Grassroots Motorsports And Classic Motorsports Podcast

Even though it's America's oldest and most storied Sports Car Club, the SCCA can't move into the future by just resting on its laurels. That's why guys like Heyward Wagner are around. Tasked with bringing the SCCA experience to a wider audience, and bringing a wider field of experience to existing members, Heyward has some exciting ideas about what the club should and will do to continue to succeed.

Back from the long road to Lincoln, Neb., we chat with a few folks who we met on the vast concrete expanse at the world's greatest motorsports party.

As we approach the time of year when the best autocrossers in the country gather in Lincoln, Neb. for the Solo National Championships, we wanted to get some insight from someone who's mastered the art of performing on Solo's biggest stage. Multi-time national champ Andy Hollis shares some of his pre-Nationals prep tips for both car and mind.

Some of our favorite movies have cars anthem. And some of our favorite cars are in movies and TV shows. This week, JG and David talk about some of their favorite hero cars, car-centric TV shows and movies, and share a little bit of trivia. It's like an editorial meeting, but fun!

The SCCA's Trans Am series has seen some turmoil over the past few years, but 2014 is shaping up to be one of the most well-subscribed seasons in history, and the racing is as exciting as ever. Leading Trans Am into the future are drivers like Amy Ruman—herself a second-generation competitor in the series—who provide exciting and accessible personalities for the series. Amy talks about growing up in the series, her roots in racing, being the first female to win in the Trans Am series, and her quest for a championship.

Did you know we do a whole lot more than just publish magazines? That's right, we ale put on some of the most popular events in the sports car scene, including the Tire Rack Ultimate Track Car Challenge, the Classic Motorsports Mitty, our world Famous $2000 Challenge and more. The guy who makes that al happen is Rick Goolsby, and we chat with him on this episode. There's a complete recap of the action at the UTCC, a look at upcoming events, and some intriguing discussion of just why we put in the extra work to do events in the first place.

Officially an international athlete, Robb Holland spends most of his time these days on the far side of the Atlantic, competing in the British Touring Car series and the VLN series at the legendary Nurburgring. Prior to that, Robb was active in all sorts of US series including the Pirelli World Challenge series and IMSA's Continental Tire series. We chat about his start in the sport, and what it takes to run competitively on an international level.

You can't race without rules, and the men and women who make those rules have the occasionally thankless job of trying to balance the competitiveness of hundreds of cars across dozens of classes. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. This week's someone is David Whitener: Chairman of the SCCA's Street Touring Advisory Board. We chat with David about the state of Street Touring—one of the SCCA's most popular autocross divisions—and his predictions for the future of the ruleset. We also discuss just what it takes to make a rule, and how the competitor affects the process at every step.

The science of aerodynamics is understood by few, but has a huge impact on our competitive enjoyment of cars. We all know that air affects our cars somehow, but we're rarely aware of the magnitude or ultimate impact of those forces. Steve Stafford is, though. Steve is an Aero engineer and longtime friend of GRM who currently works in Toyota's NASCAR program. He's spent time in wind tunnels tuning everything from classic Alfas to F1 cars in his career, though, and our chat reveals a surprising level of aero tweaking that the average racer or enthusiast can take advantage of. We try to take some of the more esoteric corners of the black art of aerodynamics and make them relatable to everyone.

Shea Holbrook pays us a return visit, this time thick in the chase for the Pirelli World Challenge TC-A championship. Shea won the opening round of the series at Barber Motorsports Park, and currently sits second in the points standings. She talks about the pressures of running for a championship, and discusses her unique perspective on the predominantly male world of sports car racing.

On this episode of the Grassroots Motorsports Podcast, David and J.G. sit around and talk about stuff. Mostly the subject matter involves great ways to get involved in the more participatory side of the sports car scene: auto crossing and track days. If you've been thinking about taking your sports car enjoyment to the next level, there's some great advice here and some great analysis of the current state of low-commitment sports car fun.

Phil Greden is an automotive journalist, writer, conceptual artist, avant-garde musician, and lunatic. All of which makes him a natural fit to be one of the driving forces behind one of the most enjoyable and kooky race series in America: The 24 Hours of LeMons. Phil brings a unique sensibility to the table, and his creative input has helped LeMons and other crapcan race series rise from the level of motorized curiosity to legitimate force in the US road racing scene.

As automotive journalists, we occasionally get invited to press events put on by manufacturers so we can sample their new vehicles and products. Recently, Subaru invited us to take a drive in the new 2015 Legacy, but they also invited us to bring a guest. We thought that would be a great opportunity to provide an outsider's view of the world we experience every day. On this episode, we talk to Subaru's Dominic Infante about the new Legacy, as well as a few of the other exciting cars in their lineup like the WRX, STi and BRZ. We also talk to Dana Pasterjak, who also happens to be the wife of the host, and who got the rare chance to be a civilian at an automotive media event.

If you've ever seen the familiar Koni Shocks service trailer at a motorsports event, you've probably met Lee Grimes. Although his official title is something like "product specialist," his position is really to be the ambassador for Koni in our world of participant-based racing. Whether he's revolving a set of shocks or writing a press release, Lee Grimes is one of those guys that understands our world and how the performance companies and racers coexist. We chat with Lee about the Koni company, the shock biz, and gets lots of juicy tech info on dialing your car in with adjustable shocks.

David Wallens takes a digital recorder and a press pass to the New York Auto Show and gets the lowdown on some of our favorite models. This edition features a chat with product specialists at Kia, Fiat, Mazda, BMW and Maserati.

David Wallens takes a digital recorder and a press pass to the New York Auto Show and gets the lowdown on some of our favorite models. This edition features a chat with product specialists at Nissan, MINI and a long talk with one of the fathers of the Mazda Miata, Bob Hall.

Mike Skeen's origin story is a lot like those of us mortals. After all, when we first met Mike he was racing a Spec E30 in NASA. But through hard work, determination and talent he's risen through the ranks and is now a busy professional racer. His current gig has him driving the CRP Racing, Hawk Performance Audi R8 in Pirelli World Challenge, but he's also spent time in Trans-Am, IMSA, and even NASCAR. We chat with Mike about his beginnings, his approach to speed, and life as a pro racer.

We'd love to put some sort of classy spin on this, but we can't. J.G. Pasterjak and David Wallens sit around a talk about stupid stuff that's happened over the years while we've been making car magazines. If you've ever wondered what the life of an automotive journalist is really like, prepare to be underwhelmed.

Our own Circulation Manager, Nancy Gomes, has spent eight years here, but never turned a wheel in anger on the autocross course. We fix that by sending her to the SCCA's Starting Line school. We had a quick chat with her the Monday after the school, while her adrenaline was still raging. We also talk with Historic Sportscar Racing's David Hinton about vintage racing in general, and the Upcoming Classic Motorsports Mitty at Road Atlanta.

At the age of 23, Shea Holbrook is not only competing in the Pirelli World Challenge series, but she's turned her love of racing into the family business as a multi-car team owner as well. We talk to Shea about her start in the racing business—at a time when she was barely old enough to drive legally—and how she grew from a club racer into a pro team owner.