Mark Atkinson is the founder of Speed of Cheese Racing where he builds some very unique, unusual, and bespoke motorcycles. Ever since Mark could ride on two wheels his passion for bikes has been burning rubber. From his Schwinn® bicycle to a Taco Mini-bike, and then a Yamaha YZ80, he has a life-long infatuation with motorcycles. Mark raced an old Yamaha RD400, a bike he bought from Ed Erlenbach who set world records on that bike. He has built street motorcycles most of his life, self-taught in fabricating, welding, and painting and most of his professional career has been machining hard core race car products. Just a few of his projects include electric motorcycles, race bikes, show bikes, café racers, land speed bikes, and more.

Michael Bodell is the Deputy Director of the Petersen Automotive Museum located in Los Angeles, California. The original museum opened in June of 1994 and since then has gone through several remodels, the last being in 2015 when it underwent an extensive $90 million renovation. The building façade is a massive statement toward the future. With over 400 vehicles on display, the Petersen’s mission is to explore and present the history of the automobile and its impact on global life and culture. Michael is a collector, motorcycle racer, and product developer. In addition to his role in growing the Petersen brand, Michael is a Lotus enthusiast and collector.

Peter Nielsen is the CEO of WheelWell, the #1 social marketplace for the automotive enthusiast that helps you easily find and purchase the very best products for your vehicles. Peter was born into an automotive family and his career has included equities trading, a record label, a business intelligence firm, a mobile payment solutions provider, and a Sonoma County winery. Before joining Wheelwell, he developed the automotive parts business for one of the most successful racing teams in North America, K-PAX Racing. In his spare time, you’ll find Peter on the racetrack clicking off laps in one of his racecars.

Dave Dell’Aquila is a Senior User Experience Designer who was the Product Designer for eBay Motors, a site all of us love to visit. He is the Founder and CEO of Sports Car Adventures, a company that provides tours in classic sports cars around the back roads of Northern California. Dave is also in charge of the Coyote Creek Concours Drive that takes place the day before the car show. As a life-long automotive enthusiast, Dave started with a 1968 MGB-GT his parents gave him in college. He and his family are regular participants in rallies around Northern California and they have amassed a collection of great driving automobiles including MGA Twin Cam, Triumph GT6+, MGB roadsters, BMW E36 M3 and E39 M5, and a 2.5L Mazda MX-5. 

Sara Dakarmen is the Co-Founder and owner of L.A. Dismantler, your source for quality late model Porsche parts for over 20 years. She is known as the “Porsche Queen” and since its conception, Sara has seen thousands of Porsches cycle through her company. The constantly changing inventory provides Porsche owners with over 100,000 parts that can be found at L.A. Dismantler’s website, on eBay, and at auctions. Her Co-Founder was her late husband, Todd Dakarmen, who was my 459^th guest here on Cars Yeah on March 4, 2016. Sara continues to grow the company while attending car events and raising her four daughters. 

Mike Donick is the Senior Manager at Toyota responsible for their North American Ride and Handling R&D Activities. He and his Team are responsible for developing the ride and handling performance and hardware for all of Toyota’s North American developed vehicles. He has worked as a technician for the Skip Barber Racing School, spent a season in NASCAR and went into Automotive Engineering specializing in vehicle dynamics. Mike has raced sports cars and formula cars for over 19 years and participates in vintage racing, vintage car rallies, and hill climbs in his Allard K3, a ’66 Morgan Plus 4, and his latest project a Porsche 911 hotrod.

Mark Perleberg is the host of The Sunday Drive, a video show where he takes you behind the scenes into the world of automobiles and racing. Mark talks with industry leaders, celebrities, and some times he has a co-host where they explore everything from concept cars, classics, motorsports, car shows, and events. For as long as he can recall, Mark has had a love affair with automobiles. At the age of 12, he began working at the family’s car dealership in Wisconsin that ultimately lead to an opportunity to work as a technician for a Formula Atlantic race team. Mark’s worked for Kelley Blue Book, and as a lead automotive expert for NADA Guides.

Bracken Helmes is the founder of Circuit SixFour, a premium, high-end art, and apparel company in Brentwood, the Bay Area of California. Circuit SixFour started as a small group of like-minded friends whose aim was to bring raw beauty, precision, and exhilaration to the automobiles that inspire them. He also conducts interviews and writes articles that have been published in Porsche Panorama magazine, on the Petrolicious website, and in other automotive related publications and sites. When he’s not enjoying spirited drives in his Porsche you’ll find Bracken at events including Rennsport Reunion, the L.A. Literature Show and a multitude of Porsche events around the Bay area.

Hannah Grisham is a young and upcoming race car driver who started driving at the age of 3, was on a motorcycle at the age of 4, and racing karts by the time she was 6 years old. At the age of 16 she was racing spec Miatas and today, at 19, Hannah has over 300 races from the club to national levels. She holds multiple karting class championships and she’s earned the IKF Expert designation. She is the second female to win the prestigious IKF Lake Speed Achievement of Excellence in Karting award. And she has earned the So-Cal Sprinters Driver of the Year and High Point Eagle awards as well. Hannah has earned the nicknames “The Closer” and “Hannah-Zillah”. 

Barry Rodenberg is the General Manager at Chevrolet of Stevens Creek, the Presenter of this year’s Coyote Creek Concours. He started working in the automobile business in 1979 as a salesperson, was promoted to Sales Manager and eventually partnering with John Anderson. They owned three Chevrolet dealerships and then six stores that were sold to Auto Nation in 1998. After a year off he and John partnered again and bought their old rival Courtesy Chevrolet and another store, then selling both businesses in 2011. He then worked at a Honda store in Palo Alto where he and his team built it up into a great success until his retirement in 2017. 

Myles Kitchen is the Emcee for the new Coyote Creek Concours. During his career as an engineer and entrepreneur, his focus was on electronics and technology for the automotive industry spending time at Motorola, National Semiconductor, Intel, and others. Today he owns a specialized consultancy assisting start-ups to Fortune 100 firms in automotive electronic technology. Myles is an accomplished vintage racer, instructor and a three-time Champion of the United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC) Seniors Tour. Myles is believed to be the only person known to have campaigned a Lamborghini Countach in a sanctioned race in North America. He is a past President and Director of the Ferrari Club of America, Pacific Region, and he is a lifetime member of the Society of Automotive Engineers, and member of the International Association of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. 

John Neff is the Global Editor in Chief at Motor 1 where they provide automotive news, reviews, features, and more. John is an automotive journalist who has helmed some of the biggest automotive digital publishing brands on the web. For 10 years he was Editor in Chief of AOL’s car site, Autoblog, and for the last three years, he’s been Global Editor in Chief of his new automotive news and review website called Motor1.com, which operates 10 editions around the world and is written in 9 languages. 

Carl Iseman is a Board Member and Concours Chairman for the Cincinnati Concours d’Elegance, an annual event that takes place on June 9 in Ault Park, Cincinnati, Ohio and has been an ongoing event since 1978. While his career included being a hospital CEO, and owner of several marketing research companies, Carl’s passion for cars, and Porsches, in particular, included being the President of The Drie Staaten Gruppe, a Porsche 356 and early 911 Club and a member of the Porsche Club of America and 356 Registry. His garage has included 12 Porsches, a Triumph TR4, MGB/GT, several BMWs, and a ’48 Chevrolet Woody. 

A motor racing broadcaster, commentator and journalist, Will Buxton has had the rare pleasure of turning his great passion into something resembling work for the better part of 20 years. His career has taken him around the world countless times to report on everything from Formula 1 to World Rally to Indycar. While the happy mistake of falling into television as a Formula 1 pitlane reporter in the United States for the SPEED channel and later NBC Sports, followed by his current role as the first Digital Presenter in F1 history, has made him one of the most recognized faces and voices in the sport, his first love was and remains writing. Will lives in Oxfordshire, England, and he’s here today to talk about his new book: My Greatest Defeat: Stories of hardship and hope from motor racing’s finest heroes.

John Ficarra is an automotive historian and professional automotive enthusiast. He bought his first car at the age of 14, restored cars in his garage to help put himself through college, owned a picture car company called Creative Film Cars in NYC, ran an illegal cross-country Cannonball event called The 2904, was the marketing director and in-house historian for Bruce Canepa at his amazing facility in Scotts Valley, California, wrote and researched 72 cars for the Porsche’s historic tent at Rennsport VI, and has been ill-advisedly building and racing cheaty cars in the 24 Hours of LeMons. An accomplished researcher, writer, and storyteller, John’s work has appeared in magazines including 000, Vintage Racecar, Classic Porsche, and Speed Sport; on the Luftgekühlt website, and his VINwiki Car stories have over a million views on YouTube. 

