Welcome to Off the Racing Line. [Laughter] Welcome to Off the Racing Line. I am your host, Carlos Spitia, and we are coming live from at location from Homestead Miami Speedway for Farah’s Homestead 250.
This episode is brought to you by Farra. [Music] Ever since we took over at Farara, our vision has always been to expand. First came the creation of Formula Fara, followed by the development of the Farra HPDE Academy program, which then led to the establishment of the competition school, Super Lap series, and most recently the Instructor School. Our next major step was to launch the Mission Foods Prospec Miata class which has been a resounding success. [Music] So on behalf of the entire Farra family, thank you and we’ll see you on the track. Want to race?
Today we have James, sorry, Kelly Ganji and Robert Garza. Welcome to the show, guys. Thanks, man. Appreciate it. Now, thanks for having us. Let’s just get the elephant in the room out of the way. Cupcake Racing. Tell me about I asked you about the name before. Tell me about the name. It’s a very unusual name for a racing. It is. It is. And I’ve had people say, you know, racing cupcake cupcake racing. I’ve had people ask me, “How do you race a cupcake?”
Um, so, you know, it it definitely is is a an intriguing uh question to ask. So, um it’s a it’s a it’s a wonderful story, but it’s a tragic story all all in the same. Um in 2013, uh my wife and I had a little one that arrived much too early um and with a lot of medical complications. And she was uh when my wife was pregnant with her, um my wife was barely showing. And I I called her. I said, “Oh, it looks like you have a cupcake in there, not a bun in the oven.” Yeah. And so the nickname stuck and so when our daughter arrived, her name was Cupcake. And I mean so much so that many people didn’t even know what her real name was, which was Ariana. Um but she she we we immediately kind of uh came up to speed on what was an unknown, undiagnosed neuromusc muscular weakness. We traveled around the US uh and flew in people from outside the US to try to help um with rehab. Um so we spent a lot of time in the car. We drove to Montreal from Maryland. We drove to Arizona from Maryland. We drove there seven times back and forth. Um and one of the common themes I mean I love driving and I’ll tell you the backstory there. And it just she had a lot of fun in the car. um she really liked it when I would go fast and at the at the when she was older she learned to sign and so she would do this which is like let’s go go faster and so um before she passed um which is the tragic part of the story in 2020 um we bought a Tesla Model X and I tell you she loved that car because that was probably the fastest car she’d been in.
Um, and when I got the opportunity to to race again, um, I I really felt that it was through her and she was with me in the car when I was driving. And so it became an obvious thing. It’s like, if I’m going to do this, it’s got to be Cupcake Racing. Yeah. And I think the other thing, and one of the other really awesome reasons Rob’s here, is that when she was around, people would gravitate to us. She was an amazing force. She had more life and love than any of us combined. Yeah. And she brought people together and and that’s I think, you know, when I started wearing the Cupcake logo, Rob, you know, Rob was hanging out with me and asking, “Can I be in Cupcake Racing before you knew the story?” And then when he knew the story, he’s like, “Well, I definitely want to be in Cupcake now.” So, I mean, it’s I feel like she’s still here with us uh and and helping bring people together. And I I I love this guy here and couldn’t be more happy that he’s part of Cupcake Racing. And we’ve got a little little family that we’re growing. Yeah. Uh that that we’ve got some other members, Ben and Jim are also, you know, uh in in Cupcake Racing with us. So long and short story. That’s a that’s a really special story.
Um I know I had asked you before um and you said you would you would share with me later. I just always figured you know you guys own some sort of you know factory that you guys make. cupcakes online. Yeah, you must be doing pretty well if you’re, you know, running around a GT3 Cup car. U but that story is uh while sad, it’s I think um it’s also very um encouraging. Thank you. So, I appreciate you sharing that, man. Yeah. Um let’s talk about your start in HPDE. Y and you and I actually have a pretty cool story behind that. And I’ll start it and then if I you can fill in the blanks. So, there’s two stories here. So, okay, it’s also robbed. So, I was joining every car club that I could. I was in Porsche Club of America, Ferrari Club, um, and probably driving my wife nuts with, you know, pancakes on Sunday, pancakes on Saturday, Cars and Coffee, you know, and and so, uh, I think she was out of town in October, uh, and and I showed up to the Ferrari Club and Rob was there. And so we start talking and it was it was stunning to me at long story short Rob because there’s a there’s much longer story.
