NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – Nicholas Sanchez walked to the Rev Racing transporters in the New Smyrna Speedway infield looking for a bottle of water and a chance to take a deep breath.
Carrying a huge smile on his face and maybe a little swagger in his step, Sanchez said he was just told he was quickest of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity candidates in their first on-track test session Wednesday morning.
“The car felt good and I’m really happy,’’ Sanchez said before joining the others for lunch during a break in action Wednesday afternoon.
The quick start was encouraging for the 18-year old Sanchez, originally from Miami but now living in Cornelius, N.C., to be closer to NASCAR’s traditional North Carolina hub.
His background and his hopes are so typical of the 10 young racers invited to participate in this prestigious NASCAR combine.
There was a distinctive feeling of camaraderie among the competitors walking the track with evaluator and former NASCAR driver Mark Green before climbing in the cars for their first laps.
For some of these young drivers, this combine is the first “chance of a lifetime” to show their skills on track and their personalities away from the track – both important to landing an opportunity to compete for Rev Racing in the NASCAR Late Model Stock, ARCA Menards Series East or Menards Showdown Series in 2020.
Their names are becoming familiar to those scouting the next generation of stock car talent.
Nineteen-year-old Ryan Vargas, a Californian who is now living in Concord, N.C., is back at the combine for the third time, only months removed from making his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut this summer.
He started 23rd and finished 17th in his first career national series start at the .875-mile Iowa Speedway in July. Four weeks later, he showed his range of talent with an 18th-place finish on the Road America road course in Wisconsin after starting 33rd.
Vargas is a shining example of opportunity meeting promise and his achievements this year were cited and praised often by his fellow combine drivers.
At only 14 years old, Isabella Robusto of Fort Mill, S.C., is the youngest candidate participating in the combine which incorporates a day of media and marketing training with a second day of on-track evaluation.
For Robusto, the chance to drive in a late model stock car and absorb tips and motivations from her fellow racers was a huge reward in and of itself.
She comes from a Legends car background and – along with 17-year-old Rajah Caruth of Washington, D.C., and 16-year-old Lavar Scott of Carney’s Pointe, N.J. – was actually part of the Drive for Diversity Youth Driver Development Combine held earlier this year in Concord, N.C., for younger talent.
Robusto laughs explaining her start in racing – weekends with her father watching racing in the Carolinas and eventually putting together a full go-kart team before sharing the news with her mom that she was going to be competing in the sport.
Robusto smiles telling the story of her start in the sport and said the family support has been solid and encouraging. Her whole community is beginning to realize how seriously she takes this pursuit.
That includes her school, where she is a straight-A ninth grader already taking more advanced science and math classes.
“I haven’t had a teacher that didn’t support me,’’ Robusto said smiling.
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