About the Driver - BJ Meyer
General Info
- Name: BJ Meyer
- Age: 32
- Residence: Dallas, TX
- Occupation: Performance Mechanic and Owner of Clown Shoe Motorsports
- Hometown: Aurora, MO
My Story
I've always loved cars, but most of my life I didn't know much about them. Growing up in rural Missouri kept my automotive exposure low. Sure there was a car culture, but the scope was very limited. It was a world dominated by Chevy and Ford. Racing was about going in a straight line unless you were talking about the local dirt track. I thought modifying a car to go faster was all about more power. I'm not sure I even knew what a shock did until I was in my twenties. Please don't misunderstand me. I still love big block power. I am enamored by the way they sound and the way they smell. Every time I'm driving my beater 1985 Suburban with a 454 and I catch a whiff of the unadulterated, non-catalyzed exhaust, I wish I could bottle it and ask my wife to wear it on those "special nights."
After high school, I went to the University of Missouri with the intent of learning the finer details of circuits and computers. I was going to be an electrical engineer. The truth was I hated classes, but there was something I loved: Suntiger. Suntiger was MU's solar car. I joined the team to work on the electronics and software for the car. I found myself fascinated with the machine shop and fabrication, though. I spent more time talking to the mechanical engineers than anything else. I was amazed that a group of college kids could build a chassis from a bunch of steel tubes. I learned about low rolling resistance tires, regenerative braking, and electric wheel motors years before anyone would ever hear of a Prius. It was good times!
My time with the solar car team was short lived. I was engaged and decided I needed to make some money to support us. This is how my career in IT started. It is also how the dark days of my automotive life would begin. I sold my Camaro and started driving a 1987 Mercury Sable. The thing looked like a big brown turd, but it moved slower than one. I spent the next few years lost to all things automotive. I focused on my IT career, which was a good because it finally gave me a few nickels to rub together. After 5 years of driving that utter piece of...uh...junk, I bought a real car-my first BMW.
When I was a kid, I had a book about exotic cars. Buried in this book was a 1980's BMW 3 series. I don't know why it was listed among the Ferraris and Lamborghinis. I also can't explain why I was in love with the little red car on the pages, but I was. When I was able to finally buy one I thought I was on top of the world. I still didn't do much more than drive it to work or on the occasional trip to visit family. I still didn't have a clue about what I was missing.
Things really began to change when my wife finally finished law school and wanted a new car. We knew we liked our BMW, so we wanted another one. She wanted a convertible-I didn't really care what she drove. One day I received an email from her telling me she found the car she wanted. Next thing I knew my inbox was full of pictures of a BMW M3 convertible. She bought the car without me even looking at it. She apparently knew just what she was doing. It was a beautiful 1999 BMW M3 convertible with a 5 speed transmission. The car was amazing. The first time I drove it I think I cried-no really. What my wife didn't know is that she had awakened something deep in my soul with this car.
I spent every waking moment online reading about BMWs. One day I found something strange on bimmerforums. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen. It was part BMW, part bread truck. It was like a super model with one leg-beautiful from some angles, but other angles left you wondering what went wrong. I had to have it. So I began my quest for my dream car.
After I finally found my 2002 BMW M Coupe, I was utterly disappointed-not in the car, but in the federal and state governments for putting speed limits on public roads. I needed a place where this car could stretch its legs. That's how I stumbled into high performance driving.
My first few HPDEs were anything but stellar. The events were great, but my driving was not. It finally started to come together for me when I had a BMW club racer, Tom Mauk, as an instructor. He took me for a ride in his BMW E30 race car and opened my eyes to a whole new world. I knew that I wanted to go fast. I knew I wanted to race.
From there things changed for me. I started learning everything I could about driving dynamics, suspension, braking systems, and engines. Up until this point in my life I hadn't even changed the oil in my car, but now I was rebuilding motors, installing brake and suspension components, and turning cars inside out.
I was also pushing myself hard to learn all I could about driving. I moved up the ranks of HPDE run groups and then decided to give back. I went to a BMW CCA Instructor Training School and began helping new drivers find the same passion for speed that I had. It was also around this time that I took the plunge and built my own race car, a 1983 Porsche 944.
Today, I have many sprint races and enduros under my belt. I have done crazy things like compete in a 24 hour race with a $500 Barbie-themed car. I love this stuff more than ever. I couldn't get enough of it, so at the end of 2009 I left my lucrative corporate job in senior IT management and opened my own performance shop. Now, I am taking my passion for all things automotive and racing further by competing in the 2010 Robin Hood Rally.
Automotive Memberships
- BMW Car Club of America - Lone Star Chapter Treasurer
- Porsche Club of America
- Sports Car Club of America
- Street Survival School (BMWCCA Teen Driving Program) - Instructor
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