how much their careers have benefited in the past,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d notes Team USA Scholarship founder and veteran auto racing writer\/broadcaster Jeremy Shaw. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still looking to complete the funding for this program. A modest investment can reap big dividends, and help make it possible to continue the development of young American talent.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Winning the Scholarship was a huge help to me,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d declares Allmendinger. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It enabled me to make a lot of connections that really helped me get to where I am today, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great feeling to be able to be involved in giving a similar opportunity to someone like J.R.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153One of the great things in life is to be able to help others,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d adds Mockett, an accomplished vintage car racer and arch enthusiast who in recent years also has played a pivotal role in furthering the careers of both Edwards and Joe D\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Agostino, who won a Team USA Scholarship in \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc03 and is now working his way up the auto racing ladder in England.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153In no other sport do the competitors need assistance like they do in motorsports. You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just need a mitt and bat, or tennis racket, or set of golf clubs, or set of running shoes to display your talent. You need a very, very expensive piece of machinery. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not wealthy, climbing the motor racing ladder can become virtually impossible. And immensely frustrating.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153So it is a pleasure to be able to assist up-and-coming drivers like J.R.,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d continues Mockett. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a small step, just a little help along the way.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nov 2, 2005 Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. (November 2, 2005) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c\u00e2\u20ac\u201c A veritable Who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Who in American racing, representing virtually every facet of the sport, has lent its support and credence to the Team USA…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1780,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1444"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1782,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444\/revisions\/1782"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}