After four exciting days of driving education, invaluable seminars, nail biting on track sessions,and much deliberation, the winners of the 14th Annual Skip Barber Karting Shootout have beenchosen. Forty-four exceptionally talented karters competed at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca forover $200,000 in scholarships to further their motorsports career, courtesy of MAZDASPEEDMotorsports Development and the FIA Motor Sport Safety Development Fund. It was no easytask for the panel of judges including Skip Barber Racing School instructors, Team USAScholarship founder Jeremy Shaw and Speed Channel personality Bob Varsha.Trent Hindman, 15, of Wayside, New Jersey and 15 year old Danilo Estrela of Long Branch,New Jersey became the biggest winners of the weekend, each receiving a scholarship to competein the full 2011 season of the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda, valued at$52,000 each. Both young drivers showed incredible skill both on and off the track, applyingfeedback and improving their on track performance.

Big winners Danilo Estrela and Trent Hindman with VP of Competition, Todd Snyder15-year old Tristan Nunez of Boca Ranton, Florida won a scholarship for half of 2011 season ofthe BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda. 17-year old Canadian StefanRzadzinski received a full season in the Skip Barber Regional Race Series. There were threedrivers that showed equal levels of talent and were each given three half seasons in the SkipBarber Regional Race Series: 16 year old Californian Kenton Koch, 15 year old Canadian ScottHargrove, and 14 year old Californian Kyle Kaiser.

This was of course, no easy choice to make. Each karter was evaluated and every time sheetscrutinized. “As a father of the young driver who has been through the barber system,” saysVarsha, “I’d like to think I had a special feel for what the family goes through in a competition astough as this one. I have to say selecting the winners from a field of young drivers is among thehardest things I have to do because I know how much it means to everyone of them. Still there’sa lot of satisfaction in helping somebody.”

Overall, the 14th Annual Skip Barber Karting Scholarship Shootout was a great success. Fortyfouryoung karters learned skills that will not only save their lives but help advance their careers.“It’s what we’re all about,” Michael Culver CEO of Skip Barber Racing School. “We’re aboutteaching people how to drive better and it was very rewarding to see how quickly these kids gotup to speed. Racings in our DNA. This is the most important event in our calendar. It proves thefact that our system works.”

With the help of Dean Case from Mazda, Derek Daly, Bob Varsha, Jeremy Shaw and SkipBarber Racing School, these karters have bettered themselves as athletes and aspiringprofessional race car drivers. “There is a tremendous about of satisfaction from being involved ina program like this,” said Jeremy Shaw. “The overall quality of the drivers was very impressive.The Skip Barber Racing School organization does an awful lot of good for drivers young and oldand it’s good to see so much being put back into the sport.”