One of Canada's up-and-coming racing stars, James Hinchcliffe, has unveiled a program that will help develop his home country's next generation of racers.

Hinchcliffe, who competes in the Firestone Indy Lights series with Sam Schmidt Motorsports, will select eight karters who will participate in a private running of the Bridgestone Racing Academy's “Thrill of a Lifetime 3+” racing school at the Mosport Racing Academy on Sept. 15.

Hinchcliffe, along with Brett Goodman of the Bridgestone Racing Academy and Tony Ventresca of Autosports Media Group will judge the drivers' on-track performance, including track control, respect and speed. Hinchcliffe will also monitor the drivers' off-track presentation.

“Not only is this shootout going to test their on-track ability,” Hinchcliffe said. “But some of the other judging criteria will introduce some of them the pressures of the off-track side of racing, which is so important in the future when dealing with sponsors or media.”

Following the completion of the one-day Bridgestone Racing School, the panel will select one driver to participate in a fully paid, three-day “Wheel to Wheel” race licensing course at the Bridgestone Racing Academy during the 2010 season. The prize is the same course Hinchcliffe took when he got his racing license and is something he feels many Canadian karters deserve.

“Canada has one of the best karting communities in the world and that's why we produce a high number of top-class racing drivers for the size of our population. I spent many years running karts all over Canada and those are some of my favorite memories from racing,” he said. “The ‘Hinchtown.com Canadian Karting Award' is just a way for me to give something back to the community that really sparked my passion for racing.”