Michael d’Orlando is an American racing driver competing part-time in the 2024 Indy NXT series, driving for Andretti Cape Indy NXT. His goal is to secure a full-time seat competing in the NTT IndyCar series, with the Indy NXT being the final step on the ladder to be promoted into that series.

The 22-year-old, originally from Hartsdale, New York, previously drove for Turn 3 Motorsport in the 2023 USF Pro 2000 Championship where he finished fourth, with four wins and six pole positions. Across his previous three years competing in the USF 2000 Championship, Michael earned top-four places in the driver standings every season, and even took out the 2022 Championship title. He is the only driver in the series’ history to earn back-to-back sweeps at the Freedom 75 race in Indianapolis. 

His career began in karting at the age of six, and he spent the next decade winning multiple national and international championships. He moved to driving race cars in 2017 when he began competing in the USF 2000 Championship series. 

Outside of racing, Michael is a Business Administration – Marketing student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and is a massive foodie.

Where it all began

When I was a child, me and my younger brother, Nick, used to love racing back and forth around the yard on toy tractors, or cars or whatever we could. We also just loved watching racing on TV. My dad was a big motorhead. He loved cars. He loved motorcycles. So I got it from him.

My job in 10 words or less

The most rewarding thing, but the biggest emotional roller coaster.

Why what I do is important

Motorsports and sports in general are entertainment for people, so I guess I’m in the entertainment business. But it’s important to me because it’s something that I enjoy doing, and I found my calling. I think every person has to look inward and think: “What am I good at? What can I do to make myself happy for the rest of my life? What job can I do that doesn’t feel like a job? What’s something that I want to do every day and not get tired of?” and racing is that for me. The more I strive to be better, the more I put myself in situations I never thought I’d be in. 

The next step in my career is IndyCar which is a huge step up but I’m sure my six-year-old self would be head over heels for where I am now. I’m proud of my achievements, where I am in my career so far, and what I’m doing with my life. I became a better person because of racing. It’s just who I am and that’s what makes it important. 

My first race

In spring 2008, when I turned 6 and Nick turned 5, we went to Oakland Valley Race Park in Cuddebackville, New York. We signed up to a karting school then and there and I absolutely loved it. We were only there for a couple of days before we competed in our first race, and I came third so it wasn’t a bad starting point. The owner of the track spoke to my dad and said: “I have good news and bad news for you guys. The bad news is this sport’s really expensive but the good news is your kids are really good at it.”

We ended up staying in karting for a while, and mom and dad weren’t sure about how long we’d be in it for, and thought it could just be a phase. Then I started reaching national levels and winning. I began racing karts overseas in the FIA European Championship, and the next thing you know, in 2017, I took my first step into cars. 

I remember bits and pieces of my young karting days and it was a lot simpler because funding wasn’t as much of an issue. I could get to the racetrack, enjoy every moment of it with no stress or pressure and just drive because I loved it. I don’t come from a family that has the funding, network or backing like other drivers you see going into F1 or IndyCar. So now, as you get further into the competition, you realise that the results, and some of the things you say, really do matter.  

My most challenging moment

The bridge between 2023 and 2024 was the most challenging and most stressful because it’s a big jump from USF Pro 2000 to IndyNXT. More professional teams are starting to notice me so I’m trying to perform whenever I can, and show that I belong in the series full time and that I deserve to be a paid driver. 

As a driver, I trust myself, am confident in my abilities and understand that I’m doing what I’m doing because I’m good at racing and I love it. But the biggest struggle is money and trying to find the funding to move forward. What I think about is: “if I don’t have the funding, where do I find some? How do I put myself in a position to get some?”. I have to use the support of other people to get me to where I want to be. I could go out and make money working in a different field, but then I’m taking time away from practising and preparing for race weekends. I’m already trying to balance being a businessman and marketing myself, trying to find sponsorships, completing my degree in college, and putting 100% effort into every race weekend as an athlete. 

My parents do everything they can to help my career. They both work 40-hour weeks but they’ll always try to help, whether it’s jumping on phone calls or trying to get some sponsorship stuff done. For a little while, they were putting some money in for my karting career and my early car days. But now I’ve been fortunate enough to be driving off sponsorship funding which is a little bit easier on mom and dad. In saying that, even if they did put in the money, it wouldn’t be nearly enough. 

My proudest moment

Winning the USF 2000 championship – for sure! Not everything went down correctly that year, but we just kept pushing. I never gave up, even though I was in race positions where I thought I wasn’t going to win the championship. Especially the final weekend. It was a triple header and I was 26 points down from the championship lead, but I ended up winning in the last race. There were lots of nerves and pressure but I was super proud of my performance. We didn’t have the fastest car, but I was the smartest, the most persistent and made that win happen off of merit and that’s what I’m super proud of. 

A racing memory I’ll never forget

There’s a lot of stuff that I’m really happy about and have good memories of. But one that sticks out is from this year when I competed in the Detroit race with the Flatrock Motorclub. They sponsored the car for the race and they all came out to watch me. I was fighting for the podium position, but ended up getting taken out. So, halfway through the race I fell back to last, but managed to work my way back up to 10th within 10 laps, so it was an exciting race!

Another one is from 2021 at the USFP 2000 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I started from 12th position, and finished 2nd. We didn’t have that much of a faster car compared to other teams, but it was just positioning, working my way past people, having some good restarts, and everything worked out for that race. That was one of those moments that I genuinely think if I had more time, I would have won. Even from 12th. That was a pretty awesome race. I was super proud of myself for that. 

How I’ve worked with SMG

I was introduced to SMG by the Flatrock group. I saw what the company was doing for Flatrock Motorclub’s social media and thought it would be great to work with them for my personal brand. I thought I’d been lacking a level of media exposure, support from a mass of fans and people, and growing my network, and that’s where social media plays a big role. 

Thanks to SMG, I’m learning more about the marketing-media side of social media, and better understanding the idea behind content creation. They’ve given me some material to work with, insights about my brand, and explained what I should think about when I post. 

I hope by growing my social media presence, it can help support my racing career in ways that the B2B in the business couldn’t. Social media is a form of business and increasing my outreach and profile can lead to so many things. If I can master every aspect of the sport, on and off the track, then I get to stay in it and achieve my dreams. Having Maddie and the SMG team support me with my social media goals has been so helpful.

My advice to others wanting to get a career in motorsports

You need to be passionate. If it’s something that you don’t want to spend every day thinking about, or stressing about, it’s not for you. You need to get up and think about all the things you could be doing to make it work. But remember, it’s different for everyone. I was talking to Josef Newgarden recently and he was telling me about how he got to IndyCar and his path was different to mine, even though we both had the support from Art Wilmes from Rising Star Racing. 

You also need to be determined. If you’ve got the money, then leverage your connections, leverage your network to help you get where you want to be. And if you don’t have the money, you have to work three times as hard to get that. It’s got to be something that you love to do. 

Go to the nearest racetrack. Go karting. If you have the money to get a sim rig, do some sim racing. Go to every event possible. Go to race weekends. Show your face. Meet people. Grow your network. There’s a lot of travelling involved, and a lot of time and effort, but you need to put yourself out of your comfort zone and embrace racing as much as possible. You may end up meeting other people within racing that you never thought you’d meet. You never know where you’re going to get the help or the support from – so be everywhere. Think about racing all the time, and it’s got to be something that you love to do and never gets old.

The difference between regular racers and great racers is the people that never get tired of the sport; and the people that constantly think about it, that have the ability to get up in the morning and push on every day for the same goal that seems at moments unreachable. But, you keep going anyway because there’s nothing more that you want to do but race.