Brayton Laster, a third-generation racer from Greenwood, Ind., exemplifies what can happen when one never gives up on chasing their dreams.
Now 21 years old, Laster spent the early stages of his racing career driving dirt late models and late model figure-8s at the Indianapolis Speedrome. Two years ago, he was presented with an opportunity to compete in the ARCA Menards Series and Laster’s never looked back, currently running a part-time schedule with the nomadic stock car tour.
Laster earned the nickname “The Pizza Man” while watching his father, Dane, compete in figure-8 races at the Speedrome.
“When I was 9 or 10 years old, my dad would always give me money to go to the concession stand,” remembered Laster. “I would always get me a piece of pizza. People would always see me carrying a piece of pizza. People started calling me ‘The Pizza Kid.’ It just took off from there. It has basically grown. I have pizza shoes, socks, pants, underwear, hats, lanyards, gloves, backpacks, and my pizza helmet. It’s come full circle.
“I started racing at the Speedrome, then I started doing dirt late model stuff from 2018-’22,” Laster continued. “But I was still doing a ton of figure-8 stuff during that time. We never really had plans to go ARCA racing. Around Christmastime of 2021, I was home from college. I was attending the University of Indianapolis for mechanical engineering.
“My dad asked me one day what I thought about running the ARCA test at Daytona,” Laster related. “I followed ARCA a little bit but wasn’t familiar with what the Daytona test was exactly. My dad followed ARCA a little bit. He bought an ARCA car in 2004. He spent two-and-a-half years putting it together. He went down to Salem and missed the show. He sold it because it was too expensive to run and bought a figure-8 car. So he was somewhat familiar with ARCA.”
Laster’s opportunity to run ARCA Menards Series races came from an unusual source.
“I met a team through TikTok, of all places,” Laster said. “I was 18 and at the time had 15,000 or so TikTok followers. I met Mullins Racing, a small team from Virginia. It just so happens they made a post announcing if anyone was wanting to participate in the Daytona test, they had a couple of openings.
“I emailed them and they told me they had one more spot. If I wanted it, come on down and test. I had to pay for tires and fuel, it wasn’t bad at all.
“We went down there and they had five or six kids,” Laster continued. “I knew absolutely nobody down there. I had only run a few pavement races prior to that day. I was a little intimidated.”
The rookie was impressive and was asked to drive for the team in the upcoming ARCA race at The World Center of Racing.
“I think all the figure-8 stuff helped me to adapt to the high speeds of Daytona,” Laster said. “Running figure-8s helped me to be confident and not question my ability. There were 60 total drivers there. As far as mid-pack teams go, we were one of the better teams at that test. The team didn’t even plan to run a second car in the race.”
Laster still had to secure funding, but he says that ended up being easier than expected.
“I had built a huge social media following,” he explained. “We hit the ground running. We were able to get a lot of funding for it. We got our feet in the door. Once you get that first race under your belt, it’s easier the second time around.”
But there was more to learn in the race car.
“When the green flagged dropped I was in the wrong gear. The entire outside row passed me,” Laster said. “I went from 15th to 32nd in 500 feet. It was the most terrifying 500 feet in my life. We had run down the leaders and were in the second pack of cars chasing the lead pack late in the race. I went into the grass to avoid a late-race crash. I think we ended up finishing 13th.”
Since that 2022 debut at Daytona Int’l Speedway, Laster has qualified for 10 additional ARCA races at places such as Phoenix Raceway, Indianapolis Raceway Park, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
He made a single NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start on the dirt at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway in 2022.
The youngster has been impressive as a part-time ARCA competitor. Last year, he drove the No. 31 car for Rise Motorsports and collected three consecutive top-three finishes.
“Marketing is important,” Laster noted. “If I want to continue to race at this level and beyond, I need to continue to market myself and chase money. A lot of people have people to make that happen. I feel if I want this to happen, I need to put in the work myself.”
As Laster continues to develop as a driver, he says his figure-8 days may be behind him. When he’s not competing in ARCA Menards Series events, Laster plans to continue honing his skills in late model competition.
Fast Facts
Birthday: Aug. 28, 2002
Hometown: Greenwood, Ind.
Series: ARCA Menards Series
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