Talbots Turn Fast Podcast

How many barn-find muscle cars are returned to driving status? I’d say not many. Ryan McPartlin’s 1967 Plymouth Valiant was rescued from a llama barn and revived but only for a short amount of time, then eventually put out in the field to die. Fortunately, Ryan was able to rescue the car from its previous owner to give it another life. This life would be much more exciting since Ryan’s plan was to use it as a cruiser and an occasional autocross.

JJ Mallrich Jr. wheeled his 1999 Camaro to win the 2025 SCCA CAM-T Championship in Lincoln, NE. JJ shares his racing background and the history of the Camaro. He also shares his plans for new, more race-focused, Camaro build.

In this bonus episode, I discuss some changes I made to the car over the summer leading up to Moparty 2025. I also share my experience at Moparty which ultimately led to me winning the vintage grand champion class. 

Robert Byrd recounts how a love of cars and a Camaro community grew into racing and organizing the NMCA West autocross series which eventually morphed into the Racing Byrds events. Robert tells us how his course designs, class rules, great trophies, and family-friendly events keep people coming back every year. We also talked about his new square-body truck build.

In this episode, Peter Bruschi tells us about his Red Buffalo Brewing sponsored S550 EcoBoost Mustang known as the Banana Stallion and how being a crew member on a figure 8 race team led to his desire to be an amateur race car driver.  He shared some great advice for pursuing an automotive career right out of college and how a retired school bus can be the ultimate car hauler/RV.

In this episode, Fran Marchand tells us how he went from being outlawed at the dirt track to building his 1950 Chevy truck to compete in Optima Ultimate Streetcar, Autocross Week, and LS Fest. Fran discusses some challenges and success he’s had racing his 75-year-old truck.

A straight axle, two-wheel drive Jeep XJ is the perfect autocross vehicle, right? For Grant Skidmore, it’s the perfect vehicle for collecting podium finishes in events such as Chryslers at Carlisle and Autocross Week. Grant tells us how he got started in autocross and what modifications were needed to get the #poorboysSRTJeep to go around a corner at speed. He also shares his latest engine modification details and Autocross Week experience.

In this episode Matt Ramirez shares the history of converting his daily driver 2004 Mustang into the baddest New Edge Mustang in the country. Multiple engine failures and finding the limits of factory ABS systems along the way proved it would be no easy task. With help from his dad, Matt persevered through the failures and turned failure into opportunity for upgrades. His dedication to making the Mustang the best it can be has led to numerous class wins and podium finishes. Continuing the CAM-T wing discussion from the previous episode, I get Matt’s opinion on the topic.

In this episode I’m joined by Terry Fair who is the owner of Vorshlag Motorsports. We discuss the need for parity across racing organization class rules, particularly when it comes to wings in CAM-T. We also talk about Terry’s current CAM-T project, a 1988 Foxbody Mustang, which he’s touting as the 21st Century Fox.

After a 20 year break from racing dirt and asphalt ovals, Charles Utts decided to turn his very first truck into a very capable autocross racer. Charles blew the dust off the stalled restoration of his 1977 Dodge Power Wagon and sent it to Brian Finch at Finch Performance for one of his custom-built pro-touring chassis. While Finch was at it, he convinced Charles the only option for an engine would be a Hellcat. The enthusiasm and passion Charles has for this truck is contagious and he also proves that you’re never to old to get started in autocross!