Sporting a first name familiar to race fans around the world, Ayrton Houk was destined to be an open-wheel road racer.
“I was named after Ayrton Senna” stated the 20-year-old Houk. “I was named by my father. The deal was, I’m the second of two kids, I have an older sister. When she was born my mother, AnnaLynn Houk, got to name her. So, when I was born my father got to name me. He was a massive Formula 1 fan and Ayrton Senna was one of his favorite drivers.”
While dirt sprint car racing dominates the landscape in his home state of Indiana, Houk is negotiating the Road to Indy ladder system, with a goal of one day competing in the NTT IndyCar Series.
“Being born in Indianapolis I was just around racing my entire life,” Houk explained. “We had been going to the Indy 500 as long as I can remember. My father raced shifter karts when he was out of college. I was surrounded by racing in every aspect of my life. I fell in love with it at a young age. We used to race off-road motorcycles as a family growing up. Once I started to realize what the road racing world had to offer, I made the switch, started go-karting and never looked back.”
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