From a seasoned team of founders and executives to a world-class staff of talent scouts and trainers, EVO is poised to revolutionize sports for individual athletes.
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
JOHN NORMAN
CEO
John Norman, CEO
“I have seen with my own eyes, so many talented and dedicated professional athletes that just cannot afford to compete in the sport they love. The current system of athlete development is broken. Becoming a champion should be based on the most-talented, not the best-funded. EVO is going to level the playing field and create a new and fun way for fans to enjoy their favorite sport. EVO is going to be a game changer!”
John is a globally renowned exhibition industry veteran who has built and sold three major companies which produced scores of international blockbusters seen by over 30-million visitors. Notable exhibitions include King Tut and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, Titanic: The Exhibition and Diana, A Celebration, the award-winning exhibition celebrating the life of Princess Diana.
John also manages his son Ryan Norman’s open-wheel racing career. From 2017-2019, Ryan raced in the Indy Lights Series under Andretti Autosport.
“The EVO platform helps keep the most talented athletes in competition, which means a greater competitive level, and more exciting athletic performances. Additionally, EVO allows fans an amazing way to get involved in the development of an athlete’s career. What more could a fan want—high levels of competition, and the ability to support that growth?! EVO is a huge game-changer for how future champions are developed.”
An accomplished visionary with two decades of entertainment and hospitality leadership experience—supporting such events as the last three Super Bowls, the CMA Music Fest, and the Global Citizen Festival.
“EVO is the answer for how to compete in today’s individual sport landscape. EVO enables the athletes to compete at the highest levels, and allows the fan to engage in a unique and exclusive way only offered by EVO.”
A key-figure in the Las Vegas luxury nightlife scene for more than a decade, and an executive at SBE Entertainment Group—one of the largest international hospitality companies in the world.
“We are putting a team behind every single athlete. We are going to give them every opportunity to develop with the best resources, the best coaching & giving them the best opportunities to be the best they can be.”
Silver medalist in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles
Bronze medal at the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games for Light Heavyweight
1st boxer in 56 years to win a medal at the Olympic Games for New Zealand
Trainer for Joseph Parker—WBO heavyweight champion 2016-2018
Managed NZ heavyweight David Tua from 1992–2003
Tua won bronze at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Tua ended his career 52-5, with 43 knockouts (16 in first round)
Trained Robbie Peden to win the 2005 IBF super featherweight title.
Dr. Drake received his bachelor’s degree at Florida State University. He received his Masters in Sports Health Science with an emphasis in Sports Injury Management as well as his Doctorate in Chiropractic from Life University in Atlanta.
Dr. Drake holds numerous professional certifications including Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician (CCSP) from the American Academy of Chiropractic Sports Physicians, Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES) with the National Academy of Sports Medicine, and specializes in human performance.
In addition to running multiple performance centers and chiropractic clinics, Dr. Drake has extensive experience in treating active individuals as well as professional athletes including athletes from the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, Nitro Circus, UCI BMX, X-Games, USA Adaptive Surfing, ATP, WTA, AVP, AVP First, FIVB, CrossFit, PGA, LPGA, and Korn Ferry Tour. He has been the Medical Director for the Summer and Winter Dew Tour Games, Nitro Circus World Games, Nitro Circus Live Tours, and the UCI BMX Supercross World Cups, in addition to consulting for fire, police, military, professional teams, and athletes.
Dr. Drake is an international speaker on numerous categories relating to improving performance in life.
After founding and serving as the Sports Performance Institute Director at Life Chiropractic College West he went to be the Vice President and Performance Director of RacquetFit and OnBaseU in Oceanside, CA working alongside Dr. Greg Rose of Titleist Performance Institute.
As Vice President and Performance Director of RacquetFit and OnBaseU Dr. Drake helped with expanding worldwide health & fitness certification programs to include the sport of tennis and baseball/Softball.
Dr. Drake founded Athlete Chiropractic in Scottsdale Arizona where he continues to work with amateur and professional athletes in the area of sport specialization using the best technology for improved performance.
His hobbies include tennis, surfing, cycling, swimming, skydiving, sailing, and running.
Expectations are high when you enter the world of racing with a name like Andretti, and Michael Andretti has been raising the bar as a driver, team owner and businessman throughout his illustrious career.
Michael Andretti leads his businesses with the same focus and determination he showed behind the wheel of a race car.
He knows the importance of striving for excellence and pushes to move from good to great. He raises the bar and sets new standards. He knows what it takes to be a Champion.
When Andretti hung up his helmet and ended his full-time driving career, the 1991 series champion left as the winningest driver in CART history with 42 victories. He is also second on the list of IndyCar laps led, right behind his father, Mario, with 6,702.
With his full-time driving career behind him, Andretti continues to set the standard in the racing industry, albeit from behind the pit wall.
J-F Thormann, who has worked alongside Michael Andretti for over three decades, joined Andretti Autosport in September 2006 and now works as the president.
In addition to his overall managerial, business administration and strategic planning duties, Thormann oversees the company’s driver recruitment and team development programs.
A graduate of Towson University in Baltimore, Thormann spent many years in the petroleum industry before becoming Michael Andretti’s closest business advisor.
Thormann owned and operated successful retail sites for Shell, Texaco and Sunoco. He was also the Managing Director for the International Retail Corporation, which operated 17 high-volume Amoco, Mobil and Sunoco service stations on the Eastern Seaboard interstate highways.
