The story of how Flying Lizard Motorsports got its name is a secret very closely guarded, known by only two people. Earlier this season, we asked our fans to imagine their own stories about how the iconic name came about. Several fans thought they had an inside scoop on the mystery, because someone on the team told them the correct version. The problem? Each of the supposed “correct” stories were all different! So are any of the stories actually correct? We don’t know, but we enjoyed them nonetheless.

Our management team voted on their favorites, who will be notified, and will be receiving a team prize pack. Now we’ve posted the family friendly stories for you to enjoy, in no special order:

1. Porsche’s shape looks like a lizard. Lizards are fast but don’t fly except Porsches from Flying Lizard Motorsports.
2. Long ago, a young driver was cruising around a very nice racetrack. Holding a steady second place was nice, but he wanted to be first. Don’t we all? He hugged the corners, followed his lines, chased and paced, and eked closer and closer to the car in front of him. Suddenly, on a hairpin turn, BOOM! A heretofore unknown hitchhiking lizard slid off the dashboard and FLEW right into the DRIVER’S FACE. Needless to say, in his effort to get the lizard off him, keep his eyes on the track and his hands on the wheel simultaneously, that pedal hit the metal. He ended up placing first, all thanks to that flying lizard. In the coming years, that young driver would dream about that flying lizard, a mascot bordering on becoming a patron saint of podium finishes. And thus, Flying Lizard Motorsports was born.
3. Many years ago while on vacation, two friends (and aspiring raceway drivers). They were in Malaysia, so they decided to go for a hike in the rain forest. While walking around, they were talking about how awesome it would be to start their own race team. After hours of walking and talking, they had made up their minds and decided to go for it. They were going to buy a car and start a team. But what would they call it? Just then, something jumped overhead. They followed the creature. Minutes later, they saw it. It was a flying lizard. It’s was the perfect mascot and name. The rest is history
4. It was back in early 2003, in the tropical rainforests of Brazil, Draco, the flying lizard spent his days gliding and soaring high above the treetops. He always was curious about the ground below, and wanted so desperately to use his winged ability to take to the ground. A gusty breeze caught Draco and away he was carried, eventually landing in a tree at the racetrack in Sonoma, CA. Catching his breath and taking in the view from above, he heard some people talking about longing for a race car team that would carry them to victory lane. Although he knew it would be safer in the trees above, he decided to get a closer look at what was below and was curious to get a closer look below. The gentlemen below saw Draco swooping in toward them, his brightly-colored skin flaps on either side of his body was a sight to be seen. This “flying lizard” demonstrated his ability to glide smoothly around them, and saw how pleased they were at his performance. Landing nearby, this small group studied the flying lizard, and were asking questions amongst themselves on how this creature could turn and move so smoothly and accurately. Upon hearing this, Draco spoke to the humans. He showed how his winged look worked, of his physical abilities, his horizontal stabilizers, his ease in lift that carried him so smoothly. The group were so pleased and welcomed the newest member to their group. To honor Draco, they wanted to name their group “Draco” but thought they needed something more. With approval, “Flying Lizard Motorsports ” was born. To this day, you can see Draco’s face on their logo and colors of their race cars reflect the beauty of his colorful wings. The end. Fast forward to May 27, 2017 Draco wrote home to inform his family of a young Brazilian driver named Ricardo Baptista winning at the Pirelli World Challenge at Lime Rock Park. The author of this story had the time of her life getting a close-up view of the cars in the pits, and seeing the race go to the team represented on her black cap!
5. The summer of 1990 was hot and dry. The third weekend in July at Sonoma was the hottest and driest. Tom Cooper (of “The Coopers” from San Francisco) was down to race his newly inherited 911 in a bit of grudge race from the previous year’s encounter. After a delay of some significance the recently race prepared 911 rolled out of pit lane for a warm up lap. Midway through the first warm up lap Tom was communicating with his pit and mentioned there was a lizard taking refuge in the passenger footwell. The lizard remained in the footwell throughout the race though Tom clearly had little attention to pay to him (Leonard the lizard). Tom set the course record that hot summer day while redeeming his loss from the previous year. As he rolled into victory lane he noticed the lizard was still in the footwell after “flying” through the course in record time. Henceforth Tom insisted a “Flying Lizard” to painted on the passenger footwell of all his Porsche race cars. This flying lizard developed a following due to their winning ways. Today they are recognized as a premier Porsche motorsports team and the legend that Tom Cooper and Leonard the lizard began lives on.
