It's a long way from Sydney, Australia, to the SCCA Pro Racing-sanctioned Formula 4 United States Championship, but it's a trip that Daniel Quimby was glad to make.

The young driver came north to show off his chops in this year's five-event, 15-race season in F4, and that's exactly what he did. Amassing five victories, four second places, and a single third-place finish, Quimby finished the season just 4.5 points ahead of Nicolas Stati and 33 points ahead of Connor Roberts.

We caught up with Quimby at his home to ask about the challenges of global racing.

"Yes, there was a lot of travel from Sydney, Australia, to LAX , then on to the destination for the race," Quimby admitted. "We returned home after each round and then flew back for the next race. Lots of Fiji Airways frequent flyer miles added to my account!"

Although there were only two races where he finished outside the top five, Quimby's season had its share of challenges.

"We had an up and down season, with plenty of things not going our way," he explained. "We had gearbox issues at Road America that cost us plenty of points, and a DNF at New Jersey that put us well behind on the points score. Full credit to the team for never losing sight of the end result! We managed to turn it around in Canada, which was my team's home race. We made a clean sweep getting the pole and three wins. This put us closer to the championship leader and in the fight for the final round at COTA."

For any driver in a pro series, taking the championship is key to moving up. That's exactly what Quimby plans to do.

"I'm obviously over the moon to win the F4 championship,” he declared. "I did it the hard way, but managed to be in front when it counted. I would like to thank my mum and dad for all the support and travelling with me. I would also like to thank the Atlantic Racing team and, in particular, Trevor, my mechanic. His hard work was one of the reasons for this championship win. I also need to recognize my sponsors who help me do this. They are Motorhome Republic, Cruise America, Galvanize Insurance, and Fiji Airways."

Next year, you can look for Quimby in the SCCA Pro Racing-sanctioned U.S. Formula Regional Championship Series, and he'll be making news in his home country as well.

"With the scholarship from Parella Motorsports, I will race in the U.S. FR Championship next year, as well as a little bit of Porsche Sprint Challenge back home in Australia."

You can follow Daniel Quimby's career at danielquimbyracing.com.

Photo courtesy Parella Motorsports Holdings