Dec 17, 2003
\nRancho Santa Margarita, Calif. \u00e2\u20ac\u201c A trio of talented young Americans will celebrate Christmas at their respective homes, then travel halfway around the world to further their blossoming auto racing careers.
\nJoe D\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Agostino, 18, from Plantation, Fla., Charlie Kimball, 18, from Camarillo, Calif., and Ryan Millen, 19, from Newport Beach, Calif., have been chosen as the latest recipients of the prestigious Team USA Scholarships. The threesome will journey to the Southern Hemisphere to contest the six-race Talley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s New Zealand International Formula Ford Series, which will be held over three consecutive weekends in January 2004.<\/p>\n
They will follow in the footsteps of some of this country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s top open-wheel and stock car racers who have sported the red, white and blue Team USA Scholarship colors since its inception in 1990. Former winners include Jimmy Vasser, Bryan Herta, Jerry Nadeau, Memo Gidley, A.J. Allmendinger, Bryan Sellers and the late Tony Renna.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is truly a great honor,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said D\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Agostino, who raced in this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Formula Dodge National Championship Presented by Racer and recently won the Skip Barber Shootout to secure a fully paid ride in next year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Barber Dodge Pro Series. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Many of the top names in the sport have won this award before me, and this will give me a great opportunity to represent my country and hone my skills in preparation for the 2004 season.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m really looking forward to racing in New Zealand,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d added Kimball, who finished third in this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s U.S. Formula Ford 2000 Zetec National Championship in his second year out of karts. Kimball also finished third in the recent Formula Ford Zetec Winter Series Championship in England. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I saw how much A.J. Allmendinger and Bryan Sellers gained from racing in this series two years ago, and I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to follow in their footsteps.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The opportunity carries an extra-special meaning for Millen, who was born and raised in California but whose family hails originally from New Zealand. Indeed, the second-generation racer has his sights firmly set on winning the second round of the championship, which carries the title of the New Zealand Grand Prix and will be held at the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most southerly race track, Teretonga Park, near Invercargill, on January 18.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153My Uncle Steve won the New Zealand Grand Prix in 1980, and I desperately want to put my name on the trophy too,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Millen, who won last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s South Island regional Formula Ford championship and subsequently contested five races in the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc03 Barber Dodge Pro Series. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am anxious to get started with preparations as soon as possible.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The three Americans will travel to New Zealand before the New Year to begin testing their trio of identically prepared Stealth Van Diemens, which will be run by the Canterbury Motor Racing School team, based in Christchurch. The first two races will be held at Levels Raceway, Timaru, on January 11. The team will then travel south to Teretonga for the New Zealand Grand Prix meeting on January 18, and back to Christchurch for the final round as part of the historic Lady Wigram Trophy weekend at Ruapuna Park Raceway on January 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dec 17, 2003 Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. \u00e2\u20ac\u201c A trio of talented young Americans will celebrate Christmas at their respective homes, then travel halfway around the world to further their blossoming auto racing careers. Joe…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1525,"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\/1524"}],"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=1524"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1526,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524\/revisions\/1526"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}