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Eva Gregory gets asked this question more than almost anything else: how do I actually get a job in motorsports? This week she answers it — for real, without the motivational speech.

She started as a cashier at a karting facility. She ended up as Director of Operations at Road Atlanta. The path wasn't linear, wasn't glamorous at the start, and didn't come from a motorsports degree or a connected family. It came from showing up, learning how things actually work, and developing a specific skill that made her useful. In this episode she breaks down what most people misunderstand about how this industry operates, the five steps that genuinely move the needle, and the mindset question she thinks more people need to sit with before they make the leap.

Practical, honest, and directly applicable — whether you're fresh out of school, considering a career pivot, or an enthusiast who's been quietly wondering for years.

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Topics covered: how to get a job in motorsports, motorsports career paths, corner marshaling and volunteering, track operations, mechanical empathy, career advice for enthusiasts, motorsports community, SCCA, NASA, club racing entry points.

#BeDifferential #ThursdayPitStop #MotorsportsCareer #GetAJobInMotorsports #AutomotiveCareer #RoadAtlanta #CareerAdvice #Karting #MotorsportsPodcast #CarPodcast #EvaGregory

James Dornor looked around the motorsport industry and couldn't find a community that felt like his, so he built one. In this episode of BeDifferential, the founder of Driven By Us traces the full journey from that personal experience of isolation to an organization that has directly impacted over 4,600 students and reached nearly 19,000 more through workshops, conferences and academia events.

Driven By Us' mission is to drive meaningful change by championing underrepresented talent in STEM and reshaping perceptions across the automotive and motorsport sectors. Built by industry professionals, it empowers aspiring leaders through a community space that offers mentorship, development pathways, and real-world opportunities, supporting personal and professional growth in environments grounded in inclusion, excellence, and equity. Its reach spans the UK, North America, Europe, and beyond, and through partnerships with schools and the wider industry ecosystem, it shapes a future where diverse voices lead, inspire, and succeed, supported by industry-leading role models embedded within the community.

That work includes a Driver Academy, which supports young talent from underrepresented backgrounds through a system that was never designed with them in mind, in partnership with the FAT Karting League, founded by Rob Smedley, former Ferrari Race Engineer. Recognized with the Prime Minister's Points of Light Award and the Black Talent Award for Social Change & Race Media – Inspirational Campaign in Motorsport, Driven By Us has also built genuine partnerships with Aston Martin Amarco F1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, and Mission 44, Sir Lewis Hamilton Charity. 

In this conversation, James gets honest about what the industry keeps getting wrong about this work, what "inclusion built into the chassis" actually looks like in a real conversation with a manufacturer who thinks they're already doing enough, and what the version of motorsport Driven By Us is building toward actually looks like. For any young person who loves this sport but has never once seen themselves reflected in it, this conversation is for you.

Learn more about Driven By Us at https://www.drivenbyus.org/

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The SRO Indianapolis 8 Hour is happening this weekend at one of the most iconic motorsports venues in the world — and most American motorsports fans couldn't tell you what series it's part of. Eva Gregory wants to change that.

This week she makes the case for SRO GT racing and the Intercontinental GT Challenge: what it is, what makes it distinctive, why Indianapolis Motor Speedway's road course is a genuinely compelling venue for endurance GT machinery, and why this format has a specific argument to make for car enthusiasts that goes beyond the racing itself. When Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren, and Aston Martin are all on the same grid for eight hours, running production-based cars with road-going analogs — that connection to the broader car culture world matters.

She closes with the question she's genuinely asking: if you could add one racing series to your regular calendar, what would it be, and why?

Topics covered: SRO Motorsports Group, Intercontinental GT Challenge, GT World Challenge America, GT3 racing, Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, GT racing and car culture, endurance racing formats.

#BeDifferential #ThursdayPitStop #SRO #Indianapolis8Hour #GTRacing #GT3 #InterContinentalGTChallenge #MotorsportsPodcast #CarPodcast #CarCulture #EvaGregory

SimCraft co-founder Sean Patrick MacDonald joins the BeDifferential Podcast to talk motion simulation, racing technology, and what it really took to build one of the most advanced simulator platforms in the world. From the center of mass architecture SimCraft shares with NASA to six degrees of freedom, 90% real-world fidelity, and translational seat time, Sean breaks down the science behind why SimCraft performs differently from every other simulator on the market. We cover endorsements from Jimmie Johnson, Jordan Taylor, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Scott Pruett, professional team applications with Wayne Taylor Racing, Skip Barber Racing School, Legacy Motor Club, and Abel Motorsports for INDY NXT, and a product range from $12,900 to $149,900. We also talk about SimCraft's role in democratizing access to motorsport for drivers and engineers who can't afford traditional track time.

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This episode is sponsored by KNIPEX. Learn more at https://www.knipex-tools.com/

I spent years working inside Road Atlanta — and this week, I'm going back. 🏁

The Motul Petit Le Mans is the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale: ten hours, or 1,000 miles, at one of the most storied road racing facilities in the country. But this week isn't just a race preview. Eva Gregory breaks down what makes IMSA multi-class endurance racing one of the most under-appreciated formats in American motorsports — and reflects honestly on what it means to return to a place that shaped her career, as someone who went from hospitality work to track rentals to Director of Operations at Road Atlanta.

This one is personal. And it ends with a question she's been sitting with for a while.🎙 ABOUT BE DIFFERENTIALBe Differential is hosted by Eva Gregory — marketing partnerships manager at Hagerty, former Director of Operations at Road Atlanta, and lifelong automotive enthusiast. Every Tuesday, Eva sits down with guests from across the motorsports and automotive world. Every Thursday, she brings you the Thursday Pit Stop: solo commentary on current events, industry lessons, and the questions worth asking out loud.

New episodes every Tuesday & Thursday.

🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES📩 Subscribe to the Be Differential Newsletter: https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/📸 Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedifferentialpodcast/

🔗 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eva-gregory- 

📌 IN THIS EPISODEThe Motul Petit Le Mans — IMSA's ten-hour, 1,000-mile season finale at Road Atlanta — is one of the most compelling events in American motorsports. Eva Gregory breaks down what makes the race distinctive: the multi-class format with GTP, GTD Pro, and GTD machinery all on circuit simultaneously, the endurance strategy that rewards consistency over pure speed, and what it actually looks and sounds like to be at Road Atlanta when the field comes through at pace. But this episode is also a personal one. Eva spent years working inside Road Atlanta — moving through hospitality, track rentals, local partnerships, and eventually Director of Operations — and this week she's returning to the facility as an outside professional for the first time. She reflects on what the place gave her that she couldn't see while she was inside it, what endurance racing represents in the larger landscape of American motorsport, and why she believes IMSA deserves more of the mainstream conversation than it currently gets.

