Grassroots Motorsports and Classic Motorsports podcast

In the space of a few weeks, Andy Weir went from being and underground sensation for his self-published sci-fi survival story "The Martian" to a legitimate best-selling author with his book currently being made into an A-list motion picture. His tale of a stranded astronaut who must kludge, bodge and fabricate his way to survival immediately brought to mind our $20XX Challenge event, although with used spaceship parts instead of discarded Camaros. Weir's story will strike a chord with anyone who's ever had to improvise a mechanical solution when none seemed possible. He was good enough to sit down with us to discuss some of the "builds" in the book and their inspiration.

Once again, our $20XX Challenge event brought together some of the most creative car builders you're ever likely to see in one place at one time. After the auto crossing, drag racing and car showing was done, Ed Malle and his insane Mustang took home the trophy for $2014, but everyone that enters has a story to tell. We captured a few via digital recorder, and here they are.

How many guys do you know that started their own car company? There's not many, but luckily Warren Mosler has been a good friend of our magazine since he first began Consulier Motors. Although the Consulier GTP and later Mosler MT900 are no longer in production, the legacy of what Warren and his associates created is still significant even three decades later.

On this episode of the Grassroots Motorsport podcast, JG and David wrap up the recent Monterey auctions and discuss some of the monster sales—as well as some of the bargains. They also speculate a bit on what cars we may see fetching big money in the auctions of the future. Will yours be one of them?

Calling Ralph Gilles an iconoclast may be a dangerous understatement. Rising out of the design studios to take the reins of Dodge's SRT halo brand, Gilles is a rare hardcore enthusiast in charge of a major chunk of a major American car company.

Even though it's America's oldest and most storied Sports Car Club, the SCCA can't move into the future by just resting on its laurels. That's why guys like Heyward Wagner are around. Tasked with bringing the SCCA experience to a wider audience, and bringing a wider field of experience to existing members, Heyward has some exciting ideas about what the club should and will do to continue to succeed.

Back from the long road to Lincoln, Neb., we chat with a few folks who we met on the vast concrete expanse at the world's greatest motorsports party.

As we approach the time of year when the best autocrossers in the country gather in Lincoln, Neb. for the Solo National Championships, we wanted to get some insight from someone who's mastered the art of performing on Solo's biggest stage. Multi-time national champ Andy Hollis shares some of his pre-Nationals prep tips for both car and mind.

Some of our favorite movies have cars anthem. And some of our favorite cars are in movies and TV shows. This week, JG and David talk about some of their favorite hero cars, car-centric TV shows and movies, and share a little bit of trivia. It's like an editorial meeting, but fun!

The SCCA's Trans Am series has seen some turmoil over the past few years, but 2014 is shaping up to be one of the most well-subscribed seasons in history, and the racing is as exciting as ever. Leading Trans Am into the future are drivers like Amy Ruman—herself a second-generation competitor in the series—who provide exciting and accessible personalities for the series. Amy talks about growing up in the series, her roots in racing, being the first female to win in the Trans Am series, and her quest for a championship.

Did you know we do a whole lot more than just publish magazines? That's right, we ale put on some of the most popular events in the sports car scene, including the Tire Rack Ultimate Track Car Challenge, the Classic Motorsports Mitty, our world Famous $2000 Challenge and more. The guy who makes that al happen is Rick Goolsby, and we chat with him on this episode. There's a complete recap of the action at the UTCC, a look at upcoming events, and some intriguing discussion of just why we put in the extra work to do events in the first place.

Officially an international athlete, Robb Holland spends most of his time these days on the far side of the Atlantic, competing in the British Touring Car series and the VLN series at the legendary Nurburgring. Prior to that, Robb was active in all sorts of US series including the Pirelli World Challenge series and IMSA's Continental Tire series. We chat about his start in the sport, and what it takes to run competitively on an international level.

You can't race without rules, and the men and women who make those rules have the occasionally thankless job of trying to balance the competitiveness of hundreds of cars across dozens of classes. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. This week's someone is David Whitener: Chairman of the SCCA's Street Touring Advisory Board. We chat with David about the state of Street Touring—one of the SCCA's most popular autocross divisions—and his predictions for the future of the ruleset. We also discuss just what it takes to make a rule, and how the competitor affects the process at every step.

The science of aerodynamics is understood by few, but has a huge impact on our competitive enjoyment of cars. We all know that air affects our cars somehow, but we're rarely aware of the magnitude or ultimate impact of those forces. Steve Stafford is, though. Steve is an Aero engineer and longtime friend of GRM who currently works in Toyota's NASCAR program. He's spent time in wind tunnels tuning everything from classic Alfas to F1 cars in his career, though, and our chat reveals a surprising level of aero tweaking that the average racer or enthusiast can take advantage of. We try to take some of the more esoteric corners of the black art of aerodynamics and make them relatable to everyone.

Shea Holbrook pays us a return visit, this time thick in the chase for the Pirelli World Challenge TC-A championship. Shea won the opening round of the series at Barber Motorsports Park, and currently sits second in the points standings. She talks about the pressures of running for a championship, and discusses her unique perspective on the predominantly male world of sports car racing.