PRESS RELEASE: ETHAN LOW GOES FROM SHOTGUN TO TOP 10 at PBIR
Last Friday, Ethan Low was sitting at school getting ready for his upcoming semester finals at Clearwater High School and wishing he were on track qualifying to race in the weekend’s Sportscar Club of America (SCCA) Majors races at Palm Beach International Raceway (PBIR). He had just had two strong top 20 finishes in the big SCCA Majors field at Sebring the weekend before but school was in session this week with finals looming. He was awaked on Saturday morning to a phone call to grab his racing gear and get in the car and get to PBIR, he was being granted clearance by the SCCA to race starting from the back of the SCCA Majors field on Saturday afternoon.Low, who arrived at PBIR with just one short visit to the PBIR track in his first month of driving eight months ago, was at a sided disadvantage in that the rest of the national class field had been on track both Thursday and Friday dialing in their cars, familiarizing themselves with the track and learning the tricks of the track while he solved algebraic equations. For Low, it was show up, start the car and pull out for one warm up lap before the race went green. “I kind of remembered the track from my one time here last May, but those first couple of laps of the race I was simply verifying my race lines and making sure I knew whether the next turn was right or left“ Low laughed. From that point forward Low drove his Rossini powered, Old Dogs Racing, #44 car up through the field closing on the 12th place car at the finish line while taking 13th in race one. In race two, he was even better. Given the 15th position for the race’s start on Sunday, Low again methodically carved through the field getting up to a 9th place finish – his first top ten performance on a national stage.“In looking back I know I could have qualified better had I been at the track on Thursday and Friday like the rest of the group. However, being given the opportunity to compete, by starting “shot gun” (last), it presented me with a challenge to move up through the field while learning the track and earning my way up through the field, one car at a time. Meeting that challenge helped make my first Top 10 finish at the national level of auto racing all the more exciting!”It had to be a perfect storm for Low to even compete. Low was quick to thank Old Dogs Racing for having brought his car from the Sebring race to the track at PBIR as a backup car. “Without my car there, getting the rest of the pieces to fall together would have been a useless effort. Mark Gibbons and John Watson along with all the other Old Dogs Racing guys have been so good to me since joining them in October. They are a great group of guys to be with on and off the track. Then, the SCCA people were fantastic providing clearance for me to race and when we arrived, the people at the gate were looking for us and contacted the appropriate SCCA people that we were there and (Lori) came and got us with a golf cart so we could quickly register and get to my car so I could hop in and race. I also have to thank my sponsor Spirit Bands for believing in me and coming up with the idea, the funding and the phone calls to SCCA to make this weekend happen.” Low shared that he concluded the weekend by studying for his Monday English final with his Uncle’s help on the ride home Sunday evening. This is not your ordinary high school junior, but then this is not your ordinary race car driver, either. Ethan Low has his sights set on the biggest of racing stages as he grows and develops as a professional driver. Ethan Low is weighing his options which are plenty for 2014. He has offers to run Prototype Lites, the USF-2000 Indy Car series, the F-1600 series, the Continental Tire series and the Pirelli World Challenge. What direction he goes all hinges on finding the right sponsorship partner(s) to go racing at the pro level. Low is actively looking for those partners and commits that he wants his partners to find a win-win relationship when racing with him. If you would like to be a part of Ethan’s fast developing racing career, please contact him at EthanLowRacing@gmail.com or by phone at 319-551-7307. Ethan can also be followed on his website, ethanlowracing.com and on Twitter @ethanlow40
