Growing up…

I was enamored by the scenery. Indoctrinated early to the sounds and smells of the paddock, my earliest memories were hot afternoons under the trailer awning, watching my dad go around and around. I knew that would be me one day. Little did I know, that day would come quickly when my persistent begging finally landed me the opportunity to hop in a kart. The feeling of belongingness to the track and one-ness with the machine is something I have been chasing since that day.

For the next few years, I hustled around in indoor karting - even setting a track lap record at San Diego’s main rental-karting attraction. When we moved in middle school, I entered a challenged headspace. I was bullied hard in key developmental years for reasons far beyond my understanding at the time. I became clinically depressed before my thirteenth birthday, and it’s safe to say I lost a bit of lust for life. 

But my differences disappeared when I slid down in the seat and closed the lid. Nothing else really got me excited like that sense of belongingness. It was the only place I truly felt normal; where I felt accepted. While a karting career was out of the picture, my parents caught on to these challenges early and I was fortunate enough to have a welcoming and supportive family throughout it all.

I was able to hone my skills in the car nonetheless. A unique trait of autism that sets me apart from my competition is the ability to channel an intense laser-like focus on specific things. For me, that has been cars since day one. I tinkered on our family cars in my free time. I participated in autocross events through BMWCCA, earning awards as a rookie, and simultaneously rising through the ranks of NASA HPDE. But when the opportunity to test a Spec Miata presented itself better late than never at 19 years old, I knew it was time to take the next step for my passion.

That test day landed me a seat in the competition drivers’ school and consequently won me the Roy Mallory Memorial SCCA Scholarship. In the same year, I placed just outside the Top-5 in my rookie season regional championship of Spec Miata, while managing a full-time school load and competing in the FSAE national validation event representing the University of Southern California at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Keeping the passion burning is essential to me, and using racing as a tool to show the world who I really am, what I stand for, and making a difference in the world is my ultimate dream.

I want to use my racing career as a platform to advocate for awareness and more importantly, acceptance, of people on the Autism spectrum. As a representative of this community, I am very passionate about furthering the discussion about diversity and inclusion in motorsports and in society at large.