Driver Spotlight: Isabella Robusto

Ir 2Isabella Robusto is in her fourth season with Rev this year and has competed as a youth driver in the legends division her first three seasons with the team. In 2020, Robusto was promoted to become a late model driver in the Whelen All-American Series for Rev and was preparing for her debut at South Boston Speedway before the delay caused by COVID-19. Robusto shines off the track as well as in the athletic field of play and we caught up with her this past week to check in on her world away from racing.

Q: Making the transition from legend cars to late models what are you expecting for this season?

IR: Whenever this season gets back going my main goal is to learn as much as I possibly can. Both about the cars and the new tracks. I want to get a win and finish in the top five for the majority of the races.

Q: With having a twin brother, how competitive are you two with all the activities you guys are involved in?

IR: Having my brother is like a race inside of a race, because I want to win and do the best I can during the race, but I also want to beat him every race. 

Q: What activities have you participated in during this time away from the track?

IR: Some things that I have done since the end of race season is I have be doing a lot of Iracing. Before the pandemic happened I did not do a lot of Iracing, but now I do it on a day to day basis. I also am practicing high jump, and basketball a lot more. 

Q: Who was your favorite driver growing up and why?

IR: My favorite driver from growing up was and still is Kyle Busch, because I love how he puts himself out their and cares more about winning than anything else. I also love how aggressive he is out on the race track. 

Q: If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?

IR: If I where an animal I would be a dog, because I can be cute and playful at times, and I can be aggressive and fearful at other times.  

Q: Favorite food and why?

IR: My favorite food is avocado, and I like it on anything from toast to eggs or even a sandwich. I never really liked avocado until last year. 

Q: What do you miss about racing and being at the track?

IR: I miss getting to see all my friends at the tracks and getting that rush of energy that racing side by side on the track gives you. 


Q: With being a track athlete in your time away from the racetrack, how do the two sports relate when you’re competing?

IR: Both track and racing need a lot of preparation and practice to be good at. I go to track practice after school every day and work on my skill for high jump and long jump. It is the same with racing, because you have to learn the car and the track, and the more practice you have the better and better you get. 

Q: Are there any special talents or skills that you have that the no one else knows about you?

IR: Some skills that not many people know I have is that I can high jump 5 feet 4 inches, and long jump 15 and a half feet. Another skill I have is I can kick a 35 yard field goal and kicked for the 8th grade football team doing punts, kickoffs and field goals.  

Driver Spotlight: Gracie Trotter

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In her 2nd season with Rev, Gracie Trotter is one of the more experienced drivers in the program. With seat time in all three series that the team competes in, Trotter serves as a great reference to all of her teammates for advice and help. The 18 year old Denver, NC native had just began her late model season in the No. 2 FiveStar Race Car Bodies/Mobil 1 Toyota with Rev before the break caused by COVID-19, but now there’s more time to get to know our late model driver better.

Q: In the past year you have competed in legends cars, late models, and ARCA, how are you able to balance it all? Do you believe it helps your development as a driver being involved in 3 different series?
GT: I think running the different series helps me a lot. Even going back to run legend cars helps me stay fresh for when I get back into my Late Model or ARCA car. Although it’s a much different car, I still get better at learning, working and communicating with my crew chief, which helps me when I go work with different crew chiefs and teams. 

Q: Being so busy with racing how do you find time for things off of the track?

GT: With my life wrapped around racing, there’s not much time to do things off the track that isn’t racing related! When I do not have any more racing work to do, I will go work for Calico Coatings or Cryptic Coatings! 

Q: What are other activities have you participated in during this break?

GT: During this break I have been spending my weekends going fishing, working during the week at Cryptic Coatings, and a lot of iRacing each evening! 

Q: Who was your favorite driver growing up and why?

GT: Tony Stewart was my favorite driver growing up, I think I chose him as my favorite driver when I was little because his car was orange and that’s my favorite color. I even have a Home Depot Tony Stewart race car pillow! He’s still one of my favorite race car drivers til this day because he is a bad to the bone, all-around winner and he didn’t take rubbish from anyone!

