‘Having this community in racing is such a cool thing to be around’ – Luke Pullen on Racing Pride, and making his dream come true.
The British racing driver used to shy away from his sexuality. Now, he’s turned being gay into one of his strengths to inspire others in motorsport.
So there’s this kid, and he has a dream.
He also has a pudding bowl haircut, a little bit more weight than he might like, and an uncanny resemblance to the Milkybar Kid.
But none of that matters, because Luke Pullen has a dream.
‘For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a racing driver’, he says.
‘It was an infatuation with cars, and that was always the goal. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to do it. For me, it’s just always been racing.’
Skip forward to now, and the kid has only gone and done it. He’s also not a kid anymore, but a twenty-three-year-old man, standing on a podium in his racing overalls at Snetterton with a trophy in his hand, flinging a Mazda around the track at Silverstone, or jetting off to Atlanta to see what some of the circuits Stateside can throw at him.
Luke Pullen is a racing driver, just like he always said he would be, and you can’t help but feel delighted for the lad – because who wouldn’t be chuffed to bits for anyone who has made their childhood fantasy come true?
And now, this kid – and yes, I know, I’ve just said he’s an adult; but really, he’s still only a kid – is opening up about who he is to help others in the sport make their dreams come true.
And honestly, that’s just as cool as anything that Luke has ever accomplished on the track.
‘I wish I could just put an arm around that kid’s shoulder and tell him to wear the fairy wings’
Luke is gay.
That’s easy enough for him to say now – but for a long time, that wasn’t the case.
‘For me, lots of things blur into one in terms of my experiences of figuring myself out’, Pullen admits.
‘I didn’t really come to terms with it until later in my teen years. I knew I was different, but I couldn’t really understand what it was. I was this bright, colourful kid who would be wearing the fairy wings – but even then, I remember having this feeling of having to hide it, which I think is a sad thing for a kid. Little things like that, you internalise.’
‘So it’s been a journey, and everyone’s journey is unique. I’ve had a lot of help with therapy, which has been really useful for me in knowing why I feel certain ways. I just wish I could go back and put an arm around the shoulder of that kid and say: ‘just wear the fairy wings, mate!’
Luke’s journey led him to Racing Pride – the organisation that supports LGBTQ+ people and allies in and around motorsport. Firstly as a community champion, and now as an ambassador, Pullen is a proud representative of a group that has helped push the automotive industry forward in terms of diversity and inclusion.
‘Having this community in racing, and sharing this space with these bright, intelligent, effervescent people is such a cool thing to be around’, Pullen says.
‘It can feel scary to put myself out there, especially as I probably did hide the fact I was gay for a little bit and shy away from it – so giving myself permission to let that mask slip and having that sense of community is so important.’
‘I know what it felt like to me, to be in a position with the loneliness and the sadness and feeling like I’m wrong. So, knowing how nice it is to help others in that space is incredibly important. It’s so much of an honour, it doesn’t even cross my mind anymore’.
‘I remember sitting afterwards with my dad, and he was just crying’
It’s not just community that matters to Pullen, but family.
It was family that supported him when he was earning the money to make it as a driver in the first place, having his back through the two-year slog where Pullen worked in a call-centre, selling pet insurance to people who were constantly having a go, as he put away the pennies (and boy, would he need a lot of them!) to make it in motorsport.
And then the day came where he was actually doing it.
‘Being on the racetrack at Donnington Park, a place I used to drive around on my PlayStation, felt like I was crossing over a threshold.’
‘I’d gone from watching to being on the track, and that was massive. The first time the lights go out and you’re just waiting, and then you go… you don’t take it all in until afterwards, but I remember sitting afterwards with my dad, and he was crying. Just in that first race, I remember thinking ‘I’m doing it!’ - and I think it’s healthy and therapeutic to remember those moments on the days when things don’t go as well.’
Perhaps one moment stands out more than the others.
‘My first podium was in 2021’.
‘Me and my dad get to spend time together on race weekend, and I was buzzing off this overwhelming sense of achievement that I had a trophy and that I was good enough to be there. It was validation, because there is self-criticism when you’re a competitive person, and that moment smashed a wall out of the way for me!’
‘I couldn’t lock eyes with him from the podium because he was crying, he’d already gone. But we shared this big hug before the podium, and someone took a photo of it, and I still get one with every podium. I have a special relationship with my family, and my dad really is one of my best mates,’
‘Emotionally, racing has become our life – and all the engines that have blown up have been worth it for moments like that!’
British racing driver Luke Pullen was speaking to Jack Murley on The Jack Murley Sports Show. You can hear new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all other podcast platforms.