Thursday, December 11, 2008 LAKEVILLE, Conn. – Fifty drivers representing seven countries and 19 States make up the final list of entrants for the 12th Annual Skip Barber Karting Scholarship Shoot-out, released today by Skip Barber LLC. The Shoot-out, December 27-29 at Sebring International Raceway, will award close to $130,000 in scholarships in the form of paid seat time in the various Skip Barber Race Series championships.

Todd Snyder, V.P. of Competition, noted, “This year’s entrants are some of the most qualified karting drivers we’ve seen. This will be for most of them the first opportunity to race in a professional level race car. The Shoot-out is a highly competitive environment that tests all the skills we believe a driver will need to reach the highly levels of motorsports.”

The largest award is a fully paid ride in the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda, valued at approximately $45,000 and part of the prestigious MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development ladder system.

Now in its 11th year, the 2008 BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda is a 14-race championship that awards its annual champion one of the largest title bonuses in all of junior-formula racing: a paid season in the following year’s Star Mazda Series, worth approximately $350,000. The Skip Barber National is the series that launched the auto racing careers of Marco Andretti, Scott Speed, A.J. Allmendinger, Raphael Matos, Gerardo Bonilla, Jonathan Goring, Joel Miller and Conor Daly, plus dozens of other drivers succeeding in IndyCar, NASCAR, Grand-Am, American Le Mans Series, and the SCCA, as well as overseas in series such as A1GP.

Name, Age, Hometown
Julian Albarracin, 14, Bogota, Colombia
Joffrey Amaya, 15, Miami, Fla.
Nick Andries, 18, Pinellas Park, Fla.
Darrick Antell, 18, Greenwich, Conn.
Timothy Bachman, 14, Bakersfield, Calif.
James Bailey, 22, Oakland, Calif.
Thomas Bonatz, 20, Birmingham, Ala.
Thiago Calvet, 22, Rio de Janiero, Brazil
Ian Costa, 19, Danville, Calif.
Nick DeCuzzi, 16, Brunswick, Ohio
Michael Dorrbecker, 15, Queretaro, Mexico
Ashley Freiberg, 17 , Homer Glen, Ill.
Kyle Gimple, 17, Minden, Nev.
Mikhail Goikhberg, 22, Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
Bradley Hagerman, 22, Sarasota, Fla.
Keenan Harris, 17, Bolton, Ontario, Canada
Dalton Hartye, 17, Boonton, N.J.
Sage Karam, 13, Nazareth, Penn.
Matthew Keel, 19, Austin, Texas
Greg Lacoste, Jr., 24, Slidell, La.
Corey Lewis, 17, Nazareth, Penn.
Travis Lowe, 21, Pasadena, Calif.
Tyler Lux, 17, Wayzata, Minn.
Isaac Lyons, 19, Hillsborough Down, Northern Ireland
Matthew Mair, 15, Miami, Fla.
Mason Marotta, 14, Bakersfield, Calif.
Jake McCurdy, 20, Rockford, Mich.
James Migita, 23, Columbus, Ohio
Peter Minnig, 18, Falls Church, Va.
Eric Morse, 18, Bridgeville, Penn.
Nate Norenberg, 22, Plymouth, Minn.
Michael O’Chocke, 23, Powell, Ohio
Spencer Pigot, 15, Windmere, Fla.
Matthew W. Powers, 17, Danville, Calif.
Tomas Saldana, 19 , Madrid, Spain
Antonio Saro, 15, Atizapan de Zaragoza, Mexico
Benjamin Searcy, 19, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Felix Serralles, 16, Mercedita, Puerto Rico
Jimmy Simpson, 16, Indianapolis, Ind.
Nathaniel Steele, 20, Tully, N.Y.
Blake Teeter, 18, Wichita, Kan.
Kevin Tittle, 19, Santa Barbara, Calif.
Dennis Trebing, 16, Cape Coral, Fla.
Dexter Tuttle, 19, Charlotte, N.C.
Andrew Vargas, 19, Hayward, Calif.
Daniel Vela, 14, Miami, Fla.
Court Vernon, 16, Key Biscayne, Fla.
Tyler Walsh, 17, Shorewood, Minn.
Joey Wimsett, 16, Beavercreek, Ore.
Esteban Yanguas, 22, Bogota, Colombia

About Skip Barber For more than 30 years, Skip Barber Racing School LLC has operated a fully integrated system of racing schools, driving schools, racing championships, corporate events and OEM events across North America.

The Skip Barber Racing School is held at more than 20 of the most prestigious race tracks in North America, while the Skip Barber Driving School, utilizing Mazda’s performance sedans and sports cars, operates at five world-famous destination locations. The Skip Barber Race Series is collectively five separate open-wheel, equal-car racing championships – four regional amateur series and an entry level pro series: the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda, which awards a $350,000 title bonus. New in 2008 is the Skip Barber MAZDASPEED Challenge, multiple championships using identically prepared MX-5 Miata race cars. All the series are part of Mazda’s unique MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development ladder system. The Corporate Events unit creates custom racing and driving programs for companies of any size that desire special, exciting events to train, entertain, educate and reward. OEM Events provides unique, specialized automotive-related training, analysis, evaluation, logistics and consultation. Additional information is available at www.skipbarber.com.

Jim Altemus