We recently connected with Mike Steel and have shared our conversation below.

Mike, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

The craziest story of Idiot Racing is actually one of the biggest things that put us on the map! On June 12 2021, I raced in my first Baja 500. It was easily one of the best and wildest days of my life. I had built my first race car over the previous few months to the best of my (totally novice) ability, and was really excited to see what it could do! But when I got to Baja, I faced hill climbs inequivalent to anything I tested in Florida, boulders the size of watermelons, and sand pits deeper than any of our best beaches. By Race Mile 55, I had blown a ball joint, destroyed a front shock, rebuilt a carburetor, and, after the car was officially out of the race around midnight, I did my best to hide it behind some trees so I could go get my trailer to bring it back to the house we were renting. That’s when the actual crazy part starts!

When I got back around 2am, my car was gone. Stolen. Someone had tied a strap to the front bumper and just dragged it off into the back roads of Baja. Once I found some cell signal, I called my wife back at our rental house, and she started making calls to anyone she could think of. At that point, I just drove back to the house, totally numb. Before we went to sleep, my wife posted on my Instagram page about the theft and where the car was left behind, and then we were ready to put this crazy day behind us.

By the next morning, that post was EVERYWHERE. On dozens of Instagram pages. On dozens of Facebook pages. Translated from English into Spanish. On race fans’ pages, VW fans’ pages, Baja residents’ pages…EVERYWHERE. We were shocked! I couldn’t believe how much everyone was coming together to help this Idiot from the States. And then, the unbelievable happened…just as we were going to the station to get the police involved, a call came in. Someone found my car! A guy had been on his way to the grocery store, saw my car in a field, recognized it from Facebook, and through the social media chain somehow got my number and called.

But it gets even crazier! The car was about an hour away from where we were staying. By the time we got to it, local police were guarding my car with rifles! And even though the tires and some lights were stripped off, the car was totally fine. Three cops literally grabbed shovels, helped me get my car out of the dirt, put the tires back on, and roll it onto my trailer. As we drove north back to the States, multiple people honked at us, waving, cheering, giving thumbs up…I’ve never seen anything like it.

So, yeah…I failed my first Baja 500 in spectacular fashion. But I loved every second of it, and have been building and racing ever since.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m Mike Steel, and I’m the founder and owner of Idiot Racing, LLC. I build off-road desert racing vehicles for a living in my garage in Florida, and post about my adventures and misdeeds on Instagram. For most of my life, I’ve dreamt about racing in Baja, but there was just one little problem – I had never built or raced a car in my life. But, in 2021 within the depths of my COVID crazies, I decided to just go for it. I bought a 1969 VW Beetle with the intention of building a race-compliant Class 11 car and taking on the Baja 500. In the past 2 years, I’ve built two cars, taken my best stab at the Baja 500 and Baja 1000, and done maybe a dozen or so other races or events throughout California and Southern Nevada – even won a couple of those! I’m proud that not only do I get to wake up every day and chase my dream, but it’s pretty awesome to see that I’m inspiring some other people too.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Gladly. The entire Idiot Racing brand was built on social media, mainly Instagram. There was this thing that I really wanted to do, but honestly had no clue where to start. I’ve had a lifelong obsession with cars, and knew my way around some wrenches, but that was about it. So I called myself “Idiot Racing” to set a VERY low bar with everyone I interacted with, and I just started asking questions on message boards and Instagram.

If you’re just getting started on social media, yes you have to do the basic stuff like post consistently (early and often, figure out what time of day your posts do the best and play that algorithm, etc). But, beyond that, remember that people can tell if you’re real or not, even through the social media filter. If you are disingenuous or self-serving, especially in the business world, your audience will know and they will stop engaging with you. Remember that people go to social media for entertainment, not the home shopping network. So even though you are obviously there to build your business or your brand, you have to give your audience something in return, like information, or inspiration, or even just a funny character to watch. Put out something that people will want to see and tune in for. So, as you’re outreaching in this world, be mindful of what people want or need to see. Anyone can do exactly what you’re doing, but what should set you apart is the information or entertainment you’re giving your audience. That’s what I try to do – my origin story is entertaining, yes, but I start my Instagram stories every day with a my plans for the day and a rundown of what I’m going to do that day, but also WHY I’m doing it. And I still post my questions all the time! The result is that I learn something, but at least some of my audience does too, and people like that.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Without doubt, it’s been my persistence. On dozens of occasions, I’ve run across circumstances where I’ve persisted where others would have given up. I hear other people express amazement that I didn’t give up all the time! So much stuff has happened along the way, and some days I’ve just had to walk away and put it behind me for the night, but the next day I’m back on it. The thing is, for me, that persistence comes second nature because this is the thing I truly want to do in this world. So, when I’m in the thick of whatever today’s crisis is, I just keep pushing. I try something different, I ask the real experts what they would do, I take a quick break, but it’s just sheer desire to achieve that keeps me going.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.idiotracing.com
• Instagram: idiot.racing
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@idiotracing462
• Other: TikTok: idiot.racing

Image Credits
Victor Beal, Kaylee Sletten, Cynthia Steel