(April 14, 2010) After almost 7 years of kart racing the time has come for 19 year old Justine Jackson to make the jump to cars, racing in the 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Series. On April 23 – 25 Justine will make her debut at the VIRginia International Raceway, racing along 24 of the most talented young drivers in the Americas.
The VW Jetta TDI Cup Series is one of the best driver development series in the U.S. today and races with the initiative of taking care of the environment, being the only clean diesel racing series in the U.S. Furthermore, the Jetta Cup utilizes environmentally friendly tableware, furniture, and lighting and shrinks its carbon footprint through reforestation. With 25 equally prepared cars, the series focus is on driver skill and growth and in its 2 previous seasons it has launched the career of many of its drivers.
Justine, a resident of Kingston, Jamaica and a Motorsports Management student at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina was selected to be one of the series drivers at their Final Driver Selection that was held in Las Vegas in February. She was also awarded the inaugural Project Podium Scholarship, an organization established by former Indy Car driver Lyn St. James, to aid young women in their racing careers.
Justine had this to say:
“First of all I have to say a big thank you to my sponsors, Project Podium and its partners, Volkswagen of America Inc. and its partners, Jetcon Corporation and for all the support I have received from the Helle Nice Foundation. Without them I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’m so excited about VIR next weekend. I’ve been working really hard, preparing myself mentally as well as physically and I’m hoping and praying for a really great weekend. I love racing, it’s my life and I’m so blessed to be in this position as I work my way to my goal of racing in Formula 1. During the Easter break from school I was able to go home to Jamaica and do a 3- Day school with the Jamspeed Performance Driving School, which definitely got me a bit more comfortable in a car and I was also able to learn a lot about front-wheel drive cars and how they are driven differently from a rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive car. I’m really psyched up about next weekend and I look forward to working with everyone so as to learn as much as possible and I believe that with God as my guide I can do anything. FOCUS, LEARN, RACE HARD & SMART and HAVE FUN is what I’m aiming for next weekend and I’ll let the results take care of themselves.”
To learn more about Justine and her journey throughout the 2010 season you can visit her website www.justinejackson.com and to learn more about the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Series you can visit www.vwmotorsportusa.com .
CONTACT:
Justine Jackson
www.justinejackson.com
