Cars Yeah With Mark Greene

Adam Kern is a Chicago native who in 2012 purchased his first Porsche after growing up as a lifelong muscle car fan in a GM loving family. Since then he has joined the board of directors for the PCA-Chicago region along with running the club’s autocross program and its social media. In 2017, Adam led efforts to create CheckedItOut Chicago, ‘the Porsche convergence’ held in downtown Chicago. CheckedItOut is a non-profit that raises money for local charities by bringing Porsche owners and enthusiasts together for a day of cars, food, and music in an urban setting.

Brenda Priddy likes to tell people that she was born with a camera in her hands, and hardly remembers a time that she didn’t own a camera or two, or maybe a half dozen. Since 1992, Brenda has been a well-known fixture in the automotive industry, photographing pre-production automobiles undergoing hot weather testing in the desert, and selling the photos to publications including The New York Times, USA Today, Car and Driver, and even the Encyclopedia Britannica. The mom of two suddenly became one of the most famous automotive “spy photographers” in the world! In 2013 she shifted to fine art photography and in 2014 organized people-to-people tours of Cuba. Brenda has always been involved in raising money for charities, and in 2017, she was appointed a CASA (court-appointed special advocate for foster children) by the Maricopa County Superior Court in Arizona.  

Mark Steigerwald is the Executive Director at the California Automobile Museum in Sacramento, California. Their mission is to preserve, exhibit, and teach the story of the automobile and its influence on our lives. After graduate school, Mark interned at the International Motor Racing Research Center where he became their Director. Along the way, he got to meet fascinating and generous people associated with all facets of the racing world including Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Vic Elford, Sam Posey, Rusty Wallace, and many others. I have had the experience of visiting the California Automobile Museum and it is a very special place. Regular listeners will recall the museum’s Curator Carly Starr was a past guest on Cars Yeah.

Charles Navarro is the President of LN Engineering, a company he founded while studying Computer Science at Northwestern University in 2002 along with his wife, Tammy Hellings. LN Engineering formed a niche previously non-existent for precision performance aftermarket engine components specifically targeted toward addressing known issues and improving upon original equipment engine components for Volkswagen and Porsche models. LN Engineering is best known for its trademark Nickies air-cooled cylinders. The company has evolved and grown and along with Raby Engine Development, focusing on research and development leading to solutions for past and current models.

Ed Petersen is the CEO of Wrench. He studied History and Business at Whittier College where he graduated and then went on to become an entrepreneur. Ed participated in the founding of multiple technology and data companies before he founded Wrench 4 years ago in January of 2016. Ironically, he did not come from the automotive industry; his entire background was in technology. Ed recognized that there was a need in the auto repair industry for a newer, more efficient, trustworthy, and convenient way for consumers. In his vision, the whole process of car repair and maintenance needed the introduction of technology and data. Hence, Wrench was born and has disrupted the industry in ways never before thought possible.   

Brian Allan is the Senior Vice-President of Strategic Partnerships at HyreCar. He is responsible to assist OEMs and retail dealers with strategies to profit from the carsharing, ridesharing and transportation as a Service (TaaS) opportunities. Brian serves on advisory boards for several retail and technology firms and he is renowned for recognizing industry trends and developing innovative solutions that leverage technology to improve the employee and customer experience for the automotive industry. After 30 years of service as a General Manager and Group Director of Business Development at Galpin Motors, Brian founded Respective.io, a strategic advisory and investment firm focused on emerging technologies and innovation in the retail automotive industry.  Mike Furnari, HyreCar’s Chief Business Development Officer is a previous guest here on Cars Yeah.

Elana Scherr didn’t grow up in a car family but has made up for lost time since then. She started her wheeled career in motorcycle parts fabrication, then did a stint in Automotive PR before moving to the editorial side. She was a staff editor at HOT ROD Magazine, Editor in Chief of Roadkill Magazine, and currently reviews new cars for Edmunds and Car and Driver while also covering classics and car culture for American Car Collector, Sports Car Market, and other enthusiast titles. Elana and her husband Tom have a large collection (more than a dozen) of mostly carbureted vehicles including an Opel GT, several muscle cars, and a classic open-backed ramp truck race hauler that originally belonged to Pro Stock legend Dick Landy. They cover their collection and keeping it running on the Challengeher YouTube channel. Along with the car projects, Elana is writing a book with Don Prudhomme about his life and racing career.

