HAMPTON, VA :: California native Cody Thompson turned some of the fastest and most consistent laps during the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine at Langley Speedway on Tuesday. His on-track performance impressed evaluators and other drivers and may have earned him a ride with Rev Racing in 2014.
“I really do like my chances,” Thompson said. “I did the best I could in the car and turned out to be real good. I believe people were impressed and I hope Rev Racing was.”
Thompson, who is currently 20, began racing when he was 11 in Quarter Midgets and then moved up through the ranks.
“Coming in to this, I raced four years of quarter midgets starting out when I was 11 then moved up and ran two years of micros,” Thompson stated. “I did a year in Ford Focus and two years in the modifieds and this year I’ve been running LAte Models in California.”
Thompson has high hopes for his future, saying he’d like to get in to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in the future, following in the footsteps of 2012 Drive for Diversity driver Kyle Larson.
“I hope to get in this program,” Thompson explained. “It would get me a lot more exposure than just racing in California and I hope to be picked up by a NASCAR team (in the future) so I can race in the Sprint Cup Series. Not to be cocky but I hope to show Kyle Larson up a little bit and show I am a better driver and that good drivers can come out of this program and out of California. There are a lot of good drivers everywhere. They just find something to expose their talent to get where they should be.”
Cody Thompson competed in the Late Model divisions at Stockton 99 Speedway and All American Speedway in Northern California in the 2012 season. Thompson is of Asian-Pacific dissent.
Drivers who are selected will compete for Rev Racing either in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series or in a NASCAR Whelen All American Series Late Model Stock Car.
