With the goal of encouraging women everywhere to become more successful drivers and contributing members of the SCCA®, the Wendi Allen Scholarship Fund offers financial assistance to women who have the drive to improve on the Regional, Divisional, and National level. Honoring multi-time SCCA Solo® National Champion Wendi Allen, the scholarship fund has a deep history of offering financial opportunities to women that enables them to reach higher than they might have previously thought possible. Funded courtesy of the SCCA Foundation and Mazda Motorsports and managed by SCCA Women on Track, this annual scholarship presents three women with $1,500 scholarships each in support of their travel to Tire Rack National Solo events and the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships. This year’s recipients are Juliana Brava, Meredith Bunsawat, and Em Huneycutt.

In addition to the funding, SCCA will waive entry fees for scholarship recipients to all Tire Rack National Solo events attended during the year and work with the Solo community and commercial partners to seek out other forms of support for the recipients, such as driver training, mentoring, products, and logistical assistance.

While two Wendi Allen Scholarships are funded via the SCCA Foundation, one comes courtesy of Mazda Motorsports. In 2025, Mazda’s scholarship goes to San Francisco Region member Juliana Brava.

“In early 2023, after a tough layoff, I took some time to reflect on what I truly wanted in life and realized just how much I’ve always loved performance driving,” Brava explains. “This love goes way back for me – I grew up watching Ayrton Senna clips with my parents (I'm Brazilian), racing r/c cars in parking lots, obsessing over The Fast and the Furious, playing racing games like the Need for Speed series, collecting Hot Wheels, etc.

“After recognizing I'd never paid enough attention to this, I dove into it headfirst. This led me to sim racing and exploring stunt driving as a potential career. Really, I wanted to race, but that seemed like an even longer shot than stunt driving given my limited funds.

“After earning a couple of stunt certifications and determining I wanted to drive like mad for the rest of my life, I decided to chase that passion by improving my skills however I could. That’s when autocross came to mind. It had been on my radar for years, but my car needed some TLC before I could commit. Once I got that sorted, I jumped in and tried my first SCCA Solo event at Crow's Landing with the San Francisco Region. I had a blast! Not only was it an incredible driving experience, but I also met a group of wonderful people that welcomed me with open arms. It didn’t take long to realize I’d found the perfect place to grow as a driver and connect with an amazing community.”

Utah Region member Meredith Bunsawat’s autocross journey began in a 2011 Honda Civic LX with an automatic transmission. That humble beginning, however, became the start of a new adventure. “I experienced my first ride-along the same day I raced in my first event – I was hooked from that day on,” she says.

This year marks Bunsawat’s fifth season autocrossing with the SCCA, which builds off the experience she garnered in karts during her teens. All of that added up to a very successful 2024 year. “I stretched myself – and my finances – to make one final push on my own last season to attend the in Lincoln and ultimately won my first championship in the small HSL class,” she says. “I was ecstatic with the results of last season, being that I don't have the ‘perfect’ car for my class, nor was it prepped besides wheels and tires.”

Her work doesn’t stop in the driver’s seat, as she’s also participated in promotional events for her Region, which included giving ride-alongs at a car show. “We gave almost 500 ride-alongs in one day with just 25 cars!”

North Carolina Region member Em Huneycutt has been autocrossing since 2022, but that doesn’t mean she’s new to the sport. “I have an incredible family and life,” says Huneycutt. “Both my mother and father autocrossed when they were younger. Since all of us kids have left the nest, my father was able to get back into the sport and has introduced both me and my brother to it as well. After attending an autocross with my father, I quickly signed up for a novice school with a local club so I could confidently attend and participate in autocross regardless of if my father was there to guide me or not.

“Now, I even get to teach my dad!”

In 2024, Huneycutt upped her game by attending an Evolution Performance Driving School as well as her first Solo National Tour. Still, there’s more to do. “I am still relatively new to the racing community, but I'm already eager to be more involved,” she explains.

More Scholarships Still Available

The Wendi Allen Scholarship isn’t the only scholarship made available by SCCA Women on Track. Truth is, SCCA Women on Track is offering more than a dozen scholarships this year, spanning everything from SCCA Autocross to Road Racing, RoadRally, Time Trials, and RallyCross®. Applications are still being accepted for the following scholarships through May 31, 2025:

• RoadRally Scholarship
• RallyCross Nationals Scholarship
• Runoffs Volunteer Scholarship
• National Time Trials Scholarship (Time Trials Nationals)

In addition, donations to the SCCA Foundation can be earmarked for SCCA Women on Track via the Foundation’s website. More information about SCCA Women on Track can be found by heading to the groups page on SCCA.com.

Photo caption: Juliana Brava (left), Meredith Bunsawat (bottom right), and Em Huneycutt (top right) are the 2025 Wendi Allen Scholarship recipients.
Photos courtesy scholarship recipients