Bruce Kessler had a short but sweet racing career from 1953 to 1959. It started when he borrowed his mother’s XK120 Jag at the age of 17. He raced all over the world and Sports Illustrated called Bruce “Daring young Bruce Kessler.” He was sent to Le Mans in 1957 to drive for Porsche and tested for Centro Sud F1 250F Maserati in Modena. He drove for Scarab, raced Ferraris, and ran at exciting venues including The Cuban Grand Prix, the Nassau Classic, Sebring, Silverstone, Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, and Riverside. A serious accident ended his racing career and he landed in Hollywood where he became a film and television director. His film The Sound of Speed represented the USA at the Cannes Film Festival in 1962 and won the first Golden Eagle awarded by the American Film Institute. Just a few of his many other credits include The Monkees, The Flying Nun, Mission: Impossible, Marcus Welby, MD, and The Rockford Files, to name just a few.

Katie Hargitt was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, a city that lives and breathes two things: basketball and racing. She never mastered a jump-shot, but she was hooked on horsepower. At just nine-years-old, she began racing quarter midgets across the country. Just two years later, Lyn St. James invited her to attend "Women in the Winner’s Circle” and driver development. After racing for more than ten years, Katie stepped out of the driver’s seat and in front of the camera. She scored her first job in local news in Terre Haute, Ind., a city rich in motorsports history. She worked her way back into motorsports as a pit reporter on NBCSN’s IndyCar series broadcasts. In the spring of 2018, Katie established “Fuel the Female,” an organization dedicated to empowering women to achieve their dreams. She has also worked as a reporter for Fox Sports Midwest in college football, basketball, the Indiana Pacers, and NCAA.

Rob Howden is the ‘Voice of the Road to Indy’, and he works on the IndyCar Radio Network broadcast Team. For the last 25 years, Rob has dedicated his life to the coverage of kart racing and open-wheel formula car racing in North America as the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of past publications such as Shifter Kart Illustrated and FormulaCar Magazine, and most currently, the industry-leading website eKartingNews.com. He’s been the trackside play-by-play on the PA for the primary karting series and events across the continent and he is considered the primary announcer in the North American karting community. Rob will call 26 different racing events this year, which will take him to all four corners of the country.

Shout out to Chris Pantani at Cooper Tires for introducing me to Rob.

David Ankin, AKA “Doghouse” Dave, is a hands-on entrepreneur, former stunt man, motorcycle racer, and custom motor vehicle fabricator. He founded his business, ToyMakerz, in 2014 where he and his business partner, David Young, along with their team specialize in one-off custom builds and OEM enhancements. In addition to building unmatched rides, David is the host on the reality TV show ToyMakerz that just completed its third season on the History channel after two successful years on Velocity. The show is shot with aerial cinematography and thrilling drive sequences featuring VR technology and concept animation and includes a companion app, available on iTunes, that connects fans to the show.

Tim Considine is the author of the book Twice Around The Clock - The Yanks at Le Mans, a huge multi-volume, unapologetically chauvinistic personal history of over 320 American drivers and the American cars that have participated in the epic 24 Hours of Le Mans. His book is a frank, sometimes blunt, personal account that makes history human – and these volumes unique. Each of the three books is close to 120,000 words in length with approximately 300 black and white and color images, per volume, from around the world, interspersed throughout – many never seen before. It is the culmination of Tim’s research and interviews conducted for over 26 years and written over the last six years and covers from 1923 through 1979. Tim was my guest back in June of 2015 and you may know him from his time on TV on the original Mickey Mouse Club, Shaggy Dog, My Three Sons, and many more. His son Chris, CEO of CXC Simulations, has also been a guest here on Cars Yeah.

Mike Tatro is a car collector whose automotive enthusiasm has filled his garage with over 100 cars. He is a retired business owner who enjoys his days with a number of automotive activities. He is the Chairman of his local chapter of the Golden Gate Lotus Club, a member of the Shelby Club of America, the MG Club, the Austin Healy Club, Porsche Club of America, the Datsun Club, and the BMW Club. He loves to work on cars and his collection, which he calls ‘CarMichael Vintage Vehicles’ is an eclectic group of vehicles which houses in an 18,000 square foot garage/warehouse near his home. That collection includes 105 cars, 7 motorcycles, 2 wooden boats, and a motorhome.

Ron Baker is the founder of Driven, a marketing organization where he has found a way to weave his passion for cars into his career. He has created over 500 car events for major automotive manufacturers. He has produced car related television programming – 5 series in total spanning 9 years on the air. Ron has also created numerous promotional and training presentations and written marketing programs and developed technology to enhance the consumer experience at car shows. He also developed the broadcast facility at Cobo Hall, Detroit, for the North American International Auto Show. Ron is a driving instructor who teaches performance and defensive driving courses as well. He continues to race, campaigning a 2-litre formula car and he is an accomplished musician who performs professionally. 

Randy Kerdoon is a multi-award-winning sportscaster who has been on the airwaves for 30 years on KFWB, Fox-11, and currently KNX 1070 Newsradio in Los Angeles, California. He has earned numerous broadcasting awards including a “Best of Radio”, a Gold Medal and Golden Mike awards. In 2014, he decided to wrap his passion for cars into a podcast that he calls “Talking About Cars” where he interviews a wide variety of guests who love classic cars. I was honored to be a guest on his show during my attendance at The Classic Auto Show in Costa Mesa, California where I was interviewed by Randy and past Cars Yeah guest Bob Beck. Randy loves old cars and he currently has two collector cars, a 1957 Pontiac Custom Safari 2 door wagon and a 1964 Dodge Polara hardtop.

Andy Leach is the owner of Cal Automotive Creations where he and Ron Cizek, and their team build custom cars. His father got him into cars at the age of 14 and his first car was a 1937 Ford that he learned how to weld and form metal on. He worked with Troy Trepanier at Rad Rides by Troy for 5 years where he honed his talents. Andy and Ron built a 1940 Ford they titled Checkered Past and won the 2013 Ridler Award which was an incredible accomplishment given it was the first car out of their newly formed shop. I had the honor of meeting Andy at The Classic Auto Show in Costa Mesa California where I interviewed him on their Celebrity Stage along with his friend Wayne Carini, another past Cars Yeah guest.

Burt “BS” Levy is known as the World’s Fastest Novelist. He is an award-winning motorsports journalist, an infamous author, a lifelong British car nut, and notorious racecars ride mooch who has earned over 80 amateur and vintage race wins. He is the author of the celebrated cult classic 1950s sports car novels The Last Open Road, its sequels Montezuma’s Ferrari, The fabulous Trashwagon, Toly’s Ghost, The 200 MPH Steamroller and his utterly hilarious short story collection, A Potside Companion. Today Burt returns to Cars Yeah to share his latest venture, The Last Open Road audiobook. A true automotive entrepreneur, Burt is sure to fill our ears with his humor and iconic “BS”, so hide your car keys and listen up.

Burt was first on Cars Yeah way back on August 3 and 4, 2014, and he was my first two-part show being guest on episodes #47 and #48.

Mike Dennison is the President of Powered Vehicles Group and CEO of Fox Factory. For more than 40 years, FOX Factory has been an industry leader in the design and development of high-performance shock absorbers and racing suspension products for bicycles, on-road and off-road vehicles and trucks, side-by-side vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, specialty vehicles and applications, and motorcycles. Prior to FOX Mike was entrenched in Silicon Valley’s high-tech industry, spending almost 20 years with Flex Ltd., a diversified technology manufacturer of products from printers and smartphones to audio systems and wearables. As CEO Mikes oversees relationships with Ford Performance, Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Carroll Shelby International’s Raptor development programs, and countless other projects that allow him to live his automotive dreams. 

Ben Clymer is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of HODINKEE. Widely considered a leading voice in the watch industry, Ben founded the company in 2008 as a means to write about his passion for wristwatches, a passion that started when he received his grandfather’s Omega Speedmaster. Ten years later, Ben has grown HODINKEE into the foremost destination for all things in the world of horology - a robust media and retail platform that brings its readers and consumers the best wristwatch content and products in a way that is approachable, authentic and honest. 

