All aspiring drivers and athletes around should know the road Bruno Carneiro takes to fulfill his dream of being a professional race car driver.

Bruno Carneiro is not an average 16-year high school student. The Riverton, Utah racer has just returned from a successful racing trip to China representing the Utah Motorsports Campus, where he recorded a podium finish in the FIA Chinese F4 Championship. Carneiro is one of nine finalists for the Mazda Road to 24 Shootout which kicks off this weekend. Should Carneiro win the Shootout, he will receive a Mazda scholarship for a full-season entry in the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Championship.

Every young driver relies upon the help of backers and sponsors to move up the racing ladder. Carneiro is no different, but has taken a slightly different approach to finance his efforts behind the wheel. Since 2008, he has gone door-to-door – nearly 400 homes per week – four or five nights a week, selling gift certificates for his primary sponsor, Rodizio Grill. Carneiro earns a portion of each sale, which funds his racing effort.

Now in his 12th year of racing, he won his first karting championship at the age of five, and compiled a large amount of karting wins and championships until 2015, when he moved into a full-sized Mazda-powered open-wheel car and earned the NASA Pro Racing championship in the Utah region.

He started the Bruno Carneiro Karting Academy in 2013, which offers tutoring in a variety of karting categories. With his own fleet of karts, he also offers free lessons for kids or adults that cannot afford a kart of their own. For the past two years, Carneiro has also made a number of appearances as a motivational speaker for local businesses, schools and youth groups. He has spoken on subjects that range from the importance of safe driving to dealing with rejection as a salesperson.