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Andrew Wiener, Nick Neri, and Jess Peterson each earned an opportunity to test a GRC Lites car with OlsbergsMSE after impressive performances at this weekend’s SuperKarts! USA SuperNationals event in Las Vegas. Brad Manka, the 2013 GRC Lites Mechanic of the Year, led the selection process, with the help of two-time GRC race winner and three-time SuperNationals winner Scott Speed.

Peterson, a native of Sparks, NV, and Wiener, from Chula Vista, CA, competed against one another in the TaG-Senior class, with Peterson taking fourth place in the main event. Neri, a native of Palmetto, FL, finished second in the S1 main event this year in his return to the event; he took the SuperNationals victory in the S2 class in 2011.

“We chose the drivers who earned the scholarship based on several things,” said Manka. “Obviously, they had to be fast, but we didn’t just pick the winner of the class because it doesn’t always tell the whole story. All of these guys ran very fast laps, and came through traffic cleanly. They showed very good race craft.”

2013 represents the 17^th running of the SKUSA SuperNationals, which attracted over 600 entries across numerous classes. Numerous drivers with ties to Global Rallycross entered the event, including Speed and Nelson Piquet Jr., as well as Parker Thompson and Alejo Fernandez, who tested GRC Lites in early November and competed for a team led by former Indianapolis 500 winner and 2013 X Games Brazil competitor Buddy Rice.

Photo credit: Liza Markle