Alan welcomes long time friend and contributor Steven Cole Smith – Automotive Journalist for Autoweek, Automobile Magazine, Grassroots Motorsports. The duo reminisce about greased hands and tools as they worked on their vehicles in comparison to the ever evolving car hobby becoming electric and it taking away the nostalgia of what it’s like to get down and dirty your machine. However with the rise in gas prices, electric vehicles seems a bit more appealing. Steven says he’s fine with a plug-in hybrid, but forget an all electric especially for the long hauls. They jump over to what’s happening in motorsports as NASCAR starts up showcasing the new NASCAR stock car. It was a success with only a few drawbacks. The new aluminum 1 lug wheels did cause a few problems and the fact that the undercarriage is so low to the ground that it’s difficult for them to get from the grass to the tar. Sliding in the passenger seat next is George Kennedy III – Co-founder of Cartender and Freelance Automotive Journalist for CarGurus, Boston Globe, and U.S. News & World Report. George has been driving a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392. It’s the perfect jeep. They took a 392, 6.4 liter V8 with 470 horsepower and shoved it into a Wrangler. He says every time you start it up, it puts a smile on your face. George mentions the Subaru’s redesigned WRX for 2022 being a fun car designed for places other than the tarmac. Up next is BJ Killeen – Automotive Journalist and Voice of Reason. BJ shares that Lucid has stopped manufacturing their luxury sedan, “The Air” and is moving the date for their release on the SUV, “The Gravity” to 2024. She also shares with us that the Rivian R1t and the R1S have gone up 17 to 20%. The supply chain cuts are really making it hard and the customers are ending up having to pay for it. Alan suggests that before people sell their vehicles to just “hold” on for a bit. BJ shares a little insight on Hyundai filing for a patent on a sliding tailgate. It will slide a liftgate up and over the roof instead of having it on a hinged from the bottom. Closing the show with Alan today is Ed Justice Jr – President and CEO of Justice Brothers, Inc. They discuss the 4000 vehicles that went down with the ship in the Atlantic Ocean. 355 million dollars worth. Not a good day for Volkswagen! They switch over to talk about motorsports. First race of the year, the Rolex 24 at Daytona was very well attended. There were still masks mandates and he noticed that people took to these mandates differently in each state that he has been in. He believes age and health plays a role in who’s wearing one or not. Ed speaks about he event that NASCAR put on at the L.A. Coliseum. $4 million dollars worth of asphalt laid and removed. The event was a complete success along with the introduction of the new NASCAR stock car as mentioned by Steven Cole Smith. Ed say’s his opinion on the drawback of the new car is that you can’t wreck them a lot because you don’t have access to the parts. He noticed that drivers were not as aggressive as if they were in the Daytona 500. Well attended and diverse crowd. The car hobby is still alive! Join us next week as we welcome Mike Spagnola Interim CEO of Sema as well as Dr. Jamie Meyer, President of PRI.

[00:00:00] – Back To The Future[00:05:41] – Gas On The Rise[00:12:32] – Get Prepared[00:19:53] – Rubi [00:26:17] – Diesel Gladiator[00:35:54] – Tesla Inspired[00:42:14] – New York Here I Come[00:48:21] – Just Hold On A Minute or Two![00:54:46] – Patent[01:02:06] – Sorry Volks...