Adventures & Aha Moments of My Gap Year

While most high school seniors were focused on college, I was gearing up for a wild year ahead. Instead of heading straight to college, I chose to take a gap year—a year not for rest, but to dive deeper into my racing career and prepare for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

Balancing life as a racing driver and a high school student was like juggling two full-time jobs. The demands were immense, and I often felt overwhelmed by the constant need to perform at my best. Compromise was inevitable. One of the first of many valuable lessons to be learned on this journey.

In 2023 I crafted a plan for my gap year with clear goals:

Win a Spec Miata race
Network
Grow my YouTube channel
Post on social media consistently
Get more sponsors
Be physically fit
Drive other race cars
Find a way to transport my car / kart
Coach other drivers
Win the Spec Miata Championship
Start college
Do things that make me proud
Have some fun

While this list provided a roadmap, I remained open to unexpected opportunities, and exciting surprises did come my way.

August: Back to my Porsche Roots

My gap year kicked off with a heavy Porsche theme. I was featured in Porsche Beverly Hills’ Restoration Challenge 2023 video, giving insights on their 964.

I had my first chance to drive an air-cooled 911, courtesy of my mentor Michael Dolphin, who loaned me his 1977 911 Carrera 3.0 for a weekend at the Petersen Automotive Museum’s Porsche 911 celebration.

We took a family trip to Hawaii. We visited with PCA (Porsche Club of America), Hawaii region president Gunner Mench, filmed his amazing Porsche collection and explored the car scene on the Big Island—yes there is a car scene there!

Additionally, I began working with my sponsor, Project 6GR Wheels, learning about the aftermarket wheel industry.

September: New Experiences

Month 2 of my gap year, I dove into the mechanical side of cars. I took on the task of maintaining and servicing all our family cars, which we now proudly call “The Stiglette Fleet.”

After appearing on Late Night Playset, J and Nicole Ryan gifted me a chassis strut bar for our Boxster—my first DIY project on “The Stiglette Fleet.”

As a brand ambassador for Drive Toward A Cure, I hosted a drive to Mt. Wilson.

To cap off the month, I attended Rennsport Reunion at Laguna Seca for the first time. This is the world’s largest Porsche gathering and it was absolutely incredible!

October: The Fleet Expands

I added my first personal car to “The Stiglette Fleet.” A 2009 Volvo C30 T5 R-Design with a 6-speed manual. This wasn't just any Volvo, but the second-highest mileage Volvo C30 in the world. An absolute unicorn of a car.

October saw the last race weekend of my rookie season with Hicks Motorsport. I finished P2 in both NASA Spec Miata races at Chuckwalla, securing P3 overall in the championship and the Teen Mazda Challenge.

I also instructed for the first time at Streets of Willow during the PCA Grand Prix Region’s track day.

November: Apprenticeship

With no races planned, I focused on physical training and began setting goals for the 2024 race season. I soon found myself back in the driver’s seat, dusting off my kart for winter break racing. I forgot how much fun it was to drive a kart again!

I started working as an apprentice at Strictly German Auto. This was the beginning of an amazing job and relationship with everyone in the shop. I learned everything from working on cars, to front-of-shop management (including writing estimates, handling phones, ordering and managing parts), keeping the shop clean and so much more!

December: Technically off-season

I raced my kart, and I raced in my first Super Spec Cup race with Indotech Motorsports at Chuckwalla, adapting to a new car and finishing on the podium. I even took my mom out for some passenger laps.

My friends were home from college and it was great to celebrate my birthday with them and hear about their freshman year.

January: Starting Strong

I had always wanted to race in the rain. It never rains in Southern California, and I was about to learn it would be a very rainy winter. I got to race my kart in the rain for the first time, which was a blast. Despite not finishing a single race on the podium, I finished P3 in the Tri-C Karters Chill Challenge.

The 2024 season had not begun yet and I began working on the 2025 season, moving up to Spec MX-5.

I achieved my first win in Spec Miata at Buttonwillow with SCCA.

February: Setting my Sights on the new season

I collected my P3 trophies from the 2023 season at the NASA SoCal awards banquet, setting my sights on P1 for 2024.

I learned how to replace engine mounts and do an alignment on my Volvo.

The first NASA Spec Miata race of the season at Chuckwalla had a field of 34 cars which was awesome. I qualified on pole for Saturday’s race and finished P2 overall in both races and P1 in the Teen Mazda Challenge sub-category. Sunday’s race was extremely challenging as I had to drive the car primarily with one hand due to a non-race-related injury Saturday night. How I managed to make it through the race was a miracle!

March: Wrenching, Driving, Networking

Working on the “The Stiglette Fleet,” I took on the huge challenge of fixing the sunroof on our Mercedes-Benz GLC and prepping our Boxster to go on track.

I got to drive Michael Dolphin’s 1977 911 Carrera 3.0 on track. Driving a classic car to its limit was a fun challenge!

I renewed my partnership with Project 6GR Wheels.

I had an amazing Spec Miata weekend racing in mixed weather conditions at Big Willow getting the race win and race lap record after a wild battle to the finish.

April: Grand Slam!

I began working with my coach, Enzo Mucci, and achieved my first grand slam in Spec Miata: pole position, race win, fastest lap, and leading every lap in Race 1. Race 2 I found myself racing in torrential rain conditions and the car was encased in mud afterwards!

More work on “The Stiglette Fleet” included sourcing parts from a salvage yard, and fixing electrical issues on our Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

I shared my journey on the RennStreet Podcast of how I got into racing, my busy gap year, and my plans for the future!

May: We bought a race car!

Could it get busier? Yes, by quite some margin! I started working with my physio Greg Lawless to maximize my physical performance.

Despite mechanical failures and bad luck at Willow Springs, I managed two P5 finishes.

We took a trip to Spring Mountain to check out an NC Mazda MX-5, which we ended up buying.

I then took a much-needed week off in Cabo with my extended family.

June: Summer was Relentless

Our hottest race of the season was at Buttonwillow, finishing P2 and P1.

Two days later, I flew to Chicago for my first Spec MX-5 test with Advanced Autosports at Autobahn Country Club. The test went well, and I committed to running with Advanced for the 2025 season.

The day after returning, I helped promote Drive Toward A Cure’s 75 Days of Summer at an event and then headed back to Spring Mountain to pick up our new MX-5.

I also had more “Stiglette Fleet” challenges: fixing the door mechanism on my Volvo. I really respect engineers, but perhaps don’t understand why it was engineered the way it was!

July: Ambitious Goals

July was surprisingly stressful, despite no races. My gap year was coming to a close and still so much to do! We added a 2016 Porsche Cayenne GTS to “The Stiglette Fleet” as our new tow vehicle.

Partnering with WRTeknica, I set the goal of getting my Spec MX-5 on track before month’s end. After many days in the shop and a last-minute diff carrier issue, we made it to the track, and the test went smoothly. This was a significant achievement, as it was the first time I’d done most of the mechanical work on a car I was racing.

August: I'm headed to University!

With the MX-5 shipped off to Advanced Autosports, we’re now preparing for our first race together at Road America. As I am writing this, within the next 48 hours, I’ll be settling into my new home base in Phoenix, Arizona!

I’ve not only accomplished most of my initial goals but also embraced new challenges. 2024 has been incredible, laying a strong foundation for 2025. I’m now ready to concurrently pursue my secondary career while attending the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University, aiming to become a Formula 1 TV Presenter.