The Autoweek Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

This week on the Autoweek Podcast, Wes Raynal talks with Wesley Wren about the 2022 Hyundai Tucson and the 2021 Jaguar F-Pace, discussing the Tucson’s wild styling and what that could mean for the rest of the Hyundai lineup. Wren lays out the big changes to the F-Pace.

After the jump, Steven Cole Smith and Mike Pryson preview one of the best endurance races in the world: this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, obviously taking place much later in the year than it would normally. While Smith and Pryson agree Toyota should take the overall win, the other classes are much more competitive.

Also, the guys talk about the Autoweek Podcast taking a break for the time being. Stay tuned for updates on the show’s revival at a later date, and stay in tune with the podcast team over at Quick Spin.

This week the Autoweek Podcast does a Pikes Peak Spectacular. Kicking off the show Mark Vaughn talks with this year’s quickest man up the hill, Clint Vahsholtz, about the car that carried Vasholtz up the hill quicker than anyone else.

Later in the show Robin Warner talks with two-time Autoweek Podcast guest Robb Holland about his adventure competing in the hill climb.

On this episode of the Autoweek Podcast, Wes Raynal joins Wesley Wren and Jake Lingeman to talk about the Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 prototype. This high-horsepower Mustang Mach-E recently debuted as Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s latest tire slaying drift machine. The guys break down the car and its fun features.

Inspired by the Mach-E, and Lingeman’s reporting on recent GM news, the guys dive into a discussion about electric pickup trucks.

Later in the show, Mike Pryson talks with Autoweek’s NHRA reporter Susan Wade about the problems the series is currently facing. With scheduling issues, and stars absent from events, the NHRA is facing its fair share of hurdles.

Closing the show, Wren and Pryson tackle the Hungarian Grand Prix and Lewis Hamilton’s early-season dominance.

Music: Well, at least I’m Not Vaping by Summerbruise.

On this episode of the Autoweek Podcast, host Rory Carroll guides Natalie Neff, Mike Pryson and Graham Kozak through the 60th Anniversary issue of Autoweek. Al Pearce calls in to explain how covering racing has changed in over the last 60 years. The team crack open the Autoweek trivia game and talk about the first car to win the F1 constructors' championship -- the Vanwall. The hosts also try to dissect the future of Autoweek, the car industry and the car hobby -- without an orb or crystal ball.

On this episode of the Autoweek Podcast, host Rory Carroll talks with Jimmy Pelizzari, Robin Warner and Mike Pryson about his trip to this year’s Le Mans. Robin, who was also at Le Mans, compares his experience from the Toyota pits with Rory’s time with Porsche. The guys talk about the race’s highlights, including Fernando Alonso’s overall victory in his Toyota in the LMP1 class.   After the Le Mans discussion, the episode moves to a prerecorded interview with the Team Joest Mazda DPi IMSA endeavor. While this was recorded before the Detroit Grand Prix, the team talks about the pressure to compete at the top level and the struggles it’s overcoming as the season progresses.   Wrapping the show, Graham Kozak talks about his tip to Gridlife in South Haven, Michigan. Stepping away from his classic car realm, Graham enjoyed his experience at the Gridlife festival but would still rather go to a Packard club meet. Also, Robin talks about the Ferrari 488 Pista and the Jaguar XE SV Project 8.

On this episode of the Autoweek Podcast, host Rory Carroll, Wesley Wren, Jimmy Pelizzari and Jake Lingeman tear into the battle against the Detroit Grand Prix. The group discusses the reasons behind the race’s protests and talk about how it didn’t seem to affect the race. The guys also talk about Mark Reuss’s unfortunate spin at the race, which captured everyone’s attention.   After the Detroit GP wrap-up, Jimmy talks about the Olympus Rally -- a stage rally that’s part of the American Rally Association, or ARA. Jimmy talks about attending a rally as a spectator instead of his usual role of competitor, as well as Autoweek’s affiliation with ARA.   Following rally talk, guest Vaughn Gittin Jr. climbs out of his Ford Mustang drift machine and into the Autoweek Podcast studio to talk about his own line of RTR Mustangs and Ford F-150 pickups. He also tells the story of how he got into drifting and what it was like to drift a Ford F-150 Raptor around the Nurburgring.   After the interview, Jake leads a discussion about the Subaru BRZ tS.

