Current TCR Points Co-Leader in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Took the Road Less Traveled with Fast Results May 24, 2021 By Jeff Olson IMSA Wire Service ![]() DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – When one IMSA driver recently joked that another competitor might excel at equestrian show jumping, he may actually have been onto something. To wit: The current co-leader in the Touring Car (TCR) class of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, who credits her experience in equestrian show jumping with the foundation for some of her racing skills. “They’re actually super similar sports, to be completely honest,” said Taylor Hagler, who with Bryan Herta Autosport teammate Michael Lewis leads the TCR standings after finishing second in the No. 77 BHA with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Veloster N TCR on May 15 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. “There’s the competition factor and the focus.” Hagler, 25, spent her teen years in show jumping – a highly competitive equestrian sport that’s been a part of the Summer Olympic Games since 1912 – across the U.S., in one year attending nearly 30 events. The competition is technical, athletic and difficult. It also encases some of the same aptitudes required by motorsports. “Learning a show jumping track is like learning a race course,” Hagler said. “You use all the same hand-eye coordination in a race car that you use when you’re show jumping. They’re pretty similar.” Her interest in auto racing goes back as far as her interest in horses. Hagler’s dad, Robert, was into SCCA racing. Her mom, Dawn, was into equestrian events. Taylor chose show jumping, and soon began a busy schedule of traveling from their home in Bulverde, Texas, to events across the country. “It was mostly me and my mom who went to shows,” she said. “There were a few years that we were pretty much traveling every other weekend. I did a lot of middle school and high school online because of all the travel. We didn’t travel nearly as extensively as I do in racing – it was shorter, only a Friday-to-Sunday thing – and we definitely didn’t go to as many states, but we traveled quite often.” Then, while a student at the University of Texas-San Antonio, Hagler experienced a return of her interest in auto racing. When she was 20, she completed a Skip Barber Racing School session. And, just like that, she began the transition from horses to cars. “I really enjoyed racing and was able to find all of the similarities between the two,” she said. “I was able to use things that I learned in show jumping and transfer that into racing – like looking forward and learning the tracks, which is similar to learning the courses in show jumping. It’s pretty easy to transfer those skills from one to the other.” ![]() |