We we we bonded immediately even though it wasn’t cars but then we started talking about he’s like I’m going racing and I’m like what are you talking about? Like what do you have to do? Like in my mind I envisioned that if you you know it was almost like football if you weren’t drafted when you were 10. Yeah. You know and drove carts you know since you popped out of your mother like you’re not going to do this. And so, you know, when he described that, yeah, next weekend I’m going to Sebring and I’m like, Sebring? You know, this is like this is a real legitimate racetrack. You’re going racing. I was like, how do I do that? And he’s like, come on. You know, let’s go. Let’s go. And so that was when I actually I didn’t I had two phenomenal cars. I still have those, but I had a GT2 RS and a Ferrari 458. And I didn’t know which one would have been better on this track. It was Homestead. So, we drove. My wife followed me. Yeah. Yeah. And we drove down here and I passed you. That’s where I come into the picture. So, I’m driving and I see this guy hauling a, you know, truck with a with a BMW in the back. And I’m like, he’s got to be going to Homestead. So, I’m like I turn on the exhaust and I’m like, boom. You know, I come up to you and I’m like, hey, you going to like 80, right? Like, are you going to Homestead? Yes. So, then I I, you know, jet on forward and and I see you there and then had a phenomenal weekend. And I think um that was a NASA weekend. Yeah, it was a NASA. Yeah, it was a NASA weekend. So I had Ben Ben Glenn who um he put me in touch with and had a long conversation with him about like what do I want to do? How do I want to you know what what does this mean? What do I have to do?
Um so I had I had a coach with me that day in HPDE1 and I like everybody I get in the car and I’m like I don’t need a coach. Like I I’ve been around cars my whole life. Thank you. Can I just can I let me let me stop you real quick because as you know I I manage the the academy and so I see all the registrations coming in and so once we sell out of our beginner spots because we don’t have enough instructors. Yeah. Then we we shut it down and then there’s just novice solo. And so I start getting people register for that that have zero experience and they basically tell me the same thing. You know I have some drag racing experience or you know I watch YouTube videos. So I see it. So continue. So I I would say in in retrospect though, you know, despite the fact that I came out here with an ego the size of Titanic, I mean, I probably drove 257 in a GT2 around here, which is like, you know, you could probably do that in reverse now in a Miata and it was definitely in a Miata. Miata would lap me. Um, so it was an embarrassing time, but it was humbling because you realize you don’t know what you don’t know. I have no idea what a racing line is. I have no idea what the Apex is. I just know I feel like I get in a car, step on the gas, and I’m good. But there is so much to this that what really really
I loved out of this whole experience was, you know, I was running a very large company years ago, sold it, then started a new one. So I was like, I’ve always got stuff in my head. When I’m on the track, I there was literally nothing going through my head. it. All the noise quieted, everything was calm, and I was focusing on the road, the car, every it was just an absolute pleasure to get in a car and not have all the other noise in my head. Yeah, we talk about that all the time. It’s It’s very therapeutic. It’s completely therapeutic. It’s like mind cleansing. It really is what it is. And I tell my wife, Joy, all the time. I come back from two days of racing and she’s like, “How do you feel?” Like, “I am so exhausted, but I’ve never felt better.” Yeah. I feel so good. It was such an amazing weekend. You’re mentally you’re taking a mental vacation really from from your everyday. Yeah. So, let me let me connect the dots with your story, right? So, I’m driving down a homestead. I think it’s only my probably my second uh time trial competition with NASA. Okay. Second or third. And I’m driving down and I look at my rearview mirror and yeah, I have the the M3 in in the back. I look in my rearview mirror and I see two yellow cars. Like, okay, that that’s interesting. And then as they they got a little closer, I’m like, “Okay, one’s a Ferrari.” And I’m like, “Is that a GT2?” And so I’m I’m not a big like fanboy when it comes to cars, but that one caught my attention. I was like, “Okay.” Like that’s special. And then he he pulls up next to me and then he’s like waving at me. I’m like, “Okay, I guess we’re doing this.”
