Beyond Their Sport: Steven Beitashour

LAFC defender Steven Beitashour has been a fixture in the MLS since 2010 and if you think he's fast on the field, you should see him behind the wheel of a racecar! Beitashour has always had a need for speed going back to his childhood days racing GoPeds and now, thanks to SoCal Toyota, the San Jose native recently got a chance to pursue his passion for automobiles with three-time national champion road racer Dan Gardner. First up on the agenda, Gardner gave Beitashour a tour under the hood of the Toyota Sienna R-Tuned.

"The Sienna R-Tuned was built with a mission in mind and that mission was to sort of challenge people's perceptions of what a minivan can be," said Gardner. "The engine is a stock Toyota V6 but we've done some intake and exhaust work that gets it to a little over 300 horsepower."

With a lesson in engineering from Gardner in hand, Beitashour was ready to hit the road as he suited up and slid into the driver's seat of the Sienna R-Tuned.  Check out to video at the top of this page to see how he fared and catch Beitashour at his day job all season long at Banc of California Stadium.