Cars Yeah With Mark Greene

Mackena Bell is the first female owner/driver team in NASCAR history. She runs out of Thomasville, North Carolina and started racing when she was 11 years old in an Outlaw kart. In 2014 she drove the Rick Ware Racing number 23 Chevrolet Camaro. Last year Mackena made her debut in one of NASCAR’s premier touring series at Phoenix International Raceway and she is one of only a few women to compete in the Nationwide series. She is the only woman to graduate from NASCARS’s Drive for Diversity Program who races in the Nationwide series.

Chris Sneed owns and operates Sneed Speed Shop in Pfafftown, North Carolina and Sneed 4 Speed, an on line performance parts store. At his shop he and his team focus on helping clients win championships in their racecars. The shop’s services include a body shop, mechanical support, dyno tuning, and parts manufacturing. One of their specialties is the Mini Cooper and they race their own Mini. Chris and his brother have won 25 out of 29 races and 3 regional championships along with multiple endurance races. He won 3 NASA championships in 2010 and 2011 and raced in the World Challenge in 2013 and 2014 where he won the Hard Charger award in his first race on the streets of Houston

Stephen Hackett is a Porsche Sales and Leasing Consultant at Bellevue Porsche in Bellevue, Washington. Last year he was awarded one of the top 100 sales people worldwide at Porsche and he got to enjoy a week in Cannes France where he met the Porsche factory driver Walter Rohr. Stephen spent and drive Porsches. Stephen is one of those unique sales people who’s passion for what he sells is as impressive as his authenticity.

Bob Hatch is the owner of Hatch & Sons in Hudson Massachusetts. He’s been buying, selling, restoring, and trading fine motorcars since 1970. After selling his company in 2005 he grew restless and he purchased the original building he started his company in, refurbished it and started anew with his son Jimmy and grandson Chris. Today they buy and sell the finest European automobiles in the world while focusing on excellence in quality and perfection. Bob has owned more than 125 230, 250, and 280 SL Mercedes Benz automobiles and Hatch & Sons are known as the authority on these beautiful classic cars. I’ve been fortunate to have seen their work and it is absolutely incredible.

Lisa Smith is the Managing Partner of Suixtil-USA, an international brand of stylish menswear with a vintage look and feel built on the 1950s car racing heritage. The Suixtil logo was seen on many of the great drivers including Juan Manuel Fangio, Jose Froilan Gonzales, Jean Behra, Jo Bonnier and Sir Stirling Moss. Lisa has been an automotive enthusiast, especially vintage cars, her entire life and she was often found in her father’s restoration shop with a wire brush in hand helping dad. She is the well traveled blog editor of DecorGirl.net and she’s an interior designer and leaves tomorrow for the Cavallino Classic to spend some time with a whole bunch of Ferraris.

Michael Allen earned his Ph.D. in Psychology in 1986. But the title Michael is most proud of is “Car Nut.” He has been an automotive enthusiast his entire life. After purchasing a Porsche Boxster he attended his first track day and was hooked. Through the years Michael found himself frustrated with the lack of non-competitive High Performance Drivers Education content in car magazines. In December of 2013, Michael and his wife Ziva decided there was a missing niche for like-minded driving enthusiasts and decided to take on the challenge of filling that gap. They launched Auto Track Monthly, an on line magazine that is your one-stop-click source for track day and high performance driving information.

Nathan Adlen is the Co-Host and Senior Editor for The Fast Lane Car and The Fast Lane Truck. Born into a wrecking yard family in Los Angeles, Nathan has been connected to the automotive industry throughout his life. Nathan evaluates and reviews vehicles from the cheapest to the most prestigious with equal enthusiasm.

Chris Erickson founded the Secret Car Club in Rancho Santa Fe California, just north of San Diego. This is a private car club that was created with the intent to remove all of the less attractive aspects of a traditional club. There are no meetings, no elections, no dues, nor the drudgery and politics prevalent in most organizations. So, do you need to know the secret handshake or password to get in? Listen to find out. Chris grew up in a family that restored and enjoyed British cars. He is a real estate broker for Willis Allen Real Estate in Rancho Santa Fe California and a board member of the La Jolla Concours d’Elegance. His passion for British cars and trucks continues with a preference for MGB, Triumph, Land Rover and Jaguar.

Glenn Vaugn has been in the automotive restoration business for decades. He’s worked with thousands of clients on a wide variety of automobiles and much of his work has been displayed on concours lawns around the world. You’ll recognize his name from the famous Hill & Vaugn restoration business and a partnership and friendship his father Ken had with Phil Hill. Yes, that Phil Hill, the F1 Champion.

Rich Fowler operates the website MotorSportRetro.com. It is a celebration of Motorsport from the 1950s to the recent past. His content entertains and informs with a unique collection of stories, videos, and images covering Formula One to Motocross. Rich lives in Sydney, Australia and has been a motor racing fan forever. He races in vintage motocross and enjoys track days in his Porsche 911 and vintage racing events. When he's not at the track he spends his spare time in the garage. Rich and his talented team provide his followers with a rich assortment of motorsport retro on a daily basis.

Jimbo Balaam is the owner and operator of Jimbo’s Auto Detailing in Southern California. Over the past 7 years he has successfully built his business by providing his clients with exacting care and attention for their special vehicles. When he started his business he found plenty of on line information about detailing but very little about how to run a proper detailing business. Those skills he learned through hard work and effort. In addition to detailing Jimbo created The Auto Detailing Podcast podcast where he interviews successful detailers and business owners along with providing product information for other professionals in his field of automotive care.