6. After pulling an all-nighter doing whatever Seth Neiman would do for an entire night, he ended up deep in the woods at the base of a sheer cliff. Through the light of the morning sun, he sees a flash in front of his face and hears a splat. After inspecting the ground, he finds a splattered body of not a lemming, but an unidentifiable lizard. The thought then pops into his mind: “I should name a race team in honor of this lizards failed attempt to fly.”
7. Coming from the wide stance of the small ground lizard’s ability to move forward appearing to fly between each leg touching the ground as while shifting directions
8. Originally called flying monkey motorsports after the Wizard of Oz but everyone knows those are sketchy and had problems finding crews and drivers. Really wanted to use flying because it sounded fast and had always been a big fan of Geico commercials because who doesn’t like geckos? Didn’t want any copyright issues and went with Lizard. Lizards are also a bit more edgy. History was made.
9. The name “flying lizard” mimics the flying motion of the lizard in the Sahara desert.
10. Shortly after deciding to form a new race team, Seth Neiman and Lonnie Pechnik, along with the engineers and technicians who had already joined them, set out to run a test at Sonoma. As the new, still unnamed team monitored their Porsche on track, a gigantic shadow passed over the raceway. The engine note from the Porsche had awakened a creature unknown – a giant flying lizard. Instead of attacking, however, the lizard simply landed near hairpin and watched the car on track. As the team called the test to its end, the lizard slowly turned and flew away, its anger at being awakened replaced by a fascination for race cars. The team adopted the lizard as its name and logo, and the rest is history. The End.
11. The owner of the team saw a lizard run and said that it looked like it was flying barely above the ground. So they decided to name the team flying lizard Motorsports.
12. Few people know that Seth Neiman is actually a huge “Smokey and The Bandit” fan. He’s seen the movie 44 or 45 times. His love of the movie was directly tied to the fact that he LOVED the black Pontiac Trans-Am that Burt Reynolds used in the movie. In 2002, Seth was very sad to learn GM/Pontiac was going to discontinue the beloved Trans-Am. This nostalgia for the movie kicked in, and he set out to purchase a 1977 Pontiac Trans-Am, but as the months went by, Seth struggled to find a suitable car. In the very same year, Seth completed a course at the world renowned Bondurant Racing School in which he happened to meet his future partner, Lonnie Pechnik. (They just so happened to have accomplished racer Darren Law as their instructor that day too!) Seth and Lonnie became fast friends and after one of their driving sessions Seth mentioned to Lonnie & Darren his dream of owning a ’77 Trans-Am. As odds would have it, Darren pointed out to Seth that the Bondurant Racing School was affiliated with GM and he’d make a call or two for Seth. Four or five weeks went by and Darren gave Seth a call to give him some good news– he not only found a 1977 Pontiac Trans-Am for Seth, but he found chassis #44 for him! Seth was so excited by the news that he told Darren he was on the next plane out to Arizona and hung up the phone before Darren could give him the bad news. The bad news was that the car was a little rough. It had an unfinished alligator body wrap and the rest of the car was painted green. Not “green,” it was GREEN. Like you bought some chrome Skittles green! It turns out some 20-something dot com millionaire had a thing for green cars but didn’t have a thing for paying his bills on time. Brimming with excitement, Seth called his new friend Lonnie to see if he wanted to go on a short trip to check out the car and visit their new friend Darren. On the plane ride the two men got to talking about movies. Lonnie joked with Seth about how silly “Smokey and The Bandit” was and questioned Seth why he loved the movie so much. Seth smiled and said “That car was just perfect.” He then turned the tables on Lonnie and said “Well, what’s your favorite car movie?” To which Lonnie replied, “Le Mans. McQueen was the man.” “You got me there. That was a pretty awesome movie. McQueen looked like he had a blast running that Porsche around