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St. Pete native racing for dad at grand prix
St. Pete native and Seminole High grad Ryan Leach is competing in his first St. Pete Grand Prix after securing sponsorship from local company Power Design to race in the Mazda MX-5 series. FOX 13's Mark Skol Jr. reports.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - It's a big weekend at the St. Pete Grand Prix for St. Pete local Ryan Leach.
What they're saying:
"I've just wanted to race this race since I was a kid," Leach said.
The Seminole High School graduate is getting that opportunity due in large part to someone he has known since he was a kid.
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"Ryan was always into cars," Power design videographer Mo Lelii said. "That was his thing."
Leach's childhood best friend and the best man in his wedding, Lelii kicked the tires of the higher ups at his St. Pete company Power Design to see if they would sponsor his friend to race.
"You wouldn't want to put your name on the line for too many people, but Ryan is definitely one of those people I feel comfortable with doing that for sure," Lelii said.
After speaking with both childhood buddies, Power Design felt much more than comfortable to partner with the 35-year-old driver in the Mazda MX-5 series.
Local perspective:
"Being that he was coming from friends of our family and being he was a St. Pete local, it really felt right," Power Design Senior Director of Brand Alex Fox said.
For Leach, it was the perfect fit.
"We talked back and forth for several months," Leach said. "The vision between what I do, high performance racing, and what they do with the electrical, they are very high performance in what they do. They are the best in the field — the best in the industry. It kind of just worked. To be doing this with Power Design that is a local company. Obviously, me being a local and it being a local race, it is a dream come true."
It's not only a dream come true for Leach, but he says it would be for his late father, Steve, who bought him his first go-kart and took him to his first race.
"He would be super stoked," Leach said.
Dig deeper:
In fact, it was his dad's death back in 2021 that got Leach back into the sport after 12 years out of the game. He had previously been out of racing because his family could not keep up with the expensive costs of the sport. He had been working as an instructor at a mid-Ohio sports scar course where he taught high-performance racing and teen defensive driving schools.
"My dad passed away from small cell lung cancer and I kind of looked at it like life's short," Leach said. "Racing is what I love to do so I bought a racecar."
He got back into racing and excelled right off the rip. He won the Gridlife Rush Series in 2024 and 2025.
"Getting back into racing is awesome," Leach said. "It is something I have wanted to do since I was a little kid as my profession. Definitely super cool to get back into racing with the Rush and it fit right into my wheelhouse coming from go-karts and formula cars."
But moving from the Rush to MX-5 has certainly taken some getting used to.
"Jumping into the MX-5 car has been a big change," Leach said. "The car doesn't turn as well. It doesn't handle as well, so it's a big adjustment, but we are getting it figured out."
Leach’s new sponsors at Power Design are confident he will be able to figure it out.
"He's got a will to succeed that's for sure," Fox said. "To see our brand and to see Ryan out there racing, it is going to make it really special, especially after the relationship we built with Ryan and the great person he is. What he has gone through, it is great to see him out there representing the city."
Big picture view:
In his first St. Pete Grand Prix, Leach will certainly be representing his hometown and his new sponsor, but most importantly, he'll be repping his dad.
"He is 100% why I am doing this," Leach said.
And Leach thanks him any chance he gets.
"Before the race and praying a lot, I talk to him all the time," Leach said. "He would be standing right by my side. I can kinda feel that he is. It's awesome to be racing here."
Racing this week became even more special. Leach's wife, Nicole, gave birth to their first child, Ella, on Wednesday.
What's next:
Leach qualified for the 13th position in the Mazda MX-5 race on Saturday. It begins at 7:30 a.m. He will race again on Sunday at 4 p.m.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Mark Skol, Jr. during an interview with Ryan Leach and Power Design officials ahead of the 2026 St. Pete Grand Prix.