Valrico's Michael Cherry has had his spot in NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program renewed for 2009, he confirmed.
Cherry, 19, will compete in the weekly late model program at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina this season. He raced at Motor Mile Speedway near Radford Va., last year, finishing fourth in the Whelen All-American Series late model standings.
An official presentation of the 2009 class will come Thursday during NASCAR chairman Brian France's annual preseason media address.
The five-year-old Drive for Diversity program is a NASCAR initiative that aims to develop minority drivers and crewman for national competition. Cherry's biological father is African American.
Max Siegel's new sports and entertainment company, the 909 Group, has taken over management of the program from Access Marketing & Communications. Siegel is the former president of Dale Earnhardt Inc., which has merged with Chip Ganassi Racing and will be run by mostly Ganassi personnel.
Cherry, a former child actor, was the 2007 Sportsman champion at Clewiston's Hendry County Speedway. He was the youngest and first black driver to win at Gibsonton's East Bay Raceway.
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