Casey Putsch is the founder and president of Genius Garage, a 501(c)3 public educational charity centered around hands-on automotive engineering, design, and history.  After college, he started Putsch Racing, a facility for high-end road racing preparation and automotive restoration. With a solid foundation of hands-on fabrication, engineering, art, and design, Casey has created a fan base on social media for his exciting personal stories and automotive adventures. Some of his builds include the world’s only turbine-powered Batmobile and the Omega Car high-high-efficiency prototype. He was awarded The President’s Lifetime Achievement Award in education and was honored to fly with the United States Air Force Thunderbirds for his work in mentoring young people. 

Michael Rapetti is co-founder of The Motoring Club, a membership site for automotive enthusiasts. It is a destination where they are building a community through their network of Clubhouses, starting with Los Angeles and their online membership platform. The Motoring Club is a place where like-minded people work together to source the finest products, services, experiences, and deals. Think of it as a combination of vehicle storage, a social gathering place, and networking space with exclusive benefits. Michael started his career path in New York City in commercial real estate and then moved into tech working for large companies to small startups before starting The Motoring Club.

Don Newlove is a designer and builder working alongside Mike Scott. He built his first Top Fuel Bike in Canada and started racing Top Fuel Bikes with Clyde Rawlings in 1988. Don raced with Clyde as his Crew Chief helping Clyde to score 7.84 seconds at 170 mph on a Shovelhead back in 1987. Don built his first Harley Drag Bike in 1988 and throughout his career has built numerous winning bikes including show bikes. Don and Mike joined forces in 2004 and within a year set their first CMDRA Record at Mission Raceway in the 1/8 miles at 194.55 mph and they have made numerous 6 second passes at over 200 + mph. In 2018 they earned the CMDRA Wrench of the Year Award. 2020 proves to be another winning season for the Newlove brothers. Their other brother Rod Newlove has been a past guest here on Cars Yeah.

Michael Carter is a racer driving for his father’s Carter Racing Enterprises. They are campaigning two cars in an effort to make a strong run for the 2020 Championship. Michael jumped into his first racer at the age of four, a Quarter Midget that he became eligible to race at the age of five. At 13 he ran the Front Wheel Drive 4 Cylinder class at Oglethorpe Speedway, a dirt track. In 2014 he ran at Road Atlanta, Daytona, Sebring, and Homestead.  In 2016 he ran in the SCCA Majors and jumped to the Majors in 2017 where he earned many podium finishes. In 2018 Michael podiumed 18 out of 20 races. In 2019 Michael raced for Copeland Motorsports in the Battery Tender Global Mx-5 Cup Series and won Rookie of the year earning him a scholarship to race in 2020.

Philip Richter is president and co-founder of Hollow Brook Wealth Management, LLC.  Hollow Brook is a leading SEC-registered independent wealth management firm that manages and advises capital on behalf of families, foundations, endowments, pension plans, and individuals. He serves as a trustee of the Pray Family Foundation, serves as treasurer of the United States Equestrian Team Foundation,  and serves on the Board of Directors of the Hampton Classic Horse Show and the United States Equestrian Federation. Philip is Chairman of the Lake Placid Horse Show and sits on the board of WidePoint Corporation, an NYSE Market listed publicly traded telecom company. He is an avid equestrian showjumper and has successfully campaigned his horses on the “A” show circuit for over three decades. Philip is a contributing writer for Sports Car Market Magazine and is a vintage car and motorcycle collector.  Philip is also the founder and publisher of Turtle Garage (www.turtlegarage.com), a weekly journal focusing on collector

It would be easy to say that Mike Mooney’s career in the motorsports industry has been going in circles for over 25 years. Mike has built a reputation for creating a brand, athlete, and sports property distinction by launching and leading award-winning marketing and communications campaigns. He has represented many highly regarded brands, including Mercedes-Benz, 3M, Tylenol, Walmart, Eli Lilly, and Fifth Third Bank. His breakthrough book, ‘Reputation Shift – Lessons from Pit Road to the Boardroom’, delivers practical and ready-to-use personal branding and reputation-building strategies for people who want to ensure personal and professional success. He is also recognized for his work in crisis and reputation management, having led dozens of crisis recovery efforts over his career. 

Paul d’Orléans is a globally recognized expert on the history of motorcycles and motorcycle cultures. His website TheVintagent.com has been the gold standard for motorcycle writing since 2006. Paul’s authored several books including his most recent ‘Ton Up! A Century of Café Racer Speed and Style’  published by my friends at Motorbooks. Other titles include ‘Custom Revolution’ (Motorcycle Arts Foundation 2018), ‘The Chopper; the Real Story’ (Gestalten 2014), and ‘Café Racers’ (Motorbooks 2014).  He is a columnist for Cycle World and Classic Bike Guide, and contributes monthly to magazines around the world, bringing his unique viewpoint to the contemporary motorcycle scene. Paul is also an artist and photographer, who spent 25 years as a professional muralist and decorative painter and his art has been used as album covers by many musicians. 