Thormann also serves on the Board of Directors for The Michael Andretti Foundation.
Pieter is Principal and CEO of Team Rossi Motorsports (TRM). TRM manages the sporting and commercial rights of Alexander Rossi (Pieter’s son); Alexander (29), is the last American to compete in Formula 1 (2015), 2016 Indy 500 Champion, 2018 IndyCar Championship runner up and current driver for Andretti Autosport | Honda competing in the NTT IndyCar series.
Pieter is also Principal and CEO of One Motorsports Marketing and Management (1MMM), a firm that both he and Alexander own together. 1MMM consults and manages other up and coming race car drivers and their support structures. In 2009 Pieter Co-Founded ARF1 Investment Fund (ARF1). ARF1 is a very successful investment fund that supported the junior categories for Alexander Rossi in his progression to Formula One and subsequently IndyCar with Andretti | Honda.
Pieter a California native and resides with his wife Laura in Nashville, Tennessee. Pieter’s business background prior to his motorsports career is Construction and Real Estate and retired from the construction business in 2012, but remains active with his commercial real estate in California.
Since 2009 Pieter has worked closely in Formula One and IndyCar while assisting in the building of Alexander’s career. He’s formed strong relationships in motorsports, gaining the respect of teams, governing bodies and commercial rights holders, while utilizing his business background with contract negotiations and navigating the complex environment of motorsports. This has proved invaluable and a vital component in the process while managing Alexander’s career and working with other drivers and their families. Since the inception and success of ARF1 Investment Fund, Pieter has assisted many young drivers with a proven business model in motorsports that works.
Pieter recognizes the importance of long-term business relationships, evidenced through his hard work and business network. His experience and advice is very valuable to the growth and mission of EVO.
Alexander Rossi is an elite athlete and professional race car driver. He is in his fifth season with the IndyCar Series and pilots the No. 27 NAPA/AutoNation Honda for Andretti Autosport.
Alex grew up in Nevada City, CA, and began racing go-karts at age 10. By age 14, he’d won multiple national and international karting championships. In 2008, he became Formula BMW World Champion, holding the most series poles and victories, and was the youngest open-wheel racing champion in U.S. history.
In pursuit of F1, Alex moved to Europe at age 17 and at the time, was the youngest driver to hold an F1 Super License. He quickly found success in GP3 and GP2, and in 2015, was GP2 Vice Champion. For six years in Europe, Alex also served as the Test/Official Reserve Driver for teams such as BMW / Sauber, Team Lotus, Caterham and Marussia Formula One. In 2015, he made five F1 Grand Prix starts for Manor Racing.
In 2016, Alex moved back to the U.S. to sign with Andretti Herta Autosport. As an American rookie in IndyCar, Alex shocked the world by winning the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 with a brilliant fuel-saving strategy. He currently has 7 wins, 6 poles and 33 top-five finishes in his five IndyCar seasons. In 2018, he finished second in the Championship. Alex also eclipsed his competitors in most laps completed and total passes (321).
In 2019, he was third in the Championship, repeated as the Long Beach Grand Prix winner, and won Road America by an astonishing 28 seconds. In the adapted 2020 season, Alex brought home 5 podiums and the INDYCAR Fan Favorite Award.
Unlike most racing drivers these days, Alex chooses to race in different discplines outside of his full-time job in IndyCar. In 2018 and 2019, he participated in the legendary Baja 100 with the Honda Off-Road team. And at the end of 2019, he participated in the famed Bathurst 1000 in Australia. He's also the third driver for Acura Team Penske in the IMSA endurance races and has two podiums with the squad.
Alex currently resides in Indianapolis. He spends his time in the gym, cycling and hanging with his girlfriend and their two dogs. In addition to being a bourbon connoisseur with fellow driver James Hinchcliffe, the two co-host a weekly SiriusXM podcast called “Off Track with Hinch & Rossi.” In 2018, he and fellow driver Conor Daly made the finals on CBS’s long-running show “The Amazing Race.
Dr. Ara Suppiah is one of the world’s most trusted medical pioneers in professional sports and the founder of the Functional Sports Medicine Institute based on decades of groundbreaking research and discovering how to solve the unmet needs of elite athletes to achieve maximum health and vitality to enable sustained high performance. Dr. Ara’s Functional Sports Medicine™ model uses a holistic, proprietary approach by leveraging the sciences of functional medicine, allopathic medicine and Eastern medical philosophies to limit the amount of inflammation within athletes’ bodies.
Dr. Ara is a highly sought-after personal physician on the PGA, LPGA Tour, ATP and WTA Tour, a practicing ER Physician, Chief Medical Analyst on NBC Sports Golf Channel, thought leader, speaker, and author.
Dr. Ara’s mission is to change the way people think about working with athletes. He is empowering others by sharing his learnings in the first-in-class, online Functional Sports Medicine Masterclass.
Tennis legend Ivan Lendl was ranked No. 1 in the world for 270 weeks and won 94 ATP singles titles, including reaching 19 Grand Slam singles finals, winning eight titles.
Lendl remains the only male tennis player with more than 90% match wins in five different years. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2001.
Following his retirement in 1994, Ivan has become one of the top coaches in the world having worked with the USTA Development Program in Orland and guiding Andy Murray to two Wimbledon Championships and a world #1 ranking.