Kelly Collins is recognized at one of the most diverse and talented race care drivers on the track. He has won championships numerous times and driven for manufacturers including: Chevrolet, Pontiac, Porsche, Nissan, Honda, and BMW. He has participated in almost every kind of racing venue imaginable. He’s ridden in: Motocross, and driven in the Barber Dodge Pro Series, IMSA, the FIA GT Championship, US RoadRacing Championship Series, American LeMans, Grand-Am Sports Car, and more. He’s enjoyed multiple victories at Petit Le Mans, Rolex 24 at Daytona, and 12 Hours of Sebring and he’s been on the podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times. In 2001 he was teamates with Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jr. at the 24 Hours of Daytona. He’s been a Skip Barber Racing School instructor and a precision-driver in many Hollywood movies.

Stefan Schleissing owns GTS Classics in Austin Texas. At GT Classics he and his team make the finest in seating for classic cars. His family history around cars is extensive as is his rich history in racing and rallying. Stefan has restored, raced, and rallied classics cars including the Porsche 356, 914-6, 911, Lotus, Devin, TVR’s , Sunbeam Tigers, and Mini Coopers. GTS Classics has an extensive model range of classic car seats for touring or racing cars and they will customize your seat to suite your requirements for your classic car, hot rod, Restomod, racecar or rally car. His latest project, besides new seat models, is his 908 kit car. It will be a road going street legal brother to Steve McQueen’s iconic 908 race car.

Bruce Thomson feels compelled to paint. He attended the Ontario College of Art, graduating from the Industrial Design Program where his favorite subjects were automotive. It was at this time that Bruce saw a painting of an F1 car in a store window and thought; “I could do better than that”. And he did. Thus began his obsession with the visual archiving of automobilia through sketching, illustration, and painting. Not satisfied with this, Bruce attended the Royal College of Art Vehicle Design Program in London, England where he sketched, conceived, drew and learned from some of the most talented and creative people in the design field. On graduation, he worked for Ford of Europe in Köln Germany, before returning to Canada to work as a Professor in the Industrial design Department at Humber College in Toronto where he teaches, amongst other things, automotive design.

Michael Dorvillier is the Chairman of the La Jolla Concoursd’Elegance. This is a fantastic event that takes place overlooking the Pacific Ocean above the La Jolla Cove just north of San Diego. The event is one of the The La Jolla Historical Society’s major fundraising events. A Registered Principal and Financial Advisor with Symbio Financial Partners and LPL Financial, Michael is a passionate antique car collector who is committed to the ongoing success of the La Jolla Concours d’Elegance. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Michael moved to New Hampshire in 1979. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1989 and relocated in Southern California to start his professional career in finance.

A.J. Gordon overseas the daily news stories, interviews, and articles for CarsStories.com at The Petersen Automotive Museum. It is their enthusiast portal which currently attracts over 50,000 unique visitors per month. Prior to joining the Petersen Automotive Museum, A.J. worked in radio at Los Angeles stations 955 KLOS, AMP Radio, Jack FM, and The World Famous KROQ K Rock. He produced interviews for radio stations' websites and coordinated concert live-streaming.  

Bill Thomas has over 26 years in the automotive business and he is an ASE, Automotive Service Excellence, Certified Master Technician. His love of classic British sports cars moved him to open William Thomas Roadsters in Hunterdon County, New Jersey where he and his team restore and care for British cars. Bill also operates Performance Garage Club in Frenchtown, New Jersey where they created a wonderful automotive storage facility. It is a place where members can keep, and work on their special vehicles or just hang out with friends. But wait, there’s more. Bill’s Draken Cars East is another venture he’s embarked upon where he’s building a custom formula car concept roadster that is really cool. And then there is LTW Motorsports where Bill provides track car services from tech inspections, proper set ups, storage, and more.

Michael Knab founded and operated an advertising agency in Chicago for over 30 years. Among his his many well known clients was Revell Monogram, the toy model company. His passion for automobiles lead to launching the Diecast Zone, one of the first online hobby community sites. The audience was geared toward collectors of precision scale model cars and trucks. Soon Michael created Legacy Motors, which became the leading online retailers for scale model cars, trucks, motorcycles, and military vehicles. From there he created an art gallery called Legacy Motors Automotive Art Gallery. Today his focus is dominated by his online art gallery representing the best automotive artists of today at Legendary Cars Life.com.

Anyone who’s watched motorsports on television over the last 30 years will recognize the face and voice of today’s guest here on Cars Yeah. Bob Varsha’s career in automotive broadcasting goes back to 1980 when he was invited to cover the Peachtree 10K Road Race. He hosted MotorWeek Illustrated on CNN and covered Formula One racing on ESPN. He has been a television host on a multitude of sporting events from gymnastics to track & field to skiing. While on Speedvision he covered F1, sports cars, motorcycles and the Tour de France racing. He’s been the voice at Barrett-Jackson auctions, IMSA sports cars, the MotoGP World Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He sits on the Board of Advisors for the Motorsports Vehicle Technology Program at Lanier Technical College in Gainesville, Georgia, and he is an honorary member of the Road Racing Drivers Club.

Brian Ghidinelli owns and runs MotorsportReg.com, an online registration service and marketplace that makes it more fun to organize and attend motorsports events. He has helped more than 700 clubs, racetracks, and sanctioning bodies organize, promote, and manage over 3,500 events annually. He’s a racer, a championship winner and finisher of a 25-hour endurance race. Brian serves on the board of directors for Thunderhill Raceway Park and he’s been quoted, featured and photographed in numerous automotive magazines and newspapers. Brian lives near Sonoma Raceway in San Rafael, California with his wife, dog, racecar, motorcycle, and shifter kart.