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.

Jessie Madera is an artist who really started honing her craft after battling chronic Lyme Disease when she was 18 years old. She would use the art as an outlet to ease her mind from the intense treatment process. In the next 10 years Madera established herself working with digital images and acrylic designing for independent brands, the music industry, and apparel companies. However it was in the last 4 years when Madera discovered airbrushing that her career transformed as she started taking on projects in the automotive field. Her goal when working on a piece is to create miniature works of art, not just traditional airbrush imagery. Her style now includes a mix of hyperrealism techniques and pop surrealist tones, to demonstrate disguised macabre themes in a whimsical execution. At the end of the day Madera wants to create pieces that make her happy and the airbrush community has allowed her to showcase in a way that has pushed her creative process.

In a previous episode we talked to Albo Agunday, a film-maker based out of Japan, about his automotive background. However after our cconversation we thought it would be great to connect again and talk about the value of a car. In the past 2 years the values of cars have significantly increased across the globe, so what better time than to talk about the price of Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) cars. The nostalgic effect makes people buy their dream cars. The popularity of both Gran Tursimo and the Fast & Furious franchise escalated the demand for Japanese performance vehicles. These memories bring drivers back to their youth in the blink of an eye when they get behind the wheel. Japanese sports cars also offer a more analogue experience on the road compared to the computer-aided vehicles today. This has meant that demand grows by the day pushing the market price up for these vintage vehicles.

Zac Mertens from Hoonigan Racing has always found a means of creating value for others through the things which he is passionate about. Over the years he has had the privilege of working on projects that have taken him across the globe. However it all started with "Gnarpm" automotive content before a switch to Hoonigan. He is a thrill seeker, an adrenaline junkie and curiosity has led him down many paths that has forged an ability to adapt and overcome any obstacle, sometimes by jumping a vehicle over it.

Justin Bell has over 20 years as a professional racing driver, winning the 1997 Le Mans 24 Hour race and the 1998 GT2 FIA World Championship. However there came a time when he realized that maybe he could talk faster than he drove, and so a successful TV and web hosting career followed with Speed and then Fox Sports. Justin created the Torque Show with Tommy Kendall and Jason Jacobson, their unique Live-streaming show from the IMSA paddock has been a huge success. The company has also expanded to breaking new ground as host and producer of the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, the Audrain Newport Concours, and Motorweek. Now in demand as a host for shows ranging from 'Drives Unexpected' with Hagerty, and branded content for Omaze and Motor Trend, Justin has always been ready to take on greater challenges in front of the camera.

Winslow Bent is the Founder of Legacy Classic Trucks, a Full-Service Auto Restoration Facility located just outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Legacy Classic Trucks has grown to be one of the premier truck restoration facilities in the United States. Legacy builds several lines of vehicles, including the Legacy Power Wagon Conversion, the Legacy Scrambler Conversion, and the Legacy Napco. They also take on custom jobs and specialize in rare and special trucks, such as Diamond T, Mack, Studebaker, and Hudson.

Faruk Kugay was born in the small city of Swidnik, Poland. His mother is Polish and his father is Laz, a Turkish ethnic minority. Faruk's family immigrated to the United States and he grew up in the Bay Area. Faruk started drifting in 2002 and remained close to his passion by helping and working at drifting events. A move to Europe in 2007 led to him organizing, announcing, and judging events as well as coaching other drivers. However a return to the States led to him pursuing his dream, achieving a spot in the Formula Drift series. In 2019 Faruk turned his attention to television and he was featured on the show, Hyperdrive and The Getaway. Faruk also manages a shop based at Sonoma Raceway where he also runs Sonoma Drift.

Matt Field thrives off every form of racing. However not only is Matt a talented driver, Matt is also a technician, fabricator, engine builder, driver & team owner. Matt has accelerated his drift career as a pro driver and business owner as in 2013, he opened the garage doors to The Drift Cave a motorsports/fabrication shop located in Silicon Valley - San Jose, CA.When he first got behind the wheel he competed in grassroots events and gained his Formula Drift license through the Just Drift series in '09. Since then Matt has been a proud supporter of the sport; giving back to local organizations, and offering driving instruction, event judging and car setup advice to other drivers.

Our latest guest is Ron Zaras, Senior Brand Director for Hoonigan. However to hear his story in detail about how he came to Hoonigan you can listen to this earlier episode here. Today we are talking about a passion we both share and that is the World Rally Championship. After Ron's recent trip to Germany which you can watch in the Hoonigan Carcaine Abroad series, we talked about our love for Group A cars and the idea for a podcast came together. The Group A era was between 1987 and 1997 and included both Rally and Touring cars, and some might say one of the best era's of rallying.

Mike Andrada is a talented fabricator currently based in the Pacific Northwest after stints in the Bay Area and Anchorage after his family emigrated from the Philippines. His talent for fabricating came from his time learning from his peers and putting that to work on his projects at home and for friends. While Mike does have a passion for Honda with M-Fab Mike is able to take on projects both big and small that help him keep pushing his abilities to improve as a fabricator. 

Jim Liaw is our latest guest and we discuss his new role as General Manager for Performance Racing Industry (PRI). In his new position Liaw will direct and oversee activities related to the PRI Trade Show, PRI Membership, PRI Magazine, online content, and promotion for all segments in the motorsports industry. One of Liaw’s priority initiatives will be successfully executing the 2021 PRI Trade Show in Indianapolis, Indiana, December 9th-11th. The PRI Trade Show is the racing industry’s No. 1 source for new technology, ideas, and business opportunities. The in-person event includes over 45 conferences, seminars, and social gatherings, making the PRI Show the best place to learn and build valuable business connections. Liaw will also assist in building PRI’s new membership program. The PRI Membership is a groundbreaking program that advocates for the motorsports market by uniting the worldwide racing community.Like many in the automotive industry, Liaw was an auto enthusiast before he was able to drive. After g