By Official NASCAR Release | nascar.com |

RELATED: 2018 Drive for Diversity program emphasizes seat time

Daytona Beach, Fla. — The youngest NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series champion. The youngest driver to win four Trans-Am championships. And the 2016 Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award winner.

As evidenced by the six drivers announced as part of the 2018 NASCAR Drive for Diversity Development Team, the roster for next year is stacked with emerging young talent ready to make their mark in the sport. The drivers represent a cross-section of backgrounds — both in terms of heritage and driving disciplines — and all share a common goal: To reach the highest levels of NASCAR.

“What we’re seeing with these six drivers is a group of very talented racers who have shown the ability on and off the track to excel at the next level,” said Jim Cassidy, NASCAR senior vice president of racing operations. “With an increased focus on seat time and competition among the drivers, we’re looking forward to watching them perform next season.”

“We are thrilled with the level of talent that applied for the program, were invited to the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine and, ultimately, the six who were selected to drive for Rev Racing in 2018,” said Max Siegel, CEO of Rev Racing. “As we’ve seen the program evolve over the years and produce wins and champions, and help elevate drivers such as Daniel Suárez, Kyle Larson and Darrell Wallace Jr. to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, these drivers have the ability and potential to carry that legacy forward.”

The 2018 NASCAR Drive for Diversity roster includes a pair of drivers who have been part of the NASCAR Next program, an industry initiative designed to spotlight the sport’s rising stars.

The new class features the following drivers:

• Chase Cabre, 20, Tampa, Florida. Cabre finished sixth in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship standings and was runner-up for Sunoco Rookie of the Year. He won the 21 Means 21 Pole Award twice and recorded four top-five finishes. He will return to compete in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and will also race a Late Model in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.

• Ernie Francis Jr., 19, Dania, Florida. Francis has already locked up his fourth Trans Am Series championship, becoming the youngest driver in series history to do so. He has 32 Trans Am Series wins — the most in series history — and 15 Pirelli World Challenge victories. Francis will be a development driver with Rev Racing, running road-course events in the K&N Pro Series East and select Late Model events, as well as testing, as he transitions to oval-track racing.

• Rubén García Jr., 21, Mexico City, Mexico. García will return to Rev Racing for his third season. The 2015 NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series champion finished fifth in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East this year and is third in the PEAK Mexico Series standings with one race remaining. The NASCAR Next graduate will join Cabre in the K&N Pro East in addition to racing in the Late Model.

• Nick Sanchez, 16, Homestead, Florida. Sanchez finished fifth in the 10-race Bojangles Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway with Rev Racing’s Legends Car program last year, and will move up to the team’s full-time Late Model in 2018. Sanchez had a win among five podium finishes in the Summer Shootout.

• Ryan Vargas, 17, La Mirada, California. Vargas won the Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award in 2016 as the highest finishing multicultural or female driver in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Division I. He was runner-up for NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Josten’s Rookie of the Year for California in 2016 while racing at Irwindale and Bakersfield’s Kern County Raceway Park and the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This season, he scored a pair of wins this year to finish third in the state standings and 16th in the national standings. Vargas will drive in the third full-time K&N Pro Series East car and also race in the Late Model.

• Isabella Robusto, 13, Fort Mill, South Carolina. Robusto will anchor Rev Racing’s Youth Driver Program as she returns to the team to drive in the Legends car. Robusto will be one of four youth development drivers, with the remaining three to be announced at a later date. She was third overall at the Bandolero Winter Nationals and was the South Carolina Legends Young Lions champion in 2016 and was third overall in points in the Bojangles Summer Shootout Series in 2015.

NASCAR Drive for Diversity aligns drivers with a team of executives, athletic directors, crew chiefs and mentors tasked with helping them achieve career successes, and thus improving their goal of reaching one of the three NASCAR national series.

The 2017 NASCAR season was another banner year for NASCAR Drive for Diversity alumni, as three graduates made a major impact at the sport’s highest level.

Kyle Larson earned four wins to establish his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team as a force in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. A contender for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors, Daniel Suárez this year became the first Mexican-born driver to compete full-time in the sport’s premier series, and in February raced in his first DAYTONA 500. Last month, Darrell Wallace Jr. was announced as the new driver of Richard Petty Motorsports’ iconic No. 43 Ford for the 2018 season.

For more information on NASCAR Drive for Diversity, visit NASCARDiversity.com.