DETROIT 2012BESTINSHOW

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TALENT &TENACITYMeet 10rising starsaiming to make itto the top ranks ofprofessional racing

ding hot shoes to keep youreyes on in 2012 at variouslevels of the sport. They mightsoon become very familiarnames in race-fan households.

person to date to earn a SkipBarber road-racing license. Shewas Barbers western regionrookie of the year at 14, whenshe first taSted oval racing in a-NAME: Jessica Brunelli

AGE: 18SERIES: NASCAR K&N West• Just shy of her 19th birth-day, Jessica Brunelli has a solidresume. By age 13, the SanFrancisco Bay Area native hadwon multiple IKF karting ti-tles and became the youngest

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WHILE CASUALand hard-core fansalike prepare to fol-

low their favorite veterans foranother season of well-publi-cized, top-level rnotorsports,there is-as always-a largecrop of young up-and-comerswho will look to advance theircareers. Say hello to 10 bud-

< On track to excel (clockwisefrom top left in the No. 67 dirtcar): Kyle Larson, Courtney Force,Zach Veach, Cooper MacNeil,Sage Karam (in the No. 88) andConor Daly. Below: JessicaBrunelli.

modified car at All-AmericanSpeedway in Roseville, Calif.At IS, Brunelli finished sixthin USAC's Ford Focus Midgetstandings.

She moved east just afterher 17th birthday to competein NASCAR's Drive for Diver-sity program and surprisedeveryone, including herself,by earning a seat at RevolutionRacing.

That year she was rookieof the year in NASCAR latemodels at two North Carolinashort tracks, Tri-County andHickory, which launched thecareers of such NASCAR lu-minaries as Junior Johnson,Ned Jarrett and RalphEarnhardt.

Brunelli says that in 2012,she hopes to compete full-time in NASCAR's K&NWest series with Naake-Klauer Motorsports, Itwillbe a huge step toward deter-mining whether she has

FEBRUARY 6, 2012 AUTOWEEK 65 J

COMP" YOUNGDRNERS

what it takes to become thefirst woman to win a SprintCup race.

She was impressive in hertwo previous K&N starts, saysteam owner Mike Naake, whowas Cup driver David Gilli-land's crew chief while heearned his Cup ered in theK&N series.

"She qualified 15th atPhoenix on her first track big-ger than 3/B-mile, and she rantop-IO at Sonoma with BorisSaid breathing down herneck," Naake said.

"Jessica is a top-five runner.If she makes a mistake, shecleans it up the next lap. Youonly need to teil her once.She's totally calm when mostpeople are in panic mode. It al-most makes me nervous. Shejust needs more wheel time."

-J. P. VEITRAINO

-NAME: Conor DalyAGE: 20SERIES: GP3• Conor Daly has demonstrat-ed the potential speed and ma-turity mandatory to reach hisgoal of becoming a FormulaOne driver. Now, as his father,Derek, says, "he needs to de-liver" to take the next step.

Daly, a former Star Mazdachampion, returns this yearto GP3 for a second season;he was finalizing his deal asof Autoweek's deadline. Dalyhopes to move up into GP2 in2013 and then, maybe, FI. Buthis former pro racer father,who serves as his manager,won't rush him.

"This year, he's 20 years

66 AUTOWEEK FEBRUARY 6, 2012

old, in 2013he's 21, andif he did asecond GP2season in2014, he'dbe 22," saysDerek Daly, anFl and CARTveteran. "At 22,he'd be ahead ofeveryone other than[Sebastian] Vettel interms of career path,so he's on the right pace.The key is that he doesn'tjump too fast and fall back."

Daly, who lives in Nobles-ville, Ind., has found success ateverything he's raced. His sec-ond Star Mazda season, in2010, included records forwins [seven], poles (nine), podi-um finishes (12) and most lapsled. He won last year's Fire-stone Indy Lights race at LongBeach and finished second inSt. Petersburg. In GP3, hescored a best finish of fifthat Spa-Prancorchamps andfinished 17th in the standingsfor Carlin Motorsport.

CONORDALY>

-CURT CAVIN-NAME: Courtney ForceAGE: 23SERIES: NHRA Full ThrottleFunny Car• Full Throttle Series driversrarely have the combinationof pedigree, equipment, crewsupport and sponsorship thatCourtney Force will boast inher rookie season driving theTraxxas Ford Mustang FunnyCar. With that mountain of

help comes a heap of expecta-tions, all part of the territorywhen you are the child of themost prolific drag racer in his-tory, John Force.

But what will set 23·year-old Courtney apart from theother Force sisters is that driv-ing a race car has been her sin-g~epassion for as long as shecan remember. Despite earn-ing a degree in communica-tions from Cal State-Fullerton,sbe's never thought much ofdabbling in any other pursuit.

"I've known since I was fiveyears old that I want to be aprofessional race-car driver,"Courtney said. "I'd draw pic-tures in crayon of me racingmy dad; I was always in thelead, of course. I can't wait tostart beating up on the boys-especially my dad."

After winning her first race-in 2009, in Top AlcoholDragster at the NorthwestNationals in Seattle-and afterearning runner-up honors thesame year in the Auto ClubFinals at Pomona, Calif., sheran a limited schedule in2010. Now, her first pro sea-son could be one of the mostsuccessful rookie efforts bya nitro driver in a long time.She'S spent a lot of time test-ing, and her crew chief, RonDouglas, will be backed upby John Force Racing's tuningbrain trust. -ROB GEIGER

-NAME: Michael JohnsonAGE: 19SERIES: U.S. F200D• After a change in plans,Michael Johnson is workingtoward his dream of drivingin the Indianapolis 500.

Johnson started racingmotorcycles at age four, andhe was a standout, coilecting14 regional and national titlesby age 12-when he crashedduring a 2s0-cc race in Sarnia,Ontario, in 2005.

Johnson suffered fracturesto his T5 and T6 vertebrae,

leaving him paralyzed fromthe chest down. He also brokehis collarbone, right ribs, leftankle and left leg £lying overthe handlebars. His recoveryhas included an l l-hour sur-gery in Detroit to insert fourrods and 15 screws, experi-mental stem-ceil-transplantsurgery in Portugal in 2009and about 1,000 hours ofrehabilitation.

In a bid to continue racing,Johnson turned first to karts.Last year, he finished third