Garcia making most of mileage in D4D program

Colombian teenager joins Combine, hopes to continue impressive run

MORE: NASCAR Home Tracks | Recapping the D4D combine: Day 2 | Day 1

Juan Garcia Duarte’s first footsteps into the world of grass-roots stock-car racing have earned him frequent-flyer miles by the handful, but he’s also earned plenty of respect with his driving talent along the way.

If the 17-year-old native of Bogota, Colombia, finds his path to the top levels of NASCAR, he’ll have a countryman with the same first name to thank for paving the way.

Garcia relished the chance to showcase his skills in this week’s NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine, an all-encompassing workshop at Langley Speedway in Virginia for up-and-coming drivers and an audition for a spot in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series with the Rev Racing team next season. If he continues climbing the ladder, he’ll be the first Colombian driver since Juan Pablo Montoya to make an impact on the U.S.-based sport.

“I think for every young driver in Colombia, his goals are to be in Formula One or IndyCar, but when I tried at age 14 or 15 to get into NASCAR, it’s just way different and much harder than you think,” Garcia said, noting that Montoya has since moved on but that his legacy in NASCAR remains. “What Juan Pablo showed me, there could be another way to live through driving, so I decided to try the world of NASCAR. It’s like any new experience, and driving is not the same all the time so I prefer that, and with Rev Racing, I think I will achieve it.”

While each of the 20 drivers participating in the Combine welcomed the chance for more seat time and exposure, Garcia has already made headlines in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series competition in the states. As a relative newcomer in the Super Late Model class at Irwindale Speedway in California, Garcia became the half-mile oval’s youngest main event winner at 16 years old last season, edging three-time track champ Rip Michels by .003 seconds with a power move on the high side.

The victory defied even the youngster’s modest expectations, but added fuel to his lofty aspirations while impressing his peers. The veteran Michels, now 49, was among those giving the teenager a thumbs-up in Victory Lane.

“To be racing against Rip Michels, it was really … I don’t know. I was just really happy when I won it,” Garcia said. “It was really close, by just a foot. I didn’t expect to win that race against him because it was something like six races in a row he’d won and it was my first time in Super Late Models. It gave me the hope that I could be a NASCAR driver.”

That hope was first kindled 10 years ago with Garcia’s first foray into karting in his homeland. He quickly made strides and held sway as a three-time champion by age 11.

While the formative stages of his career are far different than his current seat in a full-bodied stock car, it served him with valuable lessons in car control.

“It’s helped to feel the car and learn how to save it in case it goes away,” Garcia said. “It helps you learn the pace that every driver needs to have and you can start at a young age. I think it’s real important; those are really the essential things that have helped me become a better driver.”

Garcia said participating in a hands-on event such as the D4D Combine was another in a long series of new experiences — “in media, in driving, in everything” — that he’s put to use toward becoming a professional racer. While he’s faced some of the same challenges that most teenaged drivers do in balancing school and approaching young adulthood, the circumstance of being an international participant has raised the degree of difficulty.

While his 2015 plans remain fluid, Garcia is hoping that an offseason appointment from the Max Siegel-owned Rev Racing team would eliminate any uncertainty as he pursues his goals.

“The idea is to go to K&N to get more experience,” Garcia said. “We have been racing Super Late Models but we think that it’s the time to make one more step to the K&N Pro Series. If Rev Racing accepts me, I will do everything to show them that it’s the best decision for me in K&N.”

MORE: