GMU student Ryan Ellis races his way to success

Ryan Ellis (left), along with his teammate Ian Baas, posing in front of their Volkswagen GTI following their win at the Daytona International Speedway in their first race together. (Photo courtesy of Arin Ahnell).

Ryan Ellis and his four-door dark grey 2011 Volkswagen GTI are fresh off two consecutive racing victories. These are not just drag-races with some friends in a parking lot, these are professional races against drivers who do this for a living.

Ellis, a 21-year-old junior at George Mason University, recently signed with APR Motorsport. He has competed in two races since signing, and he won them both. The first came at the Daytona International Speedway, an historic racing site for driving fans and non-fans alike. The second came at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. Both tracks host NASCAR events.

Unlike the typical oval racing, which is only left turns, these are road-races that make use of the oval tracks during the course. The races last two and a half hours each. This is Ellis’ first year road-racing on a professional circuit, and he is yet to lose.  

In qualifying at Daytona in his inaugural event, Ellis merely broke the track record by two seconds, with no prior practice on the track, to qualify him in first out of 60 cars in his class. The actual race was no different. He and his team dominated the race from the start to capture the checkered flag. Ellis went as far as to describe the race as “uneventful.”

“To go off and start like that and to get a win right off the bat, qualify first, break the track record, almost lead every single lap, it was a crazy moment, a crazy weekend,” Ellis said. “And it hasn’t sunk in.”

Miami was a different story. Ellis and his co-driver won by just .0022 seconds after falling back to 19th at one point during the race.

“We only led maybe three or four inches of the race but that was the only three or four inches that mattered,” he said.

Ellis began racing when he was just 4 years old. At that time he was driving go-karts, which of course run on pavement, and quarter midgets, which run on dirt tracks. He did this until he was 11, when he began driving legends cars. These are old-style vehicles that run on motorcycle motors.

When he was 15, he switched over to the traditional stock car racing. He competes roughly 17 to 18 weekends a year.

Most of his events are Thursday to Saturday affairs, with Thursdays being used for a day of practice on location. Just one day of track practice can cost around $10,000.

He does most of his practicing from the comfort of his own home. He has a driving simulator set up in his house, which was provided for him by a sponsor called Playseat. It costs approximately $1500.

“It’s really exact,” Ellis said. “And I try to go on their everyday for a couple hours and just kind of mess around.”

Ellis is also a member of Mason’s club roller hockey team, though he is currently out due to a wrist injury.

“It’s probably a blessing in disguise because I can’t go out there and get more hurt than I already am, and I can still drive the way I am right now,” he said.

Unlike hockey, Ellis sees a future in racing. He believes the win in Miami was important because it solidified what his team did in Daytona. Despite the contrasting wins, Ellis and his co-driver are undefeated. Following the two victories, Ellis is a candidate for Rookie-of-the-Year in the series, which would net him $10,000.

“I think if I win Rookie-of-the-Year in the championship, then I’ll probably have a contract for the rest of my life,” he said.

Yet, Ellis still feels he has doubters.

He is one of the youngest drivers in the series, and the average age is between 30 and 35. Some of the participants include successful NASCAR drivers on occasion, such as Jimmy Johnson. There are even drivers three times his age still going strong in the series.

“Just because I’m a rookie, they think I’m just going to go out there and win the first couple of races and kind of fall off or make some dumb decisions and get in a couple wrecks,” Ellis said. “But I think I’ve raced long enough that I can hold off.”

Under his contract with APR Motorsport, Ellis is required to pay his own way due to his rookie status. Each win nets an $8,000 purse, but this is divided among his team, co-driver and himself. He hopes to become a paid driver next year.

In addition to his contract with APR Motorsport, he is also under contract with Racecar Replicas. Instead of his GTI, Ellis drives a black Superlite Coupe for these races. Unlike the GTI, he does not actually own the Coupe.

Ellis does not just use the GTI in races, however. It is his everyday car he takes to school, to the drive-through and to the grocery store.

“It’s hard to get back in that mindset, but it only takes about a day,” said Ellis about transitioning to daily driving. “But after being at a racetrack for five or six days it’s kind of hard to get that out of your head.”

So if you see a grey GTI speeding around the corner on campus, don’t be alarmed, he is a professional.

Ryan Ellis' website: www.ryanellismotorsports.com

APR Motorsport website: www.goapr.com/race