#BeDifferential #ThursdayPitStop #MotulPetitLeMans #IMSA #IMSAWeatherTech #RoadAtlanta #EnduranceRacing #PetitLeMans #GTP #GTD #MultiClassRacing #AmericanMotorsports #MotorsportsPodcast #CarPodcast #RacingPodcast #Hagerty #CarCulture #EvaGregory #TrackDay #MotorsportsCareers

Learn about this episode's sponsor, KNIPEX Tools at https://www.knipex-tools.com/

Ava Hanssen started racing at four years old in Elkhorn, Wisconsin — and she hasn't slowed down since. In this episode, the 16-year-old Formula Four Junior Formula Championship driver talks about what it actually felt like to grow up racing, what 20+ championships across 11 years of competition really cost, and why winning her very first open wheel race at Circuit of the Americas is the moment she points to as proof she can do anything she sets her mind to. We get into the Skip Barber Racing School scholarship that changed her trajectory, what moving from karting to Legend Cars to Formula Ford to Formula Four has demanded of her at every step, and what it means to suddenly be racing on Amazon Prime, Pluto TV, and Roku. Ava also opens up about the financial reality of funding a racing career at 16 and how strength training, school, art, and music all fit into a week that would exhaust most adults. And for any young girl who loves speed but doesn't see herself in motorsport yet — this one's for you.

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This episode is sponsored by KNIPEX. Learn more at https://www.knipex-tools.com/

F1's newest circuit couldn't produce a race. Three days later, F1 gave Monaco a sprint. Is that fixing the racing, or just adding more TV?

This week on the Thursday Pit Stop, Eva Gregory breaks down the Madring's F1 debut at the Spanish Grand Prix. Norris lost the race to an ill-timed Virtual Safety Car, and the 57 laps that followed had fewer than ten overtakes. The circuit's designer now says only minimal changes are possible, on a ten-year contract. Then we dig into the 2027 F1 calendar: Portimão and Istanbul Park return, sprints expand to ten, and Monaco gets its first-ever sprint race.

Plus, your Azerbaijan Grand Prix preview. The race moves to Saturday this year, Verstappen is chasing a record third Baku win, and Kimi Antonelli, 81 points clear at just 20, closes in on becoming F1's youngest-ever world champion.

🏁 Your turn: Monaco sprint, fixing the racing or just more TV? Tell us in the comments or DM @bedifferentialpodcast on instagram!

Follow Be Differential on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube for new episodes every week.

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Nathan Lyons was 12 years old when he left Fort Worth, Texas and moved to North Carolina to chase a career in racing full-time. In this episode, the AK Performance driver backed by Ally Racing talks about what that decision actually felt like for him and his family, what it meant to be the kid who'd already made a bet on a career while everyone else was figuring out middle school, and what racing Bandoleros taught him that still shows up in how he drives today. We get into his time with Rev Racing — one of the most competitive youth development programs in the country — two Summer Shootout wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and his rookie Late Model Stock season where he finished Top-10 in the Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Southeast region. Nathan also breaks down what the NASCAR development pipeline really demands, what Hickory Motor Speedway teaches drivers that other tracks can't, and what he'd tell any young kid from a smaller market who loves NASCAR but has no idea where to start.

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This episode is sponsored by KNIPEX. Learn more at https://www.knipex-tools.com/

IMSA just shortened its Indianapolis race back to 2 hours and 40 minutes, after two years as a six-hour endurance race. This Sunday, the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship returns to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Battle on the Bricks — now a sprint again, after Road America took over as the six-hour endurance round.

Eva Gregory draws on her years running motorsports facility operations to make the real case for shorter racing, the real case for endurance racing, and why the better question isn't which one is "real" racing — it's whether the format fits the place. She closes with what this swap says about how we measure commitment far beyond the racetrack, plus what to watch when the green flag drops with a tight four-way championship battle on the line.

Covered in this episode:— What actually changed at Indianapolis, and why Road America picked up the six-hour slot— The case for shorter racing: the fan's day, the track, and event operations— The case for endurance racing: strategy, storylines, and the atmosphere of a long race weekend— What the swap really tells us about matching format to place— The championship picture heading into the penultimate round, and what to watch for— A closing question about how we measure commitment, on and off the track

The Be Differential Podcast releases twice weekly — guest interviews on Tuesdays, Thursday Pit Stop solo episodes every Thursday.

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Sam Russo didn't plan to compete in the Rebelle Rally. Then she turned to a friend at a conference and said "we should do this" — and the rest, as they say, was chaos in the best possible way. In this episode of BeDifferential, Sam talks about how a moment of "say yes to the crazy" energy led her to prep a high-mileage 4Runner, build navigation skills from scratch, and so much more before going into the desert. Now returning for 2026 with a new co-driver partnership alongside Lacy Taylor, Sam breaks down what the Rebelle Rally actually is — 8 days, no GPS, no speed component, just maps, compass, roadbooks, and teamwork across some of the most demanding terrain in the American West. The 11th edition launches from Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the first time ever and adds Utah to the route, running October 7–17, 2026. We also get into why the Rebelle has become such a powerful rallying point for women in the automotive aftermarket — and what Sam wants to prove to herself by the time she crosses the finish line.

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This episode is sponsored by KNIPEX. Learn more at https://www.knipex-tools.com/

Formula 1 opens a brand-new circuit in a European capital this weekend, which is a thing that basically never happens. The Spanish Grand Prix moves to Madrid — the Madring — and it's the first F1 race in the Spanish capital since Jarama in 1981. Forty-five years.

But the part I can't stop thinking about isn't the track. It's the contract.

Three weeks ago Zandvoort hosted its last Grand Prix because its promoter — privately funded, sold out five months early — chose not to renew. Madrid just signed for ten years. Same sport, same era, opposite decisions. And the reason why explains more about modern Formula 1 than any track guide will.

Here's the number that made it click: the circuit cost roughly €83 million to build. The hospitality partner has committed around €400 million over ten years. The hospitality operation is worth about five times the racetrack.

Also in this one: what the Madring actually is (a hybrid — about 2.2km of purpose-built track stitched to real city streets, with two tunnels), and La Monumental, the 548-metre, 270-degree banked corner that's now the longest corner in Formula 1. Banked at 24%, twelve metres wide, and blind over a crest. Nobody knows yet whether it'll be flat out.

Zandvoort couldn't make six years work. Madrid signed for ten. Is that Formula 1 fixing its problem — or just moving it somewhere the taxpayer pays?

I argue it both ways and genuinely don't land on one. Tell me where you come down.

