Houk, Sullivan win Team USA Scholarship places

Ayrton Houk and Jack Sullivan will follow in some illustrious footsteps during the next few weeks as they fly the distinctive red, white and blue Team USA Scholarship colors in several prestigious Formula Ford races in the UK.

They are the latest pair of talented young American race car drivers to be selected for the program, joining the likes of Jimmy Vasser and Bryan Herta, who were the first two Team USA Scholarship recipients in 1990 and 1991 respectively, and this year’s Indianapolis 500 champion Josef Newgarden, whose rise to the top of the North American racing ladder as a two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion included claiming a Team USA Scholarship — and a Formula Ford Festival victory — in 2008.

Houk (above left), 20, from McCordsville, Ind., and Sullivan (right), 17, from Hamilton, Ohio, earned the opportunity following a recent shootout at the Polecat Training Center facility in Lynchburg, Tenn. Both have been leading contenders in this year’s FRP Formula 1600 Championship Series. They were joined at the shootout by Elliott Budzinski, 21, from Ann Arbor, Mich., and Jason Pribyl, 18, from Glenview, Ill.

“Every year our team USA candidates are strong, and it makes the decision making extremely tough,” said 1999 Team USA Scholarship winner Andy Lally, who headed the judging panel alongside 1993 scholarship recipient Jerry Nadeau, accomplished sports car turned sprint car racer Sean Rayhall and Polecat Training Center principals Paul Arnold, JR Speight and Rafe Baskin.

“This year, however the lap times were so tight and the sessions so closely fought out in both wet, damp and dry conditions that we had to go deeper and deeper into what potentially separates each of these drivers. We ended up taking into consideration many other factors, and it was still a close and divided vote. I know every single one of the candidates that we tested would do a fine job representing Team USA but in the end we can only pick two. I cannot wait to see how these young drivers perform and I know all four have potentially amazing futures ahead of them.”