Chris Hurst is a racer who has run in sprint karts, autocross, and endurance racing. He has driven over 250 different cars in competition, worked in shops that built 1,000 hp competition cars, and managed a private collection of exotic and rare sports cars in Montecito. Chris was a driving coach at the Porsche Experience Center in Los Angeles, has coached famous musicians and Hollywood stuntmen, and he raced with John Morton, Steve Nichols, and Steve O’Hara. In addition to his driving experience, Chris is a writer and a blogger who inspires fellow automotive enthusiasts on a daily basis. He was also in the Ford vs Ferrari movie that recently came out in theaters.

Ed Cholakian owns All Cadillacs, where for over 40 years he has been at the forefront of collecting and restoring Cadillacs from the 40s and 50s. At one time Ed had one of the largest collecting in the world of Cadillacs from that era. He’s one of those people who is extremely kind and generous with his time and resources to help those in need. Today his business, located in Las Vegas, Nevada, has been providing Cadillac parts for over 15 years. His company attracts ‘car people’ from all over the world, some just to see the incredible size of his inventory of new (NOS) and used Cadillac parts. Ed has also been recognized by President Reagan and California Governors for his work in hospitals and the Los Angeles police department. He had a hand creating the SEMA show and came up with many new innovative marketing ideas in the automotive industry.

Bill Windham is the Director of the Saratoga Classic Car Auction. His career experience includes being the Vice President of the Classic Car Division Murphy Auctions, Auctions America, RM Auctions, he ran a successful Classic Car Export Business, worked at Brumos Porsche, and spent time working with major German manufacturers at the dealer level. Bill grew up around racing and sports cars and he had an uncle who owned a British Restoration Shop. His experience with motorsports included being the PR Director for the Reading Fairgrounds, a famous Dirt Track, we worked at Penske Racing, in Indy, NASCAR, and North American F1. Bill was with the Works March Indy Team, with Mike Skinner in NASCAR, and he drove Formula Vee, Formula Ford, and Formula Atlantic SCCA.

Donald Osborne is an automotive consultant, historian, author, concours judge, and a writer. As an Accredited Senior Appraiser (A.S.A.) member of the American Society of Appraisers, he has worked for clients across the world on the acquisition, sale, and valuation of classic vehicles, traveling the US and Europe attending major events, rallies and auctions. Donald was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Audrain, LLC and now leads all the company’s non-profit and for-profit initiatives, overseeing the Audrain Automobile Museum, Audrain’s Newport Concours d’Elegance & Motor Week and Audrain Motorsport. No doubt you’ve seen Donald on CNBC’s Primetime television show ‘Jay Leno’s Garage where he co-hosts the ‘Assess & Caress’ segment with Jay Leno.  

Mike Piera is a racer whose favorite marque is Porsche. Since 1998, he has participated in numerous events over the years in Porsche Club America Club racing, historic racing, autocross, Grand-Am GT3 Cup, SCCA Regionals, Vintage Trans-Am, and many others. Mike has driven early 911s, 911 RS cars, and 997 Carrera GT3 Cup cars but his passion isn’t only the German marque. He also has a 1951 Crosley Hot Shot, a ’74 Europa, a 2001 Viper GTS, a 2008 GT3 Cup Grand Am car, a 2016 Audi S3, and a 2004 Touareg to get him to the track. In addition to cars, Mike is a life-long electronics and sound fanatic who deals in vintage guitars and amps, thus his nickname the Analog Man.

Laurina Esposito is the daughter of renowned Porsche restoration expert, John Esposito. She grew up learning, working on, and driving Porsche Cars. Five years ago, her career was down a different path before landing in the family business. Laura worked in high-end fashion and in the music entertainment industry where she was a professional singer and spent 6 plus years in Las Vegas singing in shows on the strip. She returned to Los Angeles to temporarily work with her father and when he nearly died, she found herself running the business. She started Women in Porsche where she aligned herself with other women in the Porsche world and the effort has grown world-wide. Today her organization is represented in Germany, the UK, Russia, France, Australia, and other countries. Laurina runs EspoResto along with Women in Porsche where she supports and represents women in the automotive industry.