This Year's Red Bull Picks Are -- Yet Again -- SBRS grads

Thursday, September 15, 2005 LAKEVILLE, Conn. - Following the Red Bull Driver Search run-off at Sebring September 14, the two drivers that Red Bull will to fly to Estoril, Portugal, next month for the "final test" at Autodromo Fernanda Pires da Silva are Casey Neal and Ryan Phinney. Both drivers are Skip Barber Three Day graduates, both raced in the Regional Series, and one raced in the Skip Barber National. Phinney, 16, lives near Laguna Seca; he did his three-day there in September of 2004, and then within a couple months entered two Western Series events.

Ryan Phinney during his first Western Series Race Weekend. And he won twice...

Neal, 18 and from Ohio, did his three-day at Road America in August of 2004, then entered a Western Series Race Weekend three months later. Neal entered four National weekends, with a best finish of third at Sebring.

In this year's 2005 National, Casey Neal was third in race 1 at Sebring and set fastest race-lap in the first VIR race in April.

Every driver currently funded by the Red Bull F1 Driver Search initiative -- begun in 2002 -- is a Skip Barber graduate, including one of the first year's pick, Scott Speed. Speed is already signed to be the Red Bull F1 team's test- and third-driver for next year. In 2003, the Red Bull Driver Search funded Dominique Claessens, Colin Fleming and Matt Jaskol, all SBRS alumni. Last year, John Edwards, the youngest driver ever to win an American open-wheel road race (Skip Barber Southern Series, Daytona, 2004), was Red Bull's choice. Rick Roso