Sheena Monk: "I want us to go out there and bleed together"

Moving on from tough moments [0:00]

Sheena: That was a tough period of time for a lot of different reasons. We parted ways with the team and it's just like, you've got everything and then you got nothing, and it's like you're standing there like, “Okay, now what's next?” And there was a lot of question about even what I was going to be doing for 2026. I felt more comfortable just staying home.

There had been so much disappointment over the last few years for me at the racetrack that I frankly just couldn't bear too much more of it, so I wanted to make sure I was in a good spot. I might not have come back this year if it didn't feel like a place I wanted to be, and if we weren't all obsessed with the same goal. These people, we're on the same page. We want to win races. We want to win the [Bob] Akin Award and we want to go to Le Mans.

I feel like for the first time in a long time, I've got everybody that's like we're standing shoulder to shoulder and we're ready for battle.

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How joining an established team affects a driver [1:01]

Greg: With that privilege, when you go from loving cars, seeing cars, now racing cars, and you're with a team that is established like that, what does that do for you as a driver? How does that change everything?

Sheena: It's funny because in the moment, because I hadn't really been in any other team environments, I didn't really know until after the fact. Just like even something as silly as—it sounds so funny. But like just the way some teams—and you could tell the high-level teams—wrap the hoses in the box, it sounds so silly, but one of the things I picked up on very early was the way that they are methodical about how they wrap the hoses for the air guns, so during a stop, it unravels perfectly when somebody goes to pull the hose. And sometimes, in maybe a more grassroots or a family team it's not they're not dotting the I's and crossing the T's quite the same. And so, it's like little things that they take you from, “Okay, this is a good team,” to a dynasty team, right?

I'm with a great group of people that they've proven over a long period of time that they know how to win. And in our early discussions, I walked into it and I said, “You know what? I clearly have shown that I don't know the recipe and you guys know the recipe really well.” So, I've taken a lot of things that I would normally be focused on—just the small details—and I've relinquished all of those things. I feel lighter on my feet this time around, just not focusing on the small details.

Greg: Is that an approach that you hadn't taken before and then you did something to get comfortable letting go?

Sheena: Yeah. It's just in the past, like with sponsor obligations, and just making sure the suits are what they wanted, and making sure that the car looks perfect, and just fulfilling a lot of those small details. It's just as a driver, it's nice letting somebody else handle all that heavy stuff. And right now, I'm just focused on the driving and how I can help the team maximize.

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The Myers Riley superheroes! [3:08]

Greg: What is the different dynamic with you and the other three drivers on the team? If it's like a movie, what's everyone's role in the superhero squad?

Sheena: Romain [Grosjean]'s main character. Should we give him something fire proof?

Jensen [Altzman]. I feel like everybody keeps joking that he's like a puppy or something because he's the young one. And this is his first Rolex [24]. But I don't know. I feel Jensen's almost like an emergency worker or something. I feel like he's very ready and stable, and he knows the task at hand. So, I think Felipe [Fraga] is like the rock, not The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, like the rock of the team. I think it's funny, maybe because he's Brazilian and because I'm into fighting. I'm like, okay, he reminds me of Alex Pereira, a little bit. I think he's just got this levelness and stability to him.

Greg: What's your role on the team?

Sheena: My role on the team is stability and consistency in the early phases, and I think it's just putting in the time and letting these more experienced guys shine.

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Bouncing back from a crash and turning a hobby into a career [4:25]

Greg: Joining this dream team was no easy feat. It came with a late start and a fair share of setbacks.

IMSA Presenters: Holy cow, Sheena Monk has had a huge [inaudible]. That car was a long, long way up in the air.

Greg: Most people are veterans in this sport. At 28, you were getting your license at that point and then you started racing. What was it that got you to start? What made you decide this is what you wanted to be doing?

Sheena: It's something I always wanted to do. My dad raced motorcycles, and I grew up with a dirt bike, and a go kart kind of thing, but never anything competitive. It's a shame. My dad actually, at one point when I was, like, maybe four or five, asked me if I wanted to race quarter midgets. And unfortunately for me, I said no, and I wanted to play soccer. So, that's sort of like those hindsight's 2020 kind of moments. And I wish I did get in the car at that point in time.

Greg: So what was it then later that you said, “All right, I'm going to do this now.”

Sheena: I've just always been car crazy. So, I think starting in, maybe second grade, I could tell you cover to cover what all the stats were in a MotorTrend. And so, for me, I think it started out as a car obsession. And then as I got older, it was like, woah, cars and racing. And there's a lot of overlap and blend. And not to say that I've abandoned my car passion, but now I'm so much more race focused. I think there's beautiful poetry about racing, and there's just so many storylines through it that I find compelling.

Greg: From a practical standpoint, though, what did it change in your life? Did it—suddenly you're not home anymore? What did you have to sacrifice or invest in?

Sheena: My family won't let me get any more dogs. I'm going to throw that in there.

Greg: How many do you have?

Sheena: I had three and I'm being pressured. No more dogs. Just because I'm away quite a bit. So I just don't want to throw that onto anybody else. But, listen, I wouldn't trade it, and I don't think anybody would. Right? If you get plopped into this and it's like you get to wear the suit, and the shoes, and you get to go in front of the crowd, and you get to hear the engines roar, you're taking the green flag or the checkered flag. It's a privilege, right?

Greg: Totally. You had a crash at the end of your first season. That was pretty bad. But what you said after I thought was very interesting, was:

“It's silly to let your life be defined by a couple of seconds of problems.”

Which is a pretty profound way to talk about something that was very severe and look at it in that way. Where did that mindset come from?