Ben is an avid photographer, watch collector and classic car enthusiast. He has been recognized as part of the Hypebeast 100, Digiday’s Changemakers, and Crain’s New York’s 40 Under 40, while HODINKEE has been named as one of Time’s 50 Best Websites, and Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies Of The Year. 

Dean Cusano is the CEO of Motorcars Incorporated in Plainville, Connecticut. He is involved in the Automotive Restoration industry and a certified judge for Concours d'Elegance by Jaguar Cars. Dean has been responsible for the restoration of over 215 E-type Jaguars and has been a worldwide distributor of Vintage Jaguar Motorcars for over 35 years. Dean is the North East Regional Director for Jaguar Clubs of North America and serves on many automotive Concours Judging teams in the North East. Dean is the Lead Judge and also the initial creator of the “Dream Show” in Farmington Connecticut for the Hometown Foundation that is based in Cheshire Connecticut. Started in 2013 the Dream Show has grown to one of the largest Cause-related Motorcar shows in North America. The Hometown foundation has donated over 2 million dollars to benefit various charities ranging from Special Olympics and Unified sports and programs for the developmentally disabled to Pet Rescue programs.

Rupert Banner is the Group Motoring Director for Bonham Auction House based at Bonhams, New York and is responsible for overseeing the International Motoring Department. He is an auctioneer, business acquisition extraordinaire, cataloguer, researcher and valuer with 25 years' experience in the auction industry, at all three major international houses. In 1994, he began converting his lifelong automotive enthusiasm into a career, which has included 13 years with two other major fine art auction houses and for the last dozen years at Bonhams the most car-centric of the three. He has handled numerous major collections auctions including celebrities, large collections, and automobile museums. Throughout his career, he has retained an overriding passion for cars from the dawn of motoring, campaigning a variety of jalopies on the British London to Brighton Run each November since the 1980s.

Bonhams will hold an auction at this year’s Greenwich Concours d’Elegance.

Michael Arnolt is the son of Stanley H. Arnolt who customized sports cars, including the legendary Arnolt-Bristol. In all, 142 Arnolts were built for the track and the street. The Greenwich Concours will be celebrating Arnolt cars including the Arnolt-MGs, Arnolt-Bristols, and Arnolt-Aston Martins at this year’s event. Michael is a journalist working as a newspaper reporter and columnist and he has been integral in helping his mother run the family business after his father passed about 10 years ago. Michael is also a high-level competitive racquetball player.

Mary Wennerstrom is the Chairman of the Greenwich Concours d'Elegance that takes place the weekend after Memorial Day each year in Greenwich, CT. She is also the director of the legendary Madison Avenue Sports Car Driving and Chowder Society that meets monthly at Sardi's Restaurant in Manhattan. Mary helped her mother-in-law, Genia, and her father-in-law, Bruce Wennerstrom with the Greenwich Concours since it began back in 1996. Genia passed away in 2011, and then Bruce passed in late 2015, and Mary has taken the reigns since that time. Raised in Greenwich with her 6 older brothers, Mary was exposed to cars and racing at an early age. When she met her husband, Leif, her love of cars grew even more. Together they continue the legacy of the concours and the chowder club that Bruce and Genia so greatly cherished.

Jack Griffin is the Co-Founder of Garages of Texas, a property where automotive enthusiasts own their own space. Garages of Texas provides owners a luxury garage suite that is an optimal place for their cars and themselves, a perfect place for both man, woman, and machine.

Jack has over 40 years of experience in real estate development, brokerage, and motorsports. For 12 years he was partner in charge of developing suburban office building properties in Texas for Trammell Crow Company developing over two million square feet of office buildings. Motorsports has always been his passion including touring, collecting, restoring, and racing old cars. He’s raced at venues including Daytona, Sebring, LeMans, Mosport, Road America and many other tracks around the world. Jack’s collection has been featured in magazines and he is a past Board member at his local Porsche Club. You can see more of Jack with me on the Cars Yeah TV show.

Linda Vaughn is perhaps the most photographed personality in automotive and motorsports history. This year she was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame. She’s entertained fans and has been a premier marketer of automotive good for more than 55 years. From her first days as Miss Atlanta Raceway representing the iconic Hurst brand through her annual appearances at America’s top automotive and racing events, she engages her fans with a beautiful smile and energetic personality. In her new book, published by CarTech, The First Lady Of Motorsports Linda Vaughn takes us on a journey through her career in motorsports and promotions sharing her personal photographs and stories. I had the pleasure of spending some time with Linda at The Classic Auto Show in March where she appeared with a panel of Women on Wheels. 

One lucky listener will win a copy of Linda’s new book Linda Vaughn: The First Lady Of Motorsports.

Bob Beck is a lifelong automotive enthusiast who has built vehicles that gained prominence in automotive magazines, shows, and books. His career after college started as a High School auto shop instructor. Later he worked for major vehicle manufacturers at the corporate level including BMW, Nissan, Isuzu, GM, and most recently as the Collector Car Representative for AAA in Southern California. Bob has been an NHRA drag racing announcer at multiple tracks over the last 40 years and he has been an announcer for the California Hot Rod Reunion and Holley National Hot Rod Reunion for the past 20 plus years. He is a regular contributing personality at Speed Scene Live TV and he does guest spots on the nationally syndicated Horsepower for an hour radio show and on Talking About Cars with Randy Kerdoon. Bob is also the host of the Great American Auto Scene show.

Joe Mattioli is the co-managing partner of Mattioli Weber Consulting, where they specialize in strategic planning, marketing campaigns, branding, and efficiency. He has over 40 years of experience as a CEO, managing mass population events, developing and executing regional and national marketing programs and partnerships for a diverse range of organizations and events including national brands, sports venues, and race teams, concerts, fairs and festivals and the development, production and sale of broadcast properties. Joe’s diverse background also includes running professional sporting events and teams and overseeing programs that include professional athletes. His past also includes guiding the Pocono Raceway to success with events including NASCAR, IndyCar, Sports Car, and Motorcycle events. 

Alexander Rossi is a five-time Indy car winner. He won the 100^th Running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2016, the first rookie to win the 500 since 2001 and the first American rookie to win since 1928. This year he returns to Andretti Autosport for his fourth season in the NTT IndyCar Series. Alexander moved to Europe at the age of 17 to chase his Formula 1 dream and he made five starts for the Manor Marussia team in 2015 and became the third American driver to race in Formula 1 since 1990. He has won races in the GP2 series, now known as F2, and the World Series by Renault and has completed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Jeff Lambert is the President of Race Sponsorships.net, an organization that helps grassroots racers obtain sponsorships through their sponsorship proposals. He is also the President and Founder of Armed Forces Racing which is a non-profit 501C3 that provides veterans with an opportunity to compete in motorsports, more specifically drag racing. He offers veterans the opportunity to experience the excitement of building a drag car and to drive it while building friendships with other veterans. Jeff is a veteran of the United States Navy and served aboard the USS Carl Vinson as part of the Crash and Salvage crew. He is a drag racer who has earned two track championships.

Mike Smith is the Ferrari Club of America Sacramento Chapter President. He joined the Ferrari Club of America ten years ago after reaching a life goal of owning a Ferrari and what he found was great camaraderie and this year he’s been elected Chapter President for his second 2-year term. His career history has been in business management and insurance that afforded him his Ferrari dream. The Ferrari Club provides lots of options including drives, tours, wine tasting, tech sessions, track events, Concours, and community charity events. A very cool aspect of the Ferrari Club is that you don’t have to own a Ferrari to join.

Jill Trotta is an ASE Certified Technician/Advisor with over 25 years of experience in the industry. She is the Vice President of Marketing, Industry, and Sales at RepairPal. She has played an integral role in their Certified program and along with her team they have evaluated over 6,000 independent repair facilities. Passionate about consumer education Jill has appeared on radio, TV, and in print sharing her knowledge and she is a regular on RepairPal.com, Geico.Com, and many others. Jill was awarded the Kukui Humanitarian of the Year award and she was named the Women in AutoCare Woman of Excellence and serves Vice-Chair on the Executive Committee of Woman in AutoCare. Most recently she was recognized as the leading expert in the industry on Price Transparency.

Mark Moskowitz MD is a retired surgeon, racer, and car collector. He is Director and Curator of The Museum of Automobile History, manages the estate of the renowned automotive artist, Carlo Demand, serves on the Board of Directors of Carolina Motorsports Park and is Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. He is a frequent contributor to multiple motoring publications. Dr. Moskowitz is a member of International Chief Judge Advisory Group and has been privileged to judge Concours events at Boca Raton, La Jolla, Santa Fe, Arizona, Greenwich, Hershey (the Elegance), Radnor Hunt, Cobble Beach, Hilton Head, Dusseldorf, Knokke-Heist Zoute Grand Prix, Monticello Raceway, and Delhi, India.  Mark has served as chief judge for the race car Concours at Monticello Raceway, the Trump Charlotte Concours and the Miami Concours.

Mark Raffauf is the Senior Director of Race Operations at IMSA. He has been involved in professional motorsports for over 40 years, spending most of his time officiating for IMSA from the early 70s through the 90s and then in Grand-Am from 1999 through 2013. He has been part of developing numerous sports car categories including GTX, AAGT, GTP, WSC, Ferrari Challenge, Firestone Firehawk, Exxon World Sports Car, Rolex Sports Car, plus prototype cars. Mark has also been involved in the creation and updating of many racing circuits in North America. He is the current United States delegate to the FIA, International historic Car Racing commission and he is an Honorary member of the Road Racing Drivers Club known as the RRDC, in the United States. Mark is currently the FIA Historical Race car Commission U.S. representative. 

Mark is a co-author on the new book IMSA 1969–1989 along with past Cars Yeah guest, Mitch Bishop. It is the inside story of how John Bishop built the world’s greatest sports car racing series in the world.

Tom Jones is the CEO of Taper Roller Bearings, Evergreen Properties, and Hilltop Marine. Taper Roller Bearings has been a family company since 1972 offering 24-hour machinist who provides unmatched service through their Speed Program® with same-day manufacturing of assemblies. Tom has served as an honorary judge for multiple concours, he has raced in SCCA for over 3 years and participated in vintage events on tours in the United States and Europe. He’s served on the Classic Car Club of America as a national board Director and held the position of President in 2016 and 2017. He and his wife Connie founded and continue to Co-Chair the Keeneland Concours d’Elegance in Lexington, Kentucky, now in its 16^th year, which benefits the Kentucky Children’s Hospital. Tom has served on the Lexington regional board of Central Bank, Advisory Board of The Reefs in Bermuda, the advisory board of the University of Arizona Department of Alternative Medicine, and the Hospice of the Bluegrass Board. 

Kyle Petty is an auto racing icon, a champion of philanthropy, and one of the most popular personalities in NASCAR. The son of NASCAR champion Richard Petty and grandson of NASCAR pioneer Lee Petty - Kyle followed in their footsteps, starting his 30-year NASCAR career as a Sprint Cup driver in 1979 at age 19, before also becoming an owner and media commentator. 

In 2004, Kyle and the Petty family opened the doors to Victory Junction - a camp created for children with chronic or life-threatening illnesses - in honor of his late son, Adam Petty.

For the past 25 years, Kyle Petty has hosted hundreds of NASCAR fans, drivers and motorcycle enthusiasts on his annual Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America. The Ride travels cross-country each spring to raise funds and awareness for Victory Junction. To date, the Ride has raised more than $18.5 million for children with chronic illnesses and is the most successful philanthropic event staged by any person in the NASCAR family.

Mitch Bishop is the son of IMSA founder John Bishop. He grew up at race tracks all over the country and early on became part of the IMSA family business. IMSA's Camel GT Series was the world's most popular professional sports car racing circuit in the 1970s and 1980s. Over the last 40+ years, Mitch has built a successful career as a marketing, sales, and software engineering leader in Silicon Valley. More recently, Mitch co-authored an impressive 372 page, coffee table book (now released) called "IMSA 1969-1989" that gives readers a fascinating inside look at his father's life and the first 20 years of IMSA's history. He is an active racer and sits on the board of directors of the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen, NY.

Dr. Stephen Olvey has been involved in saving lives and improving safety in motorsports for nearly 50 years. His primary role as Medical Director for the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) racing series in the US, a position he held from 1979 to 2003. Stephen remains active in motorsports as a member of the Fédération Internationale de I’Automobile Medical Commission, a Consultant to the Indy Car Series, and Motor Sports Director of University of Miami Concussion Program. He is an associate professor of Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He has republished his memoir book Rapid Response; My Inside Story as a Motor Racing Life-Saver, with the forward by Alex Zanardi.

Don Barry is the President and CEO of Edelbrock where he supervises the overall operations of this iconic aftermarket performance brand. Before joining Edelbrock, Don served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at ISN, a global leader in the distribution of automotive tools. Prior to ISN, he was the President and CEO of The ACCEL Performance Group where he oversaw the introduction of new product lines and brand re-positioning strategies, leading to increased revenue growth across the business. Don entered the automotive industry as Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and International at Dorman Products. He has also held positions at SC Johnson and 3M, where he was President of Consumer Business Europe.

You’ll see Don and me in an upcoming Cars Yeah TV show on MAVTV where I visit the Edelbrock team at the California headquarters. 

Angela Ruch is a NASCAR driver racing with NEMCO Motorsports in the 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. Racing runs in her family as she is the niece of former Daytona 500 Champion Derrike Cope. She and her twin sister, Amber Cope, made NASCAR history in 2010 by being the first twins to compete in one of its top three series. Her debut at the historic superspeedway in the No. 8 JJ Resources Chevy is one for the record books. On February 15, 2019, she became the first female in the NASCAR Truck Series history to lead laps at Daytona International Speedway. She ran at the Las Vegas Speedway last month, leading the way for female NASCAR drivers and women athletics. She and her husband, Mike Ruch, are based in Miami, Florida and Charlotte, North Carolina where they await the arrival of their adopted newborn baby boy. Watch for their new Facebook Watch web series, The Ruch Life, chronicling their busy lives.

Christina Nielsen is a 26-year-old sports car driver from Denmark. She is a two-time champion who, in 2016 with her team, won the IMSA Championship and she became the first woman to ever win a major full-season sportscar championship in North America, a success she repeated in 2017. At Daytona this year, she drove for Meyer-Shank Racing in an Acura NSX 57, as part of an all-female line-up by Caterpillar. Her father, Lars Erik Nielsen, raced for many years including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Daytona, and 12 Hours of Sebring. She started karting at the age of 13 and since then has dedicated her life to racing. She has raced the Porsche Carrera Cups, the IMSA Tudor Championship, Pirelli World Championship, and the ADAC GT Masters. Christina’s mantra is “I’m not a female who is a sports car driver, I am a sports car driver who is a female.” 

James Page grew up in South-West England and inherited his passion for cars from his father. He earned a journalism degree before embarking on a short career as a professional golfer. At the age of 26, he got back into journalism and secured a job at Future Publishing. He later became deputy editor of Classics Monthly Magazine, before leaving in 2011 to carry out the same role at Classic & Sports Car Magazine. He became editor of C&SC in 2014, then left at the end of 2016 to become a freelancer. Since then, he's worked for a number of clients and has written two books for Porter Press – the latest of which is the story of Aston Martin's DB4GT continuation cars where James had exclusive access behind the scenes. He has two more books due for publication in the near future. 

Antonietta Polsinelli is the Technical Placement Manager at Ford Motor Company. She has over 18 years of experience in the automotive industry.  Antonietta started working with Ford while she was a sophomore at the University of Michigan studying Electrical Engineering. After graduating, she worked in several positions at Ford Motor Company, including Powertrain, Diagnostics, Globalizing Service Publications, as a Field Service Engineer in the Metro Detroit area and now leading the Technician Recruitment Initiative. Her passion in the continued success of Ford’s dealerships and Technicians has brought her to her current role. Her team is changing the culture of the Technician trade from a grassroots approach, by building the relationships between the dealers and their local automotive schools.

Paul Fernandez is the General Manager at Automotive Touchup Paint. Automotive Touchup is known for producing automotive touchup paint for any vehicle, and its paint options extend from the newest models on dealer lots to classic marques and models. The company also provides perfect match OEM paint color matches for vehicles which are now discontinued and whose paint is difficult to find as a result. The company is a division of Microfinish, which produces coatings for vehicles and industrial equipment repair and refinishing in its state-of-the-art facility.  Paul is in charge of production, human resources, recruitment, and most of the day to day activities. He was born in New Orleans, attended the university there, and joined Automotive Touchup soon after the company was started.