the track. I don’t even think he cared about the movie! He just wanted to run that Porsche up and down Mulsanne!” “Yeah! I wish I could do that!” Lonnie jokingly added, “We should grab Darren and enter a Porsche!” The two men laughed and traded stories of the races they had watched over the years and before they knew it, they were on the ground in Arizona. They quickly picked up a rental car and rushed over to the address Darren had sent. The address took them to a decommissioned air base where the car sat in a hanger. Darren met the men at the gate. He had no idea how to tell Seth that the car was visually a mess, so he just brought them over to the hanger. Darren pulled back the door and held his breath. There was a silence as the desert sun began to light the hanger and then there was laughter. Seth was overcome with joy, but couldn’t get over how ridiculous the car looked. After a few moments of tear-filled laughter, Seth blurted out “My kids are going to call this the lizard car!” The Seth and Lonnie looked over the car for a good 44 minutes with periods of laughter and then Seth cut a check to buy “the lizard car.” Darren asked, “So what’s next guys? Do you want to head over to the track to test it out?” Seth replied, “Sorry guys, I can’t. My wife planned this big birthday party for me this Saturday and I really need to get some work done before the weekend. I have to be on the next plane out of here. Darren, can you arrange to have the car shipped out to Sonoma for me?” Before Darren could respond, Lonnie chimed in and said, “Don’t worry about it Seth, Darren and I will take care of it. I have some friends in the area I want to visit and I’ve got a guy who can take care of the transportation.” What Lonnie didn’t tell Seth was that he forgot all about the upcoming birthday and on the spot he figured he could turn his oversight into a really cool surprise. The men said their goodbyes and Seth hopped on the next flight out of Phoenix. As soon as Seth hit the front door, Lonnie turned to Darren and said “Quick, where’s the nearest paint shop! I’ve only got 3 days to get this car to Sonoma– all painted and cleaned up!” Darren shook his head, laughed and said “You’re a good friend, but you’re crazy! How can you get the car painted, detailed, and shipped to Sonoma in 3 days?” “Where there’s a will, there’s a way my friend!” And the two men set out to find a paint shop. Forty-four minutes later, Lonnie and Darren were in front of “BLAM-O Auto Body” and they were talking with the owner Tommy. They explained the short timeline that they were working with and Tommy told them that he could get the car painted, but he didn’t have any graphics guys who could work overtime to get the job done. The only person he had was a young guy, named Pat, who had just graduated high school. He told the guys that the kid had talent, but he wasn’t too experienced. With only one option on the table, Lonnie told Tommy, “Get the kid on the phone and start painting!” “Great! Let’s just get some paperwork done and we can get started.” At this point Lonnie didn’t tell Darren that he too needed to catch a flight back home. So he quickly filled-out the carbon triplicate form and asked Darren if he could work out the final details and give Tommy the contact information on his shipper. Darren thought the whole plan was crazy, but he was having too much fun so he agreed to finish everything up. Lonnie thanked him and set off for the airport. This is where our story starts to take a turn. Tommy, the owner, noticed that Lonnie didn’t put much detail on the triplicate form. Under “graphics” he just wrote the word “Phoenix.” Fearing that his just out of high school painter had no idea what “Smokey and The Bandit” was and that he’d interpret “Phoenix” to mean the client wanted a landscape of the Arizona city, he filled in a few more words. “What’d they call that bird on the car Darren? Do you remember? My guy’s too young to know the reference.” “Ummm, what’d they call it? Was it the ‘screaming chicken?’ No—‘flying chicken?’ I forget.” “Yeah, ‘flying chicken,’ I think that’s what it was!” With the two men not realizing that the nickname for the bird was actually the “screaming chicken,” Tommy crossed out the word ‘Phoenix’ and wrote in ‘flying chicken, RE: movie.’ He grabbed a manila folder and filled in the project name on the folder tab– “Lizard Car.” In his haste, he did not realize the triplicate form was right below the folder and in pressing with the pen, he transferred the word ‘lizard’ onto the order form. It was hard to read, but the order sheet now read “flying lizard.” Fast forward to 1 AM, and Pat the painter, arrived. “Flying lizard!?! What the heck? I better Google this.” After doing an image search for ‘Phoenix flying lizard,’ Pat figured they called him in for a rush job because they needed an artistic interpretation for the client and he started work on the hood. He worked through the early hours, finished up at a sleepy 5 AM, and called the transport company. By 6 AM the car was on the road to Sonoma for Seth’s birthday celebration. Only two people had seen the finished product—Pat the painter and Jorg the driver for the transport company. Jorg drove straight through to Sonoma– 13 hours– to get to the birthday celebration. Lonnie asked Jorg if he could quietly unload the car and throw a car cover over the newly painted car so that they could do a big reveal when the guests arrived. Later that night, the stage was set. All the guests were at the party and the freshly painted car was under wraps in the garage. Lonnie called everyone out to Seth’s garage. With the timeline being so short, Lonnie didn’t even get a chance to see the finished product. He was almost as excited as Seth was to show off the new car. Seth grabbed a corner of the cover and Lonnie started a countdown. “5—4—3—2—1!” And Seth pulled the car cover off. “Hey Lonnie, what’s that supposed to be on the hood!?” yelled one of the guests. Before a horrified Lonnie could even respond, Seth interjected, “Awesome! That’s so cool Lonnie! I love it!” A very confused a Lonnie could only muster a confused “You’re welcome?” “After that plane ride I couldn’t stop thinking about McQueen and us going to Le Mans. I can’t believe you already came up with a team logo! Flying Lizard! I love it!” Lonnie couldn’t even get a word in. He had no idea Seth had taken his joke of running Le Mans seriously. “One thing Lonnie—I love it—but I think we need to change the colors. I don’t want people thinking we are the old Lotus team. What did Darren say? I can’t wait to get this team going! Best birthday gift ever!” A still stunned Lonnie couldn’t resist the enthusiasm, “Flying Lizard Motorsports… I’m glad you like it Seth. Happy Birthday!”
13. The first time the car was on the track, in Florida, a tornado hit. It sucked the alligators out of a local lake and they landed on the Flying Lizards car. Thus the name.
14. Because lizard is as fast as motorsport is. Flying is even faster. Just amazing! :)
15. The founder of the company was late for a meeting and in need of quick transportation when a magical lizard appeared! A lizard with wings! and the lizard took pity on the poor soul and offered him a ride. Hence the name
16. On a dark night, a long long time ago!! Somewhere in the vastness of a dilapidated auto shop an unworldly beast was created out of steel, blood and sweat! The creators, stood in the beasts midst while whipping the grease from their bloodied knuckles, as they gaze at a creation so powerful that it snarled just starring back, eager to eat any and all asphalt that stood in its wake! Yet! In a flash, out of the darkness a small reptile looking creature emerged! Gazing up at this asphalt eating beast, a ghostly growl could be heard coming from the machine as an acceptance towards the little lizard. As a greenish glow emerged, sparks flew! Forever engraving a badge that would establish fear and terror on any track across the lands it may roam. The allegiance between machine and reptile, from this day forward shall be known as Flying Lizard! To this day checkered flags will fall and royalty & peasants alike will tell tales of how Flying Lizard became to these lands!! Note: I guys I had a laugh doing this, so thank you for letting me enjoy this competition. Take care and best of luck.
17. It’s really quite simple. One day Seth had just left his home when he noticed a lizard on the hood of the car. By the time he realized it was there he was going fast enough for the lizard to fly off the hood and over the roof. He last saw the flying lizard in his rear view mirror. Seth thought to himself “flying lizard”. Sounds catchy.
