NoBraking

Brooke Berini is a Boston native now living, working, and pursuing a higher education in Washington, D.C. But she might be better known as the pilot of the 'Alpha Princess' a pink chrome Nissan GT-R that Brooke drives faster than almost anyone else on the planet. However if we turn back the clock Brooke learned to drive on the family farm. In her quest for quickness, this led to her modifying cars since well before she was able to legally drive. Once she had her license in hand nothing could stop her from obtaining the car of her dreams, a Nissan GT-R. A road trip led to a purchase of a GT-R a few road rallies later and Brooke was smitten. The GT-R was transformed thanks to the help of AMS Performance and now Brooke is known as one of the fastest GT-R drivers in the world thanks to her skills behind the wheels of her Alpha Princess.

Jamey Price is a motorsport and automotive photographer from Charlotte, North Carolina. His motorsport work has taken him around the globe more than once. His interest in photography was not his first aspiration although his love affair with the camera eventually won out. Growing up near the farms of Charlotte, Price got his fix racing on thoroughbreds across the United States that led to a season in England and Ireland. In his college years his competition efforts took place in the swimming pool. However influenced by both of his grandmothers who worked as professional photographers, throughout that time, Price covered his life in horse racing and swimming from behind the camera, taking photos between his races.

In 2011, Jamey's photography career path switched from horse riding to horsepower. His passion and understanding of the sport have helped him succeed at the professional level. Things like knowing the culture and understanding the pivotal parts of a race all help sell his images to clients. With his images published around the world in magazines, newspapers and websites including The New York Times, Hot Rod, Hagerty, MAXIM, Car & Driver, Road & Track, Autoweek, MotorTrend, Autosport, Motorsport Magazine, Formula1.com, Lamborghini.com, Top Gear.com, Popular Mechanics, Sports Illustrated, ESPN and many others.

Jamey is also a TENBA bags Ambassador & LEXAR Elite Artist and Polar Pro Ambassador.

Our latest podcast guest is Hugo Eccles the Co-founder of Untitled Motorcycles, a company based in San Francisco and London that designs and builds custom motorcycles. Aside from being a motorcycle builder, Eccles is also a professor of industrial design at California College of the Arts (CCA). Eccles graduated from the Royal College of Art in London before starting work at IDEO. He emigrated to the US in 2003 to become global director of product design at Fitch, winning numerous awards including an IDEA Gold. From there, he went on to head the Arnell Group Innovation Lab in New York. In 2010, he returned to the UK to work with Sir Terence Conran as MD of Studio Conran, and later to serve as creative director at Native Design.

His background in industrial design clearly has an influence on his motorcycle designs. Eccles’ most recent build is the ZERO XP, an experimental electric motorcycle that explores the future of motorcycles by taking a first-principles design approach.

Gears & Queers is a platform for and by LGBTQ+ automotive enthusiasts. Chris Landry & Jake Margle make content about cars, queers and everything in between. On their site you will be able to find them reviewing cars both new and old and more importantly working on their fleet of "rapidly decaying" vehicles. Recently the pair have taken their show to Jalopnik with "Project Driveway" a show where the dynamic duo will demonstrate how to do "things and stuff" to your own car. You may ask what kind of things and stuff? It is routine maintenance, basic repair jobs and eventually more involved projects down the line. The goal of the show is to show you that maintaining and improving your own car isn’t hard, regardless if it’s 40 years old or fresh off the showroom floor.

Riley Stair has clearly got a passion for building cars. For him it all started at an early age working with his father, a gifted mechanic on the family vehicles. As time went on these family vehicles turned into passion projects and the builder began to flourish. But before we talk about the cars he has created we have to touch on Riley Stair, the professional BMX racer who is quite possibly the fastest cyclist I have ever had the chance to meet. It was life at the BMX track that allowed Riley to develop the determination to stay focused on his goal and put the hard work in, to make it happen. I think it is also worth adding Riley's own words here, in that he has "the urge to take the road less traveled, and dare to do things a bit different than those before me is another heirloom of the Stair family".

Riley’s most recent work is his incredible Trans-Am that was introduced to the world at the 2018 SEMA Show. However as the Trans-Am transitioned from debut to track day driver it has been a work in progress for the incredibly talented fabricator. I'll let Riley give you the full details on the "carport built" car but in short form it has a full tube chassis and the heart of the car is a Chevrolet LSX that revs up to 10,000 RPM.

It was a push that led to Riley entering the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, a competition for car owners to get their beloved vehicle turned into a Hot Wheels. So far only two other cars have made it to miniaturization, Stair’s is the third.

