Driver Feature: Josh Carroll (#35 & #17)

Hometown: Danville, California

For Josh Carroll, racing started with a simple realization: once he and his wife began talking about starting a family, his days of owning a fun car might be numbered. So he did what any enthusiast would do—he bought a used BMW E46 M3 and joined the BMW Car Club of America. <b>Little did he know that this 2 time SC champion would be hooked for life.

That decision changed everything.

His first BMW CCA track day quickly turned into an obsession. Within a year, Josh had completed more than twenty HPDE events before arriving at a Hooked on Driving weekend that would change the course of his motorsports career.

David Ray, founder of Hooked on Driving, pulled Josh aside after watching him drive.

"You're driving well... but you're scaring the hell out of everyone else."

Instead of asking him to slow down, David handed Josh the keys to one of their race cars and invited him to spend the rest of the day in the racing group—free of charge—with one condition: the next time he came back, it had to be as a racer with the proper safety equipment.

Josh never looked back.

The following season he purchased his own race car and began what has now become more than a decade of competition across a variety of classes, including Mazda GT, Super Touring 2, NASPORT, GT2, GT3, and E Production.

Despite racing in highly developed categories, Josh eventually realized that what he enjoyed most wasn't spending money to build a faster car—it was racing wheel-to-wheel against talented drivers.

That philosophy led him to SPEC Corvette in 2018.

After previously competing in Spec Miatas, Josh wanted the close competition of spec racing while driving something with considerably more performance.

"SPEC Corvette was the obvious answer, and I've been really happy with that decision ever since."

When asked about his favorite track, Josh doesn't hesitate.

Sonoma Raceway.

Its technical layout, dramatic elevation changes, and unforgiving nature reward precision while punishing mistakes, making it one of California's most demanding circuits.

Some of his favorite racing memories include an unforgettable side-by-side battle with Marc La Corte through Laguna Seca's famous Corkscrew, along with a season-long championship fight against Craig Dale that came down to the final four races.

Away from the racetrack, Josh has an unexpected background that surprises nearly everyone.

Before becoming a race car driver, he worked professionally as a dancer, partnered in a dance company, and even appeared in a feature film.

His current garage includes a Chevrolet C8 Z06 and a GMC Sierra 2500 HD AT4, though asking him to choose just one dream car is impossible.

Looking ahead, Josh's biggest goal is getting his second race car back on track so his children can begin sharing the same passion for motorsports that has shaped so much of his own life.

Finally, Josh says the biggest thank-you belongs to one person:

"My wife—for never asking how much things cost." 😉