Be Differential

The last Dutch Grand Prix runs this weekend at Circuit Zandvoort — and almost everyone has the story backwards. Formula 1 didn't drop Zandvoort. Zandvoort dropped Formula 1.

The Dutch GP is privately funded, it sold out five months early, and its director says the business case is still healthy. They chose not to renew anyway. This week I get into why a promoter walks away from a sold-out race, what a permanent circuit is actually worth to F1 now, and the detail that made me want to do this episode at all: Zandvoort opened in 1948 as part street circuit, became one of the great road courses in the world — and F1 is leaving it for street circuits, while Formula E moves in.

Plus the four things I'll be watching this weekend, including whether the banking they built in 2020 ever actually did its job.

Six brilliant years and a clean exit, or twenty ordinary years and a permanent spot on the calendar. For your home race — which one do you take? No fence-sitting.

Tell me where you land.

Race goes green Sunday at 1:00 PM local — 7:00 AM Eastern.

The Thursday Pit Stop, from the Be Differential podcast. New episodes every Thursday. Guest episodes on Tuesdays.

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Ella White didn't come up through the traditional karting ladder — and that might be exactly what makes her one of the most compelling young drivers to watch. In this episode, the Berg Racing Ligier JFC driver talks about what it felt like to go from her first ever formula car experience to signing for a full season with one of America's most respected racing programs. We get into her first test at Sebring, what Alex Berg saw in her that earned her the seat, and what it means to be the first female driver in Berg Racing history without letting that become the whole story. Ella also opens up about balancing her senior year of high school with a full racing season, how her passion for biology and sports science shapes how she thinks about performance, and what the honest roadmap to her stated goal of F1 Academy actually looks like. And for any young girl listening who has never been to a race and doesn't think motorsport is for her — this one's worth your time.

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Follow along on Ella's journey on Instagram @ellawhite.52 and learn more here: https://www.racingamerica.com/news/formula-regional/berg-racing-confirms-ella-white-for-2026-ligier-junior-formula-championship

On August 22–23, the NTT INDYCAR Series runs the Freedom 250 Grand Prix on the streets of Washington, D.C. — the first INDYCAR race ever held on the National Mall, with free general admission and IROC returning after years dormant.

Back in July, Eva Gregory questioned whether Formula 1's American expansion was built too heavily on spectacle. Now American open-wheel racing is doing something arguably more spectacular, and this episode is Eva working out whether she's going to hold the same standard — or whether free admission genuinely changes the argument.

One choice: American motorsport gets one enormous free spectacle in the nation's capital, or that same money goes into grassroots, karting, and driver development. Pick one. Comment below.

Covered in this episode:— What the Freedom 250 actually is, and why free admission matters more than the venue— The return of IROC and why that format mattered— Whether street circuits can ever produce racing worth the spectacle— The three things to watch that will tell us if this worked— Why what happens the Monday after decides everything

The Be Differential Podcast releases twice weekly — guest interviews on Tuesdays, Thursday Pit Stop solo episodes every Thursday.

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Cristian Garling grew up watching people hustle and survive through the window of his mother's hair salon on Beach Boulevard. By his junior year at Rancho Alamitos High School, he was lost — until an automotive classroom became the first thing that made school matter.

Today he teaches in that same classroom.

Eva Gregory sits down with Cristian, CTE Automotive Instructor and founder of the Under the Hood Project, for a conversation about what cars actually do for kids who don't yet believe they're capable of more. From the Impala SS his dad brought home — pride, identity, and discipline in one car — through dealerships and Tesla, managing high-pressure teams, and the moment he realized the cars were almost beside the point.

They get into why the Under the Hood Project goes far past wrenches, covering financial literacy, leadership, and career readiness. Why Women and Moms in Motion workshops, Girl Scout automotive events, and lowrider culture education were deliberate inclusions rather than add-ons. And what "Under the Hood… Over the Horizon" actually means to the students in the room.

Cristian also talks about the gap between where the project is now and where it needs to be — and the single biggest thing standing in the way.

What we get into:— The hair salon window on Beach Boulevard, and how it shaped the way he sees his students— The Impala SS, and the seed it planted— Being a lost junior at Rancho Alamitos, and the class that changed it— Dealerships, Tesla, and realizing the work was always about people— Teaching in the same room where he once felt lost— Why the program had to be wider than an auto shop class— Building something out of nothing, and showing up when it's hard— The person who believed in him before he believed in himself

If you work with young people, or someone once did that for you — what did they actually say that changed things? Tell us.

Cristian was recently named a CAWA automotive high school teacher scholarship award winner.

The Be Differential Podcast releases twice weekly — guest interviews on Tuesdays, Thursday Pit Stop solo episodes every Thursday.

📬 Newsletter: https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedifferentialpodcast/

Monterey Car Week 2026 runs August 7–16, and every year the same argument shows up online: that it's become less accessible, more corporate, less about the cars.

In this Thursday Pit Stop, Eva opens up about being given a lot of access she didn't pay for, why she's making the accessibility argument anyway, and what she got completely wrong on her first trip to the Monterey Peninsula. Plus the free Carmel event almost nobody outside the week has heard of, and the practical things nobody hands a first-timer.

If you've never been to Monterey Car Week — is that because of the cost, or because you genuinely wouldn't know where to start? Pick one. Drop your answer in the comments.

Covered in this episode:— Why Car Week traffic is the best evidence against the "priced out" argument— The 75th Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance— The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca— The Prancing Ponies Car Show and the free side of Carmel— How to actually plan your week (and why you should leave gaps in it)— Where to find the concept cars worth the trip on their own

The Be Differential Podcast releases twice weekly — guest interviews on Tuesdays, Thursday Pit Stop solo episodes every Thursday.

