Greg began working at McKenzies, an off-road supplier, at just 15 years old, trading labor hours for store credit to build his first off-road race car. While he was also riding and racing dirt bikes at the time, it was the process of building and competing in a car that truly captivated him. That first car took over a year and a half to build, with help from friends and limited funds. He started racing desert off-road at 16, focusing on limited VW-based classes for over a decade.

In 1989, he raced his first Baja 1000 and has missed only a few since. After moving up to the limited truck class in 1998 and then to Unlimited Open Wheel in 2000, he was invited to join the Impact Safety Trophy Truck team in 2004. Since then, he’s spent many years competing in Trophy Truck races both in Baja and stateside.

For him, building race cars is like solving a complex puzzle, finding joy in engineering creative solutions to bring everything together. While winning is important, he believes that putting on a great race for the fans and sharing laughs with fellow drivers after the checkered flag are some of the sport’s best moments.

As the Bug class coordinator, Shapiro is passionate about growing the class and making it a semi-professional platform for drivers, as Bugs remain a fan favorite. His life goal is simple: to keep his heart healthy and enjoy every lap.