Very few people end up doing what they wanted to do from where they were kids. Some kids dream of becoming a musician or a firefighter but begin careers as an accountant or a real estate agent. But for Santa Maria native, Joshua Reyes, he made his childhood dream a reality.
His dream has always been to become a race car driver.
"Since I was a kid, even at six-years-old, I'd watch people drive away in their cars ad be like oh my gosh I can't wait to get my license. Once I got my license, I found myself driving on back roads, mountain roads and I always pondered upon, how can I get paid to do this?"
While is passion burned bright on the road, it took awhile to get his parents on board.
"When I first started racing, my parents weren't a fan of it. They were like go to school Joshua, go be a nurse or do something that will be a stable career. They didn't like it because it's dangerous. But once I showed them like hey this is apart of my life, they started becoming supportive and they would help out financially which is a big help."
Reyes purchased his first car a few years ago and competed in his first competition in the Global Time Attack in 2019. He placed fourth last year and placed first place this year. His goal is to become a sponsored driver and someday join a team where he can be paid to race.
“If I were able to acquire sponsorship or if a team saw me driving and wanted to bring me on board with their team and have me drive for them that would be absolutely the dream.”
Meanwhile for work, Reyes is working on getting his real estate license. On the side, he is working on becoming a better driver and becoming a sponsored one. His ultimate goal is to race in Formula 1.