So I roll down my window and there’s wind. He’s like yelling at me and I kind of heard something about racing. I’m like, “Yeah, I’m going down racing.” He’s like, “I’ll see you there. All right, great. And so that’s essentially how you and I met was at the on the turnpike. That’s when we met. And then I’ve seen you ever since like almost at every event like you were I I love the fact that you brought up that you thought, you know, just like a lot of people, you know, you have an ego this big and then you’re humbled once you hit the track. And instead of just kind of calling it quits, you’re like, “No, I’m going to stick it out and I’m going to learn what I don’t know and I’m going to get fast.” And this really wasn’t that long ago. Your first year and a half year and a half ago, your first HPDE. And today with FAR, you’re going to be doing your my first FAR race. Your first FAR race, but like my eighth or ninth like real race. So you came through the HPDE program. You did time trials with NASA. He did superlap series with Farah. Still do. I’m not done with that. I still have that. Good. Good. You’re on camera on record for saying that. For you. Don’t worry. I’m still coming for you, Mike Moore. And I’m very sorry you’re not here, but I’m coming for Mike’s Mike’s time. This is your car behind us. This is my new one. Yeah. This actually This is Hammond’s old car. Yeah. I bought Hammond’s car and painted it yellow cuz he likes red. I love the wrap. It’s uh it’s actually the base wrap is stolen from a friend of mine, but then I colored it yellow. Yeah, I I stole my wrap also from somebody else. That’s how it works. Um okay, let’s talk real quick about your nickname. Yep. Towhook Towhook Kelly. Yeah.
How did that come about? So, it’s you know, it’s right here. Um it’s a it’s a beautiful beautiful example of sometimes you might need someone else to check how hard you’ve actually torqued your tow hook. Hand handtight tow hook is not appropriate. Please everyone. So for our superlap series, you essentially put this you put this far rental uh transponder on the tow hook and the tow hook came off as turn 10 at Sebring. At Sebring. Yeah. Yes. And somehow but you know the funnier part is that in the WhatsApp group you sent a picture of that with a tow hook. Is this is anybody missing anything? and it only had one zip tie on it. And I I looked at it and after all day racing, I go, “That’s not mine. Mine has two two zip ties on it.” So I said, “No.” And then the next day I showed up and Mike knew it was me and he looked at me and he goes, “Come here, tow hook.” And I was like, “What? It can’t be mine.” Okay, it was mine. Well, it survived. Yeah. I’m very happy that it still works. I can’t believe it. Rob, let’s turn it over to you. How did you get your start in racing? Wow. So, I had to actually ask my mother this question most recently because I’ve been in and around racing since I was very young. Carding 10 or 12, uh, SECA racing, 15, 16 years old. You got you starting carting. I got my start in carting, but not in a pro sense. It was a uh my mom used to take me along with her to CMI regularly where she was doing business and she would drop my bigger brother and I off at the go-kart track all day. Okay. And here’s 100 bucks kid. Go have go have a blast. And so I must have fallen in love with it unconsciously. Uhhuh. And then uh when I got 15 16 I got into SECA uh a lot of the autocrossing was doing that for a bit and then got into uh racing at Sebring. I think my first time in Sebring was in the ‘9s. So you’ve been doing this for a while. Kind of telling you my age there. Uh but then I took a sbatical uh um I got I got out of racing, went to work, worked way too much, focused on the career and making money and building a house and building a family and all that. So, there was no racing for a while and then I got back into it a couple of years back. I think probably maybe three years ago, I got back into it. I um bought a supercar, did the HPDE, and I like Kelly, I had to start back at the bottom. Yeah. HPD1, had a coach in the car, and it’s there’s no better feeling when the coach gets out of the car and says, “I don’t know if I can make that car go any faster.” And I said, “Okay, that is quite the compliment. Sign my card for me.” Yes. And so into two and I raced with NASA and I and I I HDPEd with Chin and worked my way up and basically uh got into that. I did the Super Lab series. I did the time trials and then once you go to wheelhe racing, I mean there’s no going back for me. No, everybody says the same thing.