Q: If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?

GT: If I were an animal I’d probably be a dolphin living in the Caribbean. I think it would be cool to swim in the clear waters all the time and see all the other cool creatures in the water. Also, dolphins are always very happy and friendly! 

Q: Favorite food and why?

GT: My favorite food is definitely any cheese, but my favorite meal is sushi!

Q: What do you miss about racing and being at the track?

GT: The competition and the adrenaline from racing is what I miss the most. I also miss being able to see my racing family and team. 
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mood

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Q: Racing for BMR racing in ARCA how fun is it to compete against Chase and Nick? Do you three communicate about racing each other? 

GT: It’s pretty fun racing against Chase and Nick. They are always hard on me off the track in a joking way so it’s fun to run with them and show em what I got! 

Q: Are there any special talents or skills that you have that the world does not know about?

GT: I am actually a pretty good artist. I love to paint and sketch in my spare time. 

Driver Spotlight: Chase Cabre

Chase


Coming off of a 2nd place finish in NASCAR’s Saturday Night Thunder, Chase Cabre gave us some insight about what he’s been up to during his time away from the track. Cabre had logged 2 top-10 finishes in the 2020 campaign and was looking forward to repeating his 2019 ARCA Menards Series East success before COVID-19 caused the season to come to a halt. This week we caught up with Chase to get an update on how he’s spending his time away from the track.


1. You finished 2nd in the Saturday Night Thunder iRacing event at Bristol, how fun was it to compete again? Also is there anything you would’ve done differently to change the outcome?

CC: It was very cool to compete in the Bristol race. Fun racing with everyone again and I really wish I could have pulled off a win, but I got to exhibit my talents even while we’re on a break.
2. What are other activities outside of iRacing that you’ve done during this break?

I’ve been having some fun on the pitbike. We made a little track and have been keeping my sanity by doing that.
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Ripping through quarantine

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3. We’ve seen you on your dirt bike on social media lately, does it feel good to get back to your 2 wheel roots to get a different feel and perspective?

It’s so fun. I love riding, especially pit bikes. They are so much fun to just throw around and create good memories with friends.
4. You have been very active on social media break, tik tok specifically. How important has it for you to try and get fans to know you better in this time away from the track?

CC: I have always enjoyed being on camera. There’s a bigger strategy in place, tiktok is just a small portion of it.
@chase_cabre

Ever opened your door and realized you were in Victory Lane? ##nascar ##fyp ##foryoupage ##4u

♬ SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK – Joji
5. If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?

CC: A monkey because they’re the best in my opinion. Very intelligent and they’re the closest relative to us in the animal kingdom so that adaptation wouldn’t be too hard right?

6. Favorite food and why?

CC: Breakfast foods; eggs, cereal, Im a huge breakfast guy. Love it.

7. What do you miss about racing and being at the track?

CC: The competitiveness of the sport from week to week. I miss it so much. We were just getting going before this happened and I feel like we were about to regain the momentum that we had from last season.
8. Your dad has a background in professional wrestling, did you watch Wrestlemania a couple of weekends ago? Do you watch pro wrestling at all and give us a little insight into your dad’s wrestling background.

CC: My father Lou Cabre was a professional wrestler under multiple names and even competed at Wrestlemania before, but Im not a big wrestling fan like I was as a kid, but I keep up with it from a far for sure.
9. Are there any special talents or skills that you have that the world does not know about?

CC: If you can’t tell from my recent videos, I love editing, shooting, and as Hollywood says, “Making movie magic.” Along with that some may not know that I assist in the design and decaling of both our ARCA Menards Series cars. It’s a fun process getting every detail correct that you envisioned.

