NEXT STOP, EUROPE:

Joe D'Agostino wants to be the great American Formula One hope.
He got a little closer Sunday.

The 18-year-old was one of six narrowed from a field of 16 in the annual Red Bull Driver Search. The goal of the second-year project is to select prospects from various levels of racing for a ride in the European junior series and potentially F1. D'Agostino, a karter since age 5 and the 2002 R/T 2000 Southern Regional series champ and rookie of the year, will participate in the selections final at Portugal's Estoril Circuit, a former F1 track, in October. A season on the Formula Dodge National Championship, the top amateur developmental circuit for F1, helped prepare D'Agostino for trials in the uniformly prepared RT2000 Formula Dodge cars. Candidates will drive Formula 3 cars in the next round.

"They haven't given us much on what we will be doing," D'Agostino said. "I think they want to keep as much surprise as they can and see how we react to different situations."

No American has driven F1, considered the most prestigious series in the world, since Michael Andretti's partial season in 1993. His father, Mario, won the United States' second and most recent F1 championship in 1978.

"Unfortunately, Americans have been given a branding as not being able to compete over there, which is untrue," D'Agostino said. "There are plenty of talented and capable drivers in the U.S. They just need breaks and having an opportunity such as this."