Full Throttle: Aidan Schuh’s Climb Through the Racing Ranks
This month, we begin a new series in which we’ll periodically interview members of the Hendricks family to share what’s happening in their lives with the rest of the family. Our first conversation is with Aidan Schuh, who is working his way through the ranks of auto racing.
After competing in downhill mountain biking and motocross, the Wisconsin native traded two wheels for four and advanced into open-wheel racing. He competes in the Formula Regional Americas Championship with Crosslink Motorsports as part of AJ Foyt Racing’s driver-development program. We spoke with him about his path through motorsports and the challenges of developing as a professional driver.
Roundtable: How did your path from bikes to race cars begin?
Aidan: The five years before I got into auto racing, I competed in downhill mountain biking. I grew up riding dirt bikes and mountain bikes, and when I was about 18, I entered my first downhill race. I loved it and wanted to progress. Throughout college, I raced and eventually earned my pro license by the end of 2024.
After many long talks with my family, I decided to make a change and had the opportunity to attend the Skip Barber Racing School, which went really well. I found that a lot of the bike skills translated to the car, and I thought, maybe this is something I can pursue. Then I went back and completed the advanced program at Skip Barber.
Roundtable: What’s your career goal?
Aidan: The goal is to get to IndyCar in a few years.
Roundtable: What’s the most important quality for a racer?
Aidan: One of the most important qualities in racing is being obsessed with what you're doing. For everything I do, I'm all in, 100%. It's all or nothing. That's a mentality you need, especially in racing, where the stakes are higher.
I just like going fast when I'm on wheels, and the adrenaline is part of it. At first, you get a rush, but as you progress, you try to push that aside as much as possible. The more adrenaline you have, the harder it is to focus on what you're actually doing. As you get better and faster, the adrenaline tends to subside, and it becomes more about mental focus. Then the questions become: Where can I improve? Where can I carry more speed through this corner?
Roundtable: You started with mountain biking and downhill, which looks far more intimidating than other types of racing.
Aidan: Downhill is an extreme sport. If it goes wrong, it goes really wrong.
Roundtable: How do you feel about the risk in auto racing?
Aidan: Any time before the early 2000s, car racing was one of the most dangerous things you could do because the cars kept getting faster, but they weren't getting safer. Then, about 20 years ago, the sport decided it was time for safety to catch up. Now, I feel like safety is much more up to speed. It definitely eases the mind a bit. That's not to say things can't still go wrong, because they can, but compared with some other sports, racing is safer than many people think.
Roundtable: To a casual observer, racing appears to be all about the driver, but is it fair to call it a team sport?
Aidan: I think it's very much a team sport. The pit stop side of things doesn't really come into play until you reach IndyCar, but beyond that it's all about communication with your engineer, mechanic, and the rest of the team. In a highly competitive series, those relationships can make the difference between running in the middle of the pack and fighting for first place. It's about communicating effectively and having people who understand your driving style.
It's also about understanding yourself and why the car is reacting the way it is on the track. You have to determine whether something is coming from driver input or the car itself. You can analyze those things through data with your driving coaches. Then, of course, there's the entire team, from the owner to the crew members who transport and prepare the cars. So a lot goes into it. It's definitely a team sport.
Roundtable: What decisions are ultimately yours once you are behind the wheel?
Aidan: Yeah, in the end, it's up to you as the driver to decide whether it's worth pushing or not. If something feels wrong, you don't feel comfortable, or the car feels unsettled, that's your call. You have to decide whether to back off and not push too hard. Or, if there's still a little left in the tank, you might decide to give it everything you've got.
Roundtable: A lot of it boils down to driver decisions?
Aidan: Yeah, and that's one of the hardest parts of being a driver that I'm learning right now. The speed aspect comes naturally to me because I've been working on that for years on bikes, and it's something I know I can keep refining and improving. But my experience on bikes doesn't necessarily translate to feeling what the car is doing, understanding why it's reacting the way it is, and knowing what changes I can make to make it more responsive to my inputs.
That's what I struggle with most and what I'm trying to get better at, which I am. With every race, I learn more about the car, more about myself and my driving, and what adjustments I need to make.
Roundtable: What have you been doing lately, and what are your upcoming races?
Aidan: For the main series I was focused on this year, I was recently at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. That season's over now. I'm figuring out the schedule for next year. I might try to squeeze in a couple of club races to get more driving time this fall.
The next big series I'm doing is in New Zealand in January -- the Formula Regional Oceania series. It's one of the most competitive series, so I think that'll really help me going into next year.
Roundtable: Do you think you'd ever do endurance racing? (A form of motorsport in which drivers and teams compete over extended periods of time, testing both vehicle reliability and driver endurance.)
Aidan: I did one endurance race for fun at Road America in May. Honestly, I never had so much fun in a car. So I would not be against going that route if it came down to it.
Roundtable: What do you think of Road America? (The track is in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and nicknamed "America's National Park of Speed".)
It’s definitely one of the top three tracks I've driven so far. It’s a lot of fun. Almost every IndyCar driver will say Road America is their favorite or second favorite. It's just such a good track.
Roundtable: What's your dream car for your garage?
Aidan: I want to say the Porsche 911 GT3 RS, but I feel like everyone says that. One of the best-looking and best-sounding cars out there is the Mercedes-AMG GT R. I love that car.
Roundtable: What do you make of the increasing use of electric vehicles (EVs) in racing?
Aidan: It's hard to say. EVs completely change the game because the strategies you have to train for as a driver are so different. In many ways, it almost feels like a different sport. But it's here, and Formula E is a good example of that. I've watched a bit of it, and I'm still learning a lot, but it's completely different.
Overall, I think it's cool and innovative, but at the same time, I still want to hear gasoline engines roar. They just sound so good. Even the smell at the track is something you can't beat. There's nothing quite like it. That's my take, but I think both forms of racing are really cool.
Thanks, Aidan. Good luck in New Zealand in January.