Driver Spotlight: Nick Sanchez

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Driver Spotlight: Nick Sanchez

Concord, NC (4/8/2020)


In his first full season in the ARCA Menards Series East, Nick Sanchez has proved he is more than prepared to compete. With a 3rd place finish at the season opener at New Smyrna and a 6th place finish at Phoenix, Sanchez has showed how his steady driving ability can quickly turn into quick results. Due to Covid-19, Sanchez like many other drivers has been adjusting to life in its current state and staying ready to race. This week we caught up with Nick to see how he has been spending his time away.

Q: Coming from a karting background what do you think your biggest adjustment to stock cars has been?

NS: My biggest adjustment has been managing the lengths of the races and remembering that I have to be patient even when I make a mistake.


Q: What notable guys did you compete against in Karting before you transitioned to stock car racing?

NS: Rubens Barrichello who raced in Formula one and Indycar along with former NASCAR driver Nelson Piquet Jr were just a few of my competitors.

Q: What are other activities outside of iRacing have you participated in during this break?

NS: I have been involved in daily workouts, mountain biking, and other preparation of returning back to racing.



Q: Who was your favorite driver growing up and why?

NS: My favorite driver growing up was Dale Jr as well as Sebastian Vettel because of their driving styles and how they handled themselves away from the track too.

Q: If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?

NS: I’d like to be a wolf, but they’re soft looking but also tough when they need to be.

Q: Favorite food and why?

NS: My favorite food is actually any and all fruit. I haven’t come across a fruit that I haven’t liked yet and they’re always a perfect snack option

Q: What do you miss about racing and being at the track?

NS: The thing I miss most is the sensation of driving and how it feels when you have perfect control of the car. There is no feeling that comes close to that.

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Missing it ?

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Q: You had 2 great finishes in your first two starts this season, how do you regain that momentum when racing returns?

NS: Staying focused and working hard in the gym, iracing, and watching old races during this time away so I’m ready when racing returns.

Q: Are there any special talents or skills that you have that the world does not know about?

NS: Honestly, not really I haven’t thought to explore many other avenues outside of my racing career to even find out.

Driver Spotlight: Rajah Caruth

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Rajah Caruth was preparing to officially begin his 2020 season in a legends car for Rev Racing at the quarter-mile oval inside Atlanta Motor Speedway. He, along with Blake Lothian made the trip south to compete, but the event along with the rest of the sporting world came to a halt due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This past week we caught up with Rajah and discussed what has been happening in his life during the time away from the track.


Q: How are you spending your time away from racing?

RC: I’ve spent my time away from the racetrack primarily on iRacing where I have recently joined Richmond Raceway’s eSports team, along with doing schoolwork and finding things productive to do around the house.





Q:Favorite TV show and why?

RC: My favorite TV show is the Office because I see a lot of similarities between the social shenanigans at Dundler Mifflin and the high school I currently attend.

Q:Favorite restaurant and food from the restaurant?

RC:My favorite restaurant is anywhere that has quality chicken tenders because you can’t ever go wrong with chicken tenders. 

Q:If you could be any animal what would you be?

RC: If I could be any animal, I’d be a tiger because of the strength and power that a tiger represents, but not because of the Tiger King Netflix documentary.

Q:Have you participated in any of the stay at home social media challenges? If so which one(s)?

RC:Not yet, but I will likely soon. Have been trying to focus on being the best me during all this free time so far.

Q:How are you preparing for the upcoming late model season?

RC:In prep for our late model season, I’ve been working on improving my fitness, diet, and overall health along with using iRacing as a tool to improve my skills while we have all of this extra time that usually is not available.

Q:Special talent/skill that not many people know you have?

RC:Not many people know that I’m pretty good at basketball, and can draw as well. Those are some activities that I do in my spare time.

Q:What do you miss most about racing? What do you miss most about being at the track?

RC: Just being able to race and do what I love is what I miss the most about being at the racetrack.I also miss the competition the most along with the people I was used to seeing constantly, but I know that we’ll be back at the track at some point doing what we love.





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