Cooper Becklin takes the title “student-athlete” to the next level, competing full time in Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda (FR Americas) while also being enrolled at Clackamas Community College on a track and field scholarship. The racecar driver / high jumper had a lot on his plate in 2022, including graduating high school and kicking off his freshman year of college, all while piloting the No. 91 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3. With a best finish of second at VIR, Becklin finished seventh in the championship point standings, earning three Super License points.
What topping absolutely never belongs on a pizza?
Cooper Becklin (CB): “Mushrooms.”
Do you believe in luck?
CB: “Yes; it depends on what you’re doing, but I feel like sometimes you can just get lucky with things. Winning the lottery—that’s luck.”
What emotions do you go through during a race?
CB: “Happy, sad, angry—all of the above.”
If you were developing the next big social media platform, what would it be used for?
CB: “That’s a hard question, because there are so many. Going along the with newest one that’s big—BeReal—I think that could be used in a short video form with like a five-second video.”
How did you come up with your autograph?
CB: “I just came up with my autograph this year—we had that autograph session at Road America and I needed to come up with something. I don’t know if mine’s final yet, but for right now, it’s okay.”
How do you decompress after a tough race?
CB: “I take some time by myself, so I can kind of run it back through my head and just think about what happened.”
If you didn’t drive racecars for a living, what would you do?
CB: “Track and field—probably high jump. That’s the other thing that I’m doing right now [with a full-ride scholarship to Clackamas Community College], so I feel like that’s what I’d want to do.”
Who in the paddock have you known the longest and how did you meet?
CB: “Either Mac Clark or Nick Persing, but I think it’s probably Nick. I have a picture of me, him and a couple of our friends sitting on our karting stands at Sonoma back in Junior Max—it was a long time ago.”
You just started college this fall & you’re set to compete on the school’s track team this spring. You compete in the high jump—what’s your personal record?
CB: “Right now, it’s 6’6” – I’m pushing for 6’10”.
I last spoke with Ryan Yardley and I asked him for a question to ask you. He wanted to know who your favorite teammate is.
CB: “My favorite teammate in what form? There are different ways you could look at that.”
That’s a good point, you could name your favorite track and field teammate and really mess with him.
CB: “No, I think Ryan is my favorite. He helps me a lot, and he has let me stay with him. So, I’d say he’s my favorite—at least for now."
Do you have a question that I can ask the next driver I interview? It will be Rodrigo Gutierrez.
CB: “Ask him what he likes to do in his free time.”