Dr. Richard Greenfield is an orthopedic surgeon who specialized in sports medicine and orthopedic surgery. He earned his undergraduate degree at Stanford and it was at that time he caught the car bug and in his spare time, he started working on hot rods. Richard bought his first collector car, a 1927 Packard, some 40 years ago and since then his passion for old cars has not diminished. The La Jolla Concours was a big inspiration for Richard and he’s displayed several of his collector vehicles at the event. This year he will bring his 1937 Cadillac Limousine Coupe, the only one ever made. 

Mike Kunz is the Director of the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in Irvine, California. Mike is a 34 year veteran of Mercedes-Benz USA, the official importer, and distributor of Mercedes-Benz cars in the United States. Mike established the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center as a business unit in 2006 to support owners of classic Mercedes-Benz cars with a host of services including vehicle sales, service, parts, and restoration. Mike is a certified car nut from birth who lives in Laguna Beach, California and has the good fortune of having turned a life-long hobby into a life-long career. 

Jeremy Hunziker is a Sales Specialist at O’Gara La Jolla where they sell high-end exotic sports cars. He is originally from the East Coast and moved to California seven years ago after circumnavigating the globe prior to college graduation. An avid motorsports enthusiast, Jeremy jumped at the opportunity to work for O’Gara La Jolla as it fulfilled his dream to work within the exotic automotive industry and representing such prestigious brands: Lamborghini, McLaren, Bentley, Bugatti, and Rolls-Royce. He loves the ocean and goes diving and surfing often during the summer and winter months. He is also a passionate content creator and is often found with a camera in hand. His favorite supercar currently is the Lamborghini Aventador S that he describes as being the pinnacle of your everyday supercar form and function. 

Lance Stander has been in the automotive industry for over 39 years. He opened Hillbank Motor Corp, originally located in Costa Mesa, California in 1999 after years in South Africa where he worked with his father. Hillbank specializes in Selling of Shelby and Superformance Cobras, Shelby Daytonas, GT40s, Corvette Grand Sports and other 60s Classic and Sports cars. In 2005, Lance purchased Superformance dba Shelby Legendary Cars and he is the worldwide distributor for all Superformance manufactured cars. He also trades as Shelby Legendary Cars, the company that manufactures and distributes all Shelby Continuation Sixties Cobras, Slabsides, FIA, GT40s, Daytonas, and other cars. His is the only company licensed by Shelby Licensing and authorized by Shelby American to manufacture the Cobra MKIII.

Bill Lyon is Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Directors of William Lyon Homes. Bill’s father, General William Lyon, entered the building business in 1954. His combined companies have produced more than 100,000 residential units spanning a history of more than 60 years. Today they build attached and detached homes throughout California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Texas. Bill started working in the company at age 11 and he has been an integral part of the company after graduating from Stanford University. He grew up around classic cars as his father was an avid collector. The family collection includes Packards, Duesenbergs, and Mercedes Benz to name a few marques, and Bill has raced vintage cars, mainly Porsches, for over 20 years. Bill is an entrant in the La Jolla Concours d’Elegance.

Lyn St. James has raced cars for over 40 years. She was the 1992 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year, the first woman to earn that award, she has victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, Watkins Glen, Elkhart Lake, and set closed course speed records of over 225 mph. She’s an author, a motivational speaker, and was named by Sports Illustrated for Women, One of the Top 100 Women Athletes of the Century. Lyn serves as an Ambassador for the RPM Foundation, a service providing not-for-profit to help advance the careers for people working in automotive restoration and preservation. She founded the Women’s Sports Foundation Project Podium Scholarship for women in racing where she has distributed almost $100,000 to over 10 female drivers in the past 10 years. Lyn is a lady who has changed the world, not only for women but anyone who strives to succeed. 

Lyne was my 341^st guest here on Cars Yeah back on September 22, 2015. 

Heidi Mraz is a conceptual artist and automotive researcher who creates bespoke portraits of significant automobiles celebrating their beauty and provenance. Her intoxicating works of art are equal parts eye candy, history lesson, and hide and seek. She is best known for her handmade multilayered historical based collage works she calls “The Art of Provenance.” You will find her art in both corporate and private collections enjoyed by enthusiasts around the world. Some of her clients include the world’s top automotive collectors and museums and include:  Peter Mullin, Robert Jepson, Ferrari, Hagerty Insurance, and the Petersen Automotive Museum. Heidi was selected to create the official poster art for the Pinehurst Concours and the Art in Motion Concours in New York. She also works as a curating consultant for the White Collection in San Francisco. Cars are Heidi’s muse.

Martina Kwan is a Hong Kong born, Chinese-German, British-American racecar driver from Los Angeles, California. She has lived in Asia and the Middle East and her marque of choice is Porsche, which she drives exclusively. She started going to racetracks in California in 2015 with the Porsche Owners Club and quickly picked up the right line around a track. She’s earned a first place with the Porsche Owners Club MS racing class in 2017 and a first in the Club’s M4 racing class as well as picking up the Most Improved Time Trial Driver Award. She holds track records and is a National Certified Porsche Club of America Driving Instructor. Martina’s goal is to inspire young women and girls to be themselves and Dare to be Different! 

Sue Callaway is an entrepreneur, award-winning journalist, and author, media marketing pioneer, and automotive insider. She has built and transformed global brands for Time Inc., Wenner Media, Hearst Magazines, co-founded Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit and innovated marketing and content platforms for brands from Esquire and Jaguar to TrueCar and THE AUTO 100. She is the founder and CEO of Glovebox Media, a boutique agency dedicated to bringing brands’ best stories to life, growing loyalty and driving engagement and transactions. Previously, she was EVP, Editorial Director at Edelman, where she oversaw content strategy and creation, and crisis and media training for global clients including Nissan/INFINITI/Datsun, HP, Bridgestone, and man others. Sue was the Senior Editor, Automotive, for Time Inc. overseeing the automotive industry coverage – digital, video, and print – for Fortune, Sports Illustrated, Time, and Money magazines. You will also find Sue judging on the lawns of the most prestigious Concours events around the country.

Tegan Hammond holds two land-speed records at Bonneville having gone over 300 miles per hour. Going very fast on the salt isn’t the only adventure Tegan enjoys. She’s completed Rick Seaman’s Cars Jump class and launched a vehicle 60 feet through the air. She earned a win in the Vintage Spring circuit at Santa Maria raceway her second time in the driver's seat competing against an all-male group. She’s a stunt car driver having driven a Ferrari 2019 Pista Spider being the first woman to appear in a Ferrari campaign and has been a movie stunt double for Higgins doubled as Jordan Brewster in Magnum PI and for Heidi Klum, to name a few. Tegan was also a commercial stunt driver in numerous ad spots. Tegan is on her way to being a well respected and highly sought-after professional female stunt driver when she’s not ice climbing, skiing, skateboarding, water skiing, or training in her BMW M3.

Natalie Tackett is the artist and creative spirit behind a decorative and restoration art and design business called B R U S H E D, based in Bristol, Tennessee. Most of the time Natalie works close to home but travels for special commissions all over North America and has taken on restoration projects worldwide. She has been working on and off in the field of restoration and decorative arts for the past 20 years but didn’t start her business until 8 years ago when she built up the courage to work for herself full-time. She credits both of her parents for her creative and artistic genes—and, for passing on a love for cars, design, and attention to detail.

Rhonda Madden started her company, Creative Automotive Consultants, in 1977. She is a trained appraiser and works for estates, individuals, and she is a licensed California DMV agent working as a vehicle verifier. After college, Rhonda moved to Los Angeles and worked as a fashion model, an actress, and a dancer and appeared in many movies and television shows. She often purchased collector cars filling warehouses with her acquisitions and she supplied vehicles to the entertainment industry to be used in movies and television and she still provides vehicles to the visual arts industry today. Rhonda collects model cars and trucks and an occasional collector car or two.  