The Thursday Pit Stop, from the Be Differential podcast. New episodes every Thursday.Newsletter: https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/

This episode is sponsored by KNIPEX. Learn more at https://www.knipex-tools.com/

Charlie Wiggins was a four-time Gold & Glory Sweepstakes champion who built his own race car, ran a thriving mechanic shop on Indiana Avenue in Indianapolis, and achieved things that should have made him a household name in American motorsports. Instead, his story was nearly lost entirely. In this episode of BeDifferential, former GM Vice President of Global Design Ed Welburn — the man who has spent years championing Charlie's legacy — joins us to tell it in full. Ed traces how he first encountered Charlie's story, what it took to decide this was something worth doing rather than just worth knowing, and what the recovery of the original Wiggins Special — unseen publicly for over 90 years — meant to him personally. As guest curator of For Gold & Glory, a world premiere exhibition opening September 19th, 2026 at LeMay — America's Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington, Ed also shares what it takes to tell a story this layered through objects, imagery, and space — and why the centennial of Charlie's first championship made this the moment to do it.

The exhibition opens September 19th. Tickets and details at americascarmuseum.org/ForGoldandGlory.

This episode is sponsored by KNIPEX. Learn more at https://www.knipex-tools.com/

NASCAR quietly rebuilt its entire playoff format for 2026 and almost nobody covered it. Then on Saturday night at Daytona, it produced the exact result it was designed to prevent.

Here's the change: the knockout rounds are gone. No more three rounds of three and a winner-take-all Championship 4. It's a ten-race Chase — the first since 2013 — with one points reset and no eliminations. And "win and in" is abolished. The field is set purely on regular season points.

Which is why what happened at Daytona is so strange. Ryan Preece went into the last race of the regular season 31 points below the cutline, won it in overtime with a last-lap pass, and made the playoffs — but not because he won. Winning doesn't do that anymore. He got in on points, and he needed every single one of them. Meanwhile the driver he passed had a 31-point cushion, won the opening stage, and lost his season on a pit call.

So the rule worked exactly as designed and changed nothing. I get into why that's more interesting than it sounds, and why the new format didn't make Daytona calmer — it made it crueler.

Also: the Southern 500 opens the Chase this Sunday, Alex Palou wrapped up a fourth straight IndyCar title, and Milwaukee ran race two before race one because of the weather.

A driver 31 points below the cutline won at Daytona and made the playoffs anyway. Did NASCAR fix its format — or just make the same thing happen through a different door?

Tell me where you land.

The Thursday Pit Stop, from the Be Differential podcast. New episodes every Thursday.

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Christian Valverde grew up with Silverstone as a backdrop — and at 18, he's already closer to that world than most people ever get. In this episode, Christian talks about nearly a decade of competitive karting across four countries, four championship titles, and what it actually felt like to finish school without a clear path but with an unshakeable ambition. Now competing in the 750 Motor Club MX-5 Cup Championship, he breaks down what his week looks like right now — instructing at Drive Silverstone, coaching at Kart Silverstone, interning at iZone Driver Performance, and racing, all at the same time. He gets into what telemetry and data analysis have taught him about his own driving, what shifted between Race 1 and Race 3 at Snetterton, and why coaching other drivers while still developing yourself is more complicated than it sounds. We also get honest about the financial reality of building a motorsport career without a traditional pathway — and what he'd tell any young person who loves racing but doesn't know where the door is.

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Follow along on Christian's journey on Instagram @christian_valverde1 and his website, https://valverdemotorsport.com

GT3 is the most successful form of sports car racing in the world, and most people have never had it explained to them. So this week I'm doing that — and then telling you about the strangest, best idea in racing right now.

GT3 turned 20 this year. To mark it, SRO and Peter Auto launched the GT3 Revival Series: a historic championship for GT3 cars built between 2006 and 2013. Real Balance of Performance, set from period data. 31 cars at the opening round. And a reigning World Rally Champion racing a BMW Z4 — the actual chassis that won at Paul Ricard in 2013.

Cars a lot of us still think of as modern are now old enough to have a vintage series. I don't think that's sad. I think it's the best answer anyone's found to the question of what you do with a great racing car when it stops being current.

Also in this one: how Balance of Performance actually works, why the Pro / Gold / Silver / Bronze class structure means a fast amateur can share a grid with a factory driver, and what's at stake at the 3 Hours of Nürburgring this Sunday.

A 2013 GT3 car is now "historic." Is that a series doing right by its own past — or has racing just gotten too good at making things obsolete?

Tell me where you land.

GT World Challenge Europe streams its races free. Sunday afternoon in Germany, Sunday morning in the States.

The Thursday Pit Stop, from the Be Differential podcast. New episodes every Thursday.

Newsletter: https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/

What does it take to build a car event so good that people fly across the world to attend it? Jeff Swoboda, commercial development lead and key figure behind Luftgekühlt, joins BeDifferential to pull back the curtain on one of the most beloved gatherings in automotive culture. We trace the journey from Luft's origins as an air-cooled Porsche happening in Los Angeles to its expansion into Tokyo, Chattanooga, Indianapolis, and beyond — and talk honestly about what it takes to transplant that atmosphere somewhere new without losing what makes it special. Jeff also breaks down how you build authentic partnerships with brands like Porsche, Mobil 1, Dunlop, Hagerty, TAG Heuer, Meguiar’s and Broad Arrow for an audience with an extremely finely tuned radar for anything that doesn't belong. And we preview what's coming next: Luft 12 at Town at Trilith in Fayetteville, Georgia on October 10th, 2026 — the first time Luftgekühlt has ever come to the American South, with a Friday night opening party on October 9th. Tickets are live now at luftgekuhlt.com

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The last Dutch Grand Prix runs this weekend at Circuit Zandvoort — and almost everyone has the story backwards. Formula 1 didn't drop Zandvoort. Zandvoort dropped Formula 1.

The Dutch GP is privately funded, it sold out five months early, and its director says the business case is still healthy. They chose not to renew anyway. This week I get into why a promoter walks away from a sold-out race, what a permanent circuit is actually worth to F1 now, and the detail that made me want to do this episode at all: Zandvoort opened in 1948 as part street circuit, became one of the great road courses in the world — and F1 is leaving it for street circuits, while Formula E moves in.

Plus the four things I'll be watching this weekend, including whether the banking they built in 2020 ever actually did its job.

Six brilliant years and a clean exit, or twenty ordinary years and a permanent spot on the calendar. For your home race — which one do you take? No fence-sitting.

Tell me where you land.

Race goes green Sunday at 1:00 PM local — 7:00 AM Eastern.

The Thursday Pit Stop, from the Be Differential podcast. New episodes every Thursday. Guest episodes on Tuesdays.

