Got this month's GRM today and started paging through while grilling some chops (unnecessary, gratuitous food reference) and happened upon the Pikes Peake coverage. Blah, blah, blah professional driver blah blah factory sponsored blah blah multi-million dollar effort, etc. Then, all of the sudden, the article starts talking about a guy who built an E30 (which he purchased for under $500) in his garage with his dad and broke the 10 minute barrier! Apparently, ended up 3rd in class (behind a couple big name/big dollar cars) and 8 or 9 overall. To me, he, the "Baja 1000 in an E30" guy and probably the Nelsons should be the inaugural class of the GRM Hall of Fame. Have we already discussed this and I missed it?
Baja guy is Bill Caswell. “Build. Race. Party.”
I think I posted somewhere about the e30 pikes peak guy. I was equally impressed.
Bill Cassell was Ken Block before Ken block videos were a running joke.
Dude was everywhere and you couldn’t avoid his Gawker/Jalopnik fueled marketing and media assault on the automotive media landscape.
My internet claim to fame?
I sold an ex-challenge car to Bill Caswell. (Look at me dropping names!)
He is cool in person too. Genuine and a hard core car guy.
_
Reader
8/24/18 12:53 a.m.
They need to go back to grassroots in every racing series besides F1. Real cars, no tube frames, no factory help, OEM pick up points, etc. I wanna see a guy named Jethro win something in a third gen camaro, and when the camera interview happens, he mentions having to go back to work on Monday.
In reply to Robbie :
Bill is an excellent guy and great ambassador for motorsport. His drram in life is to get an RV and travel around installing safe cages that will get people's stillborn projects logbooked and get them on track. You really can't argue with someone who has that as their life goals.
Ed Higginbotham said:
That guy is my hero
(Disguised as a sneeze) Feature Article (/Disguised as a sneeze)
Cactus
Reader
8/24/18 3:28 p.m.
I've had the pleasure of meeting Bill Caswell. I had all these preconceived notions about what to expect because Jalopnik is (at least currently, looking back, it was once a lot better than it is now) a website for kids, and "internet celebrity" is the only thing trashier than "normal celebrity".
Boy was I wrong about him.
Bill is cool as hell. The stories he tells are way better than the stories told about him. His great achievements aren't racing WRC events in a $500 car. His great achievements are racing pro-level events with no support and only slightly more of an idea what he's doing there.
