Our Story
What is a Paddock?
The word “paddock” comes from horse racing and describes the area where horses are kept between races. Road racing has adopted the name to define the area where cars are kept between races outside the hot pit area.
Why did we pick Grass Paddock Motorsports as our name?
At your typical racetrack, the garage area is the most premium space, where privacy and a roof come at a substantial cost. The rest of us end up where we can afford it, in either the paved or grass paddock.
For us, the paddock location is more about defining the race weekend atmosphere, not the performance.
Race winners come from every paddock location - we famously sat on the pole at the SCCA Runoffs after chosing to setup in a distance grassy area with our friends.
It has become our name because of what it implies: INCLUSIVITY and OPPORTUNITY.
You do not need to be wealty to race (although it helps), nor do you need to be a part of the "in-crowd".
Come join us in the Grass Paddock and become part of the family.
About Us
Grass Paddock Motorsports grew out of the collaboration between Frank Schwartz, who has over 40 years in motorsports, Ron Copeland who has 30 plus years experience, and David Oliveira, who came to the sport more recently (but still has tons of experience).
Schwartz, aka FiestaFrank, started renting race cars in the 90s at Waterford Hills in Michigan. At the time one of his on-track competitors was "Honda Ron" Copeland, who rented CRX's. After taking some years off for family, Frank returned to full time racing in 2017 at the wheel of one of Honda Ron's CRX's in H Production.
In 2018 he purchased his first Mini Cooper and made the transition to B-Spec. At the same time he took over the strategy and marketing for the B-Spec class. Under his guidance, B-Spec is now the fastest growing class of racing in the country.
Oliveira has been in B-Spec longer than Schwartz, starting in 2016 after moving on from track day events (he did one of the first Track Night in Americas) and gaining his competition license. Frank and David met at the 2019 Pittsburgh Super Tour and David was hired to build a second car for Frank, which eventually sat on the pole at the Runoffs.
Throughout the remainder of 2019 and 2020, the team paddocked together and in 2021 decided to bring their separate and independent businesses together under a "common canopy", just like at the track.
The team is an interesting international combination of talent and experience. Frank is a native of Germany, and is a business consultant with specific expertise in customer experiences and takes car of the organization side of things. David is a Porsche and Mini Master Technician and is in charge of all of the mechanical work. Ron is retired after many years in the car business and supports both Frank and David as needed.