It’s just there’s no comparison. Yeah, there’s the the calmness that Kelly’s talking about and uh I’m a builder. I build homes for a living. lots of people, lots going on. Your your brain’s saturated and getting on the track and focusing on the perfection that it requires, right, to be competitive and you’re going to make a hundred mistakes in one lap. And then you’re trying to slim that down to maybe 10, maybe five, maybe none is the goal. And so it’s it’s finding that uh point of the racing line as opposed to your program being off the racing line. Yes. So, I’m enjoying it and I’m glad to uh met a new friend and dragged him out to the racetrack. Let’s talk about your uh choice of a car. Oh, sure. Because a lot of people, and again, just looking around the paddock, Porsche, Porsche, BMW, Miata, you went with an Audi R8, fantastic car. Tell me the process behind choosing that car. So, in my previous career, I traveled internationally a lot and Audi came out with that car in ‘ 07. I went to Germany, went to the factory and watched them build it. Uhhuh. I watched we they gave a full factory tour from to where they’re rolling in with the rolls of steel till the car rolls off the assembly line. Every single piece and every single process. And I fell in love with the car from then. Couldn’t afford it back then because they were they were pretty pricey and my income wasn’t where it needed to be. But I fell in love with the car and I always wanted one and it was only been five, six years ago I acquired the street version. I have a 2020. I still have it today. I have a 2020 version and uh absolutely love the car and I’m a tall guy. Can’t tell when I’m sitting but I’m 6’3 and so I don’t fit in a lot of race cars either. Right. And so when I was doing the HTPE, I was driving my street car and I started getting faster and faster and a little bit more risky and a little bit more dangerous. And so I started doing research on real race cars. And I actually emailed Audi directly. Had no idea that they have a customer racing system that they build actual race cars and we’ll sell you a full-blown race car. Here you go. Send me a check. We’ll put it on the airplane, send it over. And after doing some research and making some phone calls, they hooked me up with a racer who’s 6’3 who drives one of these cars. He says, “Oh, you’ll fit in it no problem.” I went to some races at Sebring with the SRO GT America and I watched a guy get out of the car my height. And so I had to have one. And uh luckily I w I bought one secondhand from a guy who used it very little. And uh I think I’ve had it now for three years. and it’s my personal roller coaster. What What kind of lap times are you running at Sebring? Uh my personal best as of last weekend was a 215. That’s that’s hauling that’s hauling the mail. The pros, the guys I’m I’m shooting for are running 13s and 14s. Okay. That’s SRO um time.
So I’m a little shy of competing there. Sure. But that’s that’s a goal of mine. Sure. To try and get to those times. So coaching and practice. Yep. Uh, one of the things I I love about you, uh, Rob, is that you, like Kelly, are very involved in the sport. Um, I remember you reached out to us when we were have when Farra was having their first instructor training school. Yeah. And you said, “Hey, um, I’d like to be a part of that.” And you came out and you volunteered to be a mentor. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. I want to get your your input as far as like how that process was. A mentor is essentially somebody that’s teaching a an instructor candidate how to instruct somebody else. So tell me what your experience was like as a mentor. First off, I was a it was an absolute blast. I was a little nervous not knowing what to expect. My uh students were one guy was very young. I would say in his 20s. Okay. But did his research, knew all the right words to say, knew everything driving a Miata, you know, right? But I took him out and said, “Okay, let me show you, you know, something that you don’t know.” Because I think you need to really live life to get that wisdom. I mean, I’m 55. I know I look good, but I’m 55 and I’ve I have the wisdom to give to that student. And that was very rewarding. We had him and I had a blast. We absolutely had a blast. This is during instructor training school. Instru instructor training school here at Far as Tuati says. Yes. And uh it it was it was I would do it again. You call me, I’m there for you. Favorite character to play? Crazy car. Yeah. You like the role. the characters. So, we went through the characters and one one thing that was interesting about my Miata student is his car kept breaking down and um so he had to like swap cars with friends in the paddic which was kind of funny. But Crazy Carl, I mean the car had like power steering and I’m just like sliding four wheels and waiting for this guy to give me a response on how are you going to stop me from doing this before we hit a wall, you know? And so that that was a lot of fun and um yeah, I I had a blast. I highly recommend it. Awesome. Awesome. I highly recommend it. Well, it was it was a pleasure seeing you there um and getting you connected, you know, at that level. Yeah. Because the the sport needs new drivers and we can only get so many drivers in on account on how many instructors we have available. So we have to keep you know um training more instructors and that’s why we created the school. Yeah. No, it’s very very very good. Awesome. Awesome. Um both of you guys race with FA and with NASA. Yes. I want you guys to maybe share some of the similarities and maybe some of the differences in racing in the two different organizations.