18. Seth Neiman, fresh from (or worn down to a nub) from pulling all nighters while developing facial recognition software, hit his head on a file cabinet and was knocked out cold. While having a fever dream he had the song “Money” by The Flying Lizards going over and over in his head while he was chased over 80’s computer animation shapes by a winged creature with reptilian features who spoke to Seth in an English accent. “Call me gentleman racer” the creature said. When Seth awoke, he had carved the future Flying Lizards logo into the blue asbestos floor while he was unconscious. Once he realized the floor was indeed asbestos, he sued the owner of the office space and with his judgement he started the Flying Lizards in 2003. And the rest, as they say, is history.
19. During a racing Trip to Mexico that also involved too much Tequila, the need for a restroom came about. Not being able to find one, the nearest tree would fit the bill. Unless you find one with a Pit Viper hanging from the branch you walk into. To this day you still don’t who was more scared him or you, but you flew away from that tree and Flying Lizard Motorsports was formed!!!
20. The Flying Lizard Motorsports group is a motorsport team from Sonoma, California, formed by Seth Neiman in early 2003.
21. A poor little lizard got stuck on a windshield during a race and around 150 the poor thing went flying!! Hence, Flying Lizard!!
22. I was told the team name originally came from a long weekend at Laguna Seca. While the primary drivers were out practicing, the two secondary drivers were in the motor coach playing ‘Cards Against Humanity’. To make a long story short, the drivers decided to re-enact the cards instead of read them. Seth and Johannes both dared each other to see who could ‘spit a flying lizard out if their mouth’. Seth was first. He swallowed a lizard and sent it flying. At that time, Darren Law, who just walked in got a spit covered flying lizard right in the forehead. Needless to say- Darren liked the name and suggested it. And the rest is history
23. Lizards in general can be super-fast and agile and flying lizards are just sick and just sound fast!
24. Well I’ve heard the phrase ‘drain the lizard’ soo Flying Lizards are a tongue and cheek way of saying ‘that appendage’ going really fast? That would also explain the lack of any explanation.
25. While driving at Laguna Seca, the car in front ran over a lizard and it flew through the air and got splattered all over the windshield of the team car. Thus, Flying Lizard Motorsports.
26. During the filming of the TopGear TV episode where Sabine Schmidt drives a Ford Transit on a Nordschleife Bridge to Gantry lap very nearly as quick as Jeremy Clarkson managed in a Jaguar sports saloon, it was discovered that a pet Boa-Constrictor snake belonging to one of the film crew was “lost” on board the Ttansit van. Having wriggled into the bodywork and being unable to be retrieved the film crew began dismantling the van. This is clearly shown on the TopGear episode as weight reduction – but they covered up the real reason: the missing pet snake. Not long after this the legendary heroic exploits of Sabine in the Transit van became public knowledge on the TopGear TV show, but no one has truly known the origin of “Flying Lizard” until now. It was due to the fastest moving snake on the Nürburgring.
27. A young and probably slightly nerdy race car driver who liked dragons because he was young and innocent that way, came up with Flying Lizard because he was also a smart ass and a dragon is a flying lizard.
28. Seth Neiman came up with the name while sitting in a seedy Porsche owner’s club. He was on a serious bender consisting of orange juice and avocado. The extended duration of this particular bender had greatly affected his hearing and decision making. The seedy band playing in the background continued to pump out the jams that made him get up and dance until his jeans shorts and flannel shirt were covered in sweat. He knew that this was by far the greatest night of his life. He didn’t get kicked out of the place and he got the opportunity to challenge everyone in the club to thumb wrestle him. His masterful thumb control gained through years of hitchhiking the desert and Nintendo addiction allowed him to dominate all challengers. Satisfied with his evening of dancing and thumb wrestling he decided to hunt down another haunt. On the way out he stopped by the stage and asked the singer if she wanted to head out for a night on the town. She replied in perfect time, “Money, I want lots and lots of money. That’s what I want.” This answer infuriated Seth but the beat was hitting his orange juiced brain heavily and he danced until the end and then left. He asked the roady what the band’s name was on the way out so he could see them again. He thought it was a cute name for an aggro pop band. He hopped into his car, the Wiesmann GT and decided to burn off all the excitement of the evening. The gecko emblem on the hood shining away. Rounding a corner an animal darts out of the brush and into the road. He could not avoid that and glanced off the poor thing sending it flying into the air. As he watched it tumble through the air behind the car he knew that the lizard that he just hit was the final piece of inspiration for a racing team. The Flying Lizards were born that night thanks to a seedy pop band and their roady, a roadster and some roadkill.
