What Is Bitcoin Racing? The Story Behind Car #81

Bitcoin Race Team USA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit motorsports team racing a Pro Spec Miata bearing car number 81 under the "TOSHI" livery — a direct reference to Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Founded by Peter Saddington, a Bitcoin early adopter who purchased BTC at $2.52 in 2011 and became internationally recognized after buying a Lamborghini Huracan with 45 Bitcoin in 2017, the team competes in the Collegiate Racing Series across seven races at venues including Homestead-Miami Speedway, Sebring International Raceway, and Road Atlanta. Lead driver Joseph Saddington earned his Professional Competition Racing License at age 12 in August 2025 at Homestead-Miami, making him one of the youngest licensed professional drivers in the United States. Title sponsor CleanSpark and technical partners Mazda and iRacing support a mission to add Bitcoin education to the curricula of 60-plus US universities through the CRS program.

Three Pillars: Compete, Educate, Unite

Compete

At its core, Bitcoin Race Team USA is a legitimate racing operation. Car #81 runs a full season of professional wheel-to-wheel competition in one of North America's most competitive amateur-turned-professional classes. The team pursues podium results not as a marketing stunt but as a genuine sporting ambition — because credibility on track translates directly to credibility off it. Every lap turned at Homestead or Sebring is evidence that the Bitcoin community is serious, disciplined, and here to win.

The Pro Spec Miata formula is one of the most demanding in grassroots racing. The tight performance envelope forces driver skill to the foreground. There is no hiding behind a horsepower advantage. When Joseph Saddington goes wheel-to-wheel against a field of experienced drivers, the result is a pure expression of preparation, racecraft, and nerve — the same qualities that define Bitcoin's technical architecture.

Educate

The Collegiate Racing Series was designed to bring motorsport into the university environment, and Bitcoin Racing US has turned that infrastructure into an educational pipeline. The team's partnership with the CRS creates direct pathways for students at 60-plus US universities to engage with Bitcoin concepts through a context that is visceral, memorable, and completely unlike a classroom lecture.

Financial literacy built around Bitcoin's fixed supply, its proof-of-work consensus, and its role as a savings technology sticks differently when it arrives through the lens of a racing program. Students who follow the team across a season absorb concepts about sound money, long-term thinking, and delayed gratification that translate well beyond cryptocurrency. The TOSHI livery is a walking lecture every time the car is on grid.

Unite

The broader Bitcoin community is global, digital, and largely anonymous. Bitcoin Racing US provides a rare physical gathering point — a place where Bitcoiners, motorsport fans, students, and educators share a grid, a pit lane, and a set of goals. Events at Road Atlanta or Sebring draw attendees who may have never met their online counterparts in person. The paddock becomes a community center, and the race weekend becomes a conference with a much better soundtrack.

This unity function extends to the team's 501(c)(3) status. Donations to Bitcoin Race Team USA are tax-deductible for US residents, which means supporting the team is also a straightforward act of directing resources toward a cause with a defined public benefit mission. The nonprofit structure keeps the team accountable to that mission and transparent about how resources are used.

The Car: Pro Spec Miata #81

The Mazda MX-5 Miata has been the backbone of affordable wheel-to-wheel racing in North America for more than three decades. The Pro Spec Miata variant tightens the rules further to create a genuine spec class where the primary variable is driver talent. Car #81 is built to these specifications with technical support from Mazda Motorsports, ensuring the platform is maintained to the highest standard the rulebook allows.

Spec	Detail
Engine	1.8L Mazda inline-four, naturally aspirated
Power output	167 horsepower
Weight	2,450 lbs (race-prepared)
Transmission	5-speed manual
Suspension	Double wishbone front and rear
Brakes	4-wheel disc, ABS-deleted per class rules
Safety	Full roll cage, FIA-rated harness, HANS device, fire suppression
Livery	TOSHI — Bitcoin orange and black
Car number	81

The 167-horsepower figure is modest by absolute standards, but in a car weighing just over 2,400 pounds it produces a power-to-weight ratio that rewards smooth inputs and precise braking. Lap times at Homestead-Miami's road course configuration consistently fall in ranges that require full commitment from the driver — there is no margin for passive driving.

2026 Race Season

The 2026 FARAUSA Collegiate Racing Series schedule puts Car #81 at seven of the most celebrated road racing venues in the southeastern United States. Each event runs alongside a broader FARAUSA race weekend, giving the team exposure to professional racing infrastructure and large spectator fields.

Round	Venue	Location	Notes
R1	Homestead-Miami Speedway	Homestead, FL	Season opener
R2	Sebring International Raceway	Sebring, FL	Historic endurance venue
R3	Road Atlanta	Braselton, GA	High-speed natural terrain circuit
R4	Palm Beach International Raceway	Jupiter, FL	Tight technical layout
R5	Homestead-Miami Speedway	Homestead, FL	Return round
R6	Sebring International Raceway	Sebring, FL	Mid-season checkup
R7	Road Atlanta	Braselton, GA	Season finale

Homestead-Miami Speedway holds particular significance for the team. It was the venue where Joseph Saddington earned his Professional Competition Racing License in August 2025 — an achievement that made national news in both motorsport and Bitcoin circles. The oval-to-road-course combination at Homestead tests every dimension of a driver's ability, and the 81 car's lap times there have set benchmarks the team continues to improve on with each visit.

The Founders

Peter Saddington

Peter Saddington is the founding force behind Bitcoin Race Team USA. His Bitcoin story is well-documented: he purchased his first BTC at $2.52 in 2011, held through multiple market cycles, and in 2017 made global headlines when he purchased a Lamborghini Huracan using 45 Bitcoin — a transaction that crystallized for millions of people what long-term Bitcoin conviction could look like in real life. Read the full story at staas.fund/bitcoin-lambo.html.

Beyond Bitcoin, Saddington has spent decades at the intersection of technology, education, and entrepreneurship. His background in agile development and startup ecosystems informs how the team is structured: lean, iterative, and focused on measurable outcomes. He is also the founder of Saddington Racing, the broader motorsport entity from which Bitcoin Racing US emerged.

Senter Smith

Senter Smith brings operational rigor to the team's day-to-day racing program. His role spans logistics, car preparation, and race-weekend execution — the unglamorous work that determines whether a car makes it to the grid on time and in competitive condition. Smith's background in motorsport operations gives the team a professional backbone that belies its grassroots origins.

Jack Hobbs

Jack Hobbs leads the team's educational and partnership development. His work with the Collegiate Racing Series and the 60-plus university network transforms the racing program's visibility into structured curriculum opportunities. Hobbs understands that the most durable advertising Bitcoin can have in academic environments is a racing program that students follow with genuine enthusiasm across a full season.

The Ecosystem

Bitcoin Racing US does not operate in isolation. The team is part of a broader motorsport and financial education ecosystem. DriveCRS provides the collegiate racing infrastructure that makes the university partnerships possible. Saddington Racing supplies the driving development and team management expertise. Cars & Capital explores the intersection of motorsport investment and Bitcoin-denominated value. And StaaS Fund provides the broader financial education context that gives the team's Bitcoin messaging its intellectual grounding.

Together these entities form a coherent network: a racing team, an educational platform, a financial thesis, and a community — all orbiting the same conviction that Bitcoin is the most important monetary innovation of the past century, and that motorsport is an unusually effective way to communicate that conviction to a wide audience.