Josh Pierson, United Autosport’s newest driver, could be called an old soul. He’s 16 years old.
Here’s the definition of an old soul: “Such people, especially a child or young person, who demonstrates a maturity, understanding, or seriousness that is typical of someone much older.” That’s the buzz about the Wilsonville, Ore., phenom who has blazed a trail to the top of every series he has entered since 2013.
Pierson’s first drive happened much earlier.
His father, Greg, recalled: “I try to put things in perspective for myself. He literally did his first laps in a go-kart when he was 2 years old. He was still in diapers when his sister who was older was doing kid karts. He was insistent, so we made arrangements to use the track when it was closed. He literally doesn’t remember a time before racing, which I just find fascinating.
“He was behind the wheel of something until he was 13 and got into USF1600 and USF2000. So, he has been behind the wheel of something going progressively faster,” Greg Pierson continued. “It’s fascinating to me. Most people remember doing what they love for the first time, he doesn’t remember that because he started so young.”
The die was cast early.
When most adolescent boys were playing stick-and-ball sports, Pierson was learning about threshold braking and the finer points of the friction circle. Pierson started in karting, followed by a step up to formula cars.
Pierson’s dad has watched and coached his son since the very beginning. However, he has not allowed his son to ignore his schoolwork, but it’s been a struggle balancing the two.
“We have a tremendously busy travel schedule. We’re racing in three series this year,” the elder Pearson said. “We raced in the Asian Le Mans series, IMSA at Daytona when he was 15, so now we’re racing in all of the WEC and IMSA events for the rest of the year. So, it’s a heck of a travel schedule bouncing between Europe and Asia and the U.S.”
How does a young driver with a big dream make it in racing? There are thousands of drivers Josh’s age clamoring for a big break. The younger Pierson was pragmatic.
“I think this sport is very difficult to get into professionally,” Josh Pierson said. “One of the reasons why when I was growing up, I tried to get it into my head there just aren’t many seats available, especially in Formula 1. There are 20 drivers in Formula 1 and you’re looking at hundreds, or millions, who want to go, so you’re vying for a very small percentage.
“So for me growing up and wanting to make a living in the sport, I want to drive everything and race cars so can I make my percentage from a two percent chance to a 50 percent chance.”
More often than not, the big break comes when somebody knows somebody or is in the right place at the right time.
“He got discovered by Zak (Brown) and Richard (Dean) before this season,” Greg Pierson said. “Steven Simpson had been Josh’s coach for a few years and thought Josh’s driving style would work with prototypes. He arranged a LMP2 test with PR1 Motorsports.”
The test went very well despite the elder Pierson’s doubts.
One of the PR1 mechanics knew a United Autosports mechanic who alerted team co-owner Dean, and pointed him out to CEO Brown. Pierson passed a very short test and showed tremendous potential.
The team signed Pierson almost immediately to keep him from being snatched up by another organization.
There’s a huge disparity in Silver drivers and the team felt Pierson was destined for greatness. Good Silver drivers can give a team a performance advantage because of the wide variations in ability.
Pierson promptly awarded them with an LMP2-winning effort at Florida’s Sebring Int’l Raceway earlier this year.
It was no mean feat according to Pierson’s dad.
They asked Josh to do a triple stint on the punishing Sebring concrete using only one set of tires. He asked Dean if that was even possible, and Dean responded, ‘He doesn’t know any better that he could do that.” They coached Josh through the ordeal that became a major factor in the victory.
SPEED SPORT caught up with Brown who offered his impressions of the Oregon teenager.
“Josh is an exceptional talent,” said Brown. “He’s mature beyond his years, very fast, very focused and he needs to keep doing what he’s doing. While he shows a tremendous amount of potential, he’s very young, very inexperienced and therefore needs to stay focused on what he’s doing and continue to gather experience.”
Pierson went to France as part of United Autosport’s defense of its 2021 LMP2 Le Mans victory. He was the youngest driver to compete in the legendary endurance classic, but victory was not in the cards.
Pierson said of the experience, “I officially made history and the most emotional moment was to finally get to race in the (Le Mans) 24 hours. We had to overcome a lot after our tire dramas early on and had seven or eight more pit stops than our main LMP2 rivals. A P6 finish was good as Olly (Oliver Jarvis) and I are now 11 points behind the LMP2 championship leaders.”
The rest of the season will be a blur with races in Asia, Europe and the United States.
There’s a mountain left to climb.
“I think in motorsports you’re always at the base of a mountain,” Pierson said. “You might get over one mountain but you’ll find another one, right? So, in general there’s always something bigger and better to do.”