Hard Work Pays Off - Les Epps

Les Epps who races and works with Hard Times Racing and Round 3 Racing has a smile and personality that would light up any room and truly loves motorsports and racing.

At age five his father said you can be an architect or race car driver and you know how Les answered.  His dad then bought him go kart and put an asphalt track in their front yard.

He started autocrossing and then did a three day HPDE event at Autobahn.  He was hooked.

Advice from his mom - you can have anything you want as long as you work hard at it. 

Les has worked hard and put the effort in to get where he is today.  Heck, he's delivered pizza in his race car!

His 2023 has been, in his words, smooth.  He was at the track for 33 weekends in 2022 and it was a hectic season.  As Les has worked on time management, it's helped make things smoother.  Plus, he's driven three new tracks and three new cars this season - which he has enjoyed.

Les just drove across the country in a Celica to compete at Grid Life at Laguna Sega.  We talk about T-Pain, what Grid Life is all about and his experiences driving a car with fixed seats and no cruise control.  Do all Skittles taste the same?  We discuss it!

He's won at Daytona and is looking forward to tackling the Indy road course at some point.

Why does Les bring champaign to every race? 

Advice from Les:
Nothing comes for free and you have to prove yourself
Just show up
Have fun
There's lots to do in motorsports - find what you enjoy
Kevin's first to grid reasoning

Best advice he's received...You can either drive the car into the trailer or put it in sideways.  Know your limit.

Les gives a lot of shoutouts to those who have helped him get on track. 

Connect with Les:
YouTube
Facebook
Instagram

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Thanks for listening and taking an interest in growing grassroots racing. The Late To Grid podcast shares the stories and inspiration that help listeners along their motorsports journey. Want to start to do track days, HPDE events, and eventually race? Our guests share their advice to help you.