Josh Shoemaker

I have known Josh since he was just a little guy coming to the track with his family. I can remember Candy yelling at Josh, his brother and some other kids, to find a better place to throw a ball around than her false grid area. So Josh has been breathing race fumes for a long time. Learning to help around the cars and trailers and picking up a lot of knowledge on the way. Hanging out with Graham Long is not a bad way to increase your skill levels. Josh started helping around the shop here as Cloverleaf and Royale began to merge. It was quickly evident that though fairly quiet Josh has a lot going on in his mind. Add a pair of "hands" that is something you either have or don't. You can be a very, very good tech (funny but I grew up in the world of mechanics, and blacksmiths and to me telling someone they are a master mechanic means more that a master tech, but keeping up with the times...) but if you do not have a set of "hands" you will never be that master of masters. Not saying that just a pair of hands will get you there, it won't, but sometimes... There is more to fixing cars than just science, there is art and a bit of magic along the way. Josh is learning the trade now, as an apprentice at Cloverleaf. We hope, with his computer skills we will shortly have him doing a lot of the leg work on the computer and you will be calling him to find parts, set up an appointment and such. You will see him at the track and shows and we hope soon to see him driving as well. His father plans for him to start in Formula Vee, but perhaps we can teach him the error of his ways and we will see him running a production car soon too.