The Driver

DRIVEN

THE DRIVER  |  THE TEEN   |  TIMELINE   |  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The driver

Over the past fifteen years, Josh Pierson’s passion for driving and desire to improve has only increased. At the track, the young driver is intensely focused and serious about his craft.  The early focus was on karting where he won numerous championships and twice represented Team USA at the ‘Olympics of Karting’.

Josh transitioned to open-wheel cars at 13 beginning with F1600, followed by two years of USF2000 in the Road to Indy Series. At 15, Josh made the jump to endurance racing in LMP2 and became the youngest in history to race in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. Weeks later, he became the youngest ever race winner in the Asian Le Mans series with back-to-back wins in Abu Dhabi with co-driver Paul di Resta. At 16, Pierson became the youngest to win a race in the World Endurance Championship at the 1000 Miles of Sebring  with co-drivers Oliver Jarvis and Paul di Resta. In 2022, Josh again made history as the youngest to ever race in the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing 6th in his class and 10th overall with co-drivers Alex Lynn and Oliver Jarvis. At 17, Josh juggled three teams, racing for United Autosports in the WEC series, TDS Racing in the IMSA series, and HMD in the Indy NXT series. 

Josh is on the road training or racing about 38 weeks a year and is always looking to improve. The young athlete works hard on strength and conditioning and does drills to improve eye-hand coordination and reaction time. He also stays sharp turning laps in a shifter kart and putting in time on a racing simulator. 

SHIFT PASSION TO OVERDRIVE

birthdate February 14, 2006
HOMETOWN Wilsonville, OR
ht/wt 5’8 1/2″/130 lbs
education high school STUDENT
racing heroes ayrton senna, Daniel Ricardo, George Russel, Charles LeClerc, Lando Norris.

Josh has exceeded our expectations in the car and his maturity and composure on and off the track are equally impressive. He is way ahead of any driver under 16 that we’ve ever seen and already up there with the best in the world under 20.”

Richard Dean
Team Principal, United Autosports

“Josh is a talented young driver with a big future ahead of him. His love of motorsports, determination and coachability are strengths that set him apart from his competition.”

Stephen Simpson
Professional sports car driver and driver coach

“Josh has performed brilliantly. You’d never know it was his first event with United Autosports and only his second LMP2 race. I can’t wait to see his progress throughout the year in the FIA WEC.”

Zak Brown
CEO at McLaren Racing / Co-Owner at United Autosports

“As a team, we have evaluated some of the best and brightest drivers in North American Auto racing over the last 22 years of our team’s existence. I personally look forward to seeing (Josh’s) continuation up the motorsports ladder, given the opportunity I believe Josh will become one of America’s next generation of professional drivers.”

Bob Oergel
Owner and Director
PR1 Motorsports

“I have known many professional drivers from a young age and Josh Pierson stands among them as one with a great future ahead of him. He is a driven competitor, a studied professional, a talented athlete, and a wonderfully charismatic young man. Do not look past Josh, he has all of the tools to succeed in this sport and he seems focused on doing just that.”

Bob Perona
Driver coach,
Andretti Autosport, Pabst Racing, MSR IndyCar.

DRIVING EXPERIENCE

^

Super Powers

Driving in the rain

Race pace consistency

Staying calm under pressure

^

Pet Peeves

Drivers that block early in a race

Races that end under caution

Not being able to finish for any reason

^

Career Highlights

2024      Official Guinness World Records holder 

2023      Selected for FIAWEC Toyota Hypercar test

2023      2nd place, IMSA, Petit Le Mans

2023      1st place, WEC, 6 Hours of Portimao

2023      2nd place, WEC, 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

2022      Youngest in history to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans

2022       World Endurance Championship rookie of the year

2022      1st place, WEC, 1000 Miles of Sebring

2022      1st place, Abu Dhabi, Race 4 of the Asian Le Mans Series

2022      1st place, Abu Dhabi, Race 3 of the Asian Le Mans Series

2022      Youngest in history to race in the 24 Hours of Daytona

2021      4th place, USF2000 Road to Indy Championship

2020      SKUSA Pro Tour, Shifter Pro2 Vice-Champion

2019       SKUSA Pro Tour, X30J national #3

2019       Rotax Stars & Stripes, JuniorMAX Champion.
                Represented the US at the Rotax World Finals
                in Sarno Italy.

2019       California ProKart Challenge, X30J Champion

2019       California ProKart Challenge, KA100J Champion

2018       CanAm Karting Challenge, X30J Champion

2018       CanAm Karting Challenge, LO206J Vice-Champion

2017       US Rotax Grand Nationals, MiniMax Champion

2017       CanAm Karting Challenge, LO206J Champion

2016       Rotax Florida Winter Tour, MicroMax Champion

2015       CanAm Karting Challenge, MicroMax Champion

2015       Rotax Challenge of the Americas,
                MicroMax Vice-Champion

2014       US Rotax Grand Nationals, MicroMax Vice-champion

2014       CanAm Karting Challenge, MicroMax Champion

SUBSCRIBE

We'll keep you posted via email whenever there's something new worth checking out! 

Instagram

See the latest photo highlights from Josh by following him on Instagram.

 

Contact Us

What's on your mind? Let us know how we can help or just send us a note.

About Josh

Josh Pierson is an 18-year-old American racecar driver. The youngest in history to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, he is currently racing IndyNXT in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES with HMD Motorsports.