Kyle Slader (second from left) will join eight other talented drivers coming from all over the United States to compete in the Shoot-Out.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The annual talent search known as the Shoot-Out always sorts out the top talented young drivers from across the nation. Making the Shoot-Out is an honor in itself. Winning the Shoot-Out and earning a spot in Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle driver development program, along with big sponsorship dollars, is the goal. In the previous year’s Shoot-Out 14 of the 933 drivers that applied made the cut. This year only 9 super talented young drivers won spots from the 965 applicants for the RSWC program and Star Racing Supply sponsorship dollars.

With the driver search complete, nine new talented drivers coming from all over the US will join the returning 11 drivers from last year’s RSWC driver roster. These 20 drivers, each with $6,000 to $25,000 of sponsorship dollars from Star Racing Supply, will train and race with the RSWC driver development program with the goal of working their way up the ladder to professional stock car careers. Each driver stood out uniquely and drove impressively in the Shoot-Out to earn a position in the RSWC program.

Among the highlights in the class of 2012 is just-turned-17 year-old Kyle Slader from Muskogee, Okla. -- the grandson of Thunderbird Speedway promoter Stanley Slader. Kyle started racing in dirt go karts, collecting four championships and 84 wins. He moved into Factory Stocks in 2009 whre he grabbed six wins, a championship and earning Rookie of the Year honors. In 2010, Kyle won 22 races and took home a HotMod championship in his rookie year as well as runner-up in Street Stocks. In 2011, he gathered the Modified track championship at Thunderbird along with a runner-up finish in HotMods. The multi-time dirt champ made the transition to pavement in a short time, running fast, smooth and proving consistent laps at the shootout.

"What an exciting group of talented drivers we found in this year's Shoot-Out,” stated head of development, Ron Sutton. "We were more selective in this year's interviewing process and it shows. We are very fortunate to have these impressive young drivers join our development program. We've already started class room training and I can't wait to get to the race track with them."

The race season begins shortly for these nine drivers but the off-season has been busy already with testing and classroom training sessions. The new season begins on March 31 with many of the new drivers competing in the USAC Focus Midgets Madera Gerhardt Classic event at Madera Speedway in Madera, Calif., and with NASCAR Modified openers on April 7 at Stockton 99 Speedway in Stockton, Calif.

Ron Sutton's Winner's Circle is an established talent scout and development program, providing long term, comprehensive racing and career development for up and coming drivers focused on NASCAR careers. RSWC drivers are raced, coached, groomed, trained and molded, within a professional racing environment, into what top NASCAR teams look for when hiring drivers. Drivers involved in the program race in a variety of cars, including USAC Norcal Focus Midgets, Star Grand American Modifieds, NASCAR Whelen All American Modifieds, NASCAR Late Model stock cars, NASCAR Grand National stock cars and the ARCA series.

For more information on Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle, log on to www.winners-circle-racing.com.

For more information about the Thunderbird Speedway, visit www.thunderbirdspeedwaymuskogee.com online.