Drive for Diversity youth drivers announced ahead of Bojangles’ Summer Shootout

NASCAR and Rev Racing have announced two additional drivers set to join Rev Racing’s youth driver lineup as part of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program. Kaylee Bryson, 17, and Hayden Swank, 16, will compete with previously announced drivers Isabella Robusto and Nick Sanchez at the Bojangles’ Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway, beginning June 11. The youth program targets drivers ages 12 to 17 for INEX Legend Car competition and serves as an entry point to the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program. Selected youth drivers are year-long members of the Drive for Diversity team roster. After several months of evaluation, youth drivers are selected based on overall driving performance, past success on the track and recommendations from members of the racing community. “As it remains a goal of ours to focus on the growth and development of both our academy-style program and youth participants, we want to connect with these drivers as early as possible,” said Max Siegel, owner of Rev Racing. “The sooner we can start providing the proper guidance to these individuals, the more prepared they are to grow into different series.” Swank, a North Carolina native who currently resides in Woodstock, Georgia, began his quarter-midget racing career at age 7. Swank promptly won his first 10 races and spent four years racing quarter midgets before graduating to Bandoleros, winning six of his first seven races. In 2014, Swank won the Bandit class at the Bandolero National Championship. He finished second in Thursday Thunder Outlaw points standings in 2015, earning him the David Ragan Award for the 2015 season. Bryson is an accomplished race car driver from Muskogee, Oklahoma. She started racing winged karts in 2010 when she was 8 years old. In her first two-and-a-half years in winged karts, she accumulated 50 total wins. In June 2012, Bryson made the transition to Restrictor Micro-Sprint Cars and won 16 races between 2013 and 2015. The following year, she moved up to A-Class and Outlaw Micro-Sprint Cars and claimed multiple top-three, top-five, and top-10 finishes. She claimed the 2016 Port City Raceway A-Class Rookie of the Year and Points Championship honors. Robusto, 13, will join Rev Racing for her second season. Robusto earned one podium finish, two top-fives and eight top-10s in the 2017 Bojangles’ Summer Shootout. She took first place in Young Lions U.S. Legend Cars/INEX division at the sixth-annual Battle at the Big Top (BATBT) at Texas Motor Speedway in April. Sanchez, 16, is currently running full time in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series with Rev Racing. He participated in the Youth Driver Development Program in 2017, earning five podium finishes, six top-fives and one win, garnering a fifth-place finish in the 2017 championship point standings. “This program cultivates growth and seizes the opportunity for development in drivers at the earliest age possible,” said Jusan M. Hamilton, NASCAR senior manager of racing operations and event management. “Drivers who are successful and show promise are considered to compete for a chance at the next level of the program in the Late Model Series.” The first practice session for the 2018 Bojangles’ Summer Shootout is June 5.