A few SCCA racers have been selected to participate in the 11th annual Mazda Road to 24 Shootout. This post-season competition awards a $100,000 Mazda Motorsports scholarship to compete in the 2017 Battery Tender Mazda Global MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires. The 2016 Shootout takes place November 15-16 at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, Louisiana.

Eighteen-year-old Julian Garfield is a Shootout finalists and recognized nationwide as one of SCCA Solo’s most notable young drivers. He began in SCCA Solo at five years old with the Washington DC Region. In karts, he acquired five consecutive SCCA Tire Rack Solo Nationals wins and five SCCA ProSolo championships from 2008 to 2012, tying a 40-year record in the sport.  This year he drove a 2016 Mazda MX-5 in Solo’s C Street class and went undefeated in the 2016 SCCA ProSolo series, picking up his 6th championship.  He also finished second at the SCCA Tire Rack Solo Nationals in a record breaking 86-car field.

Garfield is currently enrolled as a mechanical engineering student at the University of Kansas, where he is an active member and test driver for Jayhawk Motorsports, the school’s Formula SAE team. He continues to work as a driving instructor and novice coordinator for the Washington DC Region SCCA Solo Committee, and uses his automotive knowledge and experience behind the wheel to write for various publications.

Learn more about Garfield in the story titled “Meet the Contenders: Julian Garfield” at the Mazdaspeed website.

Photo: Julian Garfield

Credit: Rupert Berrington