Shift Up Now and HQ Autosport Combine To Field A CoEd Team for 2019 25 Hours of Thunderhill

    SAINT AUGUSTINE, FL, October 30, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Shift Up Now, the collective of female motor-sports racers, and HQ Autosport, a highly successful endurance racing team, have joined together to take on the 2019 USAF 25 Hours of Thunderhill, December 7 - 8 at Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows, CA. Shift Up Now and HQ will field a combined CoEd Team of three women and two men.

Shift Up Now drivers Sarah Montgomery, Michele Abbate, and Loni Unser will embed with the HQ AutoSport team and join HQ Autosport's team drivers Peter Engels and Travis Weltzien. The team will be driving the #28 BMW 128i in the very competitive E2 class.

HQ Autosport is an endurance racing team founded by Paul Quattrocchi and Rob Henretta. They are the 2018 defending NASA Western Endurance Racing Champions, and the 2018 NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill Champions in the E2 class.

"Our partnership with Shift Up Now enables us to field the best driver lineup, as we close the WERC Championship series and contest this year's NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill," says Paul Quattrocchi co-founder of the HQ Team. Rob Henretta added: "We know this is going to be a very competitive race so we need every team member to perform at the highest level. We appreciate the confidence that Shift Up Now has shown in us and the incredible level of talent that Sarah, Michele, and Loni bring in joining Travis and Pete."

"We are very excited to be joining forces with HQ Autosport," says Karen Salvaggio, Ed.D., President of Shift Up Now. "This team has a history of racing success, and they always present a top-notch, high quality endurance racing effort. As a team, we are looking forward to representing the best of what motorsports can be when like-minded men and women join forces and work together for a common goal."

Founded by racer Lynn Schultz Kehoe in 2016, Shift Up Now is a collective of female racers who use motorsports to inspire confidence and courage in girls and women. The organization has attracted many talented professional and amateur racers to its collective including Pippa Mann, Karen Salvaggio, Shea Racing - Shea Holbrook, and Sarah Montgomery and continues to gain momentum with the addition of rising stars, such as Loni Unser and Cherie Storms.

Shift Up Now aids female racers to find the funding they need to pursue their racing dreams. The organization also has active programs in leadership training, inspirational talks, hands on seminars and on-track orientations. Shift Up Now is gaining traction and attention as more female racers–– professional and amateur alike–– lend their names to the cause and the organization.

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