Hollingshead Wins PT Autosport Aspiring Driver Shootout

After three days on and off-track evaluations at New Jersey Motorsports Park, PT Autosport has chosen Zach Hollingshead as the team’s 2024 Aspiring Driver Shootout winner.

Hollingshead, 21, from Lake City, Fla., earned the nod after the most competitive shootout to date.

Hollingshead will receive a driver partnership worth up to $250,000 (with $50,000 guaranteed).

Liam Crystal, 22, finished in second place and earned $10,000 toward a racing school or coaching program, while Max Stallone, 18, came in third position to take home a $5,000 racing school scholarship or equivalent coaching package.

“This means the world to me,” said Hollingshead. “I thought it would be a tossup between any one of us. It feels awesome – it means that everything I’ve been doing for the past three years has finally come to light, that all the hard work has paid off.

“I get to represent an amazing team, and I hope to show them what I can do. It took a while to get rolling this week, as I’d never driven anything mid-engine.

“It definitely took a few sessions to get used to, but in the end, I think I handled it pretty well and put down a few good laps.

“For the qualifying sim, everything came together, and I was able to just lock in. A huge thanks to PT Autosport for this amazing opportunity.”

Hollingshead grew up karting in Florida, finishing third in Rotax Junior in the 2017 Florida Winter Tour.

He then joined the Ocala Gran Prix team, racing against drivers such as Kyle Kirkwood and Oliver Askew.

Moving into cars this year, Hollingshead contested two Mazda MX-5 Cup races – and two Toyota GR Cup races with Copeland Motorsports.

Hollingshead has worked with Copeland as a mechanic this season alongside his father, earning the seat at the Virginia International Raceway doubleheader.

“This has definitely the closest field we’ve had,” said Alex Sedgwick, PT Autosport’s Porsche Carrera Cup North America driver and driver development coordinator.

“Everything was so close, even with so many assessments and so many attempts to split them up as far as talent was concerned. It’s been a very difficult decision, they’re all deserving in one way or another.

“Zach’s story is very cool, since he’s been working in racing, getting an opportunity to drive this year as a thank you for all of that hard work.

“He did a good job during that race weekend and ultimately, when it came down to it this week, he was the one who delivered.

“He’s the right choice for here and now we know we also have a second and third that warrant more investigation and more time, and with more development they’re going to be very, very strong.”

The finalists were tested on a variety of fronts, including fitness, media, simulator work, and driving, led by the team’s quartet of driver coaches: Porsche Driving Specialists Ric Collins and Anton Spires, race and rally instructor Cameron Davies, and veteran racer and coach Moh Ritson.

Sedgwick managed operations and driver development, overseeing all aspects of the Shootout, while 2022 Shootout winner Henry Drury – the 2024 Toyota GR Cup rookie of the year – also handled coaching duties, while also managing data from each car.

Monday’s fitness test gave the coaches a chance to see each finalist’s strengths and weaknesses, through a rigorous set of presses, crunches, sprints and reaction analyses. The media test was broken into two parts: a five-minute prepared presentation detailing each finalist’s background, and a subsequent Q&A.

Finalists were then judged on their sim abilities running iRacing’s Toyota GR Cup car at NJMP.

Each finalist worked with a driver coach in advance, then were graded on progression over the sim session, focusing on their ability to balance speed and car control.

The driving portion of the Shootout began on Tuesday morning in chilly but sunny conditions in the team’s pair of SPEC Porsche Boxsters.

The finalists were assessed not just on outright speed, but on consistency, car control, gear selection, progression through the sessions, and willingness to learn from their driver coach – culminating in a two-lap qualifying simulation, with Hollingshead coming out on top.

The choice was extremely difficult for all the judges, including team principal Jason Myers.

“It was the toughest decision-making process we’ve ever faced,” he said. “There was so much talent, and the lap times were incredibly competitive – even though that’s not what we fully base our decision on, it was helpful in the deciding factor.

“They’ve all been very quick, progressively learning and getting faster over the three days.

“In the end, it came down to four or five very highly qualified candidates that all deserved a chance at winning but in Zach, we see a lot of grit and determination.

“So many people talk about wanting to get into racing, but he’s been there at every GR Cup race weekend, working to make that dream come true.

“We believe he’ll be a huge asset to PT Autosport.”