AR Auto Service Cast of Characters

Jeff Zurschmeide


Much like the Wise Man in a primitive tribe used to be, Jeff is the storyteller and repository of all the wisdom that is AR, Minus the old, wrinkly or wearing the skins of many dead animals part.  Most everything that we think is a “new” idea probably has been done before and Jeff has a neat story to go with it.  Without Jeff the stories of the AR crew would go unwritten, or at least written with much less cohesion, and proper grammar, and punctuation and spelling.  (is that too many commas in one sentence?)

Fun Fact: Jeff knows things about old Italian cars (like Spica injection) that we can’t even pretend to understand


Adam Griffith
Coming Soon

Cameron Benner
Coming Soon

 

Eric Wishan
Coming Soon

Rich Cohn-Lee


Rich started doing autocross and open track days a few years ago with a blue Dodge Viper that he promptly crashed at PIR.  He then bought another blue Dodge Viper which . . . he also destroyed at virtually the same spot on the same track.  After an intervention from the friendly staff at AR, Rich is now enjoying the process of learning to drive and sucking marginally less in a 1994 Mazda Miata.

Fun Fact: Rich gained admission to the AR Flatspotting Hall of Fame by ignoring the fact that his Miata does not have ABS, thereby converting his previously circular tires into near-perfect octagons.”

Matt Laverty

Matt is a longtime car enthusiast who seems to understand the need for multiple cars that lack any utility capacity. He currently owns an S2000, a Miata and a Neon and we wear that only one of these cars runs at any given time. Matt’s claim to fame is the fact that his Miata has ITB’s, making it sound incredibly glorious despite its sub 150hp output.

Fun Fact: Matt has been a part of the team that programs the Forza Motorsports games.  Ask him about the Forza Lotus Elise incident!

 

Scott Collins

Scott is an ex-Ferrari owner. We make a point of including the “ex” portion of the Ferrari ownership because his “cool to hang out with” factor went down by 68% as soon as the car was gone. Despite the fact that he no longer owns the Ferrari he still expects to be swarmed by Hawaiian tropic-like models all of the time. Sadly, we recently found out that he wasn’t being swarmed by Hawaiian Tropic-like models even when he did have the Ferrari.

Fun Fact: Scotty kicked everyone’s butt at the PIR grand opening track day posting a 1:23.xx lap time, thus cementing the fact that he does indeed suck at the chicane.

Joe Casey


Joe is a budding Ayrton Senna/Colin McRae.  A bud which might not ever flower, but we have hopes.  Joe has burning desire to race and has done everything that his poor college budget will allow him to do.  Sadly this has amounted to some Rallycross and a few Chumpcar races.  Nonetheless, we can respect a man who has his priorities.  Joe currently drivers a 1994 Mazda Miata and likes his topless driving experience so much that he even drives top down in 20 degree weather

Fun Fact: Joe is one of the founding members of the AR Chumpcar Flatspot club.

Paul Klas


They say that he would rather change brake pads than eat. They say that he would rather clean his wheels of brake dust than breathe. They even say that he times his drive to work every morning with an XT Racing lap timer. One thing is for sure, with an NSX, STi, and a new Lotus Sport Elise he is the Official AR Auto “I have too many track cars” guy.
While we all love and respect “The Paul”, we’ve had some troubling reports from his family alluding to the fact that he secretly prefers automatic transmissions. Say it ain’t so!!

Fun Fact: Paul doesnt have fun facts yet. Dont let this fool you into thinking Paul isnt a fun guy. He is. Very.

Pongydoo/Pong


Pong is our resident “guy who hangs out all of the time but doesnt actually work here” guy. Pong is also our resident “at every single track day driving like a madman” guy as well. With a current best time of 1:29.xx on the old PIR configuration he is one of the fastest stock S2000 drivers we know of. Pong is the founding member of Black Hawk Racing.

Fun Fact: Pongydoo’s real name is Lapas Hasdin

Mike Wann


The Co-founder of the original Adrenaline Racing, Mike Wann is the quintessential worldwide adventurer. If there’s a place to go, food to eat or person to meet he’s done it. Everything from his wardrobe, to his vehicles are all done in style and it is said that nothing escapes the keen eye of Mike Wann. Mike recently moved to California and is still there today furthering his plans of world domination.

Fun Fact: Mike is the co-founder of the original Adrenaline Racing

Katrina Steinbacher


Katrina has the dubious honor of being the first and only female intern at AR Auto Service.  We commend her for her bravery and fortitude in this endeavor and hope the best for her as she moves ahead in life. The shop isn’t nearly as bright a place without her sunny smile!

Fun fact:  Katrina doesn’t tan nearly as well as she’d like.

 

Billy Seroyer


Billy is our resident car enthusiast and Kart Racer.  He owns and races a 125cc Shifter Kart that is faster than almost any road going vehicle we can think of.  He is currently attending school at OSU and is a valuable contributor to their nationally competetive Formula SAE team!

Fun Fact:  Billy once had a wheel fall off of his Kart during a race. 

Sonja Cecil


Sonja is the unofficial redhead mascot of AR Auto Service.  She can be found wrenching on a car, washing her car or hanging out on the AR couch updating her Facebook Status.  Sonja drives a Yellow Mazda Miata and says she loves driving topless!

Fun Fact:  Sonja just recently attended her first track day!  We think she’s a shoe-in for our next Chumpcar Endurance Racing Effort

Coming soon:
Sam Ellis
Shane Curtis
Chris Nakato
Andy Hsaio

Nial Givens