For four years, Austin Varco went to Coronado High School, driving less than 30 miles an hour on city streets.
In a few days, he’ll be reaching speeds of over 150 mph for a NASCAR race on Naval Air Station North Island – minutes from where he used to follow the speed limits every day.
Varco found out just weeks ago that he’ll be competing in the craftsman truck series on June 19 with his racing team, Team Reaume. This was a goal that had been in the works for the last eight months, Varco told The Coronado News.
This will be his national series debut, and on the longest track NASCAR has ever constructed. Varco is gearing up for 50 laps – roughly two hours inside a truck cockpit that will reach 130 degrees with no air conditioning.
Varco said he plans to take saunas leading up to race day to prepare for the heat.
The 26-year-old has been racing since he was four, with parents who were both amateur club racers. He started on go-karts and in college, earned a scholarship that allowed him to attend racing school while studying at the University of Southern California.
Varco’s first full season was in 2022. He finished the year with three wins, 11 podium finishes and 14 top-five finishes. The results were good enough to finish second in the Spec Miata Championship and win him the 2022 SCCA Rookie of the Year.
In college, Varco was officially diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. He started a nonprofit organization, Race4Autism, that is branded on his vehicles to help spread awareness.
Race4Autism hosts between nine and 12 events per year. He brings his trophies, race cars and a driving simulator he uses for training. He even lets children drive on the simulator to see or feel some of the things he may experience on the track.
When Varco started racing in a NASCAR-sanctioned series, the two goals for his career remained the same.
There have not been any drivers in NASCAR history openly diagnosed with autism to win at any level … That’s my biggest goal is to win a race in NASCAR at some level.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Austin Varco
“There have not been any drivers in NASCAR history openly diagnosed with autism to win at any level,” Varco said. “That’s my biggest goal is to win a race in NASCAR at some level.”
And now, he’s prepping for his very first NASCAR national series race.
His vehicle for the race is a Ford F-150, and to get a feel for that, he tested out the course with his friend’s truck – although it’s not too different switching from racing a car to a truck, Varco said.
“They’re very similar. Aero is the main difference,” Varco said, talking about the aerodynamics of trucks. He explained that the way trucks are made, they actually help the driver have a bit more grip when they’re rounding a corner.
“I’ve been running a smaller version of the truck series on the West Coast at a high aero track and have gotten pretty used to the way that the air goes around that car,” Varco added.
Most of the circuit is still being built, but he was able to drive about a third of it on June 10, taking in the feel of the road.
The biggest thing that he learned: the tracks are very uneven.
This is a street course, which means NASCAR kept the original roads for the track instead of laying down a new road.
Jeremy Casperson, the engineer of the 3.4 mile course, explained that there are four types of pre-existing road conditions: old and new concrete, and old and new asphalt.
Some of the track will be on runways used by the North Island, but other parts of the track are just regular roads that have been filled in over the years.
This is going to be brutal … I’m going to need a chiropractor after this.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Austin Varco
“This is going to be brutal,” Varco laughed. “I’m going to need a chiropractor after this.”
