Jason Priestley: Who's Zoomin' Who
June 12, 1997

As I approached the motor home where “Beverly Hills 90210” star Jason Priestley was taking a break from

his busy schedule I kept thinking of this image of a teeny bopper. I jokingly said to his publicist that I was with “Tiger Beat” which is a magazine targeted at young girls in the puberty stage. The publication features all kinds of television and film teenage heartthrobs. She laughed and said to me come on in and meet Jason.

I quickly realized that here was an actor that had a lot more going on in his head than that great head of hair . One of the things he has going on is his auto racing career . Jason runs in two series as part of the Professional SportsCar Series (formerly known as IMSA). Currently, he is tied for third with his co-driver in the SPEEDVISION Cup for Stock Sports Car Grand Sports Class and he in seventeenth place in the Exxon Supreme GTS 1 class. Not bad for someone who just got serious about racing recently.

“I have been attracted to and have been a racing fan my whole life. My father was a fan ,and I became a fan, and I always really enjoyed it. I have been involved with racing for about five years. I started with the Rally Racing which is highly modified street cars, and you run them on dirt roads in the day and night on roads you have never been on. I started racing in the California Rally Racing Series which is a local series in California. From there I became a driver for Toyota, and I competed in the Michelin Pro Series which is a big national series. I raced in that series for two and a half years and my last year I finished third in my class, which was a great accomplishment for me. From there I approached Ford about racing for them. I thought the endurance championship would be a great place to start racing road courses for me and getting on asphalt.”

On driving for FORD in the GTS 1class: “The Mustangs are an incredibly easy car to drive. The principles you take from the endurance cars into those cars are all the same they just go faster and they have better brakes and better tires.” Did I agitate him when I reminded Jason that it has a little more power, too? “Yes, and a little more horsepower, thank you very much” laughed (kind of) Jason.

Jason not only acts on the hit television show “Beverly Hills 90210” but directs sometimes as well. I was intrigued by his ability to juggle his multi-faceted career. “It’s a case of where you have to make the time to learn how to race the cars, and to improving and to really strive to get better. Now that my team is based in California, I spend a lot of time testing and get a lot of time behind the wheel and that seems to be the best way to improve is to be driving a lot. So, it is just a matter of commitment. Obviously, the race weekends take a lot of time out of my schedule, and I have to juggle my schedule to get the time off ,but I do it because it’s something I am really committed to and I am willing to put the work into it to excel” said the ambitious actor.

“I think people are leery of anyone who comes into an established racing community” said Jason. They say, “Well we will see how this guy goes.” I asked if they try to knock him off the road. “No they don’t try to knock you off, but they say yeah, we will see if you are around in five races buddy. It’s really hard, and you know you deal with a lot of disappointment and you know you will crash your car and it’s really difficult, and you have to be committed to it. And I think I have proven my commitment to the sport and that I am just not playing around with it ,and that I am committed to it, and I work really hard at it. I think Craig T. Nelson has done the same as well. The community that we race in has really accepted us as racers and not as actors who have this little hobby on the side but as race car drivers who run at the front of the field and are very competitive and not just actors screwin’ around, which feels very good, and I know that Craig feels the same and that is what you strive for, that you are worthy of these people’s respect. That you are not just coming into what people do for a living ,because when you start ruining their day, it’s a big problem!”

Did race car driver Al Unser, Jr. ask him about any acting tips for his appearance on the ABC sitcom “Home Improvement?” “I think he got his acting tips from Tim Allen ,” said Jason. I don’t know if that is good or bad.

Would Jason like to join Al Unser, Jr. on the CART Indy Car circuit?

“I’d love to drive one, they are awesome machines and to get the opportunity to drive one would be great. Will I drive one, one day ? I hope so, but I don’t know”

What about combining his two loves—acting in a racing movie? “You know Steve McQueen did it when he did the “LeMans” movie which is one of the best ones ever. I’d love to do it, you know bring the two things that you love in the world together and hopefully it would work out, but its tough. It’s difficult to get the feeling of what its like to be in a race car, I don’t know if that would actually transfer to film. I’d certainly be interested in trying” answered enthusiastically by Jason.

This reporter was impressed with his maturity, drive, smarts, and of course, charm (hey, I am a girl, I can’t help it). Jason is one of those people you interview that you just want to tell everyone what a great guy he is in person. You can see Jason in action at his next event -- The California Grand Prix at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, California on July 13th.

A Little of This and a Little of That…

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