Rob Torres attended the 2022 F4 race at New Jersey Motorsports Park only as a spectator, but he left having had an encounter that would change the course of his racing career.

By July 2022, Rob Torres had already racked up experience at this level. He raced a full F4 season in 2020 with Group A Racing, where despite one top-10, he struggled to get consistent results.

After that, he took a few seasons away from the F4 setup to run in the National Auto Sport Association in a Radical SR3 in 2021. This past year, he ran various endurance races with the World Racing League in a Subaru.

While he began achieving more and more success in other disciplines, Torres’s heart was set on a return to open-wheel racing, so he asked around at the race and looked for any opportunities.

Torres eventually struck up a conversation with a Future Star Racing driver. Torres proceeded to ask the driver questions as Torres gained interest in potentially driving for the Indiana-based team. After that, he took matters into his own hands on social media.

“I reached out to them through Instagram,” Torres said. “I said, flat out, ‘What does it take to be a driver for you guys?’”

Torres and Future Star Racing talked over the next two months before he tested with the team in September, where Torres impressed the team with his ability.

Less than four months after that initial encounter, Future Star Racing unveiled that Rob would race for them in F4 this upcoming season.

Heading into 2023, Torres has loads of confidence and ready to capitalize on the opportunity he received.

“In a word, (this season) means everything,” Torres said. “It’s what I’ve been thinking about, working so hard for, and really praying that things come together.”

Rob Torres

At 25, Torres is older than most drivers he will compete against in F4 this year. Due to that unique status as a driver who has bounced various types of racing looking for a breakout opportunity, one person came up to him recently at a testing session and branded him as an underdog.

“I kind of like that term,” Torres said. “You know, I think it motivates me.”

At that session in New Orleans, Torres was consistently running in the top 10 throughout all sessions. He was 9th in the last session on Saturday in the dry and finished the wet session on Sunday in 10th.

“I feel like we have a good understanding of each other as a team,” Torres said. “I feel like I did very well, it must’ve been two months since I’ve been in the F4 car.”

As testing wraps up, Torres is in preparation mode for the first race of the season at NOLA Motorsports Park next month. While a Future Star Racing driver has never finished higher than Andre Castro’s 8th in the 2022 F4 Championship standings, Torres is optimistic that he’ll be able to contend.

“The funding’s there,” Torres said. “We’ll challenge for the championship and go all out because that’s how you get anywhere in the sport.”

As for Rob’s future, his dream is to compete in INDYCAR someday, but his wide range of experience in other disciplines has left him open to other possibilities for his racing career goals.

“If an IMSA seat opens up or a NASCAR seat opens up, I think having a good variety of seat time in different things helps,” Torres said.

Rob Torres will begin his United States F4 Championship season next month at NOLA Motorsports Park in Louisiana