Forest Park resident Adam Garza, a student at Triton College in River Grove, turned his passion for motorsport racing simulation into a recent internship representing esports and eNASCAR across the country. A lifelong NASCAR fan, Garza hopes to someday take his online racing to actual racetracks.
Garza is a 21-year-old Mass Communication and Multimedia student at Triton College and will continue his communications studies at the University of Illinois Chicago come January. He got into racing simulations after graduating high school and, from May to October this year, completed an internship where he attended NASCAR races and shared his personal experience with eNASCAR and iRacing.
iRacing is NASCAR’s official simulation racing partner — a subscription-based, online tool that professional drivers use to practice on real-world tracks.
“If you’re a sim racer, you race on iRacing. That’s just the stereotype,” Garza said. “I raced against real-life drivers that I became friends with.”
After his first year-and-a-half using iRacing, Garza was in the top 15 of about 180,000 of the platform’s users. His initial success garnered attention from the Kansas City Pioneers, a gaming and esports organization, which recruited Garza to drive the Coca Cola car to try and qualify for this year’s eNASCAR Coca Cola iRacing series.
“It’s the virtual counterpart of the races you see on Sunday,” Garza said of the online series. “I thought I was big time in the virtual world, honestly, and getting paid decent money, and I ended up missing the cut by three spots.”
Though he didn’t qualify for the series, the Pioneers offered Garza an internship. He became the organization’s spokesperson, and thus a spokesperson for eNASCAR, traveling to racetracks across the country to talk about iRacing and sharing his own personal experience on stage between question-and-answer sessions with professional NASCAR drivers.
iRacing and NASCAR
Garza started simulation racing after graduating high school. With money from his summer job, Garza bought a computer, two monitors and a steering wheel. He paid for an iRacing membership, downloaded its software and started competing.
“I do my schoolwork and I race in the same exact seat,” Garza said. “I did it as a distraction from the real world. I just wanted to race. I was like, ‘This could be my way to get involved in the industry, being so far away from the Carolinas,’” where many of the biggest NASCAR races take place.
Garza has been into NASCAR since he was three or four years old, when his older brother began watching races.
“If my brother never got into it, I would not be sitting here talking to you right now,” Garza said. “I still watch the races with him to this day, every weekend.”
One of the best parts of Garza’s internship this year was visiting the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet on the Fourth of July. Garza had visited the racetrack in 2011, but the race he and his family went to see was rained out.
“I had to go to school that Monday, and I was so bummed out because that was going to be my first race,” Garza said. But his parents called him out of school to watch the makeup. “I remember that whole day, crystal clear. And approximately 15 years later, I’m standing and sitting on a stage with a microphone in front of hundreds of people, right after NASCAR’s most popular driver just had a Q-and-A on stage.”
Just like with his internship this year, Garza hopes he can turn his passion for NASCAR and iRacing into a real-life job.
“I was a fan as a kid, and I’m still a fan at heart, but now I’m actually serving a purpose at the racetrack, and that’s what makes me super happy,” he said. “That’s what I want to do with my life. I want to be involved in some way or another, whether it’s public relations, marketing, or simulation work in the Carolinas. I know I’m a shoo-in anywhere I fit, it’s just the process it takes to get there.”
Garza said the hardest part of his internship this year was separating his self-confidence from his ego after seeing how much of a cut-throat industry NASCAR is, plus getting comfortable with the unknown of his future. He hopes to one day race a real car but could also see himself in a handful of other careers in the industry.
“I always tell myself, ‘If I go out to the Carolinas in a couple years after I finish college and I don’t land anything, I’m okay. I tried. I gave it 110%,’” Garza said. “There’s been multiple guys who have gone through the sim and are still driving in real life right now on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. I could be the next. You just never know, if the right opportunity comes into place with the right partnership and the right sponsor.”
No matter what career he pursues, Garza credits Triton College with helping him get to where he is today. From his speech professor, Garza learned self-confidence and communication skills. He’s also learned how to authentically portray himself, which has helped attract brands who want to work with him, like the Kansas City Pioneers.
“Representing brands is huge in racing. I feel like I do a good job of that because it’s not always driving the race car. Racing is also a business,” Garza said. “Representing your sponsor and your brand is absolutely vital for success, despite your on-track performance.”
Park District tuition reimbursement
When he’s not attending Triton classes, Garza works full-time as a maintenance technician at the Park District of Forest Park. Through the park district’s marquee lease agreement, it provides tuition reimbursement for full-time employees to get education “in subjects and fields of endeavor which relate to their present job and to the District’s operations, activities and objectives,” according to the reimbursement policy.
Jackie Iovinelli, executive director of the park district, told the Review that only one park district employee is currently taking advantage of tuition reimbursement. Garza must work at least 32 hours at the park district for a large portion of his tuition to be reimbursed.
“My full-time work actually granted me the opportunity to go to UIC because they’re going to be paying a big chunk of it,” Garza said. He’ll continue working for the park district until he graduates from UIC in 2028. “They’re giving me this opportunity to invest in my future, which I did not expect at all when I first started this job, so I must be doing something right.”
As a maintenance technician, Garza helps take care of and beautify the park district grounds.
“It could be anything from HVAC to landscaping to plowing snow to vehicle inspections,” Garza said of his responsibilities, “making the place look really nice and making sure everyone feels good when they come to the park.”