29. Poor lizard jumped on the wrong Porsche and held on for dear life.
30. Early on in the team’s history, a lizard got stuck on the car’s windshield and when the brakes were pressed going into a tight turn, the lizard went flying into the grass. Thus, the flying lizard
31. How did Flying Lizard get its name? The true answer used to be heavily shrouded in the mists of antiquity…but it will now be revealed. During World War II, Hitler’s German military fielded an amazing secret weapons program that continues to wow historians to this very day. Weapons from the “Hydropump” to the Horten HO 229 were only the tip of the iceberg, an iceberg which contained, among its many secrets, the Peenemunde facility that contained a lot of the seeds which would eventually grow into the United States space program, led by former Nazi Werner Von Braun. What is not well known about the German secret weapons program is that the Nazis were experimenting with genetic engineering and more specifically, creating elastic venomous Gila Monsters. Around the beginning of 1944, Adolf Hitler “suggested” (his suggestions usually included a heavy suggestive cough and a finger drawn across his throat) that there wasn’t enough being done on developing Gila Monsters into weapons of war. Eager to please their Fuhrer, Nazi scientists immediately began researching various ways to weaponize Gila Monsters. For obvious reasons, it was promptly discovered that Gila Monsters didn’t fare too well when fired out of a piece of artillery. Attempts to make them as large as a house did not work too well either, in spite of attempts to be fused genetically with Asian elephants: Nazi genetic engineers quickly discovered that it was not such a great idea to create a giant hissing animal with a venomous bite that could also pick you up with its trunk and throw you, or trample you underfoot. The one that survived ended up wiping out an entire barracks, the only survivor of the entire facility being the brave camp medic (only known as “Big Helga”) came out and shooed it away with a large, rolled up graphic novel-version of “Mein Kampf”. Finally, because Hitler was ramping up pressure towards Nazi scientists to produce ANY weapon to be used against London, the idea of the elastic Gila Monster was suggested. The idea behind the genetic altering of the Gila Monster to make it elastic is this: Since no Gila Monster could survive being fired out of an artillery piece, the next best plan would be to stretch the Gila Monster like a rubber band, and simply fling it a hundred miles towards London. Once it landed, having been stretched 600 feet on a custom hydraulic launch pad in order to get it to fly all the way to London, the Gila Monster in question would be incredibly annoyed, and begin attacking Londoners. Since it was a small creature, it could get into deep recesses in the ground, perfect for getting into bomb shelters that might normally prevent a bomb from reaching it. The fatal flaw in this idea, however, is that since the Gila Monsters would be elasticized, they also became super-bouncy. Several experimental elastic Gila Monsters were launched at London during the Spring of 1944, and not a single one of them actually remained anywhere near their intended target site, as they typically ricocheted, in a violent manner, off of the ground or surrounding buildings, and then rocketed off up into the upper stratosphere…only to burn up on re-entry. This failed experiment was called, “Idioten mit zu viel Zeit auf den Händen”, or, properly translated into English, “The Flying Lizard” Program. It was originally going to be called, “The Incredibly-Elastic Stretchy Gila Monsters That Will Destroy London Or So We Hope Anyway Group Project”, but it was determined that “The Flying Lizards” would strike more fear into the hearts of Londoners…and be just a bit easier to describe in a hurry. The project was shut down, and the remaining stretchy Gila Monsters were simply released to the wild, to be allowed to roam the desert plains of Northern France. Fast forward forty years. A brilliant computer engineer by the name Seth Neiman is rooting around the basement of an abandoned Austrian chateau one fine vacation-day afternoon when he comes across a box of bundled files buried in the floor. Among the bundle are several documents bearing the Swastika logo and the Nazi official letterhead of “Ein glücklicheres morgen durch Tyrannei!” (Or, “A happier tomorrow through tyranny!”). After having them translated, only Neiman and his translator are the only ones left alive who know anything about the German military’s most nefarious secret: the secret plan to annihilate London through the use of elastic stretchy Gila Monsters. Knowing that this secret would only infuriate millions of diehard Gila Monster breeders across the globe (who swore that elastic Gila Monsters were not possible), this information was simply kept secret…until now. Seth did want to tell someone, anyone, but the risk of reprisals from the many-millions-strong Gila Monster Breeder Cartel was simply too great. That did not stop him, however, from trying to subliminally reveal the secret that he and his translator alone have had to bear the burden of. Thus when it came time for Seth Neiman to form a racing team some twenty years later. The Flying Lizard Motorsports organization was born. Hoping that someone else would finally figure it out.