Jamei June owns a professional marketing and business consulting firm specializing in medical facility needs. She is also the producer and host of Beauty & Keys, a video format show dedicated to the automotive industry and women who are influencing the car community. The show has a cosmetic and automotive focus. Jamei is a licensed cosmetologist, award-winning beauty writer, a model, and is one of iStock Photography’s number one internationally sold commercial print models. By combining her passion for cars and cosmetics, she shares how women can be beautiful and bold on and off the asphalt. She contributes as a media Coordinator for the North West Ferrari Club of America and was the first female mistress of ceremonies for the North West Ferrari Concours. Jamei is one of Seattle’s most sought after Event Emcees and hosts and was nominated Top 10 for King 5s Best of Western Washington’s TV Personalities for 2015 and 2016.

And a shout out to past Cars Yeah guest William Howard for introducing me to Jamei. 

Jody DeVere is an internationally recognized speaker, trainer, often quoted industry pundit, and spokesperson for the automotive industry on the women's market. She has been featured by the New York Times, NPR, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Fox Business, Forbes Women, Oprah Magazine, and Parenting Magazine, to name a few. As CEO of AskPatty.com, she provides automotive education to women consumers and an interactive online Certified Female Friendly® certification training program for automotive retailers on how to attract, sell, retain and market to women. Jody is a champion for women in the automotive industry and her company serves as the first point of contact for women seeking the very best experience when purchasing a vehicle.

Lynn Kehoe is the Founder and CEO of Shift Up Now. Her goal is to use motorsports to show girls and women how to develop courage and confidence so to succeed in achieving their personal and professional goals. She manages drivers for speaking engagements with groups to share their racing experiences and help to build leaders in the industry. She started racing in 2015 after spending 3 years moving up the ranks in a High-Performance Driving Education program. She earned her first competition license through the Sports Car Club of America and holds a Time Trial license with the National Auto Sports Association. She has ice raced with the Adirondack Motor Enthusiast Club and she trained at Le Mans, France, attending a Porsche Driving School Stage GT3 RS. Before Shift Up Now Lynn had a successful career spanning three decades in financial services, real estate investing, business development, and consulting.

Crystal Snow is the Founder and Director of Car Kweens Association located in Oklahoma. Her goal was to create a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support and encourage women in the automotive industry and hobby. Crystal’s goal is to support women through sponsorships, by supplying replacement parts, pay for continuing education and drivers training courses. She wants to provide women unique opportunities in the industry that is often dominated by men. She organizes meetups, exclusive educational events, and an all-female driving event she titled the FastHer Road Rally. Crystal is the mother of two boys, wife to a mechanic, and a lifelong automotive enthusiast.

Cindi Lux is a race car driver who has won thirteen road racing championships, more than 80 victories, and over 160 podium finishes along with 50 pole positions. Her 13 career road racing titles include the American Le Mans Series, Women’s Global GT Series, SCCA and Trans Am Northern Cub events. She earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oregon Motorsports Museum Association, was the Oregon SCCA National Driver of the Year, and Pro-Driver of the Year to name just a few of her awards. She figured out how to balance her busy race schedule with a demanding business schedule. She is one of the leading program managers in the world, a managing partner of the Hahn Automotive family of dealerships, and manages Lux Performance group with her husband, Fred.

Lisa Clark is a race car driver who was born in Phoenix, Arizona. She grew up participating in desert motorsports from a young age. Being raised by a single father, she spent weekends riding dirt bikes, playing in the garage, and working around cars with her dad. Today, a mother of two daughters, Lisa continues to have a passion for motorsports but being a mother took up most of her time. It wasn’t until later in life that she began racing. She’s worked her way up the ladder in the racing world and currently drives as an amateur in the Ferrari Challenge series.

Margaret Palango is the Executive Vice President at Autoshop Solutions. She has overseen and been a key catalyst in Autoshop Solutions’ growth into the award-winning website design and Internet marketing agency it is today. Margaret leads all of their corporate marketing initiatives, as it continues to be the industry’s gold standard for online marketing solutions. She joined the company in 2006 when she began establishing its brand position for quality customized website design and progressive Internet marketing. Margaret started by handling direct customer interface and then on to managing the entire website production. She now spends her time working with industry partners to bring innovative solutions to the automotive aftermarket. On the weekends she is often found driving her cars to a local PCA event and she is an active member of the North Carolina Hurricane Region Porsche Club.

A shout out to past Cars Yeah guest Deb Pollack for introducing me to Margaret.

Jessica Fickenscher is a 19-year veteran of Speedway Motorsports where she facilitates capital improvement and property development projects across all eight of Speedway Motorsports' premier NASCAR facilities. She also explores New Fans First Initiatives and supervises the company's relationship with food services partner, Levy Restaurants. Jessica also oversees business and operations for Speedway Motorsports' subsidiary, U.S. Legend Cars International, the world's largest producer of fun and affordable racecars, as well as INEX, the sanctioning body for U.S. Legend Car racing worldwide. She served for seven years as Vice President of special projects and previously worked as Director of Special Projects, Director of Client Services, and Manager of Client Services. 

Amelia Dalgaard is the woman behind the edgy and often hilarious blog Motorhead Mama. She is also the President of the Motor Press Guild and the Director of Content for CarLabs.ai. Amelia started her career as a TV writer and producer. She was a part of VH1’s hit show Pop Up Video & Bloomberg’s colossal flop The Morning Music Wire. Amelia also led the Southwest team for Design Within Reach as the company went from one store to 25 and through its strong IPO. Since launching Motorhead Mama, Amelia has test driven over 100 vehicles and crashed very few. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two dogs, two kids, and roughly 4 million other automotive enthusiasts.

Kim Kuzma grew up in a racing family watching her Grandpa Kuzma, her father, Bob, and brothers race circle tracks in the Pacific Northwest. Her Uncle Eddie Kuzma built FIA, USAC, and Indy Car and midget chassis and was inducted into the Indianapolis Hall of Fame posthumously in 2003. Kim is active with three Portland, Oregon based amateur race clubs and serves with Cascade Sports Car Club as Active Chair and their Race Official Division representative. She is an on-track marshal, Assistant Chief Starter and her professional race marshal series experience includes Formula 1, IndyCar, American Le Mans, NASCAR, and Champ Car World series duties. She has been on the Start Team for the past two years at Circuit of the Americas USGP and she is the Team Manager for Lucky Dog Racing Series team Worker’s Revenge. In 2014, Kim was awarded SCCA Worker of the Year for outstanding performance.

Cindy Sisson is a sports marketing professional with decades of experience building major sports properties. She is the former partnership Director for the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California. She served as a Board Member, Senior Advisor, and Director of Development to the National Foundation of Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition, a congressionally chartered foundation. She was the Co-Founder of ConnectTivity, an agency that assists nonprofits and schools to raise funds through creative fundraising solutions and she served as President of HOPSports, a global health, and wellness network dedicated to fighting childhood obesity. Cindy has worked with the Olympics, the LPGA, NASCAR, the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and PGA and youth sports programming. While in NASCAR, she worked with Roush Racing and Kyle Petty’s Charity Ride Across America.

Rachel Blatt is the Founder of Royalty Logistics, an automotive transport and shipping company located in Ferndale, Michigan. Royalty Logistics is a certified, woman-owned company that specializes in moving vehicles for auto auctions, rental car companies, and dealerships. Growing up in Michigan, she was a huge fan of classic cars and attended the Dream Cruise and North American Auto Show every year with her family. Rachel previously worked in the tech sector and decided the auto transport business would be her way into the auto industry, where she could share her passion and love for cars. Rachel excelled as the top transport broker at Wholesale Inc. and United Road before venturing out to start her own company. She is a huge fan of continual self-improvement and is on a mission to help her customers and make everyone around her a huge success. 

Valerie Thompson is the Team Owner and Driver at Valerie Thompson Racing. She is the first female motorcycle rider to go over 300 mph, earning her the title of “World’s Fastest Female Motorcycle Racer.” She posted her best top speed of 328 mph in 2018 at the DLRA Speed Week competition in Southern Australia, piloting Denis Manning’s Team “7” Racing streamliner. Valerie is an 8-time land speed record holder with membership in seven different 200 MPH Clubs, one 300 MPH Club and she is a lifetime member of the famed Bonneville 200 MPH Club. She was inducted into the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2018. Valerie’s current quest to become the world’s fastest motorcycle racer is the subject of P-51 Pictures’ and MN8 Films’ upcoming feature documentary, Rockets and Titans. Her many racing accomplishments have earned Valerie the moniker of “America’s Queen of Speed.”