On this special episode of the Autoweek Podcast, Robin Warner, Mike Pryson and Wesley Wren join host Rory Carroll to tackle the Indianapolis 500, the Monaco Grand Prix and the Coca-Cola 600. Rory also introduces a series of interviews held ahead of the Detroit Grand Prix that should give some insight into what the teams and the fans should expect during the races on Belle Isle. After the short motorsports section and brief introduction, Mike, Robin and Wesley interview Ed Carpenter Racing’s Jordan King. Jordan handles the road racing duties for Ed Carpenter and hails from across the pond. Jordan talks about his experiences in the U.S. since he came to IndyCar, the cultural differences between Brits and Americans and his opinion on iced tea. Following that, Mike and Robin talk to Tristan Vautier and Matt McMurry about the No. 90 Spirit of the Daytona Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R car. While both young, the drivers have racked up tons of experience so far in their respective careers. McMurry, 20, is even the youngest person to finish the 24 Hours of Le Mans -- he did that at only 16 years old. For the final interview, Mike talks to IMSA president Scott Atherton. Atherton discusses the state of IMSA, its growth and the current array of cars. Mike also tries to peek into the IMSA’s future at the Detroit Grand Prix.

On this episode of the Autoweek Podcast, host Rory Carroll guides Mike Pryson and Wesley Wren through the terrible Formula 1 race in Spain and Ford’s recent dominance in NASCAR. Before dissecting why the Spanish GP was bad, the team is joined by Jimmy Pelizzari by telephone to talk about his reconnaissance laps of the Southern Ohio Forest Rally. When Jimmy isn’t talking about F1 on the podcast, or doing his actual job at Autoweek, he races a Subaru 2.5RS in various stage rallies around the Midwest. Jimmy gives a firsthand account of the stages of the Southern Ohio event, as well as insight into what it’s like to go rally racing. Afterward, Robin Warner, Mike and Jimmy interview Wayne Taylor Racing’s Jordan Taylor. Jordan talks about his life of racing and watching his brother leave his team, and tells some stories about his early racing career. Jordan also talks about how demanding the different races of the year can be, with their vastly different race lengths. Following the interview, Graham Kozak leads a discussion about the 2019 Bentley Continental GT with Robin, Jake Lingeman and Wesley. The crew dives deep into the Bentley’s new bones and talk about what makes it special. They also pit it against other notable grand tourers in a hypothetical purchasing situation. Closing the show, they talk about the Bentley’s insane rotating infotainment screen.

On this episode of the Autoweek Podcast, host Rory Carroll is joined by guest Tony Kanaan to talk about Kanaan’s Indianapolis 500 win, his new line of wheels and his car collection. Before the interview, motorsports editor Mike Pryson, Jimmy Pelizzari and Robin Warner talk about the Formula 1 race in Baku and the NASCAR race in Talladega. The gang analyzes Lewis Hamilton’s victory, the Red Bull team’s crash and Valtteri Bottas’ tire puncture. After the motorsports section and the Kanaan interview, Graham Kozak and Jake Lingeman hop on mics to update the Autoweek Garage Beer Tournament and talk about the recent outing to Grattan Raceway. The team dives into what happened during their track day and how the Mustang handled the stress. Closing the show, Robin reviews the Porsche 911 GT3 RS, and Jake finally gives his driving impressions from his Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 drive.

On this episode of that Autoweek Podcast, host Rory Carroll dives into the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Chinese Grand Prix with Jimmy Pelizzari, Wesley Wren and Graham Kozak. The guys look at the Bahrain Grand Prix briefly and analyze the close racing as well as Kimi Raikkonen’s crew member’s mishap. It’s a similar story for the Chinese GP, except of course no crew members were injured. Later, Rory talks about his recent trip to the Long Beach Bubba burger Sports Car Grand Prix in Long Beach, California, and the following IndyCar race. Graham talks about his recent trip to the Metropolitan Pit Stop where he saw some ultra-rare Metropolitans, camped in an Airstream trailer and lived with SoCal traffic. Also, Rory leads a discussion about the Porsche 919 Evo and introduces the Autoweek Garage Beer Tournament. As for drives, Jake walks around his recent jaunt in the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 at Road Atlanta. Because his driving impressions are embargoed, the group squeezes as much information out about the car that they can. The team also celebrates one year of podcasting.