Meet Ryan Mendeljian

Ryan Mendeljian did not grow up waiting decades to get serious about motorsports. He started driving track days in 2024—the same year he earned his driver’s license—and quickly decided that being around race cars was not going to remain an occasional hobby.

He is pursuing a career in motorsports engineering, joining the Formula SAE program at Michigan State University and looking for every useful opportunity to learn how cars work, how drivers use them and what happens when theory meets a very hot racetrack.

He is also the first outside driver to put Cheese Ball to work.

“Try before you buy. Try everything you can and get experiences under your belt.”

A Father-and-Son Start

Ryan’s motorsports story is closely tied to his father, Grant. They began attending track events together in 2024 and have shared most of the journey since then.

Grant provided the initial encouragement, but Ryan says the people they met at the track became just as important. That combination—family, friendship, fun and constant learning—is what keeps him coming back.

It also fits the Ball Pit philosophy unusually well. Nobody needs to arrive pretending to know everything. The point is to get involved, listen, learn and find people willing to help you take the next step. 

ADD A PICTURE OF YOU AND GRANT

Becoming Cheese Ball’s First Driver

Cheese Ball was built to make wheel-to-wheel racing and structured driver development more accessible. Ryan became the first person to prove that purpose in practice.

He drove the 1994 Spec Miata across three demanding days, including race-school sessions at Eagles Canyon Raceway, and used the experience to earn his provisional racing license at ECR.

The car was not simply transportation through a licensing requirement. It was a chance to understand a purpose-built race car: limited power, direct feedback and a platform that rewards momentum, patience and clean decisions.

Ryan’s experience also became Ball Pit Motorsports’ first real test of operating a car for someone else. The preparation, handoff and support all had to work—not just for a session, but through repeated use in temperatures above 100 degrees.

Ryan became Cheese Ball’s first driver and used the car to earn his provisional racing license at Eagles Canyon Raceway.

Three Hot Days and One Final-Session Leak

Cheese Ball handled three hard days in triple-digit heat without an earlier overheating event. Then, during the final session, coolant began leaking near one of the older heater-core hoses.

The timing was inconvenient but revealing. The car completed the work Ryan needed it to do, and the issue appeared late enough to become a maintenance lesson rather than the defining story of the event.

That is also an honest part of renting and racing older cars. Preparation matters, but preparation does not make a thirty-year-old race car new. The goal is to identify problems, respond safely and improve the car before the next driver.

Ryan’s verdict remained positive: Cheese Ball “did amazing.”

After three hard days in extreme heat, an older hose began leaking near the heater-core lines during the final session.

From a Miata to a Porsche

Ryan has also driven Golf Ball, the 2011 Porsche Cayman time-trial car, including using it to take family members for ride-alongs.

The contrast between Golf Ball and Cheese Ball became one of his favorite parts of the experience. One is a mid-engine Porsche developed into a serious time-trial car; the other is a lightweight Spec Miata built around close racing and momentum.

Ryan enjoyed discovering how differently they respond and what each car asks from the driver. That comparison is exactly why access matters. Reading specifications can explain that two cars are different. Driving them makes the lesson permanent.

Golf Ball gave Ryan a very different driving lesson—and a chance to share the track with his family.

Learning Before Buying

Ryan’s advice is simple: try before you buy.

Motorsports makes it easy to believe the next purchase will answer every question. A rental, instructed session, ride-along or shared car can produce better information before someone commits to a vehicle, build or racing class.

Ryan has already sampled two very different Ball Pit cars, completed race school and earned a provisional license. He is now carrying that practical experience toward Formula SAE and a possible motorsports-engineering career.

His story is still at the beginning. That is precisely why it belongs here.

What Comes Next

At Michigan State University, Ryan plans to participate in Formula SAE and continue looking for engineering and driving opportunities. His long-term goal is not limited to one car or one discipline. He wants to keep learning, drive the cars and tracks that inspire him and build a career inside motorsports.

For Ball Pit Motorsports, Ryan represents what “Meet the Handlers” is meant to celebrate: the people who use the cars as a doorway—not an endpoint.

Where to Go Next

Meet Cheese Ball — See the Spec Miata Ryan used for race school and his provisional license.

Meet Golf Ball — Explore the Porsche Cayman that gave Ryan and his family a very different track experience.

Balls for Hire — Learn how Ball Pit Motorsports helps qualified drivers get meaningful seat time.

Meet the Handlers — Meet the drivers, friends, instructors and crew who keep the Ball Pit moving.