Heavy Metal Affliction 2010 GTS Camaro

Success doesn’t come easy, even for the most gifted. Getting noticed in the racing world takes hard work, commitment, and the kind of discipline that only comes from dedication. Well, that and a winning record.

At age 15, Ernie Francis Jr. is winning and getting noticed. When most kids his age spend most of their time fooling around, Ernie is about to become the youngest driver in the Pirelli World Challenge (PWC)—and one of the youngest professional race drivers in the world. In the 2013 PWC season, Francis Jr. will be racing in two classes—Touring Car B-Spec, driving a Mazda 2, purchased for him by his sponsor Hydraulic Jeans-- and in Grand Touring Sport (GTS) in a 2010 Chevy Camaro. Talk about contrasting race cars. Francis Jr. will have to shift his driving style from a peppy 2,200 pound, FWD, small displacement four-cylinder, to the raw muscle of a 3,400 pound, 460 horsepower, RWD Camaro. If that isn’t impressive enough, he is also a straight-A student in advanced classes, wrestles for his high school, studies Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and is a second degree black belt in Taekwondo, and even manages to find time for racing games like Forza. He claims to sleep between eight and nine hours a night as well. Even amidst all this activity, Ernie’s got his eyes on being a professional race driver.

Francis Jr. comes from racing blood; his father, Ernie Sr., has been racing cars since 1982 and owns Breathless Performance Products. BPP develops and sells performance engineered products for anything from the Corvette to the Harley V-Rod. The company provides track support for customer cars and runs a company-owned race team. The Breathless Racing Team, formed by Ernie Sr.’s father in the late 1980s, has won numerous trophies and has been a proving ground for the company’s products ever since.

When Francis Sr. put his son behind the wheel of a go kart at age four, Jr. immediately took to it and drove for hours every day in the family driveway. Once he was old enough, Francis Jr. was racing competitively with other five to seven-year olds in the Kid Kart Series. Francis Jr. won many races and, at age eight, he moved up to a Rotax Mini Max kart. Racking up more than 30 wins in his Mini Max and helping his dad’s race team at the track, strapping drivers in and checking tire pressures, built Francis Jr.’s love of racing and he knew sports car racing was in his future. After discussing spec Miata racing with a karting friend he broached the subject with his mother. Francis Jr. was just approaching age 13. His mother needed some convincing to condone it but acquiesced seeing how much it meant to her son and his father.



Early on, Bob Van Epps, an experienced racing coach got behind Francis Jr.’s career. Never having driven a 2,400 pound sports car Francis Jr. had to learn to drive a stick-shift and get used to sitting on the left side. In his first event he spun the car several times, but quickly learned to manage his throttle and find the apex of each corner.

Then Francis Jr. entered Spec Miata racing and won his first race. During the rest of the 2011 season, out of 18 races he had 18 top ten finishes, ten top five finishes, six podiums, and two wins. In his first season of racing, other racers were leery of running against a driver his age. As Francis Jr. accumulated wins, he proved himself worthy of respect and acceptance as a fellow racer. Punctuating every pass on the track, the rear license plate of his Miata read, “You’ve just been passed by a 13-year old!”



Last year Francis Jr. earned the Championship in both the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) and the regional Formula Atlantic Racing Association (FARA). Francis Jr. competed in 34 races, delivered 32 top ten finishes, 26 top five finishes, 25 podiums, and 21 wins. That calculates to an impressive 61 percent win percentage and all this two years before being able to legally drive a car on the road.

For this young phenom, the 2013 PWC racing season is his big shot. He will be competing against highly competitive PWC drivers on a national stage. It’s a big step and driving in two classes will be a test of his tenacity and provide a tremendous learning opportunity. Considering how much Francis Jr. accomplishes in a single day, I’m sure he will take it in stride.

Francis is sponsored by Hydraulic Jeans, Breathless Performance and Hawk Brakes. You can find tons of pictures of his race cars on his FaceBook page and videos of the new Camaro being track tested on his YouTube channel. He has been interviewed on daytime television, featured in local sports news, and was one of two drivers noted in this Mazda Teen Challenge video .

Heavy Metal Affliction also interviewed Ernie Francis Jr. Read the interview here. We will also be hosting a Q&A session with him next Friday, February 15 3-5 p.m. Pacific time. Submit your questions in the HMA thread and then watch the Q&A. We will be giving away unicorns for Forza Motorsport 4 and Forza Horizon to those who post questions that get used in the Q&A.

Francis Jr.’s 2010 Camaro will be competing in the GTS class. No engine modifications are allowed, but suspension, drivetrain, brakes and aero are allowed as well as safety requirements. Check out the spec sheet for all the upgrades this car has seen.



Check out the Camaro and Francis Jr. on the track in the photo gallery.







Don’t forget to read the interview and submit a question for next Friday’s Q&A with Ernie Francis Jr. It all in the HMA thread.

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