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Ella White didn't come up through the traditional karting ladder — and that might be exactly what makes her one of the most compelling young drivers to watch. In this episode, the Berg Racing Ligier JFC driver talks about what it felt like to go from her first ever formula car experience to signing for a full season with one of America's most respected racing programs. We get into her first test at Sebring, what Alex Berg saw in her that earned her the seat, and what it means to be the first female driver in Berg Racing history without letting that become the whole story. Ella also opens up about balancing her senior year of high school with a full racing season, how her passion for biology and sports science shapes how she thinks about performance, and what the honest roadmap to her stated goal of F1 Academy actually looks like. And for any young girl listening who has never been to a race and doesn't think motorsport is for her — this one's worth your time.

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Follow along on Ella's journey on Instagram @ellawhite.52 and learn more here: https://www.racingamerica.com/news/formula-regional/berg-racing-confirms-ella-white-for-2026-ligier-junior-formula-championship

On August 22–23, the NTT INDYCAR Series runs the Freedom 250 Grand Prix on the streets of Washington, D.C. — the first INDYCAR race ever held on the National Mall, with free general admission and IROC returning after years dormant.

Back in July, Eva Gregory questioned whether Formula 1's American expansion was built too heavily on spectacle. Now American open-wheel racing is doing something arguably more spectacular, and this episode is Eva working out whether she's going to hold the same standard — or whether free admission genuinely changes the argument.

One choice: American motorsport gets one enormous free spectacle in the nation's capital, or that same money goes into grassroots, karting, and driver development. Pick one. Comment below.

Covered in this episode:— What the Freedom 250 actually is, and why free admission matters more than the venue— The return of IROC and why that format mattered— Whether street circuits can ever produce racing worth the spectacle— The three things to watch that will tell us if this worked— Why what happens the Monday after decides everything

The Be Differential Podcast releases twice weekly — guest interviews on Tuesdays, Thursday Pit Stop solo episodes every Thursday.

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Cristian Garling grew up watching people hustle and survive through the window of his mother's hair salon on Beach Boulevard. By his junior year at Rancho Alamitos High School, he was lost — until an automotive classroom became the first thing that made school matter.

Today he teaches in that same classroom.

Eva Gregory sits down with Cristian, CTE Automotive Instructor and founder of the Under the Hood Project, for a conversation about what cars actually do for kids who don't yet believe they're capable of more. From the Impala SS his dad brought home — pride, identity, and discipline in one car — through dealerships and Tesla, managing high-pressure teams, and the moment he realized the cars were almost beside the point.

They get into why the Under the Hood Project goes far past wrenches, covering financial literacy, leadership, and career readiness. Why Women and Moms in Motion workshops, Girl Scout automotive events, and lowrider culture education were deliberate inclusions rather than add-ons. And what "Under the Hood… Over the Horizon" actually means to the students in the room.

Cristian also talks about the gap between where the project is now and where it needs to be — and the single biggest thing standing in the way.

What we get into:— The hair salon window on Beach Boulevard, and how it shaped the way he sees his students— The Impala SS, and the seed it planted— Being a lost junior at Rancho Alamitos, and the class that changed it— Dealerships, Tesla, and realizing the work was always about people— Teaching in the same room where he once felt lost— Why the program had to be wider than an auto shop class— Building something out of nothing, and showing up when it's hard— The person who believed in him before he believed in himself

If you work with young people, or someone once did that for you — what did they actually say that changed things? Tell us.

Cristian was recently named a CAWA automotive high school teacher scholarship award winner.

The Be Differential Podcast releases twice weekly — guest interviews on Tuesdays, Thursday Pit Stop solo episodes every Thursday.

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Monterey Car Week 2026 runs August 7–16, and every year the same argument shows up online: that it's become less accessible, more corporate, less about the cars.

In this Thursday Pit Stop, Eva opens up about being given a lot of access she didn't pay for, why she's making the accessibility argument anyway, and what she got completely wrong on her first trip to the Monterey Peninsula. Plus the free Carmel event almost nobody outside the week has heard of, and the practical things nobody hands a first-timer.

If you've never been to Monterey Car Week — is that because of the cost, or because you genuinely wouldn't know where to start? Pick one. Drop your answer in the comments.

Covered in this episode:— Why Car Week traffic is the best evidence against the "priced out" argument— The 75th Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance— The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca— The Prancing Ponies Car Show and the free side of Carmel— How to actually plan your week (and why you should leave gaps in it)— Where to find the concept cars worth the trip on their own

The Be Differential Podcast releases twice weekly — guest interviews on Tuesdays, Thursday Pit Stop solo episodes every Thursday.

Sign up for the newsletter: https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/

Ian Koenig — the man behind KoenigSlides and over a billion views across social media — joins BeDifferential to talk about what it actually takes to chase a dream in motorsport, one sideways mile at a time. We get into his first memory of cars, the moment drifting clicked as more than a hobby, and what separates someone who can slide a car from someone who can truly compete. Ian breaks down his current build, the setup choices that changed everything, and why understanding the mechanical side of a car makes you a better driver. We also talk about the drifting community, how social media has completely rewritten what a motorsport career looks like, and where the sport is headed over the next decade. If you've ever watched from the sidelines and wondered how to get in — this one's for you.

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No industry trends. No race previews. No big structural question about the future of car culture. This week it's just Eva Gregory, pulling back the curtain on the career advice she's received over a path that took her from cashier at a karting facility to Director of Operations at Road Atlanta to marketing partnerships at Hagerty — and being completely honest about what helped, what hurt, and what she wishes she'd never listened to at all.

In this week's Thursday Pit Stop, Eva breaks down the worst advice she's received in her career — including the one she genuinely cannot stand: just wait it out. Smile through it. Keep your head down. She explains exactly why that advice is more dangerous than it sounds, what she'd replace it with, and why the difference between strategic patience and self-erasure matters more than most people acknowledge.

Then she flips it — three pieces of advice that actually changed how she operates. Your entry point doesn't define your ceiling. Ask for what you want explicitly, because nobody is reading your mind. And protect your energy like a professional resource, because it is one.

She closes with the argument that the best career advice doesn't give you a roadmap. It changes what you're able to see.

This one is for anyone building a career in motorsports, automotive, or anywhere else — and anyone who has ever been told to smile through something that deserved a harder look.

