Meet NASA’s New Spec E46 National Director

NASA Texas racer Jason Rikke has been named the new National Series Director for Spec E46. Rikke takes over for previous director Eric Haagenson.

Rikke discovered motorsports in much the same way the rest of us did. He started out in autocross, found out about track days ) After a few events looked towards earning his ompetition license. Rikke began competing in German Touring Series, but soon discovered the allure of spec class racing, and moved into Spec E46.

Rikke started from scratch and built his entire car from a donor. The construction process took him 18 months, and though he didn’t know it at the time, that experience would prove useful in his new role as Spec E46 National Director. He knows the chassis and the engine as well as he knows the rule book. One race was all it took for him to fall in love with the platform.

“Eighteen months later I took my first race in it. I was scared to death. I mean that car was handling so well that I didn’t know what to do with myself,” he said. “I couldn’t believe you could turn, slide and go forward at the same time. It was intense, and I was just so impressed with what the car could do.”

Rikke has been series leader for Spec E46 in the NASA Texas Region for two years. He has grown the field to upward of 10 cars, but admits that getting them all to show up for every NASA race weekend can be a challenge. He now faces the same challenge on a national scale, a task made somewhat more formidable by taking over during midseason.

Rikke sees at least part of his job in helping as many racers become as competitive as they can be.

“This is amateur club racing. If we don’t better each other, then we’re really not winning,” he said. “The trophy feels good, but it’s all about the experience at the track. On the track and then off the track when you’re around your fellow buddies, and they push you to another level that you didn’t know existed. It’s an honorable thing to be around a bunch of women and men that can bring that out of you. And I’ve been trying to emphasize that as series leader for two years. It’s all about mentorship.”

 Rikke also will continue to foster the transition to and adoption of the new spec Hoosier RCES tires, which have suited him and his fellow Texas Spec E46 racers well. He values racer feedback, which over time can help shape positive directional changes in the series. NASA Texas doesn’t race at any fast tracks, those with airfield-long straightaways that stretch the limits of top gear, but Rikke said the grip and longevity have been good.

“We already see the value in the RCES,” he said. “We have a gentleman that’s on 17 heat cycles doing the exact same tracks we’ve been doing last year and he’s just blown away that they still have grip through the whole race where we know the Toyos would’ve fallen off. You would’ve gotten three laps and they would’ve got greasy and that’s just the way they were.”

Even with the butterflies and the trepidation of taking over an existing series midseason, Rikke said he feels like he is right where he should be.

“I told Marie Adams, this is where my heart tells me I belong. I don’t know how to explain it. I’ve really not known a lot of competent feelings like that in life. I mean, heck, we’ve been in business 35 years and I still doubt some decisions I make,” Rikke said. “I don’t feel that way. This is literally, I believe, where God told me to be. And somehow or another, I’m just going to make it through it. You’re always nervous when you get into something, but I don’t know how to explain it. I don’t. I just feel dang happy.”