“We knew that this area was pretty much wide open for a shop—meaning Texas down in this area—for a shop that can handle a variety of cars and customer needs,” Spano said.
Rees was part of the Formula One Red Bull Racing Team and Pit Crew for six years and has 15 years of experience in various racing championships. Spano spent 30 years as an IndyCar mechanic and owned his own racing team in the ’90s.
Judd and his wife, Kristina, launched various companies throughout the country including Modern Acupuncture and Brisket U. Judd, a competitor himself, wanted to be able to provide the assistance to other drivers that he wished he had.
They started their business in 2019 working out of Miller’s garage as they made it more public. After a few events at racetracks, they began to gain traction and outgrew the garage and moved to an airplane hangar. Another airplane hangar and a 10,000-square-foot facility later, Esses Racing eventually moved into its current 15,000-square-foot facility in Buda.
As the company’s popularity and demand grew, the trio added Dave O’Neill as partner and general manager whose previous experience includes being part of the team that launched Haas in F1 and was its sporting director and team manager.
Spano said that it was no longer just a few of them in the shop. It became extremely busy; it was hard to do everything; and bringing in O’Neill was a big help.
Not only does the company handle transporting a client’s car to the race track, but it also serves as the driver’s crew and track support, whether it is for a competition or simply for fun.
Racing is not seasonal, O’Neill said, and Esses is out at the Harris Hill Raceway in San Marcos every week.
Though Esses does maintenance and modifications, it does not yet rebuild engines, but officials hope to add an engineer to the team to take it to the next level.
“We just keep digging deep, trying not to go too wide and just make it a nice place to work in [the Austin area], where people want to come and bring in their toys and have fun,” O’Neill said.
Esses Racing
1481 Robert S. Light Blvd., Bldg. C, Buda 713-614-9000. www.essesracing.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 8 a.m.-noon, closed Sun.
