Original article: https://www.imsa.com/news/2023/05/01/candidates-named-for-2024-25-imsa-diverse-driver-development-scholarship/
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The field has been narrowed to 10 worthy candidates for the 2024-25 IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship. The recipient, to be named later this year, will receive benefits worth more than $250,000 to assist them in competing in one of three IMSA-sanctioned series during the 2024 season.
IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship candidates must be female or a member of an ethnic minority classification with a strong desire to compete in IMSA, have outstanding previous race results and/or proven on-track potential in junior racing categories, and the ability to create a compelling strategy to compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge or IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge. Among the benefits of the scholarship are a full-season premium prepaid entry fee for 2024 in one of those series and 50 percent of the prepaid entry fee for 2025. Support for the scholarship also comes from IMSA partners Michelin, VP Racing Fuels, OMP, Bell, Recaro and LAT Images.
Over the next few months, the 10 selected candidates will participate in a series of learning modules to bolster their off-track skills and assist them in approaching teams and submitting their final business plans. The recipient of the 2024-25 scholarship will be notified in the fall.
The list of candidates for the third annual IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship consists of eight men and two women. Four of the candidates were finalists in past years. Here are the candidates, listed in alphabetical order with hometown (*-designates a finalist in a previous year).
ANTONIO ABROM, 21
Winston, Georgia
A student studying aviation at Middle Georgia State University, Abrom graduated from karting to the Spec Miata Series, where he captured a pair of race wins in 2022. He set the Spec Miata track record at Barber Motorsports Park last year and was the 2021 SCCA Endurance Series champion in Spec Miata.
ANDRE CASTRO, 24
New York, New York
Castro is currently competing in the USF2000 open-wheel junior series. After winning the Skip Barber “Karts to Cars” scholarship in 2015, he raced in F2000 in 2016 and USF2000 in 2017 before moving to the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series in 2019-20. He earned the Team USA Scholarship to compete in the prestigious Formula Ford Festival in England in 2021 and has been racing in several junior open-wheel series in the U.S. and England over the past two years.
SABRE COOK, 28*
Carmel, Indiana
Currently driving in the Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America sanctioned by IMSA, Cook also has vast experience in the W Series, Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires, Indy Pro 2000, USF2000, F4 U.S. Championship and more. On top of that, she holds a mechanical engineering degree.
KEN FUKUDA, 35
Beacon, New York
Fukuda dabbled in racing but didn’t take it on seriously until age 28. He raced five years ago in three VLN endurance races at the famed Nurburgring in Germany, then became a Skip Barber racing instructor three years ago. He is a lead instructor for the Skip Barber Racing School now and has competed in a pair of TC America races, finishing second last year at Indianapolis.
HEATHER HADLEY, 21
Sherrills Ford, North Carolina
Hadley is a rookie this year in the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires, recording her best result of eighth place in the most recent race at St. Petersburg, Florida. She was a recipient of the Mazda Women’s Initiative Scholarship in November. The majority of her previous experience came in Legends cars from 2019-22, where she won races at several tracks.
BRYSON LEW, 20*
Salt Lake City, Utah
Lew is the reigning champion of the ProAm class in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series with co-driver John Dubets. Together, they won seven series races in the 2022 North American series plus another victory in the Grand Finals that included Super Trofeo racers from North America and Europe. Lew moved from karts to cars in 2018. His experience includes the French F4 Championship, TC America and the Pirelli GT4 America SprintX series.
KYLE LOH, 24*
San Jose, California
Loh is a 2022 graduate of the Honda Performance Development GT3 Academy. He has gained racing experience in the F4 U.S. Western Championship, finishing third in 2019 with three wins. He also won the 2021 Formula Pro USA West Coast Formula 3 title with five victories. He serves as an instructor for the Allen Berg Racing Schools and coach for World Speed Motorsports.
BAILEY MONETTE, 27
Alpharetta, Georgia
The bulk of Monette’s racing experience has come in the SCCA Formula Enterprises (FE) series, and his resume lists numerous wins in the FE ad FE2 classes. After earning his SCCA novice competition license at age 15, he has driven Legends cars, in the SPU and P2 classes and Radical SR3.
BRAD PEREZ, 26*
Kannapolis, North Carolina
Perez has raced in one-offs in the NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck series, most recently last month in the Xfinity race at Circuit of The Americas. He also raced in the SCCA Spec Miata series from 2018-20, collecting five victories in 2018. He has also served as a spotter for the Jr III Racing and Gradient Racing teams in the IMSA paddock.
WESTIN WORKMAN, 18
Charlotte, North Carolina
The high school senior is transitioning from karting to race cars. During the 2021 Mazda Motorsports Spec MX-5 Shootout, Workman was chosen as one of two recipients of the scholarship for the 2022 Challenge Series national competition season. He also finished third in the 2022 Lucas Oil Formula Car Race Series. He has numerous karting wins and championships as well.