NoBraking

Paul Laguette is the current Art Director for Vintage Motorsport Magazine. However his background covers more than 20 years of working experience in the automotive, motorcycle and motorsport industries as a graphic designer/ Fine Artist Illustrator. Paul's graphic designs, print ads, logos and illustrative works have graced the pages of major magazines as well as books and racing programs across the globe. His next project is with KurumaNFT and it is twelve covers illustrated by Paul for Racer Magazine. Each of the 12 covers consists of four different variations of each piece of artwork.

The automotive metaverse has arrived with Kuruma NFT, this is an NFT platform that allows customers to purchase, promote and commerce NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) in a devoted on-line setting referred to as the “Autoverse”. Our latest guests are part of the leadership team at Kuruma, Taro Koki (President) and Sam Mitani (Co-Founder). Something we are excited to see is that Kuruma has already started partnering with companies both large and small, and is teaming up with a collection of artists across the digital landscape ahead of a series of future NFT Projects that will be launched at Kuruma NFT.

Russ Monte does a little bit of everything and he does it very well. Originally Russ began working on cars at home before getting a start at Summit Rod and Custom which then led to him transitioning to his own shop North Jersey customs. However during that time Russ kept himself busy working on cars for Hilton Hot Rods. Eventually Russ started doing some work for Rob Ida and he now is part of the team at Ida Automotive. However Russ is not only a talented car builder and painted he is a gifted musician and is part of the Grease Guns.

Ravi Dolwani is a 4th generation member of the CSF Radiator company and is the CEO of the CSF High Performance Division. Dolwani created the division of CSF in 2010 with the intent of expanding the business to markets besides OEM manufacturers. Over the years Dolwani has both grown the CSF brand and proved that through rigorous design and testing it is possible to create superior products for a variety of vehicles.

The term "Donk" refers to 1971-76 Chevrolet Caprice or Chevrolet Impala cars. When it comes to "Donk Racing" these are show-quality classic cars with big wheels that compete on the drag strip. Born in Savannah, GA and bred in Hardeeville and Orangeburg South Carolina, Sage Thomas is better known by his nickname "Donkmaster" given to him by a nine year old fan. Thomas spent most of his days as a youth shadowing his Uncle Buggy who instilled in him a love for racing competition and an understanding of hard work. Thomas built his first "Donk" at the age of 16. Through a DVD he was introduced to the big wheel racing culture in Florida. This led Thomas to create the National Donk Racing Association (NDRA) Thomas created an organization that was a scalable championship series for the world he loves. The NDRA is the world’s first sanctioning body for big wheel racing with a standard structured rule set and a point system for Big Wheel Racing, just like other racing organizations.

For Sean Smith he gets to live this dream job every day. Sean specializes in the bespoke automotive industry and founded Sean Smith Designs over 20 years ago. He has designed cars for celebrities like Kevin Hart and Robert Downey Jr. and worked with brands like Saleen Automotive, Ringbrothers, and Salvaggio Designs and others. Sean comes from a family of creatives and began exploring art at an early age, however it was at continuation school in his sophomore year when his teacher sent some of his Nike sneaker drawings to Nike. What followed was a note back from Nike to keep in touch and a suggestion for Sean to visit Art Center College of Design. Upon visiting Art Center Sean found out about the Automotive Design Program and the rest is history, working with companies like Saleen Automotive, Rockstar Games, Ringbrothers and Salvaggio Designs.

Amir Bentatou story begins with a father that had a passion for German cars and a mother with history in offroad racing. It comes as no surprise that Amir has grown into the man he is today, the founder of RS Future. RS Future is a motorsport focused shop based in Southern California who specialize in car development and driver coaching. Bentatou brings over 15 years of experience in the Southern California motorsport community, and offers a unique and complete array of services including aerodynamic packages,  performance parts installs, complete vehicle builds, track-side support and more. 

Our guest is veteran motor sports reporter Jamie Little. Little joined FOX NASCAR in 2015 to cover pit road for the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. Little was named in November 2020 as the play-by-play voice of the ARCA Menards Series, making her the first woman in history to call TV play-by-play for a national racing series. In October 2021, she was named to the prestigious Cynopsis 2021 Top Women in Media list in the Game-Changing On-Air Talent category.

Little also serves as a reporter for NASCAR RACEDAY, FOX Sports’ pre race show for the Cup Series. Her additional FOX NASCAR assignments over the years also have included select races and special events, including her pit reporting debut for the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona, hosting duties for FOX Sports’ coverage of Supercross and periodic guest hosting roles on FS1’s NASCAR RACE HUB.

Lara, better known as @ThatPorscheGirl, is a fit model, however she started her automotive career as a Hollywood precision driver. But we have to turn the clock back to when Lara was twelve and she knew she wanted to drive a Porsche. That was the day she saw a friend of her mother’s, drive up in her own Porsche. Up to that point in her life, all the adult women she knew drove station wagons. This symbol of women empowerment was burned into Lara’s memory and has guided her throughout life.

Part of the mission of @ThatPorscheGirl consists of updating the image of women in the world of sports cars. She doesn’t reveal any personal information in public, not even her last name. Shortly after launching her @thatporschegirl Instagram site, there were some unpleasant experiences with bothersome fans so she scrubbed all the particulars from the web.

A background in architecture has given Eric Black a unique design perspective on the work he creates. His work is unique and has an ageless style that he carries throughout his projects. Operating under the E.Black Design Co banner, Eric Black is one of the most talented vintage automotive designers of today. His work focuses on Hot Rods and Custom cars working with the likes of Troy Ladd, Roy Brizio, Pinkee’s Rod Shop, Austin Speed Shop, Johnson’s Hot Rods and ICON 4x4 to name a few. However Eric also has his own projects like his Trail Cap Camper Shells, a modern take on a vintage trailer.