Drive for Diversity introduces 2012 driver lineup

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR and Rev Racing announced the 2012 driver lineup -- the ninth season for the Drive for Diversity program -- Thursday during the annual Media Tour at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Rev Racing, formerly known as Revolution Racing, operates under the ownership of Max Siegel and will field four teams in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and two teams in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.

"We have a great lineup of drivers," Siegel said. "They offer an outstanding mixture of skill, experience and talent. Together with our championship winning crew chiefs and leadership, we are extremely excited about what the 2012 season has in store."

The team is coming off the most successful season in the nine-year history of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity. Rev Racing collected six wins in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and had three drivers finish in the top 10 in series points last year.

The six drivers (Twitter handle in parentheses) who will compete for Rev Racing in 2012 include:

Jorge Arteaga (@JorgeArteaga46) -- Arteaga, 25, of Aguascalientes, Mexico, will run his first full season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. He competed in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Models for Rev Racing last season, and also drove in the NASCAR Mexico Series, where he was voted Most Popular Driver by the fans.

Mackena Bell (@MackenaBell) -- Bell, 21, of Carson City, Nev., will be in her third year with Rev Racing having competed in both the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series and NASCAR K&N Pro Series. This will be her second full-time season in Late Models.

Trey Gibson (@TGibsonRacing) -- Gibson, 19, of Easley, S.C., will enter his second season driving a Late Model with the team after finishing seventh in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series South Carolina standings last year.

Ryan Gifford (@RyanGifford2) -- Gifford, 22, of Winchester, Tenn., will return to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East for his third full-time season in the series. He became the first African-American in series history to win a pole award in 2010 and has finished in the top 10 in the standings in each of his two seasons with Rev Racing.

Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) -- Larson, 19, of Elk Grove, Calif., will move into the NASCAR K&N Pro Series ranks after he became the first driver to win a World of Outlaws race and score victories in all three USAC divisions in the same season last year.

Bryan Ortiz (@BryanORacing) -- Ortiz, 22, of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, will move up to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series from Late Models in his second season with Rev Racing. Ortiz has a strong road-racing background and will also compete in select events in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.

Drive for Diversity's Twitter hashtag throughout the season is #D4D2012.

"The NASCAR Drive for Diversity initiative achieved unprecedented success in 2011 on the race track, and created momentum for driver advancement to opportunities beyond the program," said Marcus Jadotte, NASCAR vice president of public affairs and multicultural development. "In 2012, our partnership with Rev Racing will continue to deliver best in class driver development opportunities to the outstanding group of drivers announced today."

The four NASCAR K&N Pro Series drivers will compete in the East, which opens its season at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on March 17. Bell and Gibson will compete in the Late Model division at multiple NASCAR Whelen All-American Series tracks in the southeast.

The year-long NASCAR Drive for Diversity consists of three training and development components: classroom, physical fitness and racing. Additionally, an interactive fan engagement asset travels throughout the country to educational institutions and racing venues as part of the Fueling Dreams Tour, which uses a combination of iRacing simulators, show cars, deejays, driver meet/greets and career panels.

The Rev Racing team drivers were chosen after they competed in the Drive for Diversity Combine this past fall. This driver assessment event brought selected drivers together to demonstrate their abilities in a head-to-head evaluation session both on and off the track.

Toyota, Sprint and Goodyear are the primary partners supporting Rev Racing and NASCAR Drive for Diversity.