Sheena: I grew up in a single mother household. She worked a couple jobs at the same time at different points in our lives. And to see somebody handling adversity constantly that way. And just learning from the ability to just press on, I think it's a shame to get to a point when you're just scratching the surface of where you want to be, and truly living a dream; there's always going to be a setback, right? And things are never going to go perfect. And so, it's just understanding that if you're right on the edge of what you've really dreamt of, how do you let something like that define you? And I think that, in general, race car drivers have a short memory when it comes to things like that. You have to, if you didn't and you let those things stay with you and bother you, then you frankly couldn't go back out there again. So, for me, it's just having the courage to understand, and knowing yourself, and trusting yourself enough to walk away and say, “Didn't go the way I hoped for, but it's just a small instance in time.”

Greg: Related to that. There was last season. The season was cut short early because you and sponsors part ways from the team early. What are the steps that you take to then remind yourself of that to keep yourself in a good head space. How do you manifest that or make that real for yourself?

Sheena: That was a tough period of time for a lot of different reasons. It sounds silly, but personally, I had lost two dogs right back to back in that time period. And then we parted ways with the team, and it's just like you've got everything and then you've got nothing. And it's like you're standing there like, “Okay, now what's next?” And there was a lot of question about even what I was going to be doing for 2026. And it came together extremely late, and somebody had reached out to me and they said, “Is there even a prospect of you racing this coming year?” And I said, “I'm leaning towards no.” And for me, if it wasn't feeling like I was going to be in a top environment with a proper shot at going to win races, it really wasn't even on my radar to come back. If it wasn't what felt perfect to me, then I felt more comfortable just staying home. There had been so much disappointment over the last few years for me at the racetrack that I frankly just couldn't bear too much more of it, so I wanted to make sure I was in a good spot.

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How Sheena keeps a positive mindset [9:40]

Greg: When you are living through that, you're fighting through it—because it's not easy, as you said—how do you keep yourself in the right space? Is it the workouts? The family? The friends? What's the reset?

Sheena: Honestly, it's like I can't even be jaded about it. There are people with way bigger problems out there. It's kind of ridiculous for me to be pouting around I'm not going racing. But honestly, it was just the belief that we were going to get back out here. And even if it wasn't this year, it might have been the next year. I didn't feel like I was done when things fell apart last year. But it was just a matter of when, I guess.

Greg: There's a real value in having the option or the ability to wait for the right thing versus just jumping into anything.

Sheena: Yeah. And I had told somebody even a few days ago, I might not have come back this year if it didn't feel like a place I wanted to be; and people that, it sounds it sounds dramatic, but I said I want to be with people that I want to go to war with, I want us to go out there and bleed together. I know that sounds dramatic, but it's like if we weren't all obsessed with the same goal, then it wasn't for me. And quite frankly, the folks at Riley Motorsports, and now we've got Mr. Myers from Three Dog Garage joining us. It's like we're on the same page with these people. We want to win races. We want to win the Akin Award, and we want to go to Le Mans. I feel like for the first time in a long time, I've got everybody that's like, we're standing shoulder to shoulder and we're ready for battle.

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The team that bleeds together: Trusting Myers Riley's formula [11:19]

Greg: How does it feel having this be your home? You talked about the ropes being round the right way in the past. What is it about this team, this group of people, the drivers that you're going to be sharing the car with that has you really excited for this race and the rest?

Sheena: Who doesn't want to say that they've been driving with a Formula 1 driver. We've got Jenson [Altzman]'s the junior factory driver. Felipe [Fraga] just won his stock car championship. These are incredible people to be alongside and getting to learn from. And they're all incredibly helpful towards me. So, a lot of that's a pinch me moment for me. And as far as the team goes, it's like you've got people that have won this race 20 times. They've got the recipe.

Greg: It's pretty wild.

Sheena: And so it's like you just have to trust. Candidly. There was a session the other day for the bronzes where we didn't put the car out, and I really wanted to go out even when the track started drying up. But I need to trust that these people know how to win this race. And so that for me, was enough to just accept what was happening. And I think that's actually probably a good theme of where I'm at right now, is acceptance. It's like, okay, I'm putting everything into their hands and just believing in the direction that they go.

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How it will feel to race at Le Mans [12:38]

Greg: Let's go back to the manifestation bit. I know Le Mans is a dream of yours, and the goal that you've got set. When you close your eyes and you think about being there, describe for us what that feeling is. What that goal means to you.

Sheena: It obviously means a lot to me, especially when I put so much emphasis and so much focus on it. But when I think about Le Mans, I think about the people in my inner circle more than I think about myself, and I think about the pride and the emotion of being there with them. So, it's my family, and the closer people in my life, and what that would be like for them to experience.

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Advice to Sheena's younger self [13:18]

Greg: If you could go back and give yourself advice or whisper something in your ear, back on the podium in Italy when you had first raced, what would that be?

Sheena: Probably to just breathe and take it a day at a time and that there's going to be ups and downs, and there's going to be people that have doubts and they say things and it's going to get in your ear. And just to have a short memory on the things that aren't going your way or people that are critical of you. And to stay dedicated and stay true to yourself. I think that one of the biggest things for me was I’ve gotten to do this how I wanted to do it. And sometimes there were missteps, and sometimes I've been where I should be. Right now, it feels like one of those times where I am where I should be; and trust the journey. It's been a little tougher than I would have liked. I would have hoped to have a smidge more success, but ultimately there's going to be a day where I look back or I drive by one of the places maybe that I got to race, or I go see a race there, and it's going to be tough to capture what it was like again in the moment, but to just love it for what it is, whatever ends up coming my way.

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