This is a 2018 Ford Focus RS limited edition. There are only 400 of them in the United States. I waited and waited to get one so that I could compete with it in autocross. I race in the NMCA West series, a timed event racing through cones one car at a time. You go through chicane turns, decreasing radius turns, doglegs. It's basically driving a car as fast as you can until it spins out--you’re always trying to find that fine line.I was racing a Focus ST prior to this, which was just front wheel drive. I was competing in the sport compact class, placing in first and second. Then the RS came out and started setting the fastest lap time for everybody. I knew I had to get one for myself to see what I could do with. It’s just been such a fun car. Currently I'm about half a second off of a Lamborghini Murciélago and a Porsche GT3 RS who also race in my class, so the Focus RS is quite competitive.
Growing up my dad kind of pushed me into cars to keep me out of trouble
Growing up my dad kind of pushed me into cars to keep me out of trouble. I grew up around Sunset and Mulholland in LA, a long canyon road leading down to Malibu from the Westwood area. People drag race there from two to three o'clock in the morning around Dead Man’s Curve for cash. I did that from when I was 16 until I was 20 and then decided it was safer to race on the track.
I’ll always love Ford because I grew up around it. My passion growing up was following Carroll Shelby, hence the number 98 on the car. My dad's car when he first met my mom was a 1964 289 Shelby Cobra. On their very first date he should've gotten a ticket for doing 120 mph down Wilshire Boulevard. My Dad told the police officer, “Sir, it's my first date with this lovely lady and I was just trying to impress her”. The cop was nice and let him off. Nine months later I was born.