Okay. You first. Well, tomorrow is going to be my first race with FA, so I’ll tell you tomorrow. All right. I mean, I But you’ve done TT with NASA and you’ve done Super Lab with with F. Typically more cars per group is find in F. Definitely. Yeah, it’s usually a little more crowded. Um NASA is more organized, more structured. You can be you can be straight. I can’t tell the number of times there’s been schedule changes and other things that Okay. are not usual with as much with NASA or at least feels it’s a little more organized. Um I mean we have a we have a close relationship with Jim and Ben so like I think both organizations are awesome and it feels to me a little bit like you guys spend more time in Homestead and they spend a little more time in Sebring. So that that also is very complimentary from my sure perspective. I I love Sebring. learning Homestead. Despite the fact that it was my first track, it still feels not as friendly to me as Sebring does. I I mean I I heard some of your earlier podcasts like I I can drive Sebring with my eyes closed. Full stop. Like I probably could do it in a car with my eyes closed. I have that track memorized the bumps on it. Here I still there’s a few turns that it’s funny, but I I would never do this in real life, but I’m in my head. I’m like, is it a left or a right? like Jesus. I know, I know, I know, I know. I’m still working on Homestead. What about you, Rob? I I would uh echo Kelly’s comments, but I would I would say the big positive for me is both associations make us feel like family, which is great. I mean, literally, you know, Jose, yourself, you know, it’s it’s a big family and we’re here to have a great time. And it is nice to look at the registration and say, “Oh, we got nine cars in my class.” Yeah. I mean, to me, I want to be in the crowd. Of course, I want to be at the front of the crowd. Sure. But, uh, there’s I’m gunning for Twatti tomorrow and Manny Gomez. Those guys are going to be tough. Yeah. So, yeah. Well, we should have good weather tomorrow.
It should, uh, it should be relatively cool. I mean, it’s still summertime, but I think we’re going to see some, you know, temperatures below 90°. So, I’m uh I’m hoping to see some good tomorrow. I think everybody here is going to have an absolute blast. All right, guys. We’re going to move to our last segment, which is the guest challenge. This is where you get a chance to challenge two of your friends to come on off the racing line. So, let’s start with you, Kelly. Okay. I’m challenging Kevin Kyle and Jerry Hacker to get your asses out here. Oh my god. What about you, Rob? Oh, I would have to say my my buddies Marcelo and Mario, you guys know who you are, and I’m going to send you the podcast. Get your butts back to the track because I have to tell you, if I have two seconds, uh Marcelo got me back to the track five years ago. Oh yeah. I had lunch with him and they have a group on WhatsApp called Track Addicts and he’s like, “Oh, come to the track.” And I’m like, “Oh, I haven’t been to the track in years.” Like, “Come to the track.” He got me to the track. And now where is you? Where are you? Yeah. Let’s go. He’s ghosting you. Yeah. All right. There is The challenge has been laid down. I keep looking at the wrong camera. There it is. Challenge has been laid down by Kelly and Rob. If you are interested in coming on to the podcast, go to our website off theracingline.com. Fill out the form. Let us know when you want to come in and we will make it happen. Guys, it’s been fantastic having you guys. finally had a chance to talk in front of the cameras. You guys had fantastic stories. I really appreciate you sharing the cupcake story. That was uh fantastic. So hopefully we get to do this again soon. Sure. Remember, everything interesting happens off the racing line. See you guys next time.