In our newest episode we talk to Loren Haleston, otherwise known as LoreninHD. A creative film maker by trade he first cast his lens over his friends' cars at drift events in the Pacific Northwest. His focus on telling the story while being behind the camera then pushed him towards his new career. Covering his friends led to customers reaching out to Loren to provide coverage of the drivers in Formula Drift as well as the series itself. However Loren did not stop at drifting; he has worked with clients that have flown him across the globe to cover the Gumball 3000 event. He has recently re-partnered with Race Service to help them cover the driver introductions for Formula 1 as he did in 2020. One thing is for sure with Loren is that he is never going to stop filming nor stop his creativity as he continues to push the envelope with his artwork.

For Alex Taylor it all started when Alex was just a few weeks old. The old story of "it's in your blood" really applies here. Born and raised in Booneville, Arkansas, from the time Alex was just a few weeks old a majority of her time was spent at the shop. At the age of 15, Alex and her parents began to build her car. What started as a 12-second Camaro that Taylor drove to high school each day and competed in HOT ROD's Drag Week in 2013 began its transition into the eight-second “Badmaro”.

Perhaps more impressive than Taylor’s racing history is her commitment to being a well-rounded driver. She is not only hands-on with every project, does her own tuning/maintenance and keeps all her fans and supporters updated via her social media and her YouTube Channel.

Scott Birdsall is a character. He is a business owner, builder, fabricator, race car driver, used car salesman, Dad, and many more things, but for the purpose of this piece we will start with Chuckles Garage. This is where Scott transitioned from the corporate world to chase the dream of building and creating hot rods, one of those famed builds is the classic "Gasser" affectionately known as "Strange Bird". However Scott doesn't just limit himself to Chuckles Garage he is also part owner of Resolute Motorsports who specialize in improving 911's from 1983 to 1989 for either the road, track or safari rally's. Last but not least we can't not touch on the fact Scott currently holds the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb record for a diesel vehicle, beating previous record-holder, Uwe Nittel and his Mercedes Benz C300D 4MATIC, by just over 13 seconds in "Old Smokey".

Now "Old Smokey'' his beloved truck is hard to characterize, maybe the best way is to say it is an IMSA race car hiding under 1949 Ford truck sheet metal. It is however registered and legal to drive on public roads and with the squeeze of the loud pedal it obliterates a pair of rear tires at will. This is in part thanks to a massive wave of torque from the turbocharged Cummins engine that sits up front. Honestly the truck defies easy explanation, and therein lies its appeal. It is cool because it's so functional in ways that it shouldn't be. Most people wouldn't build a race car out of a 1949 Ford F1 pickup, and for those who would, it is extremely doubtful they would go to the lengths Scott did. Originally, he didn't build Old Smokey to set records at hill climb or top speed events; he actually bought it to fix it up and flip (hence the used car salesman).

Back to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and its 156 turns over the course of 12.42 miles. Scott has the current best diesel time of 11 minutes and 24.065 seconds, beating the diesel record set by Mercedes-Benz in 2016. His end goal is to get the record under 10 minutes in "Old Smokey". I know he will do it because Scott already made the impossible happen in getting a 1949 Ford F1 up a mountain faster than anyone else, that number is just going to get lower as Scott gets better

Igor Polishchuk is the founder of CAtuned one of the most renowned BMW workshops in North America. However it was the early hands on experience he gained from working with his father on family owned cars that led to his love for cars. A paying hobby flipping cars led to the acquisition of a space and then a garage which is what we know today as CAtuned. Igor started CAtuned in 2002, it all began with an admiration for square body cars like the BMW E30, and he is still inspired by the classics. From custom BMW and classic parts to full restoration services CAtuned does it all. However it is not just BMW's as CAtuned Off-Road takes care of the 4x4 and Overlanding community from simple products to custom off-road rigs. Then of course we have Igor's worldwide expansion of the CAtuned brand to Canada, Russia, Ukraine and Germany.

Through CAtuned Igor has been able to combine his passion to build unique vehicles and create a business known throughout the world for quality parts. However the best and probably most rewarding part of it all is that he is able to use his business to educate people while bringing customers dreams to reality.

Tim Matthews is the Curator of the Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed. This means he oversees all day to day activities of the museum as well as in helping acquire items for the collection, negotiates deals, coordinates deliveries and trips to pick up donated or purchased items, helps plan events and Cars and Coffee speakers and manages the rest of the Museum Staff plus so much more! Tim set time aside to talk to me about the museum and the HBO Documentary series The Lady and the Dale. If you are unfamiliar about the documentary, it delves into the life of Liz Carmichael and the Twentieth Century Motor Car Corporation.

The Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, Nebraska, is a non-profit corporation founded in 1992 by "Speedy" Bill and Joyce Smith. The original museum was in a smaller building on Van Dorn street in Lincoln. The museum moved to its current location on the Speedway Motor's campus in 2001. This 150,000 sq. ft. museum was formed to present a continuous chronology of automotive Racing Engine and Speed Equipment development and to preserve, interpret, and display items significant in racing and automotive history. The collection results from the Smiths' personal involvement in racing and hot rodding, and their lifelong passion for collecting and preserving racing and automotive history.