A shout out to past Cars Yeah guest for introducing me to Valerie, a very fast racer in her own rights, the great Lyn St. James.

Karen Salvaggio owns and operates Thunder Valley Racing. She is a builder and racer who began her career in 1985 at NASCAR dirt track events in California. She moved to road racing with the Vintage Auto Racing Association and competed in the Women’s Global GT with the American LeMans Series. She’s earned over 200 first place finishes in driving competitions including Top Eliminator at the Pomona Drags in 1999 and the 2011 Western Endurance Racing Championship. Karen served nine years in the U.S. Air Force as an aircraft mechanic and earned a Bachelor’s Degree, a Master’s Degree, and a Doctorate. She’s served as a Select Committee member on the SEMA Businesswomen's Network and has appeared on TV shows as well. She is also a personal driving coach at the track. Today, Karen builds and races Factory Five Racing Daytona Coupes with SOVREN and continues to develop Thunder Valley Racing as a premier source of racing equipment and support for women Racers.

Jay Quail is the Executive Director of the Classic Car Club of America, known as the CCCA, where he has been a member for over 35 years. Jay has held this position since his appointment in 2008 and oversees the day-to-day operations from its Chicago headquarters. Jay also sits on the CCCA and the CCCA Education Foundation Board of Directors, Ex Officio. He is a member of numerous automotive organizations including The Lincoln Owners Club, Society of Auto Historians, Worldwide Automotive Professionals, and the Association of Non-profit Executive Directors. Jay’s passion and year of expertise is pre-war cars built prior to 1939. He is the Master Judge in the CCCA and judges at numerous concours events around the country. A majority of his career, prior to the CCCA, was in investment banking and financial equities, where he retired in 2003.

Matt Teske is a Marketing Director and Brand Strategist with 20 years of experience in the automotive industry. His talents caught the attention of General Motors when he was just 19, which lead to a career managing numerous special projects and marketing campaigns for automotive OEM clients including Chevrolet, Toyota, dealerships, and aftermarket companies. His work has been featured in publications including Forbes, Motor Trend, Newsweek, The Verge, and at major shows including Sema and NYIAS. Matt developed Chargeway after years of research into the electric car industry. His conclusion: in order for electric cars to move beyond early adopters, there needs to be an easier way to explain and enjoy “electric fuel”. Chargeway replaced the technical and engineering based language to a more simple, visual explanation. 

Alex Littlewood is the Founder and CEO of Motoroso.com, a website for enthusiasts to plan, build and share everything that powers their lifestyles. Alex launched the beta version of Motoroso's site in late 2015, and in January of 2019, he launched the "Motoroso Marketplace", which is the worlds first dedicated auto parts marketplace. The site has over 250,000 products available at launch, sold by hand-selected vendors, and they offer free shipping on all purchases with no minimum. Alex led a 10+ year startup career in the Silicon Valley, including Wildfire which was acquired by Google. He then started Motoroso, and after selling his house to fund the company and going through the TechStars accelerator in Detroit, he decided to move the company to the beautiful Central Coast of California. In conjunction with Motoroso's marketplace launch, they have also begun creating video content in their 2,000 square foot video studio in downtown San Luis Obispo. Alex raced a motorcycle in the AFM and WERA road racing series, and can often be found on the track at Laguna Seca, Sears Point, and Miller Motorsports Park.

Jim Krouskop is Managing Partner and Founder of 360Sonar, a boutique recruiting and talent search firm located in Seattle. He has over 20 years of technology management and recruiting experience, primarily for high-tech organizations across the US. Jim is also co-founder of 3 Pedal Posse, a growing community of car enthusiasts who enjoy 3-pedal driving and hanging out with like-minded car enthusiasts. He received a Bachelor of Arts and Master’s degree in Urban Planning from UC, San Diego and the University of Washington. Originally from Southern California, Jim is an avid car and Porsche enthusiast, amateur photographer, aspiring writer, and Scotch drinker. His 3 Pedal Posse Co-Founder, Mauricio Bendana was yesterday’s guest here on Cars Yeah.

Tina Smith is a 27-year veteran in the automotive industry. She is a true barrier breaker overcoming adversity and all the stigmas around becoming an automotive technician, especially a woman technician. She was the only female in her high school auto mechanics class and was the first woman to graduate from the Chrysler Apprenticeship program in Automotive Technology.  She has held positions ranging from service, parts, engineering, and sales. Tina is passionate about the automotive industry and now is giving back through her work with the TechForce Foundation. Tina is "paving" the way for tomorrow's technicians. TechForce Foundation is a nonprofit, 501 c3 that champions students to and through their education and into careers as professional technicians. 

Mike Finnegan was born and raised in southern California and heavily influenced by the vibrant surf, snow, skate, music, and car culture. He spent the last 15 years as an automotive journalist. The consummate do-it-yourselfer, Mike taught himself how to wrench, weld, fabricate, and build engines so he could go racing. From lowered mini-trucks to hot rods to over-powered drag boats, he has won national championships as both driver and crew chief of many drag boats. Today he is also the host of the TV show Roadkill on YouTube and Motor Trend on Demand. His shop, Finnegan Speed and Marine, keeps him busy creating and building dreams for himself and others.

Big Mike has grown to become a household name and icon in the import automotive culture. As a show judge and event emcee, he travels across the United States and around the globe participating in major events. As a journalist, he contributes to a multitude of online and print automotive publications representing the Compact Tuner industry. He sits on SEMA educational panels, inspiring a new generation of enthusiasts. He was born and raised in southern California and in 2005, his first feature appeared in print. Since then he’s built numerous cars earning awards and placement on renowned magazine covers and within their pages. He competed in the SEMA Battle of the Builders and earned a top 10 finalist position. You’ve seen him on Discovery TV in front of the camera and behind the scenes as an integral part of the import culture.

Big Mike will be one of the enthusiasts I get to interview on the Celebrity Stage at this year’s Classic Auto Show in Costa Mesa, California, March 16 and 17. 

Steve Gibbs has been an integral part of the National Hot Rod Association, known as the NHRA, for over 50 years and his career began back in 1961 at the old San Gabriel Drag Strip where he became a Drag Strip Operator. He operated Irwindale Raceway beginning in 1966 and then went to Fremont Raceway, then Corpus Christi Raceway, and was hired by the National Hot Rod Association, later appointed as the NHRA Competition Director. All told, he directed nearly 400 NHRA National events in over two decades with his duties stretching worldwide. Recipient of numerous awards and accolades, he was instrumental in the development of the Wally Parks Motorsports Museum and the California Hot Rod Reunion. Steve’s involvement in the sport knows no bounds. Steve will be with me at this year’s Classic Auto Show in Costa Mesa, California, sharing his history of drag racing as part of his Nitro Revival with the Classic Cackle Cars.

The fearless Jessi Combs was born for everything automotive. Her passion to get in the driver seat and behind the wheel of nearly anything with a motor has led her through some amazing and unusual achievements. With a degree in custom automotive fabrication, Jessi has reached out to millions with her build skills on TV shows such as All Girls Garage, Mythbusters and Overhaulin’ to name a few, as well as through community and educational outreach. As the fastest woman alive, unofficial ”Queen” of the Hammers, Ultra4 National Champion, and a Baja 1000 podium finisher, she empowers many through the act of simply leading by example. Her desire to show more women (and men alike) that they, too, can build their ideas, go fast, get dirty, have fun, and still be feminine shines through everything she does in life.

Mauricio Bendana is the co-founder of 3 Pedal Posse and SoDo Speed. 3 Pedal Posse is a growing community of camaraderie-based automotive enthusiasts who share good times and great adventures with like-minded people. He is also the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Project Planning Partners, a commercial real estate consulting firm that specialized in corporate services and foundational planning in the greater Puget Sound Region. He has over 25 years of experience in headquarter and portfolio management within the commercial real estate space. Mauricio shares his automotive passion with his wife Jody, a winemaker and Porshefile, their two minions, and a dog. They are avid classic Porsche fanatics who enjoy driving and hosting shows, tours, and builds. 3 Pedal Posse debuted their first build at the Rennsport Reunion last summer at Laguna Seca.

