SOUTH BOSTON, Va. -- The long blonde hair hanging over the back of a racing suit covered with sponsor logos makes it apparent that Kristin Bumbera is not your average racer.
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Her record confirms it; the 21-year-old Late Models whiz from Sealy, Texas, not only looks like a sponsor's dream, but she drives like one, too, having claimed two victories and 11 top-five finishes in 2008 in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series at Roseville, Calif.
Bumbera is one of 25 drivers vying this week in individual testing and evaluation sessions at South Boston Speedway for one of 14 spots in NASCAR's sixth Drive for Diversity class.
The candidates include 16 women and nine men, ranging in age from 17 to 29 and all hoping to earn a fully funded ride for 2009. The diversity program will support 10 teams in the Whelen Series, and four more in the Camping World Series, the next step up for drivers.
Bumbera, bidding for her second year in the program, also knows that no female driver has ever made a mark in NASCAR beyond some status as a pioneer, and as she looks around at the ever-expanding numbers of women getting behind the wheel, she knows that will change.
"It's definitely coming," she said.
In its sixth year, the Drive for Diversity program has yet to produce a household name, and only this year can claim a champion. Paul Harraka, in his second D4D season, won 11 races at All-American Speedway in Roseville, Calif., and took the championship on the final day.
Harraka, a freshman at Duke with a double major in mechanical engineering and public policy, is back seeking a third season, and said he's getting from the program what he needs.
It "has definitely meant a lot to my career," Harraka said, noting that it lifted him from a Legends car racer into late models, a significant jump in class, and helped him get a full-time ride with Bill McAnally Racing. "That's what the program does, it opens doors."
Harraka, 19, auditioned again Monday in case one of the team owners or scouts who watched the first 13 candidates take laps liked what he saw. Each driver makes 30 laps, then gets a coaching session, followed by a 10-lap run that shows, among other things, coachability.
They finish with a two-lap mock qualifying run.
The other 12 driver candidates spent part of Monday in seminars that teach them about dealing with sponsors and the media, and the two groups trade places on the second day.
Max Siegel, president of global operations for Dale Earnhardt Inc., was among the team reps on hand Monday, and said he's looking for "tomorrow's future stars," drivers who have already invested in their careers and who demonstrate they can run consistent, smooth laps.
