2015 NASCAR Diversity Internship Program class named

Some of NASCAR’s future leaders may emerge from the 2015 NASCAR Diversity Internship Program (NDIP) class, which begins a 10-week summer session this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

According to a NASCAR media release, the interns, who attend universities ranging from Minnesota to Puerto Rico, “will take part in the 10-week, paid program, created to expose multicultural college students to employment opportunities within America’s number one motorsport.”

The interns will receive a wide-ranging exposure to the sport in areas including engineering, finance, marketing, license and public relations.

Among NASCAR-related groups that will be hosting interns are several NASCAR divisions; Hendrick Motorsports, Rev Racing (which oversees NASCAR’s Drive For Diversity program) and Pocono Raceway.

“Since 2000, the NASCAR Diversity Internship Program has grown to become one of the premier internships in sports,” said Jim Cassidy, NASCAR senior vice president of racing operations. “For NASCAR, the program is an important part of our efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace.”

Nearly 300 students have taken part in the program since its debut 15 years ago. Several have gone on to full-time jobs in motorsports, including NASCAR, International Speedway Corporation, Octagon and Toyota.

One past intern is Pedro Mojica, who was part of the 2014 Class. After graduating from the University of Texas – San Antonio, Mojica accepted an engineer position for Toyota Racing Development.

“As an intern, I had the opportunity to become immersed in the world of NASCAR – a sport I was passionate about,” said Mojica, who also participated in the NASCAR Mentorship Program. “The NASCAR Diversity Internship Program provided me with a platform to launch my career in motorsports.”

Among “NASCAR 101” activities the 2015 class will take part in this weekend include guided tours of the NASCAR Research & Development Center, NASCAR Hall of Fame and Charlotte Motor Speedway before attending Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race.

Here’s the 2015 class lineup:

Intern	Internship Assignment	College or University	Hometown
Kent Booze	NASCAR Brand and Consumer Marketing	Dartmouth College	Spiro, Okla.
Karl Bostick	Octagon Marketing	Elon University	Englewood, N.J.
Adrienne Bright	NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications	Central Michigan University	Flint, Mich.
Nichole Dominguez	NASCAR Weekly and Touring	University of Central Florida	Daytona Beach, Fla.
Sydnei Fryson	Rev Racing PR/Marketing	Hampton University	Charleston, W.V.
James Harris	Hendrick Marketing/Business Development	University of North Carolina at Charlotte	Apex, N.C.
Zubin Jhambani	NASCAR Marketing Research	Syracuse University	Udaipur (Rajasthan), India
Giridhar Kathiresan	NASCAR Digital Media	University of North Carolina at Charlotte	Chennai (Tami Nadu), India
Victoria Kim	Pocono Raceway Marketing	Penn State University	Horsham, Pa.
Jordan Leatherman	Switch Marketing	Oklahoma State University	Muskogee, Okla.
Yuyi Li	NASCAR Industry Services	Duke University	Chapel Hill, N.C.
Bice Lizza	NASCAR Human Resources	Penn State University	Montville, N.J.
Jade McCrary	NASCAR Member Services	Florida A&M University	Daytona Beach, Fla.
Cole McGinnis	NASCAR Licensing	University of Iowa	Davenport, Ia.
Jasmine Neely	NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Charlotte, N.C.
Hakeem Onafowokan	NASCAR Legal	University of Minnesota	Minneapolis, Minn.
Alexandre Pendegrass	NASCAR Multicultural Development	Howard University	Dallas, Texas
Keyzza Plaza	NASCAR Production Engineering	University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez	Toa Alta, Puerto Rico
Tonya Vanderpool	NASCAR Finance	University of Central Florida	Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
Ashleigh Young	NASCAR Productions	Oklahoma State University	Santa Ana, Calif.

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