Cocktails and Crankshafts: The Podcast

This podcast is an extension of my YouTube channel. I am many things. A former mechanical engineer, a current workforce training professional, a graduate student, a motorsports enthusiast, and amateur racer/high performance driver, a photographer, a videographer, a shade tree mechanic, diecast car collector and a car culture tourist. I'm also African American. While this isn't a podcast about race or Black Culture, I do not shy away from those topics when they are relevant to the proceedings. Although I list the episodes as "explicit" MOST of the expletives have been censored. Enjoy!

Episode 41: Project Rally Failures

Before I built my track car, I tried (more than once) to built a rally car. It went bad, every time...

12-26
32:44

Episode 40: NOPI St. Louis

Sort of a composite of my summer 2006 and 2007 visits to "St. Louis, MO" (Madison, IL) for NOPI Drag/Drift events. This episode has drift event audio, tire squeal and PA announcers in the background.

12-26
16:29

Episode 39: 2005 Sandhills Sand Blast Rally

A brief discussion of my memories from the 2005 Sandhills Sandblast Rally hosted in "upstate" South Carolina's Sand Hills State Forest near the town of Cheraw.

12-26
11:45

Episode 38: Minnesota Ice Racing

I talk with Mae about frozen lake ice racing in the Midwest. Recreational motorcycle ice racers in Iowa and International Ice Racing Association (Car) events on Madison Lake near Mankato Minnesota.

12-26
21:47

Episode 37: The Dark Years

Mae and I discuss what happened between 2002 and 2007...the "Dark" years for my 1996 Nissan 240SX nicknamed the "Stinger".

07-31
30:49

Episode 36: The Silver Streak / Silver Hawk (The Car with Two Names)

In the late summer of 2015 I purchased a "Silverstone" 2003 350Z Enthusiast. The rest is history...

07-31
32:30

Episode 35: My 2000 Autocross Season in the Stinger

In 2000 I participated in autocrosses with 3 different clubs in the state of NC. I was participating in a new (to me) class called "Street Modified". In my home club (Triad Sports Car Club) I had a good season. My standing in the North Carolina Autocross Championship series was somewhat less so. 

07-31
22:26

Episode 34: Redline Time Attack at Autobahn County Club June 2009

What happens when you take a bone-stock, 13 year-old, 135K mile Nissan 240SX to a Time Attack / Time Trial event at a fast road course? Nothing good.

07-31
21:40

Episode 33: Nissan GTR at Exotics Racing Las Vegas

Mae and I discuss my laps in a Nissan GTR at Exotics Racing Las Vegas. This version includes only the voiceover track and not the ambient audio from inside the car.

07-30
13:42

Worst Hour of (not) Flying Ever!

I went to go fly. The plan...2 model rockets, one small park-scale warbird (P-51 Mustang). What actually happened? An hour baking in the sun, a lost plane and a failed rocket ignition system. Oh...and since I forgot to put an SD Card in my GoPro...no footage.

06-25
11:25

Episode 31: Miss Bessie (1989 Hyundai Excel)

"Miss Bessie" was the car I drove from the time I started learning, until I graduated from college. Miss Bessie was a 1989 Hyundai Excel, at the time of purchase, the cheapest new car available in the United States. It was, sh*t. But it is also the car all my positive high school and college memories are associated with.

06-24
19:13

Episode 30: NOPI Drift Miami 2007

Dolphins Stadium! Drift Cars! Show Cars! Hulk Hogan? I go to Miami for some NOPI Drift action and accidently walk into a taping of "Hogan Knows Best"...

06-23
20:07

Episode 29: Porsche 991 GT3RS "Purplesaurus Rex"

Who doesn't want to lap a "Rennsport" Porsche in the most gorgeous shade of purple? I talk Mae through my Sept 2019 run with one at Exotics Racing Las Vegas.

06-23
12:23

Episode 28: NOPI / NDRA Rockingham NC, 2006

The story of my trip to "The Rock" Rockingham Dragway to indulge in the 2006 edition of NDRA "North Carolina".  "A fun time was had by all"...

06-23
15:51

Episode 27: 1989 Nissan 300ZX The White Whale

This is the story of a 1989 Nissan 300Zx (Z31) that I owned from April 2013 until October 2015. This car was a slice of nostalgia for me and a dream come true. I only got rid of it because I'd bought a 2003 350Z in September of 2015 and I just didn't have room for a 4th car.

06-23
16:54

Episode 26: NOPI Drag Racing at Virginia Motorsports Park 2004 and 2005

This is the extracted audio from my video detailing my 2004 and 2005 trips to the NOPI Drag Racing Association events at Dinwiddie, VA (Virginia Motorsports Park).

06-23
21:13

February 20 Update

Just a quick update on what's going on with me in terms of some diecast and slot car news.

02-20
06:29

Episode 25: Audi R8 V10+ at Exotics Racing Las Vegas Sept. 2019

It's Sept. 2019, I've had my 45th birthday so I'm off to Vegas to drive fast cars. Mae and I provide some voiceover to the sounds of me hot-lapping an Audi R8 V10 Plus.

02-13
06:55

Aggie-Cross

A story from my college years that describes the circumstances of my very first autocross.

02-08
23:22

Episode 23: Hot Import Nights, Indianapolis 2006

A short retrospective on Hot Import Nights Indianapolis 2006. This was maybe my 2nd or 3rd trip to Indianapolis, ever. It has since become one of my favorite convention cities. Indy isn't a huge city, but because of it's place in motorsports it has a pretty good car culture.

02-08
15:01

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