Bristol Motor Speedway officials announced today that Gavin Shoun, Elizabethton, Tenn., and Rylee Curl, Batavia, Ohio, are the joint winners of the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Scholarship for 2025, courtesy of Bristol Motor Speedway. Shoun will be honored later tonight during pre-race ceremonies prior to the green flag for the Food City 300. He will walk across the pre-race stage and wave to the crowd. Curl, from the greater Cincinnati area, was not able to attend. Each recipient will receive a check for $2,088 and a commemorative plaque.
Shoun, a senior at Unaka High School, is planning to continue his automotive technology studies at Nashville Auto Diesel College / Lincoln Tech. He has worked for two years at Easy Auto in Elizabethton and also participated in Skills USA for the past four years in the Automotive Repair Paint and Refinishing Program. Growing up his love for cars was nurtured by his grandfather, who built chassis for NHRA teams in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of those cars competed at Bristol Dragway. Shoun is going to pursue an Associates Degree in Automotive Technology Refinishing at NADC/Lincoln Tech.
"This work is in my blood," Shoun said. "I am able to take some of the old school tricks of the trade and put a modern technology twist to them. I am very passionate about my work and won't stop until the job is done right."
Curl currently attends Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, and has enrolled at the University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) for the spring of 2026. She is also inspired to pursue a career in Automotive Technology and has worked in a variety of positions at several quick lube shops as well as full-service shops. Her goal is to one day own her auto automotive service shop.
"I want to show other women thinking about this field that they can do it too," Curl said. "If I can inspire even one girl to chase her dream in automotive technology and believe that there's a place for her in this industry, I would feel like all the hard work is worth it."
Created by Bristol Motor Speedway in 2017 as a retirement gift to Earnhardt Jr., the annual scholarship awards the winning student a one-time payment of $2,088 to assist with all college costs including tuition, housing, books and supplies. Past winners of the BMS Dale Earnhardt Jr. Scholarship are Jaicee Weaver (2018) and Jace Ketron (2019), both of Tennessee High School in Bristol, Tenn., UNOH student Caleb James Cate (2021) from Knoxville, Tenn., and 2022 winners John Clavier of Elizabethton High School and UNOH student Chloe Holman of Essex, Mo.; the 2023 winners were Jamie Sullivan of UNOH and Caleb Kent of Happy Valley High School in Watauga, Tenn.; and the 2024 winners of Trea'zur Cassidy of Science Hill High School and UT-Chattanooga and Oswego, Ill.’s Hannah Kelsheimer, of UNOH.
In order to be eligible, students must be a senior at one of the 24 designated high schools or attending one of the eight designated colleges and universities in the Appalachian Highlands region surrounding Bristol Motor Speedway or a student at the speedway’s official partnering institution, UNOH in Lima, Ohio.
The 24 designated high schools were Abingdon High School; Chuckey-Doak High School; Cloudland High School; Johnson County High School; Unicoi High School; Unaka High School; Daniel Boone High School; David Crockett High School; Dobyns-Bennett High School; Elizabethton High School; Greeneville High School; Hampton High School; Happy Valley High School; Holston High School; John S. Battle High School; North Greene High School; Patrick Henry High School; Tennessee High School; Science Hill High School; South Greene High School; Sullivan East High School; Virginia High School; West Greene High School and West Ridge High School.
The nine designated higher educational institutions were East Tennessee State University; Emory & Henry College; King University; Milligan University; Northeast State Technical Community College; Tennessee College of Applied Technology, Elizabethton; Tusculum University; the University of Virginia’s College at Wise and the University of Northwestern Ohio.
One of the most iconic racecar drivers of all time, Earnhardt Jr. serves as an analyst for Prime Sports and TNT Sports coverage of the NASCAR Cup Series. In addition to race coverage, Earnhardt hosts The Dale Jr. Download, a weekly interview program focused on motorsports. Voted by fans as NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver for an unprecedented 15 consecutive years (2003-17), Earnhardt, a 26-time winner in the NASCAR Cup Series including two Daytona 500s, is a third-generation driver who followed his legendary father Dale Earnhardt Sr., and his grandfather, Ralph Earnhardt, into the sport. As a team owner, Earnhardt founded and manages JR Motorsports, which fields four full-time entries in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In the summer of 2020, Earnhardt was selected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2021.
Earnhardt Jr.’s only Bristol victory in the Cup Series came in the 2004 Night Race in dramatic fashion where he famously declared, “It’s Bristol, Baby!” in Victory Lane following the win.
To purchase tickets or obtain more information about the race weekend, please visit www.bristolmotorspeedway.com or call (866) 415-4158.
