Claim OwnershipTalbots Turn Fast Podcast
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Description
A podcast featuring interviews with grassroots American car enthusiasts who participate in autocross, road race, time trial, Ultimate Street Car, and any other racing that requires drivers to Turn Fast! Industry experts and event organizers are welcome.
46 Episodes
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In this episode, I’m joined by Jamie Elliot who started his racing journey early in life on motorcycles and eventually turned to autocross. While he’s raced several different cars, his current track weapons are a purpose built 900HP C5 Corvette and Nascar inspired 1968 Camaro complete with SB2 small block horsepower.
Nick Barnett has built his 1972 Nova into the ultimate Swiss Army knife of a muscle car. He’s participated in the UMI autocross events, Autocross Week, Sick Week, and LS Fest. At LS Fest East 2025, Nick accomplished something no one has ever done in the Grand Champion Competition, he managed to run a 9 second drag pass in autocross trim. Find out more about Nick and his Nova in this episode.
In this episode, Sean Aldinger shares how wrenching with his dad at a young age led to a dream of owning a 1969 Camaro. Sean eventually turned his dream into reality and built a badass pro-touring Camaro and uses it to compete in the Optima series, UMI events, SCCA Street Car Shootout, and LS Fest.
In this episode, I introduce my teammates for a 24 Hours of Lemons race. We discuss the car’s repairs and upgrades, roles and driving experience of each teammate, the safety gear and roll cage requirements, tactical pit decisions, and what to expect in future episodes on this topic.
How many barn-find muscle cars are returned to driving status? I’d say not many. Ryan McPartlin’s 1967 Plymouth Valiant was rescued from a llama barn and revived but only for a short amount of time, then eventually put out in the field to die. Fortunately, Ryan was able to rescue the car from its previous owner to give it another life. This life would be much more exciting since Ryan’s plan was to use it as a cruiser and an occasional autocross.
JJ Mallrich Jr. wheeled his 1999 Camaro to win the 2025 SCCA CAM-T Championship in Lincoln, NE. JJ shares his racing background and the history of the Camaro. He also shares his plans for new, more race-focused, Camaro build.
In this bonus episode, I discuss some changes I made to the car over the summer leading up to Moparty 2025. I also share my experience at Moparty which ultimately led to me winning the vintage grand champion class.
Robert Byrd recounts how a love of cars and a Camaro community grew into racing and organizing the NMCA West autocross series which eventually morphed into the Racing Byrds events. Robert tells us how his course designs, class rules, great trophies, and family-friendly events keep people coming back every year. We also talked about his new square-body truck build.
In this episode, Peter Bruschi tells us about his Red Buffalo Brewing sponsored S550 EcoBoost Mustang known as the Banana Stallion and how being a crew member on a figure 8 race team led to his desire to be an amateur race car driver. He shared some great advice for pursuing an automotive career right out of college and how a retired school bus can be the ultimate car hauler/RV.
In this episode, Fran Marchand tells us how he went from being outlawed at the dirt track to building his 1950 Chevy truck to compete in Optima Ultimate Streetcar, Autocross Week, and LS Fest. Fran discusses some challenges and success he’s had racing his 75-year-old truck.
A straight axle, two-wheel drive Jeep XJ is the perfect autocross vehicle, right? For Grant Skidmore, it’s the perfect vehicle for collecting podium finishes in events such as Chryslers at Carlisle and Autocross Week. Grant tells us how he got started in autocross and what modifications were needed to get the #poorboysSRTJeep to go around a corner at speed. He also shares his latest engine modification details and Autocross Week experience.
In this episode Matt Ramirez shares the history of converting his daily driver 2004 Mustang into the baddest New Edge Mustang in the country. Multiple engine failures and finding the limits of factory ABS systems along the way proved it would be no easy task. With help from his dad, Matt persevered through the failures and turned failure into opportunity for upgrades. His dedication to making the Mustang the best it can be has led to numerous class wins and podium finishes. Continuing the CAM-T wing discussion from the previous episode, I get Matt’s opinion on the topic.
In this episode I’m joined by Terry Fair who is the owner of Vorshlag Motorsports. We discuss the need for parity across racing organization class rules, particularly when it comes to wings in CAM-T. We also talk about Terry’s current CAM-T project, a 1988 Foxbody Mustang, which he’s touting as the 21st Century Fox.
After a 20 year break from racing dirt and asphalt ovals, Charles Utts decided to turn his very first truck into a very capable autocross racer. Charles blew the dust off the stalled restoration of his 1977 Dodge Power Wagon and sent it to Brian Finch at Finch Performance for one of his custom-built pro-touring chassis. While Finch was at it, he convinced Charles the only option for an engine would be a Hellcat. The enthusiasm and passion Charles has for this truck is contagious and he also proves that you’re never to old to get started in autocross!
In this episode I talk with Randy Johnson who is the owner of D&Z Customs who has built several high-end pro touring cars and trucks. Don’t be fooled by the show-car appearance of these hotrods, they were built to perform on the autocross and track at a high level. Randy brings us back to the beginning of D&Z Customs and we discuss several of his personal cars and customer cars.
Johnny Cichowski is the owner of Nine Lives Racing, who specializes in designing and manufacturing aerodynamic components for a variety of cars. Johnny shares his journey from the US Army to professional motorsports to owning a business in a very niche market. We discuss his approach to designing wings and splitters and how they can affect the performance of your race car.
In this episode I’m joined by Pat Gorman, the owner of a 1970 Oldsmobile 442 known as the Oldsmobeast. Pat is also the owner of Gorman Performance Engineering who specialized in the design and manufacture of high-end GM A,F, & X body suspension components. We discuss the current setup of the 442 consisting of a big HP LS, BMW DCT transmission, and the full catalog of GPE suspension parts.
Doug McIndoe is a rookie auto crosser with only one event under his belt at the time we recorded. The skyrocketing costs of muscle cars forced Doug to take a different path for his corner carver and chose a 2003 Chevy Silverado. In this episode, Doug shares his motivation for getting into auto cross along with details of the truck. I love the enthusiasm Doug has after such a short amount of time participating and I think you will too.
Don’t let the patina fool you. Underneath the perfectly weathered paint of Sean James’ 1969 Pontiac Firebird lies a 600HP LS, a T56 transmission, and some serious suspension upgrades. I was able to check out this awesome hotrod and meet Sean and his son (who was co-driving) at the St. Louis CAM Challenge. In this episode we briefly talk about our experience at the CAM Challenge and Sean shares the history of the car and the events he’s participated in over the years.
Justin Peachey is likely the most decorated guest I’ve had on the show so far. He’s the Holley Grand Champion triple Crown winner, 3x SCCA Pro Solo National Champion, 3x SCCA TT National Max1 Champion and holds the Gridlife NCM lap record. Besides these notable trophies, he’s had a slew of FTDs at his local autocross days. In this episode we learn more about his driving history and the C6 Corvette he uses to destroy his competition.
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