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Topics covered: career advice, motorsports career, automotive industry, Road Atlanta, karting, career development, professional growth, women in motorsports, Hagerty, track operations, marketing partnerships, Be Differential podcast

Amanda Cline of Amanda Reviews Cars didn't take the obvious road into automotive journalism — and that's exactly what makes her perspective worth hearing. In this episode, we talk about the moment cars stopped being a hobby and became a career, what it actually takes to review a vehicle beyond the spec sheet, and why "approachable" doesn't mean dumbed down. Amanda shares what it was like going hot laps in the Lamborghini Temerario GT3 at Sebring, covering potentially the last naturally aspirated V8 Lexus ever made, and why a 1,025-horsepower purple Rivian pickup truck surprised her more than almost anything she's driven. We also get into the realities of being a woman in a historically male-dominated industry, the EV debate, and what she'd tell anyone who loves cars but has no idea how to turn that into a livelihood.

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Automotive lifestyle events — concours, themed gatherings, destination car meets, immersive marque festivals — are having a moment. And Eva Gregory has a personal relationship with this world that goes back long before it was part of her professional life.

In this week's Thursday Pit Stop, Eva breaks down the full spectrum of automotive lifestyle events, from the white-glove judged concours at Amelia Island and Hilton Head to Luftgekühlt, Rennsport Reunion, Radwood, Kübelwagen gatherings, and the Cars and Coffee happening in a thousand parking lots every Sunday morning. She explains exactly why this format is winning the attention economy right now — four specific reasons that most people in the industry haven't fully articulated — and then asks the honest question that sits underneath all of it: are these events actually converting observers into participants? Or are they an extraordinary entry point that too often stays self-contained?

The depth of car culture lives somewhere these events can't quite reach. And the infrastructure around them needs to do a better job of showing people the door.

This episode pairs directly with last week's conversation about car clubs — together they form a two-part look at how car culture is organizing itself for the next generation.

Learn more at https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/

Topics covered: automotive lifestyle events, concours d'elegance, Amelia Island Concours, Hilton Head Concours, Luftgekühlt, Rennsport Reunion, Radwood, Kübelwagen, Cars and Coffee, car meets, car culture, grassroots motorsports, Hagerty, automotive community, classic cars, enthusiast events, Be Differential podcast

What does it take to go from the roads of Galway to the gravel stages of the American Rally Association — in a sport where women have historically been the exception, not the rule? In this episode of the BeDifferential Podcast, we sit down with Aoife Raftery: Irish rally driver, DirtFish Women in Motorsport Programme driver, Motorsport Ireland Road Safety Ambassador, inaugural Rosemary Smith Award recipient, and one of the most exciting rising forces in global rallying today.

Aoife grew up in Galway, made her rallying debut in 2021, and has since competed across Irish, British, and Junior FIA European Rally Championship stages — becoming the first female driver to join the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy along the way. Her 2024 season included a class win at the Ulster Rally, a podium in the final round of the Junior British Rally Championship, and selection into the top 15 of the FIA Beyond Rally Women's Talent Spotting Programme. Then, in early 2025, she was named one of only two drivers selected globally for DirtFish's inaugural Women in Motorsport Driver Programme — and promptly went to America for the first time, made her four-wheel-drive rally debut at the Olympus Rally, and collected three podiums in four starts, including a third overall in a Rally3.

In this conversation, Aoife gets candid about what it actually takes to make peace with the uncertainty of rally driving, how she breaks down the technical craft of pacenotes and left-foot braking for those unfamiliar with what the sport demands day to day, and what it felt like to step into a 4WD car for the very first time at a competitive level. We talk about the difference between European and American stages, what it means to carry the legacy of Rosemary Smith, and how she holds onto pure joy in a sport that can bury it under pressure and expectation. And as a STEM advocate who has spoken to thousands of teenage girls about careers in motorsport, Aoife makes a compelling case for why the next generation of women in racing might come from the engineering lab just as much as the driver's seat.

This one is for every girl who was told the race wasn't for her — and every person who believes the sport is stronger when more voices are in it.

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A number of car clubs across the country are in genuine decline. Some are growing despite every headwind. And the real reasons behind both are more complicated — and more honest — than most people are willing to say out loud.

In this week's Thursday Pit Stop, Eva Gregory asks the question that keeps coming up inside the automotive and motorsports world: are car clubs dying? Fresh from attending the Ferrari Club of America National Meet, she names the causes behind club decline — including the one that doesn't get talked about enough — breaks down what separates the clubs that are shrinking from the ones that are actually growing year over year, and makes the case for what car clubs do that no Instagram follow, Discord server, or YouTube comment section can ever fully replace.

The passion in the next generation of enthusiasts is real. What's missing is a reason to formalize it. And the clubs that understand that distinction are the ones with a future.

This one is for the longtime club member, the enthusiast who's never joined one, and everyone trying to figure out what car culture looks like for the generation after ours.

Learn more at bedifferentialpodcast.com

Topics covered: car clubs, automotive community, club membership decline, Porsche Club of America, Ferrari Club of America, car culture, classic cars, Hagerty, Luftgekühlt, Rennsport, grassroots motorsports, next generation enthusiasts, automotive lifestyle, Be Differential podcast

What does it actually take to break into professional motorsports when you don't have the budget, the backing, or the blueprint? In this episode of the BeDifferential Podcast, we sit down with Brad Perez — NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series driver, ARCA Menards Series competitor, high-performance driving instructor, and one of the most compelling stories in racing today.

Brad is a first-generation racer who didn't start karting until age 17. From there, he built his own Spec Miata from the ground up, stacked internships across NASCAR, IMSA, SCCA, and NASA, and made the leap to North Carolina in 2019 with no guaranteed seat — just a belief that getting inside the sport was the only way forward. He's worked as a tire specialist in the Truck Series, earned his ARCA Menards Series debut in 2021, and has since racked up NASCAR Truck Series and O'Reilly Auto Parts Series starts, most recently driving the No. 42 Chevrolet for Young's Motorsports with support from Bubba Wallace's Live to Be Different Foundation and the Boys & Girls Club of St. Lucie County.

In this conversation, Brad gets real about what he learned wrenching on his own car, what each internship taught him that the others couldn't, and what it felt like to finally transition from the pit box to the driver's seat. We talk about the difference between oval prep and street course prep, what a more stable team home means after years of one-off rides, and what he would change about how NASCAR develops new talent. And when we ask him where he sees himself in five years, his answer might surprise you.

If you've ever wondered what it looks like to build a motorsports career without the traditional ladder — this episode is exactly that story.

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Formula 1's American expansion is one of the most remarkable growth stories in professional sports history — 135% audience growth since 2018, three US races, Cadillac on the grid, and Apple TV now broadcasting to a fanbase that barely existed a decade ago. By every measurable standard, the numbers are extraordinary.

But are the numbers the whole story?

In this week's Thursday Pit Stop, host Eva Gregory pulls back from the race weekend and asks the bigger question: is F1's American expansion actually good for motorsports — not just good for viewership, sponsorship revenue, and cultural cachet, but good for the sport itself? Good for the people who were here before it was cool?

