AT JUST 27 YEARS OLD, Sydney Marshall is already the face of a new generation in drag racing. He grew up at the racetrack, learned every inch of it from the ground up, and now runs one of the most active racetracks in Florida – Orlando Speed World Dragway.

Growing up in central Florida, Marshall spent his earliest weekends at the track, tagging along as his father raced in local bracket programs before running the Outlaw Pro Street Motorcycle class across the country, from Gainesville to Indy to Rockingham.

“ I started coming to OSW when I was probably like two or three months old,” Marshall recalls.“ My dad was racing before I was born and continues to race now. He was always into motorcycles, so that’ s how I got into it.”

For Marshall, the sights and sounds of the racetrack left an early impression. Staple events like Night of Fire and the World Street Nationals were, and still are, two of his favorites on the yearly schedule. Along with his father, Marshall’ s mother, and his cousin, Isaiah Rojas, driver of the ProCharged Mech-Tech Pro Mod Corvette, also influenced his involvement in the sport.

While still in high school, Marshall first joined the staff at Orlando Speed World in a part-time position that gradually became a full-time career. By 2020, when a management change occurred, owner Ozzy Moya already had a replacement in mind.“ Ozzy called me and gave me the opportunity to come on board full-time,” he says.“ I took it and went into the management side of Orlando Speed World. Now it’ s my show to run.”

The promotion, however, did not come without challenges. Marshall works an average of 50 hours a week while taking classes toward his mechanical engineering degree at Seminole State College, with plans to transfer to UCF. He admits that earning respect from racers was a hurdle in the beginning but has improved over time.

“ They see a new young kid come in and they’ re not as open to that,” he says.“ But I think overall we’ ve gotten where we need to be. Everybody knows the deal and I’ m not just some young kid here just to fill in a spot.”

With six full-time employees and a rotating staff of about 55, Marshall oversees multiple departments, including office management, marketing, maintenance, and groundskeeping. During the week, he hosts private track rentals, while weekends are packed with a variety of events.“ Lack of sleep is the way to do it,” he says with a laugh.

Marshall is also experienced in track prep, a skill he learned firsthand from a previous manager.“ I’ m always a person to try different things. Franco told me to hop on the tractor, so I did. And from there, I learned more about prepping the racetrack and got better over time,” Marshall says.

That willingness to dive in has earned him respect beyond OSW. He has been contracted to assist other facilities, including Gainesville Raceway for Sick Week, as well as South Georgia Motorsports Park. In 2022, he had the opportunity to help Kurt Johnson with Total Venue Concepts at the Night Under Fire event at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.“ That was my first time doing anything fuel-related. Prepping for fuel cars is way different than anything I’ ve ever seen before,” he says of working with Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars.

In addition to managing one of Florida’ s busiest dragstrips, Marshall is building his own Limited Drag Radial car, a 2018 Infiniti Q60 with a billet 2JZ engine, 106mm turbo, and 5-speed Liberty transmission. His dad is helping with the build, and Marshall values that time spent together in the shop.“ I wanted to build something that people don’ t normally see,” he says.“ Hopefully by June, the car will be on the track, if not earlier. There’ s not much left to do, but it’ s all the little tedious stuff.”

While Marshall continues working toward his

college degree, he sees his long-term future at Orlando Speed World, where a succession plan is already in place for the facility.“ I always wanted to get my engineering degree since I was a child, but that’ s not the field I plan to go into. I want to carry this out as long as I can,” he explains.“ Within the next few years, Ozzy has plans for me and his two kids to take over the business. His son, Junior, and his daughter, Isabella, and I will fully run the company and basically lease the facility from him.”

For now, Marshall is focused on building events like Night of Fire and Sport Compact Challenge, which is the biggest import race in the world held every October. He also wants to make the facility a place that welcomes a wide range of events, racers, and spectators.“ Right now, Orlando is mostly known for the import series. My goal is to make us known for everything – this is a multicultural place,” he says.

With a clear vision and a lifelong passion for drag racing, there’ s no doubt Orlando Speed World is in good hands with Marshall at the helm of track operations. He’ s excited and focused on improving the 60-year-old facility, but also emphasizes what truly drives its success.

“ You could have the best track in the world, but if you don’ t get the people to come and race here, it doesn’ t matter,” he says.“ It means nothing without the racers and the people who show up to our facility.” – MADELYN MARCONI DI

PHOTO: KYLE CHRIST