Third-year Legend Car racer, Gianni Esposito, has experienced success and is making great memories along the way. He has put time forth to improve his strength on a mental and physical side, and is working on progressing towards more late model racing. Chances are in the future, you'll see Gianni somewhere at the racetrack, as some of his career goals feature him competing and winning at every level and form of motorsport from NASCAR to Formual One to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. 

Hometown: Dacula, GA

Division: Pro

Car Number: 22

Team: Curt Britt Motorsports

Instagram: @gfunkracing22

1. How did you get your start in racing?

I started racing at K1 Speed back when they did the competitive challenges. I’d race with the kids and I’d win a lot. I was actually beating adult kart times with the kids cart. The manager came up to us and asked if we knew Ken Ragan at Atlanta Motor Speedway and that’s how I started in Bandos, and from Bandos I went to Legends.

2. What has your racing journey looked like?

It’s been pretty good. There’s been ups and downs. There has been moments where I’ve thought it couldn’t get any worse and there have been moments where I thought it couldn’t get any better. It’s just been an up and down wave. Eventually I’ll have to look back on it and say “I can not believe I went through that” and just be thankful for even being here.

3. How did you decide on the number 22?

My entire family is off the 22. My first address was off of 22. My birthday was the 22nd. My sister’s birthday is the 22nd. My parents were married exactly on the 22nd, and my favorite driver is Joey Logano.

4. What is your pre-race routine?

Honestly, it’s just hanging out with people. I like to hangout as much as I can. Say hi to all of my friends and family. Be safe, have fun, and drink a cup of coffee because that’s been in my family for a while.

5. Where does your instagram handle, gfunkracing22, come from? 

It came from my mom back when she did zumba when I was like 2 or 3 years old in New York. The people who came to zumba would always call me “G-Funk” because I would always listen to the song “Footloose” and I was crazy with it, and then I started racing. Plus my family always calls me “G-Funk”.

6. How did it feel to become the Atlanta Motor Speedway Legends Rookie of the Year in 2022?

I honestly wasn’t expecting it because there was a lot of good drivers that came out of rookies that year. It was a very crazy year. It started off in Atlanta, I had jumped from Bandos to Legends and being quick at it too was huge. Introducing the track that year with the new pavement and everything made it very crazy. Being rookie of the year meant a lot, I felt so happy after that. I have it on my room wall and every time I look at it I think, “Man, I can’t believe I did that.”

7. How much does your physical fitness and being in the gym impact/benefit your racing?

It definitely benefits the physical side. Everyone can do endurance. It’s just running, cardio, keeping your heart rate up. I like to do that by playing soccer with my friends outside, we’ll do it for hours on end, but strength is very good, especially going into late models. I really noticed it with the dirt late model. The more you workout, you notice it’s easier to turn or not as much cramps.

8. What is your favorite racing memory?

I have two. Vegas 2022, the [Asphalt] Nationals where I finished 2nd and 1st with Joel Smith. We were both rookies in Legends. There’s a photo online somewhere of us hugging. Back then I was just so happy I finished top 2 for something I wasn’t very quick at. I fell back to 12th and came all the way back up, passing some of the best drivers that I know. My other one would be first NASCAR event I ever went to. It was in Charlotte where Joey Logano won.

9. Who do you consider to be your biggest role model?

I would say my dad. He only wants the greatest from me and loves to help, even my mother too. She loves to help my racing and protect me at all costs. If I do a little bit wrong, she’ll definitely tell me I did a wrong, just like my dad.

10. If you had to pick one event to win in all of motorsports, what would it be and why?

Probably an F1 championships because that’s huge, or even the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That’s endurance. That takes time and effort and you know how tired they get. After they get 3 hours in the car, they’ll get like an hour of sleep and wake back up because their adrenaline is still running

 11. How does a Legend Car compare to driving Pro Trucks?

Pro Trucks are very slow. They’re going to be faster lap times speed wise, but going into the corners you have to wait for it to set. Legend cars are in the corner, on the brake, gas. You’re in the corner and gone within a snap. It’s very fast paced. Sometimes I don’t even know what the car is doing and I have to take a couple laps. A Pro Truck you can learn in a few corners and know what its doing. You’ll feel it slug over and then it come off. It’s more calming.

12. What are your long-term career goals?

My goal would be to win a championship in NASCAR and try to move into F1 or IMSA or 24 Hours of Le Mans. I want to do as much as I can. I may not win a NASCAR championship but I’d rather win a race in every racing series I compete in at least once.

13. What would you say is your greatest motivation in racing?

My greatest motivation is knowing that there is more to it. Knowing that I can get faster and I can drive more time. Knowing that I can get to ARCA, Trucks, Xfinity, and moving on forward and continuing to get better. Always knowing that I can be better than everyone else keeps me on my toes and trying to get better. It’s very simple but it keeps me going. Sometimes I’ll go a couple weeks without racing and I’ll just be like “Man I want to get in the car” because I love and miss the feeling of racing other people and they might be faster than you, but are they better than you in the longer term. It’s a lot of ups and downs but the feeling, I love it.

14. What do you see yourself doing if you weren’t going to be a driver?

I’m big into World War II so maybe a World War II historian. You could ask me any date and time and I could tell you what battle was there. I know details that people that other people don’t. I could see the Air Force too. I do a lot of aircraft simulator stuff. My entire family has been military or law enforcement. My grandfather was serving during 9/11 and my great grandfather was in World War II. My uncle was in the Marine Air Force and my aunt was in the Marines as well. My other aunt was in the police and I have more family in the police today.

15. How does driving a Legends car prepare you for different forms of racing in the future like Late Models?

I tested a late model one time and I decided to run on old tires just to a little bit more twitchy to see what it would be like to run after a hundred laps. It really helped at counter-steering. Being able to swing the wheel the other direction and holding it and catching it to get it to go straight off the corner. The grip as well. Going from tons of grip to no grip as well really keeps you on your toes as well.

 16. What was your biggest learning moment in racing career?

Back I was racing Donovan Strauss in Atlanta, I would say he definitely told me you have to be fast to win but you also have to be strong mentally and physically. It definitely worked out and my competitors definitely keep me on my toes. Learning dirt was big too. Going from only racing asphalt to switching to dirt where there is a lot more counter-steering because you’re not counter-steering to go straight but rather to keep it drifting through the corner.

17. Describe your experience and how it felt to be apart of the Earnhardt Outdoors Showdown.

It was very fun. It was chaotic at first, I almost didn’t even know what was happening. Once we got everything settled, we had a little bit of a motor problem but it was ok. We just kept getting faster and faster. Being such a small track was very weird. Going from a quarter-mile in Atlanta to being a tenth-mile little oval on a parkway was very weird but it was cool. Watching everyone plug their ears while I went by was pretty funny. I enjoyed it and I hope I can do it again.