Randy Franklin Pobst (born June 26, 1957, in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater ...

), also known as "RFP" or "The Rocket," is an American

race car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organis ...

driver and journalist for ''

Motor Trend ''MotorTrend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949. Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles published ''MotorTrend'' until 1998, when it was sold to ...

'' magazine. Active in the

SCCA World Challenge The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the Stephane Ratel Organisation since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club ...

GT series and the

Grand American Grand American was a NASCAR sanctioned series of pony car stock cars. The series ran from 1968 until 1972. The series was called "Grand Touring" from 1968 to 1969. History The series formed in 1968 under the name "Grand Touring" as a competitor ...

series' GT class, Pobst was the 2003, 2007, 2008, and 2010

GT champion, the 1996

North American Touring Car Championship The North American Touring Car Championship was a touring car racing series using the Supertouring formula that raced in North America in 1996 and 1997. The series was funded in part by IndyCar team owner Gerald Forsythe with input from British se ...

title winner, and the 2005, 2006 and 2007 SCCA World Challenge TC vice-champion. He is also a two-time class winner of the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

, in 2001 and 2006. Randy Pobst has more than 90 pro wins. He is currently a Mazda, Volvo, Audi and Porsche factory supported driver.

Career

2004-2007

From 2005-2007, he drove for Mazda with Tri-Point Racing in a Mazda 6 in the SCCA World Challenge Touring Car series, finishing second in 2005, 2006, and 2007. In 2007 and 2008, he won the SCCA World Challenge GT Championship with K-Pax/3R Racing in a

Porsche 911 GT3 The Porsche 911 GT3 is a high-performance homologation model of the Porsche 911 sports car. It is a line of high-performance models, which began with the 1973 911 Carrera RS. The GT3 has had a successful racing career in the one-make national ...

Cup Car. He repeated the feat in 2010 in a K-Pax Racing

Volvo S60 The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributi ...

2008

In 2008 he raced in a

Volkswagen GTI The Volkswagen GTI models may refer to: * Volkswagen Gol GTI, a performance-oriented B-segment/supermini/Subcompact car, subcompact hatchback produced between 1989 and 1994 * Volkswagen Golf, Volkswagen Golf/Rabbit GTI, ...

for APR Motorsport in the

KONI Challenge Series The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. Originating from the Canadian Motorola Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cup ...

and for Stevenson Motorsport at the 24 Hours of Daytona in a Pontiac GXP.

2009

Randy returned to K-Pax/3R Racing to defend his two Speed World Challenge GT Class championships, but in a Volvo Touring Car instead of a Porsche GT3 (K-Pax/3R switched to Volvo for this season). Additionally, Randy raced for Gotham Racing at the 2009 24 Hours of Daytona in a Porsche GT.

2010

World Challenge GT Champion

2014

He drove on the track for ''

'' magazine.

2015

Randy drives for PPR in a 700 hp

Nissan GT-R The Nissan GT-R (Japanese: 日産・GT-R, ''Nissan GT-R''), is a high-performance sports car and grand tourer produced by Nissan, unveiled in 2007. It is the successor to the Skyline GT-R, a high performance variant of the Nissan Skyline. ...

in preparation for the 2016 Pikes Peak race in Colorado. Randy hosts a show called The Racing Line on the MotorTrend YouTube channel where he teaches about the basics of being a racing driver. In December, Randy was inducted into the SCCA Hall of Fame

2017

Randy drove with Thing 3 Racing for the 7hr Enduro at Road Atlanta with World Racing League. The team took home the "GTO" class win on Friday when the sun set. On September 23, 2017, Randy drove with KSR (Kevin Smith Racing)/Flatout Racing in the ChumpCar World Series endurance racing series event The Sebring 14. The team won the 14 hour race with Randy scoring the fastest lap of the race with a 2:33.427 in a 1995 Lexus SC300.

2018

Randy drove the Team Fieroline 1986 Pontiac Fiero at Thunderhill Raceway Park in December for the Lucky Dog Racing League "Top Dawg Nationals" Championship, posting a fast lap of 3:26.213. The car, which was also piloted by Damian Donesky and Kevin Ford, ended up 3rd in the LDRL B class in the 14 hour Parc Ferme Championship race and 12th overall out of 76 competitors.

2019

Randy drove the Team Fieroline car again at with Lucky Dog Racing League at Portland International Raceway, posting a fast lap of 1:33.458.

2020

In late August 2020, Pobst represented Unplugged Performance in the Pikes Peak Climb, racing a customized

Tesla Model 3 The Tesla Model 3 is a compact executive sedan that is battery powered and produced by Tesla. Limited production of the Model 3 began in mid-2017, with the first production vehicle rolling off the assembly line on July 7, 2017. The offici ...

Performance version. The car was wrecked in one of the trial runs in the upper section of the course. According to Pobst, after decelerating from 112 MPH to 68 MPH at Bottomless Pit, a section with frost heave road damage, the car went off the road and hit a wall at 40 MPH. The heavily-damaged car, along with a donor parts car, were taken to a body shop in Colorado Springs, Eurocars, for a rebuild, after which it qualified for the Sunday race and came in second.

2021

Finished 2nd at the 2nd annual Freedom 500 April 2, 2021 hosted by Cleetus McFarland on the Freedom Factory. Pobst won the Exhibition Class at Pikes Peak International Hill Climb driving the newly-released Tesla Model S Plaid, prepared by Unplugged Performance.

SportsCar Magazine

For many years, Randy has written a column titled "Pobst Position" in SCCA's monthly automobile publication, "SportsCar Magazine," to present his thoughts and opinions on professional and amateur racing. The article discusses everything from his personal career challenges to proper competitor behavior at the wheel of a race car.

Personal life

Randy is a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat ( red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetaria ...

, healthy food nut, and a motorcycle enthusiast with a sizable collection, with many vintage Japanese and cafe racer-style bikes.

Motorsports career results

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

North American Touring Car Championship

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

)

References

https://spacecoastdaily.com/2022/06/space-coast-sports-hall-of-fame-inductee-randy-pobst-honed-his-driving-skills-as-teenager-in-brevard/

External links

*
YouTube channel
*
Randy Pobst Interview on The Road Racers Podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pobst, Randy 1957 births 24 Hours of Daytona drivers American Le Mans Series drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers Living people Racing drivers from Dayton, Ohio Porsche Supercup drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers North American Touring Car Championship drivers SCCA National Championship Runoffs winners Audi Sport drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers