Getting to know Road to Pro: Boyd Hoggan

Editor’s Note: Over the next few weeks, we will be profiling and featuring drivers that can be seen on the Road to Pro Qualifying series broadcasts on the Podium eSports Twitch channel. We hope you enjoy reading these and learning about the drivers. This time we have sat down with Boyd Hoggan. You can view all of our Getting to Know profiles on this page.

What was the first racing game you ever played?

Need for Speed Underground 2 would probably be the first racing game that I recall playing a lot of. I was so young, that I didn’t really understand much about racing. It was really just the customization and having a garage loaded with cars that was so cool at the time.

When did you first discover iRacing and what got you hooked?

I discovered it around 2011 or so just watching YouTube videos when I was a kid, so naturally I wanted it right away, but never ended up actually getting into it until around 2019. Initially it was just really cool because of how many different options you had to race. As I got more into the community, I ended up surrounding myself with some great people that got me hooked. These friends help keep the motivation up no matter how good or bad things can be sometimes.

How did you get connected with your current team that’s assisting you in Road to Pro?

When the team first started, I had a pretty tight-knit friend group that I’d have had to leave behind if I actually wanted to get into the “Pro” side of anything and get on a team. Therefore, the only alternative really that made any sense to me was to say “F*** it. Let’s see how bad we get our asses beat.” 

Once we made that decision, I went to work on learning how to build setups. My second focus was trying to understand how teams worked at a higher level, so that I knew the kind of the direction we needed to go as a team. Obviously as things got more competitive there were a lot of changes to the team, but overall, we’ve built up a really good core group of guys that all have the same kind of approach to every race week.

On top of that, we’re all a pretty tight friend group so it’s made it really fun, and I think that’s the reason why we’re as competitive as we are now. It’s a great team atmosphere because of the effort everyone puts in from top to bottom and I’d credit a lot of our success so far as a group to that. it’s been a long process, not everything goes perfect, but it’s been well worth it, and I couldn’t imagine a better group to be rolling with.

Who is your favorite race car driver? And why?

As far as an all-Time favorite, Tim Richmond. He was just a badass dude who liked to go fast and have a good time whatever way he could. That’s what I’m all about, so that’s my guy.

Today though, Ryan Blaney for sure. He kind of flies under the radar, but he’s always in the picture and he’s one of the only drivers left that’ll still show a little personality.

If you could go to any racetrack and watch a race live, where would you want to go?

Honestly, I would have to say Talladega. Mainly because I know Casey, Ray and a few other of our teammates go there every chance they get. I want to experience the boulevard with the boys, even if we don’t remember much, that’s the move.

What is a skill or talent that you have that not many people know about?

My uncle was a drummer in a band locally that was actually really good, so In order to get me to stop having the “one track mind” every kid has when they find something they really like, my Grandma had my Uncle bring over a drum set one year for my Birthday. Once that happened, I played them as much as everybody in the house could take. It’s been a few years but I could probably still pick it up pretty good. (I hope anyway)

For anyone watching you race, who wants to end up where you are, what advice do you have for them?

There are going to be a lot of people who tell you “you can’t” or say you’ll never make it as far as you want to go. For every friend of yours that’ll give you that motivation or encouragement you’ll need. There’s going to be another person with their buddies talkin’ trash, whether it’s justified or not.

The term “eyes on your own paper” applies here. What that means is, you can’t worry too much about what the people outside your circle have to say. Always try to be subjective and try to improve your own habits/racecraft/pace etc., hold yourself accountable to the highest level you can, don’t let the highs get too high or the lows get too low, at the end of the day, if you’re going to make it this far, you’re going to deal with a lot of bs you never expected.

You’re going to hear people you’ve never spoken to talk bad from time to time just because they don’t like your style. As my friend Casey Tucker once told me, “You’ll have that on these big jobs”. So just do the best you can, focus on where you want to be, never quit, and you’ll get there.

If you want to learn more about Boyd, you can follow him on Twitter by clicking here. You can watch Parker and others race in the Road to pro series on the Podium eSports Twitch Channel