Eva brings her perspective from inside the industry to offer an honest read on what Drive to Survive built, what the Las Vegas Grand Prix really was, and what the difference between an audience and a community actually means for the long-term health of the sport. She also raises the question that doesn't get asked enough: while F1 has been expanding its American footprint, what has happened to IndyCar, IMSA, and the grassroots scene that gave American motorsports its identity in the first place?

This episode won't give you a clean answer — because Eva doesn't think there is one. What it will give you are three questions worth sitting with, and one closing question she genuinely wants you to answer.

If you came to F1 through Drive to Survive, the Miami grid walk, or the Las Vegas spectacle — this episode is for you. If you've been here for decades and you're not sure how to feel about the new crowd — this one is for you too.

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What does it look like to build a career in automotive when there's no obvious door to walk through? This week, we sit down with Nolan Browning, Head of Partnerships at Cars & Bids, for an honest conversation about a career path that started not with a dream job, but with a CarMax business office.

Nolan shares how a passion for cars that had nothing to do with his day job led him to launch a blog — a side project he ran for nearly nine years while working full-time — and how outranking major automotive publishers on Google and Reddit with zero budget taught him lessons no marketing textbook could. From earning press vehicles as an independent blogger to eventually leading brand marketing at Motul for six years, building multi-platform campaigns at RACER, and now serving as the first dedicated Head of Partnerships at Cars & Bids, Nolan's journey is a masterclass in playing the long game.

We get into what it really means to build a partnerships function from the ground up, how brand integrations work differently across YouTube, podcasts, and live events, and what changes when you've sat on both sides of the negotiating table. Whether you're trying to break into automotive media, dreaming of a career in motorsports marketing, or just curious about how the business of car culture actually works — this one is for you.

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Lewis Hamilton. At Silverstone. In a Ferrari. If you follow Formula 1 at any level, you understand why that image carries weight that goes far beyond points and standings.

In this week's Thursday Pit Stop, Eva breaks down why the 2026 British Grand Prix is one of the most emotionally loaded race weekends in recent memory — and why Silverstone is different from every other circuit on the calendar. From Hamilton's return to his home race in a car that isn't quite fast enough yet, to rookie Kimi Antonelli leading the championship in his debut season, to the sprint format returning to Silverstone for the first time since 2021 — there's a lot happening this weekend. Eva unpacks all of it, with the perspective of someone who watches motorsports with both a fan's heart and an industry professional's eye.

Plus: what Hamilton's move to Ferrari actually says about identity, legacy, and the cost of chasing something new — and a closing question that might make you think about your own version of that decision.

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Chloe Chambers has done what very few have: won in F4, the W Series, F1 Academy, and the Formula Regional Oceania Championship — where she made history as the first woman to start on pole and take the win.

Now she's bringing her skills to GT racing in the 2026 Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America with RAFA Racing. In this episode of the BeDifferential podcast, Chloe pulls back the curtain on the full picture of a professional racing career — the grind between races, the reality of sponsorship and brand building, the moments she questioned everything, and the mindset shifts that have kept her moving forward.

She also talks about working with Red Bull Ford, her goals for the Super Trofeo season, and what she hopes her legacy looks like when it's all said and done.

For aspiring drivers, motorsport fans, or anyone pursuing an unconventional path, this is a conversation you don't want to miss.

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Formula 1 has never been more popular. Le Mans just sold out. The global motorsports market is valued at nearly seven billion dollars. So why do tracks keep closing? Why is the participant pipeline getting thinner? And why does it feel like the sport is producing more engaged observers and fewer engaged participants?

In this week's Thursday Pit Stop, Eva Gregory asks the question the motorsports community doesn't always want to sit with: is the grassroots scene dying — or just changing? And does the distinction even matter if the outcome looks the same?

Drawing on her career working inside motorsports facilities and her current role at Hagerty, Eva makes the case that the health of professional motorsports and the health of grassroots motorsports are not the same thing — and that confusing the two is exactly how the foundation gets hollowed out without anyone noticing.

This one has a point of view. And it ends with a question that might make you uncomfortable — in the best way.

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What does it take to build a business that literally saves lives? 

Brad Coleman started as a SafeWay Driving student. He went on to race in NASCAR. He traveled the country talking to high schoolers about driving safety while still actively competing. Then he bought the driving school he once attended, modernized it from the ground up, sold it — and a decade later, bought it back.

In this episode of BeDifferential, Brad shares the full arc: from his first memories behind the wheel, to the disciplines of professional motorsport, to the business lessons that came from scaling a youth driver education franchise with a mission to prevent the phone call nobody wants to receive.

We talk about what racing teaches you about decision-making, how to protect culture when you're handing the keys to franchise owners, and what it really means to play the long game when the dots don't connect until years later.

If you're a parent of a teen driver, an entrepreneur building something that matters, or someone trying to find your own way through an unconventional path — this one's for you.

Learn more about Safeway Driving here: https://www.safewaydriving.com/

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Most people experience motorsports from the outside. Eva Gregory has spent her career on the inside — and what she learned there didn't come from a textbook.

In this week's Thursday Pit Stop, Eva gets personal. Starting as a cashier at a karting facility and working her way through corner marshaling, pit stewarding, wrenching, track rentals, and eventually Director of Operations at Road Atlanta, she shares three things the track taught her that genuinely surprised her — and that she thinks every automotive enthusiast should hear.

What does it mean to develop real mechanical empathy? Why are the most important people at any motorsports event completely invisible to most attendees? And what happens to your passion when it becomes your profession — and how do you protect it?

This episode is for anyone who loves cars and has ever wondered what it looks like on the other side of the fence. And for anyone who's thought about turning that love into a career.

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What does it actually take to build a racing career when there's no traditional path to follow? Andre Castro figured it out.

Growing up in New York City — inspired by a Williams BMW shirt and a tricycle — Andre found a way into karting without a garage, without a car to haul equipment, and without the typical infrastructure most young drivers take for granted. What he had was ingenuity, a relentless work ethic, and a very clear vision of where he was going.

In this episode, Andre walks us through the creative problem-solving that defined his rise through the ranks — from karting in NYC to winning the Team USA Scholarship, finishing 3rd of 97 at the Formula Ford Festival, qualifying cold into a NASCAR Xfinity race with zero prior testing, and racing for Hyundai on the world stage. Now with his sights set on IMSA, the trajectory is only pointing one direction.

This is a conversation about creativity, persistence, and building something from scratch — on your own terms.