Stuart Sobek is the Founder and Chairman of the Las Vegas Concours d’Elegance. This inaugural event will debut on October 25 through the 28 at the exclusive Dragon Ridge Country Club. Stuart has been in the car collector world for more than 31 years. Fueled by his first visit to Pebble Beach in 1987, he has been collecting and showing cars ever since. His passion began and still remains in exotic cars. Being a long-time member of many car clubs, including the Lamborghini and Maserati Clubs, enabled him to learn and increase his knowledge and passion for these unique automobiles. As a collector, he has personally owned and logged many miles behind the wheel of some fantastic rides, both on the street and the track, so he knows first- hand, many of their favorable traits and idiosyncrasies. Stuart is a member of the CCCA and Checkered Flag Lifetime Member of the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles, California. You can learn more the Las Vegas Concours d’Elegance on the website lasvegasconcours.com.

Rick Case and his wife Rita are the founders of the Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance that takes place on February 22 through the 24. Rick and Rita have been partners in business, life, and in their humanitarian efforts since 1980, and they have helped to raise over $50 million to support their local communities over the years. Together they have built an award-winning automotive dealership group, 16 strong, located in Cleveland, Atlanta, and South Florida. The Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance, now in its 13^th year, will take place at the Boca Raton Resort & Club and will feature world-class automobiles including a celebration of Bentley Motorcars and its 100^th Year Anniversary, collector of the year, Mr. Robert Jepson’s vintage automobile collection, and car collector and comedian, Jay Leno, will be on hand. The event is the world’s largest Concours d’Elegance owned by a charity, and it fully benefits the Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County.

Trent Campbell is the President of Car Buff Network. His business is a searchable network based on products, services, events, and more. Companies can manage their own pages allowing them to feature projects, list events, endorse other brands and services, and to be listed as either a dealer or by the brands they sell. Professional accounts can offer a news feed that works as a clearinghouse for content within their network. He knew that finding businesses online is a challenge, so Car Buff Network focuses on the strengths of both the internet and social media platforms. Trent has spent 18 years insuring classic cars, exotics, and hot rods, and he has managed 40 plus automotive events. 

Sean Kiernan has over 20 years of experience in the automotive industry as both a professional and an enthusiast. Before moving into paint and specializing in sales, management, and consulting, Sean cut his teeth in collision repair as an advisor, restorer and service expert in Nashville, Tennessee. Among the cars in Sean’s collection is the most iconic movie car in history; the 1968 Mustang Fastback, the ‘559 Bullitt Mustang, driven by Steve McQueen in the iconic 1968 film Bullitt. The story behind how Sean ended up with this car is fascinating. When it comes to cars, Sean is respected by many and considered an expert in his field.

I had the pleasure of meeting Sean at the LeMay – America’s Car Museum a few months ago, where he shared his Bullitt Mustang. Getting to see the car up close and personal and hear the story, I knew I had to bring this to you, the Cars Yeah listeners. 

Carly Starr is the curator of the California Automobile Museum in Sacramento, California. She is a museum enthusiast with a diverse background in marketing, administration, and history. Her career includes work in Boston as a marketing coordinator for an engineering firm and at the Otis House Museum where she was formally trained by Historic New England in historic housekeeping and preservation techniques. She worked as a docent for the California State Railroad Museum, as well. Since becoming the curator of the California Automobile Museum over 5 years ago, Carly has loved becoming a gear head and the never-ending joy of discovering the wide world of automobiles. She also works with the local community by judging for History Day competitions, speaking at local schools, and being the judge for the local “Italy on Wheels” car show.

You can also enjoy Carly on the Cars Yeah TV show on MAVTV as I had the honor of visiting the museum and interviewing Carly on the show.

Christian Krahenbuhl is the Director of Operations at COBB Tuning. Cobb is an automotive engineering company dedicated to developing solutions that improve vehicle performance and the driving experience. They offer solutions for a wide variety of platforms including VW, Subaru, Porsche, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Ford, and BMW. Christian was born in an era of awkward clothing, but pretty awesome music… Rocky was the movie of the year. He happily participated in the Generation X personal computer revolution and he eventually saw his way through college graduating in Business Management. He started his first aftermarket shop when he was only 18 and he’s had the honor of helping COBB grow form a 5-person company to the benchmark organization that it is today.

Alex Johnson is an automotive photographer who is 26 years old and lives in Seattle, Washington. His love for automobiles goes back to the first grade. While photography is his side-preneur passion, his day job is as an Assistant Operations Manager at a manufacturing facility that builds detection sensors and custom radio-frequency equipment. When he’s not doing that, you’ll find Alex at car shows and events working to turn his hobby-business into a full-time career as a shooter for automotive magazines, websites, television shows, and commissioned projects. A recent trip took him to Monaco during the F1 race where he shot on the wall at the Grand Prix race.

David O’Hara is the CEO of Block Chaser, a website that monitors the collector car auction market. He also provides digital sales and marketing services to various leading websites. He began his career marketing recording artists at Virgin Records, Sony Records, and Elton John’s Rocket Records label. From there, he migrated to print media working with companies from the luxury lifestyle venue including Robb Report and New England Home launching numerous new products, websites, and lead transformational initiatives to position companies for acquisition and or financial turnaround. From there, he moved into new media and served as EVP and Managing Director of a mobile marketing firm. He co-founded and served as CEO of Kokley, a tech development company and he launched Hubtabs, providing retailers with in-store interactive solutions. David is a member of numerous media, marketing, and technology organizations. 

David Neel is the Executive Director of the Murphy Auto Museum located in Oxnard, California. The Murphy Auto Museum is a collection of 90 cars, camping trailers, and Americana located inside a 30,000 square foot building. David has a lifelong love of cars, starting at a very young age where he collected Matchbox cars and later, Hot Wheels. As an adult, he started collecting real cars in 2005 and later added vintage travel trailers to his growing fleet. He keeps his collection partly at home and partly at the Murphy Auto Museum. David is married, the father of two boys, and when he is not at the museum, or at his real for-profit job, or camping, he is out driving one of his cars. Please visit the museum’s website at www.MurphyAutoMuseum.org

Shout out to Steve Ford.

Gaston Rossato is the founder and owner of The Barn Miami, Miami, Florida's most respected and recognized boutique specializing in exotic and classic automobiles. In addition to sales, he offers consulting services, consignments, and collection management for your dream car or an entire collection. Growing up and learning the automobile business from his father, Gaston honed his skills including customer care, relations, communications, sales, and most importantly, knowledge about the automobiles he sells. He has also served with IAC/PFA, the International Advisory Council for the Preservation of Ferrari automobiles. You’ve seen The Barn Miami featured in numerous publications and show including Velocity Channel’s South Beach Classics, Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, My Classic Garage, FIU’s Own, The Alumni Association Newsletter, and many others.

J Ryan and his wife Nicole produce and host on YouTube the ‘It’s Tonight’s Show’. Through the show, he combined his love for contemporary car culture and an obsession with the classic talk and variety show. J has worked in and around television in his career and he has been an automotive enthusiast his entire life. He threw Nicole a curve ball when he decided to combine these two passions and created the 'It’s Tonight Show'. Together, J and Nicole interview celebrities, comedians, musicians, automotive enthusiasts, and creative and inspirational figures to share their messages, lives, peace, love, and positivity.

Richard Starks is a sculptor who thinks big and works big; I mean really big! He grew up in Watsonville, California, attended San Jose State, and worked as a fabricator on boats, trailers, and rebuilding engines. He went back to school to get a teaching credential to teach high school metal shop. Remember that class, along with wood shop and auto shop? He spent 32 years teaching and started creating metal sculptures. He’s built a dragster, hot rods, and had a passion for cars since his high school days. After retiring, Richard began creating sculptures, with his focus being on very large objects. He works in Cor-ten steel primarily, and his works have included everyday objects he recreates in massive scale, as well as a variety of unique, modern sculptures and public installations.

I had the pleasure of meeting Richard at SEMA last year and enjoyed seeing some of his amazing creations.

Dave Dusick is the Founder and CEO of RaceTrack Engineering. He started his company as a solution to connect racers throughout the industry to the advanced technology systems that are revolutionizing the sport. His mission at RaceTrack Engineering is to invigorate the sport and the motorsport community. In 1978 Dave was diagnosed with a tumor in his right cheek that was said to be an incurable cancer. He was only 13 months old. After numerous surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation Dave was declared clear of cancer two years later. His illness, however, left him with long-term physical challenges. Dave turned his adversity into his strength and created the Dave Dusick Foundation to help children and their families who are suffering from life-altering illnesses.