Sign up for the newsletter: https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/

Ian Koenig — the man behind KoenigSlides and over a billion views across social media — joins BeDifferential to talk about what it actually takes to chase a dream in motorsport, one sideways mile at a time. We get into his first memory of cars, the moment drifting clicked as more than a hobby, and what separates someone who can slide a car from someone who can truly compete. Ian breaks down his current build, the setup choices that changed everything, and why understanding the mechanical side of a car makes you a better driver. We also talk about the drifting community, how social media has completely rewritten what a motorsport career looks like, and where the sport is headed over the next decade. If you've ever watched from the sidelines and wondered how to get in — this one's for you.

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No industry trends. No race previews. No big structural question about the future of car culture. This week it's just Eva Gregory, pulling back the curtain on the career advice she's received over a path that took her from cashier at a karting facility to Director of Operations at Road Atlanta to marketing partnerships at Hagerty — and being completely honest about what helped, what hurt, and what she wishes she'd never listened to at all.

In this week's Thursday Pit Stop, Eva breaks down the worst advice she's received in her career — including the one she genuinely cannot stand: just wait it out. Smile through it. Keep your head down. She explains exactly why that advice is more dangerous than it sounds, what she'd replace it with, and why the difference between strategic patience and self-erasure matters more than most people acknowledge.

Then she flips it — three pieces of advice that actually changed how she operates. Your entry point doesn't define your ceiling. Ask for what you want explicitly, because nobody is reading your mind. And protect your energy like a professional resource, because it is one.

She closes with the argument that the best career advice doesn't give you a roadmap. It changes what you're able to see.

This one is for anyone building a career in motorsports, automotive, or anywhere else — and anyone who has ever been told to smile through something that deserved a harder look.

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Topics covered: career advice, motorsports career, automotive industry, Road Atlanta, karting, career development, professional growth, women in motorsports, Hagerty, track operations, marketing partnerships, Be Differential podcast

Amanda Cline of Amanda Reviews Cars didn't take the obvious road into automotive journalism — and that's exactly what makes her perspective worth hearing. In this episode, we talk about the moment cars stopped being a hobby and became a career, what it actually takes to review a vehicle beyond the spec sheet, and why "approachable" doesn't mean dumbed down. Amanda shares what it was like going hot laps in the Lamborghini Temerario GT3 at Sebring, covering potentially the last naturally aspirated V8 Lexus ever made, and why a 1,025-horsepower purple Rivian pickup truck surprised her more than almost anything she's driven. We also get into the realities of being a woman in a historically male-dominated industry, the EV debate, and what she'd tell anyone who loves cars but has no idea how to turn that into a livelihood.

Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to always stay in the know: https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/

Automotive lifestyle events — concours, themed gatherings, destination car meets, immersive marque festivals — are having a moment. And Eva Gregory has a personal relationship with this world that goes back long before it was part of her professional life.

In this week's Thursday Pit Stop, Eva breaks down the full spectrum of automotive lifestyle events, from the white-glove judged concours at Amelia Island and Hilton Head to Luftgekühlt, Rennsport Reunion, Radwood, Kübelwagen gatherings, and the Cars and Coffee happening in a thousand parking lots every Sunday morning. She explains exactly why this format is winning the attention economy right now — four specific reasons that most people in the industry haven't fully articulated — and then asks the honest question that sits underneath all of it: are these events actually converting observers into participants? Or are they an extraordinary entry point that too often stays self-contained?

The depth of car culture lives somewhere these events can't quite reach. And the infrastructure around them needs to do a better job of showing people the door.

This episode pairs directly with last week's conversation about car clubs — together they form a two-part look at how car culture is organizing itself for the next generation.

Learn more at https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/

Topics covered: automotive lifestyle events, concours d'elegance, Amelia Island Concours, Hilton Head Concours, Luftgekühlt, Rennsport Reunion, Radwood, Kübelwagen, Cars and Coffee, car meets, car culture, grassroots motorsports, Hagerty, automotive community, classic cars, enthusiast events, Be Differential podcast

What does it take to go from the roads of Galway to the gravel stages of the American Rally Association — in a sport where women have historically been the exception, not the rule? In this episode of the BeDifferential Podcast, we sit down with Aoife Raftery: Irish rally driver, DirtFish Women in Motorsport Programme driver, Motorsport Ireland Road Safety Ambassador, inaugural Rosemary Smith Award recipient, and one of the most exciting rising forces in global rallying today.

Aoife grew up in Galway, made her rallying debut in 2021, and has since competed across Irish, British, and Junior FIA European Rally Championship stages — becoming the first female driver to join the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy along the way. Her 2024 season included a class win at the Ulster Rally, a podium in the final round of the Junior British Rally Championship, and selection into the top 15 of the FIA Beyond Rally Women's Talent Spotting Programme. Then, in early 2025, she was named one of only two drivers selected globally for DirtFish's inaugural Women in Motorsport Driver Programme — and promptly went to America for the first time, made her four-wheel-drive rally debut at the Olympus Rally, and collected three podiums in four starts, including a third overall in a Rally3.

In this conversation, Aoife gets candid about what it actually takes to make peace with the uncertainty of rally driving, how she breaks down the technical craft of pacenotes and left-foot braking for those unfamiliar with what the sport demands day to day, and what it felt like to step into a 4WD car for the very first time at a competitive level. We talk about the difference between European and American stages, what it means to carry the legacy of Rosemary Smith, and how she holds onto pure joy in a sport that can bury it under pressure and expectation. And as a STEM advocate who has spoken to thousands of teenage girls about careers in motorsport, Aoife makes a compelling case for why the next generation of women in racing might come from the engineering lab just as much as the driver's seat.

This one is for every girl who was told the race wasn't for her — and every person who believes the sport is stronger when more voices are in it.

Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss out! https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/