A few weeks ago, Caitlin Shaw got a most-welcome, but unexpected phone call. The call was from NASCAR officials, inviting her to join the Drive for Diversity Combine.  For the aspiring race car driver, it was music to her ears.

“I’m pretty excited about it,” said Shaw, an 19-year-old who graduated from La Cueva in the spring and is attending Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, studying motor sports management. “This is a great opportunity to me.”

The Drive for Diversity Combine will bring 24 young drivers from across the country to the South Boston Speedway in Virginia on Monday and Tuesday, competing for one of the 15 spots in NASCAR’s Developmental Series. The winning drivers will land berths in either the Camping World Series or the Whelan All-American Series.

The drivers will be showcasing their skills in front of NASCAR executives and team owners in two days of competition. The participants also will undergo media training and evaluation.

Shaw and the others will be behind the wheel of closed-wheel, late-model stock cars, pushing 3,000 pounds of power around the track. This will be quite a change for Shaw, who’s used to open-wheel, midget racers that weigh 900 pounds with horsepower of about 400.

“There’s a big difference in the type of racing,” she said. “There’s a lot more power.”

Drafting, braking and powering through the turns are the biggest difference, Shaw said.

“When you’re coming through a turn, in a midget, you hit the gas at the apex of the turn to keep your momentum,” she said. “With the stock cars, you roll through the turns.”

Another big change is the midget drivers sit in the middle of the vehicle while in stock cars, drivers sit in the traditional left-hand side of the car.

Shaw has had some experience testing the stock cars, as well the trucks from the Craftsman Truck Series, so she’s not entirely unfamiliar with how they handle.

And she’s confident once the executives get a good look at her ability, she’ll open some eyes.
“This fits right in with my goals for my driving career,” Shaw said. “Within five years, I plan to get into the NASCAR Sprint Cup series.”

Shaw has been gearing toward a driving career since she was nine, racing quarter-midgets. She moved up to mini sprints at 14, winning a number of local championships at the Sandia Motorsports Park. As a 16-year-old, she moved up to the USAC Ford Focus Midget Racing Series, then onto the USAC National Series as a K&N Development Driver.

This has already been a busy year for Shaw. In addition to beginning college, she’s also attended driver’s school with Brad Noffsinger at Lowe’s Motor Speedway; was a Mazda Miata road course instructor at the Sandia track; attended the Lyn St. James Driver Development Program and tested trucks at the Pocono Raceway in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Now she’s studying in a renowned program for developing students in all aspects of the racing world.

She’ll have to miss two days of classes next week to be in the program, but Shaw isn’t too concerned.

“The professors are all pretty willing to work with you,” she said. “Particularly since I’m pursuing my professional career.”

Brea Lopez made a triumphant return to racing on August 30th when she drove her Brea Lopez Motorsports Racing Team Midget to a solid runnerup finish at the Ephrata Raceway Park in a Washington Midget Racing Association sanctioned event. The team had last raced on July 12th when they competed at the South Sound Speedway, but even with the lengthy amount of time off and sitting on the sidelines, the spirited Lopez was on her A-Game as she returned back behind the wheel of her race car. Ephrata has always been a good track for Lopez as the last time in, she ran a solid third in the event with only defending series Champion Evan Margeson and rookie star Mark Atkinson in front of her. Tony Seidleman and 15 year old Logan Forler completed the top five running order in that event.

This time around at Ephrata, Evan Margeson was again the showstopper as he raced into the lead at the start of the race and had Lopez taking up the fast chase around the quarter mile raceway. While Margeson was eating up the speedway real estate, Rookie Mark Atkinson and Lopez became engaged in a two-car battle for the runnerup slot. After quite a few laps of dualing hard around the raceway, Atkinson eased his way past Lopez, but the drive would be short-lived as a few laps later the Atkinson machine began to suffer ignition problems and dropped out of the race and with it handing the runnerup slot back to Lopez. Margeson was up to the task and finished the race with a comfortable lead over Lopez. Tony Seidleman raced to third place with 15-year old Logan Forler racing to fourth and Rick Brown completing the top five running order.

Overall it was a great showing for the Lopez team. She finished third in the A-Dash and was fourth in her heat race. In her qualifying attempt, Lopez was third fastest on the grid just a tick or two behind both Mark Atkinson and Tony Seidleman. Even with missing two points shows, Lopez is solid in the top five in points in the WMRA. Top-flight rookie Mark Atkinson heads the group with 1236 points as hopes to gain the tile in his first year in racing with the group. Tony Seidleman is second with 1125 points. Evan Margeson is third with 1113 tallies and rookie Kerstin Smutny is fourth with 1010 markers. Lopez rounds out the to five in points with 915.

This week the Brea Lopez Motorsports Team returns to racing as the team will make the trip to the Shasta Raceway Park in Shasta, California where Miss Lopez will once again slide behind the belts of the refurbished 2005 Beast Chassied/Esslinger powered Midget that is crewed by her grandfather, the legendary West Coast racer, Dan Press. The show will be a combined efforts between the WMRA and the BCRA.
(Bay Cities Rcing Association) The combination show will have $1,200.00 up for grabs when the two groups go to war on the lightning fast 3/8 miles paved oval. With all of the top stars of the WMRA expected to make the trip, the BCRA will counter with a great arsenal of their own including the highly heralded defending champion Justin Grant, the ageless superstar Floyd Alvis, current series point leader Scott Nail, Nick Fisher Jr and a host of other stars all hoping to land the lion’s share of the payoff posted by Shasta management.

Brea Lopez turned twenty years old today and her team, friends and supporters of her racing efforts would like to wish her a happy birthday with many more to follow.

While the team had hoped to do more racing than they are currently doing, the cost factors of the fuel and the downturn in our nation’s economy have proven to be a challenge for everyone involved in the racing industry. The Lopez Team is continuously weighing all of their options as to travel and competition and is still actively seeking additional sponsorship partners for the 2008 racing season and beyond to lend assistance due to the rising costs associated with racing. Some new support has come on board for the team and I-5 Tires is a welcome addition to the team with their major contribution. Other new supporters include Borden Manufacturing, Jerry Ayers and Finishline Racing Equipment.

Brea Lopez would like to thank all of her sponsors and supporters for their efforts in helping the team prepare for the 2008 racing season. Steve Forler Trucking, Redline Oil, Ridgecrest Homes, Hooker Harness, Bell Helmets, Finish Line Racing Equipment, Keizer Wheels, Loma Hair Products, DPI, Airgas, Nex-Gen Motorsports and GA Motorsports Media have all played a major role in the success of the team thus far into the 2008 racing season. Individuals lending support include Steve Lewis, John Hunter, Chip Hanauer and Dave Reed. Individuals or Sponsors looking for much needed exposure through a strong association with Motorsports are encouraged to contact Brea Lopez Motorsports for further information regarding the sponsorship programs the team has in place for 2008 and beyond.