Shift Up Now Athletes Sabre Cook and Sarah Montgomery were among four women and six men selected as finalists for the inaugural International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Diverse Driver Development Scholarship.
Cook is the only American to qualify for the W Series in 2021. The 27-year-old, Grand Junction, Colorado-native finished third in her Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama debut in May at Circuit of The Americas, becoming the first woman in series history to finish on the podium.
Montgomery is currently competing in the World Racing League (WRL) GTO class, driving a Porsche Cayman S 3.8 for Round 3 Racing. The 27-year-old, Lafayette, Louisiana-native earned three poles, seven podiums and a victory in the 2020 WRL season. She was the first woman to score a podium result in Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BF Goodrich ND1 class, earning four in the 2019 season en route to fourth in the class championship standings.
To be eligible for the IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship, Cook and Montgomery had to show a strong desire to compete in IMSA, outstanding previous race results and/or proven on-track potential in junior racing categories and the ability to build a compelling business plan for securing the remaining funding needed to compete in a full season in 2022. The scholarship was introduced on August 10th and IMSA received 35 applications.
“The response we received after announcing the IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship in August was fantastic,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “There were so many talented applicants, and it was extraordinarily difficult to select our 10 finalists. It will be even more difficult to choose one recipient, as all of our finalists have what it takes to succeed long term in IMSA.”
The winner will be announced during Motul Petit LeMans week at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The scholarship is worth nearly $250,000 in value toward a full season of 2022 competition (in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge or IMSA Prototype Challenge), in addition to substantial support from IMSA and partners such as Michelin, VP Racing Fuels, OMP, RECARO and LAT Photo USA.