32. As a child of the 60’s, Seth had great new groovy music to listen to. In the early 70’s an English band by the name of “America” came out with the song “Ventura Highway”. That groovy tune forever stuck in the ears of a young hip, soul-patch sportin’ Seth. Especially the lyrics “Alligator Lizards in the air”…. Seth took that to heart thinking “What is an alligator lizard and how could it fly?” Alligators can’t, but Lizards… they could fly! All his life he remembered that particular line. Upon the decision to form a world class auto sports team in the early 2000’s, those lyrics came racing back. He needed a name that stood out, and a livery that was different. Thus a legend was born.
33. Blue Baracudda was already taken by Ledges of the Hidden Temple. Honestly though I would say that I heard that when Seth Neiman started the team he was doing some test laps in the Porsche and the team didn’t have a name yet. While he was in the middle of driving on the circuit he looked in the cockpit to find someone played a prank on him by placing a Lizard on the passenger side. Halfway down the straight at Laguna Seca he threw it out the window and it landed on pit lane. The lizard wasn’t harmed at all and thus becoming the team mascot and name of the team.
34. A lizard went running past them in the pits and said man he’s flying let’s name our car flying lizard
35. Seth Neiman had a small lizard on his car during a practice run and was unable to go fast enough to blow the creature off. Team probably joked about how that lizard was flying but never took flight due to how slow Seth was driving. Hence, Flying Lizard was born.
36. They wanted a cooler name than Peterson White Lighting. Plus a to die for graphic.
37. Growing up a young boy named Seth loved when his mother would sing Puff the Magic Dragon to him. Seth loved watching auto racing and told everyone he knew that someday he would own a racing team and he would call it Puff the Magic Dragon Racing. Seth became a successful business man and decided he would fulfill his childhood dream. He contacted a driver named Darren and told him of his dream. Darren said he would help him only on one condition — the team would NOT be called Puff the Magic Dragon Racing! Seth asked why and Darren told him they would be laughed out of the paddock. Darren suggested a fierce looking lizard would be better. Seth imagined a “flying lizard” looking fierce on the hood of his cars. And that is how Flying Lizard Motorsports got its name!!
38. It’s a throwback to Seth Neimams computer technology days going back to around 2001. Flying Lizard was spawned from the reference of “eLiza” , also known as “eLizard”, an advanced system from IBM Development Labs that afforded flexibility and adaptability to web and Appliance servers. The man is a technology God, he’s just honoring his roots with the name Flying Lizard. :)
39. Cars that drive as fast as lizards on land, sea or air and all points in between
40. Back when the team was just starting, you guys were doing some testing at Sonoma and once you got back after a run you noticed there was a lizard that hung on for the wild ride. Fastest lizard ever!
41. Native to Florida, the Anole is a lizard that can be found everywhere you look. But the racetrack is the last place you’d want to be if you’re an Anole. You would be a flying lizard too when you hear a few hundred horsepower and tire squeal chasing you down on the asphalt of a racetrack
42. Someone was scared by a lizard, I’m thinking mom, and it got on her and she flung it across the room. Hence, flying lizard.
