Yes. That’s me. And my Dad, Rick Kristoff. And yes - that’s the same shop that I work out of today. My Dad and I have been racing together… actually. My Dad has been racing since before I was born. He started in SCCA running gymkhanas (before KB blew that name up) with his British cars like TR250s, TR3’s, Spitfires, etc. When living in Ohio, he got his first RACE car - and Mini Cooper S and ran it primarily at Nelson Ledges Raceway. After it was totaled in a wreck where he set the altitude record at the track {unofficial}, it took a number of years and me being born in Michigan for him to get back into racing with his 1969 Triumph Spitfire in SCCA F-Production (Pictured above). I have always dreamt of racing and when I was 15 I started Autocross, at 18 went to my first track day in my Acura Integra GSR, and watched my Dad race his spitfire until 2012. In 2013 we modified the rollcage to fit my taller body into the small car and I was able to go through racing school at Waterford Hills and acquire my SCCA racing license. From there I competed in the Spitfire until 2016 where we had our 4th catastrophic engine failure out of 5 weekends. With our hearts and wallets broken, the Spitfire was retired to some other racers and we picked up the SCCA GTL (formerly GT-4) Honda CRX from Houseman Autosport - a car I had been drooling over for years every time we went to their shop for transmission work. In 2017, its inaugural year with me driving and prepping the car and significant setup changes, we took it undefeated all the way to the SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. There we had 2 wrecks in practice/qualifying (first contact since starting my racing career) and battled back with a droopy and limping car… to the front row of the grid. An engine seal failure at the start of the race shattered our hearts once again and with the car’s obvious good handling and moderate but good speed - we were given an engine restriction for 2018+ and were never able to get back to the front of the field. In 2019 we made another run at the Runoffs at VIR and finished 6th after being impacted on the start and punted off track in Turn1 Lap1 which took out 2 other cars completely - the CRX held up and raced back.

Around that time, #GRIDLIFE started its homemade wheel to wheel series - GLTC. This community is where I grew my car obsession and all my friends now had their own race series we could write our own rules for and invite all of our friends in different cars to come play in a level and competitive field that does NOT allow any contact. From there on I have been slowly adapting the car to play better in GLTC starting with 15” wheels, big brakes, and street tires and now with a complete overhaul of the drivetrain. The new drivetrain in a Honda L15BE turbo from a 2019 Honda Accord and the complete vehicle electronics have been integrated from the ground up with an AIM PDM32 and an Emtron Austrailia Stand-Alone ECU and engine harness.