Communication can make or break a race. Shawn Sampson learned that the way most racers do, from inside the car. He has spent more than 30 years racing and building racing communications, and every system SRC sells comes out of what he learned on track.
On the pit box at a World Racing League event.
It started with his dad
Shawn's father raced with the SCCA in the 1960s and '70s in Formula Ford. Shawn grew up around the paddock and started racing with the SCCA himself in the mid-1990s, in ProRX7 and Spec Miata. He won the 2004 SCCA FP Regional Championship before moving to the series he has spent most of his career in: endurance racing.
A career in endurance racing
Shawn has multiple podium finishes at the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill, including an E1 class win in 2005. He won the NASA WERC E1 Championship in 2016 and served three years as WERC Director, starting in 2012. Today he races in the World Racing League with SoCal Rustlers Motorsports in the #180 GP1 BMW, and in the Lucky Dog Racing League with Slowdog Racing. (Read the full racing history here.)
Why he started SRC
As a driver, a crew member and a team owner, Shawn kept seeing the same problem: teams relying on radios and headsets that weren't built for real race conditions. Equipment that works in the parking lot doesn't always hold up to heat, vibration, engine noise and a 12-hour stint. He started Sampson Racing Communications to build systems that do.
Built for each team
SRC builds two-way radio systems, helmet kits and crew headsets. The shop works with each team on its radios, helmet wiring and crew setup instead of selling a one-size-fits-all box. The goal is that a driver and crew can hear each other clearly from green flag to checkered, whether that's a sprint race or a 25-hour enduro.
Still at the track
Shawn still races. The gear SRC sells runs in his own car, and he spends race weekends in the paddock talking with other racers about what's working and what isn't. Those conversations shape what SRC builds next. His next WRL round is Circuit of the Americas in December with Troy Lindstrom.
Talk to someone who actually races
Setting up a new car or fixing a radio problem? Call the shop or stop by in Ventura at 1756 Eastman Ave, Ste #111. You'll talk to people who race on the same gear they sell.