43. Because how fast they run. You will never catch the flying lizard.
44. Little Seth Neiman loved racing Porsches at an early age. The first numbers he could write were 9-1-7 and his first letters were G-T-R-S. As a youth, he was forever talking to his friends about his dream of racing a Porsche someday. His friends were skeptical, however. One day, when he repeated his dream for the 911th time, his little buddy, Guiseppe Risi, said, “Look Seth, lizards will fly before you race a Porsche”. Seth remained undaunted and we all know what happened from there, but when deciding on a name for his Porsche racing team, he thought back to that moment and the mighty Flying Lizard Motorsports was created!
45. One day, while the new race team was testing their new car, for the first time, bringing it up to top speed on the straightaway, a lizard, looking to get across the race track, was caught by surprise: a car coming towards him, at a good rate of speed, tried to jump out of the way, but misjudged the oncoming car. He bounced off the front hood of the car. The lizard caught the attention of the driver, and when he pulled into the pits, he said to his crew what had happened. So that’s where the Flying Lizard race team got its name.
46. From what I heard waaay back when during ALMS, it’s an inside joke between the owner and his mother.
47. Truth be told, Seth was a huge fan of the English punk, new-wave band – The Flying Lizards. He loved Deborah Evans-Stickland’s vocals on their remake of “Money (That’s What I Want)” that he was heard to exclaim, “I’m gonna name something after this band someday.” He did.
48. The Flying Lizard Motorsports group is a motorsport team from Sonoma, California, formed by Seth Neiman in early 2003.
49. Grease Monkey’s was taken
50. Seth’s son came up with it.
51. Named after the famous flying squadron from WW2. Col. Haggerds Flying Lizards were a rag tag outfit of misfit pilots that fought their way across the Pacific. With the war over, and their services no longer required, the misfit pilots took to the Sonoma Aerodrome to push the envelope in the theatre of motorsports.
52. A group of race car drivers is siting around the garage, having a fermented malt beverage. Suddenly, one receives a phone call from his girlfriend, wondering why he is late for their date. She calls him a lizard, for standing her up. The rest of the group, to show support, says they must all be “lizards”. A few beverages later, they are discussing how fast their cars are, and how, in fact, they seem to fly! They decide to band together, to win some races. As they make their plans, they realize they need a name, and a few beverages later, the “Flying Lizard” race team is born! And the rest, they say, is racing history!
53. The guys were hanging out one night playing poker when they spotted a gecko jumping around the open window. When it jumped, they said “Hey Lizards Fly!” Thus the team’s name Flying Lizard.
54. Once upon a time, the manly mechanics at the sports car racing shop were tearing down the latest engine. A horned lizard popped his head out from behind the camshaft where he had been napping. The tall mechanic dropped his wrench and yelled while his assistant (AKA the Flunky) grabbed the lizard and hurled it out the door. Just then, the boss stepped in and was slapped across the face with this critter. “It’s not gonna be a good day when you start with a flying lizard…..or is it?” he growled. “You know, I do believe we found the new name for our racing team. Nothing moves faster than a flying lizard or the mechanic who finds him.” And the team lived happily ever after.
55. There was a cute lizard inside the cockpit of the car that kept each driver company through their stints of driving; actually each driver made the fly and had super grip to survive its laps around the track!
56. From the nights fighting the great Flying Lizards in the Black Forest of Germany, and losing of course.
57. Someone is very seriously into Dragons.
58. Le Man Series 2004
59. Seth was watching an old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon when a GEICO commercial came on. Eureka. Not flying squirrel, but a flying lizard!
60. Everyone knows how expensive racing is so the team was named after a one-hit wonder 1980s band called The Flying Lizards. Their one hit was called “Money.”
61. From the new wave band who did “Money”?
62. I think they were working on their car a lizard ran by and somebody said hey he looks like he’s flying by let’s call are car flying lizards
63. Been a fan of Porsche flying lizards for years.
64. Because “the best things in life are free”, but not racing. That band “the flying lizards” didn’t know much.