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The 94th 24 Hours of Le Mans kicks off this Saturday, June 13th — and this year's race has more storylines than most. Ferrari arrives chasing a fourth consecutive overall win, something no manufacturer has done since Ferrari itself won six in a row in the 1960s. Genesis becomes the first Korean manufacturer ever to compete at the top level of endurance racing. And every single car on the 62-car grid is running on 100% renewable biofuel.

In this week's Thursday Pit Stop, Eva Gregory breaks down what actually makes Le Mans different from every other race on the calendar, why the Genesis entry matters beyond the result, and what the shift to renewable fuel tells us about where the automotive industry is genuinely heading — not just where it says it's heading.

Plus: the real reason the teams that win at Le Mans tend to be the ones that make the fewest mistakes — and what that principle looks like off the racetrack.

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Motorsport has a belonging problem — and it's time we talked about it. This week on BeDifferential, we're kicking off a special crossover episode with Misha and Fatima, hosts of the Hold The Pass Podcast, who bring a sharp, fresh perspective from the broader world of sports culture. Together we tackle one of motorsport's most loaded questions: who actually gets to be a racing fan — and who decides?

We dig into the gatekeeping vs. access debate, the Drive to Survive effect and the fans it created, F1's massive expansion into Las Vegas and Miami, and whether the sport is evolving or trading its identity for a new audience. We talk social media's role in reshaping racing fandom, the tension between F1's traditional European base and its growing global audience, and whether American fans are truly being welcomed into Formula 1 — or just marketed to.

Plus — is grassroots motorsport being left behind while everyone chases F1 and NASCAR headlines? And what would it actually take for motorsport to build the kind of broad, diverse fandom that the NFL and basketball already have?

This is Part 1 of a two-part crossover — next up, I head over to Hold The Pass to keep the conversation going. Subscribe so you don't miss it.

Learn more about BeDifferential at https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/ and sign up for the newsletter to gain inside access and additional updates.

Pikes Peak International Raceway just announced that 2026 will be its final season of motorsports — and it's headed for mixed-use redevelopment. For a lot of people, that's a Colorado story. For Eva, it's something bigger.

In this week's Thursday Pit Stop, Eva Gregory draws on her years working inside motorsports facilities — from Atlanta Motorsports Park to Road Atlanta — to explain why track closures like this one aren't isolated incidents. They're a pattern. And they have real consequences for the grassroots racing community, for entry-level competitors, and for the long-term health of the sport we love.

What does it actually take to keep a racing facility alive? What do we lose when one closes? And what can enthusiasts do before it's too late?

This one's worth your time — whether you've ever set foot on a racetrack or just care about where the sport is headed.

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Isla Mackenzie grew up on a dairy farm on the Isle of Lewis — and somehow found her way to the Formula 1 pit lane. In this episode, we trace every step of that journey, from stripping down project cars before she could legally drive, to running her own engine tuning business while still in school, to navigating a career path that looked nothing like the industry standard.

Isla walks us through the HNC-to-Honours Degree route she took into engineering, why it shaped her thinking in ways a traditional path might not have, and what it actually took — technically and personally — to move from Technician to Systems Engineer inside one of the most demanding technical environments in sport.

We get into what Dare to Be Different (now rebranded to FIA Women on Track) meant for her practically (not just symbolically), what it felt like to return to one of their events as a Williams employee, and the advice Susie Wolff gave her at a D2BD connect event in 2018 that she's never forgotten.

Isla also breaks down what systems engineering actually means in the context of an F1 car, what race week prep looks like from the operations view, and what she thinks is the single most misunderstood thing about technical motorsport work.

And she's honest — about whether the industry has genuinely changed since 2017, what diversity advocacy looks like from inside an F1 team, and what she wishes someone had told her before her first F1 job.

If you love cars, engineering, motorsport, or you're trying to find your entry point into an industry that can feel impossible to break into — this one's for you.

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https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/

In competitive industries like automotive and motorsport, there's a quiet pressure to say yes to everything. Every event, every introduction, every potential collaboration — because what if you miss the one that matters?

But in this week's Thursday Pit Stop, we're making the case that saying yes to everything might actually be pulling you further from what you're trying to build.

We get into:

• Why the scarcity mindset around opportunity leads to overcommitment and burnout
• The shift from chasing access to practicing discernment — and when that shift needs to happen
• Three questions to ask before you say yes to anything this week
• Why saying no to the wrong things is how the right things find you
• What intentionality actually looks like in a fast-moving industry

This one is for anyone who's stretched thin, showing up in too many places, and quietly wondering if any of it is moving the needle. It might not be a hustle problem. It might be an alignment one.

The BeDifferential Podcast helps people navigate automotive and motorsport on their own terms — building careers and communities with intention, not just momentum.

What does it actually take to own a Top Fuel dragster in 2025 — without a large budget, without a factory sponsor, and without taking the easy road? Joe Barszcz has spent his entire life in drag racing. He's built chassis, run a machine shop, wrenched on funny cars, and shared pits with legends like John Force, JR Todd, and Jerry Toliver. And after decades of being that close to the thing he wanted most, he finally did it — bought Jim Maroney's Top Fuel car with small increments at a time and is heading into the 2026 IHRA 10-race national tour as a team owner. He calls it a blue collar Top Fuel team. This episode is the story of what that actually means. 

 The BeDifferential Podcast is bringing more people into automotive and motorsport — one story at a time. Learn more at https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/

Learn more about JBR Nitro at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587245738321

Most people are waiting. Waiting to feel more confident, more experienced, more qualified. Waiting for some signal that finally tells them it's okay to step in.

But that signal doesn't come. And in this week's Thursday Pit Stop, we're talking about why.

Confidence isn't something you earn before you act — it's something you build because you did. And the people who seem like they have it all figured out? They started exactly where you are. They just didn't wait.

We get into:

• Why the "feel ready first" mindset quietly keeps capable people on the sidelines
• How confidence actually works — and why action has to come before it, not after
• Why this shows up so strongly in spaces like automotive and motorsport
• One practical challenge to take into your week right now
• What it actually means to take up space — and why you're already allowed to

This one is for anyone who's been holding back, second-guessing themselves, or quietly wondering if they belong. You do. And you don't have to wait until you're sure of that to act like it.

The BeDifferential Podcast is built for people finding their way into automotive and motorsport — wherever they're starting from.

What does it look like to be born into motorsport — and then actually earn your place in it anyway?

Madelyn Tabor attended her first rally at four weeks old. She grew as a 3rd-generation rally driver, got behind the wheel of a Quarter Midget at 13, and by 18 had made the leap to stage rally. She's competed in the ARA national championship 3 years in a row, a WRC Beyond Rally Women's Program alumna, and someone who's stood on the podium alongside Travis Pastrana and Rhiannon Gelsomino. On paper, it sounds like a straight line. In conversation, it's anything but.

