Inside Track: Ryan Yard

February 18, 2019

Getting Behind The Wheel   

It all started with a Supercar gift card.

In _____, Yard’s family gave him a gift card for a high-performance driving experience with Longhorn Racing Academy.

One spin around Harris Hill Raceway’s 1.8-mile, 11-turn track instantly hooked him. So much so that he told Varun Idnani, the Longhorn Racing Academy’s owner and managing partner, that he would buy the bright green Porsche he was piloting from him.

Idnani initially thought Yard was joking, but two drives later he ended up doing just that.

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Revving Up

Learning to drive competitively soon became a conviction for Yard, and everything in life began to take orbit around it.

He completed 45 days of driving with PCA. Next came a high performance driving education (HPDE) event run by the Longhorn Racing Academy. Many private coaching sessions followed as Yard honed his racing technique and confidence behind the wheel.

A few months later, he found himself at the Porsche Sport Driving School in Birmingham, AL, earning his competition license and having it signed by famed driver Hurley Haywood.

Crossing the Finish Line 

Yard entered his first Porsche Club of America race at Circuit of the Americas, Austin’s legendary F1 racetrack. He achieved the fastest qualifying time before the day’s excitement had even begun!

Placing second in the GTB1 class and third in the endurance race put Yard on the podium for two of three races, earning him both the “Hard Charger” and the “Rookie of the Race” awards.

Whether we are providing High Speed Ride Alongs for his children, private events for his co-workers, or simply a testing ground as he develops new racing technology, the Longhorn Racing Academy is proud to support Yard through his racing career and beyond.

“My kids have witnessed me set very high goals for myself. They’ve watched my conviction for achieving those goals physically transform their dad. So when they saw me on the podium, I felt like I showed them that everyone has the power to make their own dreams come true, as far away as they might seem.”

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