In this episode of The BeDifferential Podcast, Madelyn breaks down what it's actually like to grow up inside a racing family. She explains the co-driver relationship, what real race prep looks like behind the scenes, and how her approach shifts when she moves from gravel to snow to ice to pavement. She talks candidly about being the only North American woman selected for the WRC Beyond program, what she took from that experience, and what it's been like navigating the sport as a young woman in a discipline that doesn't always make it easy.

But this episode isn't just for the gearheads. Madelyn spends real time on the doors-open side of rally — the co-drivers, the navigators, the service crews, the volunteers — and where someone who's never been to a stage rally can actually start if something about this world is calling to them. If you've ever wondered whether there's a place for you in motorsport, this conversation is the answer.

Learn more about Madelyn at https://www.madelyntaborracing.com/

There's a narrative that gets repeated constantly in automotive and motorsport: we have a pipeline problem. Not enough people coming in. Not enough diversity in the talent pool.

But what if the pipeline isn't the real issue?

In this week's Thursday Pit Stop, we're making the case that the industries don't lack talent — they lack visibility into what they actually are. And that perception gap is causing incredibly capable people to self-select out before they ever raise their hand.

We get into:

• Why the "pipeline problem" framing misses a more important question
• How perception shapes participation — and who ends up in the room
• The roles that exist beyond engineering and racing that most outsiders never see
• Why people who'd thrive here are already deciding it's not for them
• What those of us already in this space can actually do about it — starting this week

This one is for the people already in automotive and motorsport just as much as it's for the people on the outside looking in. Because changing perception isn't a marketing problem — it's a culture one.

The BeDifferential Podcast exists to close exactly this gap: showing people the many ways in to automotive and motorsport, so fewer brilliant people leave before they ever arrive.

Julia Landauer won her first racing championship at 14 years old — and she hasn't slowed down since. A Stanford graduate, NASCAR driver, keynote speaker, entrepreneur, and NASCAR Strategy & Innovation team member, Julia has spent her career moving through rooms she was never supposed to be in and making the case that motorsport has something to teach everyone.

In this episode of The BeDifferential Podcast, Julia and Eva dig into what it actually takes to build a racing career from scratch — the funding realities, the sponsorship grind, and what most people completely misunderstand about how drivers get seats. They talk about what it was like growing up in New York City with no obvious path to a racetrack, what her family thought when this became serious, and the moment she knew she could actually compete at a high level.

They also get into the harder stuff: what it feels like when "first woman to" becomes complicated, the things that pushed back hardest that rarely get talked about publicly, and how Julia learned to own being the person who never quite fit the obvious mold — not in New York, not at Stanford, not in NASCAR.

Julia breaks down what NASCAR's Strategy & Innovation team is actually working on, how she translates racing principles into leadership strategy for Fortune 500 companies, and what her platform FrontRunner is built to do for storytelling and community building. She also shares exactly what she'd tell a young woman who wants to get into racing but has no idea where to start.

If you've ever had to figure out how to belong somewhere that wasn't built for you — this one's for you.

Learn more about Julia at https://julialandauer.com

Every year after the Miami Grand Prix, the same debate resurfaces: "This isn't real Formula 1." Too flashy. Too celebrity-driven. Too influencer-heavy.

But in this week's Thursday Pit Stop, we're asking a different question — not whether Miami fits what F1 has always been, but what Miami is actually doing for the future of the sport.

We get into:

• Why the "that's not real motorsport" conversation misses the point
• How Miami is reaching audiences that traditional race weekends never could
• What expanding entry points actually looks like in a sport with a legacy as strong as F1's
• Why retention matters just as much as growth — and what that means for everyone already in this space
• The role you play in welcoming new fans, not just attracting them

Whether you've been watching F1 for decades or you found it through Netflix and a TikTok rabbit hole — this episode is about how we grow a sport without leaving people behind on either end.

The BeDifferential Podcast is built on one idea: more entry points means more people, and more people makes motorsport better for everyone.

Lewis Houghton didn't get into motorsport media through a press pass or a journalism degree. He got in by being genuinely, relentlessly curious — rewriting his dad's old racing magazines as a kid, building a following on LinkedIn before anyone took him seriously, and eventually earning trust from Red Bull and MotoGP one honest conversation at a time.
Now he runs two things simultaneously: SLICKS, his independent motorsport media brand built as a direct antidote to the corporate, play-it-safe content that dominates the space — and copynthat, his copywriting consultancy that helps teams actually say something worth reading.
In this episode, Lewis and I dig into what's actually broken in motorsport media, why great writing is still the industry's blind spot even in the era of short-form video, and what it looks like to pitch "be less boring" to organizations that have spent years doing the opposite. He's candid about the hard no's, the industry's blind spots, and the version of himself that played it safe — and didn't make it.
If you've ever wanted to build something real in motorsport from scratch, this one's for you. Learn more about SLICKS at slicksmag.com and on Instagram @slicks.mag

If you've spent time in motorsport or automotive, you've probably noticed it: the most talented person in the room doesn't always move forward. So what's actually driving advancement in this industry?

In this week's Thursday Pit Stop, we unpack the real factors behind who builds momentum — and who stalls out. Hint: it's less about raw talent, and more about alignment, timing, and trust.

We cover:

• Why motorsport isn't the meritocracy it appears to be
• The three factors that consistently show up in people who advance
• Why opportunity timing matters more than most people admit
• What "perceived risk" has to do with who gets the next shot
• What you can actually control — and how to use it

Whether you're just breaking into the automotive world or you've been in it for years and feel like your career is stuck, this episode gives you a clearer picture of how the industry actually operates — and how to position yourself within it.

The BeDifferential Podcast brings diverse voices and perspectives into automotive and motorsport — because the industry is richer when more people feel invited in.

This week’s Thursday Pit Stop takes a closer look at something that quietly shapes nearly every opportunity in motorsport and the automotive industry: relationships.

After exploring how decisions get made and how partnerships come together, this episode dives into what sits underneath both — and why it’s often misunderstood.

Because relationships in this space aren’t about quick networking moments or collecting contacts. They’re built over time through consistency, trust, and proximity to the work. And more often than not, they’re the reason opportunities happen long before anything is ever formally posted.

In this episode, we break down:

• The difference between networking and real relationship-building

• How trust, proximity, and consistency influence decision-making

• Why opportunities can feel inaccessible from the outside — and what’s actually happening behind the scenes

• How to approach relationship-building in a way that’s genuine, sustainable, and effective

If you’ve ever felt like opportunities are happening around you — but not with you — this episode offers a candid look at why, and what to do about it.

Because in this industry, relationships aren’t transactional.
They’re cumulative.