For many young racing drivers, these elements are rolled into one. Racing talent is often spotted early in life, and it’s not uncommon for major manufacturers to recruit drivers in their pre-teen years. If successful, a young driver could be associated with the same team or manufacturer from the age of ten or twelve through their mid-twenties.

That is not only a long time, but also a period of critical growth in a person’s life and can lead to powerful ties. In those cases where the bonds last for a decade or more, the decision to leave can be even trickier to make and deal with.

That is why I found French driver Mathieu Jaminet’s announcement at the end of the season that he was leaving Porsche to be very interesting. Jaminet, 31, has been associated with Porsche for over a decade. While his relationship didn’t start as young as some Formula 1 drivers, Porsche was still very much his home and marked his growth from junior driver to a factory “works” driver and champion.

With Porsche’s support, Jaminet proved himself in various racing series in Europe before being promoted to a full factory driver in 2020. As a factory driver, Jaminet drove where Porsche wanted him to represent the brand best.

He moved from single-driver sprint race formats to longer races in which two or more drivers share the car. It didn’t take long for Jaminet and a fellow driver who came up through the Porsche ranks during the same time, Matt Campbell, to pair up and win the GTD PRO championship in IMSA in 2022.

The two dominated the season in the fan-favorite “Plaid Porsche” for the Canadian team Pfaff Motorsports. After doing so well in 2022, Porsche tagged him to pilot their new prototype class (GTP) 963 race car in 2023.

As the new class entered IMSA racing in North America and the World Endurance Championship (WEC), Jaminet drove the No. 6 car full-time in IMSA and served as a third driver in the longer WEC endurance races, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2024, he and his co-driver, Nick Tandy, finished second in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship standings behind their teammate, the No. 7 car.

In 2025, Porsche changed the driver lineups and once again paired Jaminet with Matt Campbell. Again, the duo won the championship. This time, they didn’t win by dominating the competition, but by consistent performances throughout the season, finishing outside the top five only once.

Due to massive turbulence in the automotive market and the enormous financial losses at the corporate level in 2025, Porsche announced it would withdraw its factory race team from the WEC for 2026. The move was a dramatic one, sure to shake up the driver market in Europe and North America. Porsche’s WEC drivers were some of the best in the world, and if Porsche couldn’t keep them, other teams would certainly snap them up.

With two fewer cars to race, Porsche would have to figure out where to place four drivers for 2026. Changes to the IMSA lineup were all but inevitable, but the announcement from Jaminet that he was leaving Porsche was still a surprise. He had just won his second major championship for the brand, and it didn’t appear that his seat was in jeopardy.

Jaminet’s initial press release announcing his departure was brief, simply stating that it was time for him to start a new chapter. But he did have one quote that showed just how big a decision it was for him.

“It’s been one of the hardest decisions of my life, but I felt it was the right time to move on. I’ll never forget what this brand did for me 10 years ago: taking a kid with no backing, no money, just a dream and giving me a chance,” said Jaminet. “To everyone who has been a part of this journey, teammates, engineers, mechanics, and friends – thank you. We achieved things I once only dreamed of.”

His role with Porsche did not end on October 31st, when he announced that 2025 would be his last season with the manufacturer. Jaminet was in the lineup as the third driver for the final race of the WEC calendar.

During that final event in Bahrain, it was refreshing to see a heartfelt interview from Jaminet. Unlike many departures between drivers and teams, Jaminet’s appears to be free of any ill will from either side.

“To be [with a team for] so long, for 10 years, not many drivers do these days. I think we can be proud of how it went,” said Jaminet. “That’s how I feel, and I think this is also how they feel. We have no friction or anything. We’re still friends. They understood my decision.”

As expected, it didn’t take long for Jaminet’s next chapter to begin. He recently announced that he will join a new manufacturer for its first season in the WEC prototype competition in 2026. The new team is from Hyundai’s flagship brand, Genesis, and is their first foray into the top class of sports car racing.

By joining this effort, Jaminet has the chance to lend his experience and expertise to a manufacturer’s motorsport debut and make history for a new brand. He will be the second former Porsche factory driver signed by Genesis, joining Andre Lotterer.

Going from a motorsport titan like Porsche to an upstart in its first attempt at endurance racing will be quite a challenge for Jaminet. And it may be that change of perspective that made his decision easier. Racers all want to win, but building a team into a contender from the ground up offers a new level of excitement and opportunity. It will be interesting to watch for sure.

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The first one had everything to do with timing. Until the early 90s, my interest in baseball was centered solely on the Boston Red Sox. That was the norm for a kid growing up in New Hampshire. As a bonus, being a Red Sox fan taught me the meaning of seasonal depression and the experience of having your hopes dashed before your eyes at a very early age.

I also grew quite frustrated with the sport and debated ignoring it entirely for my long-term health and wellness. Then I got my hands on a VHS copy of Field of Dreams. Any ideas I had about abandoning my days of being a baseball fan vanished.

The Red Sox were terrible from 1991 to 1995, but I still felt compelled to watch the game. Field of Dreams had me caught up in the romantic notion of baseball, what it had been, and what it could be again. I kept score like James Earl Jones’ character, I built a ballpark in my corn–no, wait, that was just the movie.

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Lucky for me, my cable TV plan included TBS, which aired nearly every Atlanta Braves game. The team featured one of the best pitching lineups the sport has ever seen, including a pitcher named Tom Glavine. Glavine was from Billerica, Massachusetts, which was also home to one of my best friends at the time. So following the Braves was easy and fun.

As I began following two baseball teams—one on its way to the top and one struggling to get to its feet (although they would be back at it by the end of the decade)—a documentary about the sport further cemented my interest. Ken Burns released the multi-part docuseries Baseball in 1994, and I couldn’t get enough of it. The way he told the game’s story resonated with me, making me enjoy every pitch that much more.

Now, anyone who knew me from 2000 to 2004 knows that I would have been a more normal, well-adjusted person had I stuck to my original plan to abandon the sport. The Red Sox of those years drove me to previously unexperienced levels of stress, rage, and, ultimately, uncontrolled tears of joy and incredulity.

Twenty-plus years of suffering and disgust made the dramatic defeat of the Yankees on the night of October 20, 2004, and the final victory over the St. Louis Cardinals seven days later to win the World Series worth more than if they had always been winning. But damn, that was a rough ride.

Growing up, I had always loved cars and racing. I gravitated more towards NASCAR in my younger days because it was readily available on TV and at a track near my hometown. As I got older, it gave me a fantastic reason to get wildly drunk with friends while celebrating our favorite driver/beer–go Rusty Wallace in the Miller Light Ford!

Formula 1 was a sport I was aware of but never closely followed. I knew who was winning in F1 and what the big-picture storylines were, but I rarely watched a race or knew much about anyone other than Michael Schumacher.

Throughout the 2010s, I started following F1 more closely, and the TV coverage and availability of the series gradually improved. This was also the time that I encountered the documentaries “Senna” and “1.” Released in 2010 and 2013, respectively, they remain two of the best racing films I have ever seen, and I could not recommend them more.

They both teach you about the sport’s heroes and history, while making the current form more intriguing. To see what the early years of the sport were like—the incredible pace of development and, unfortunately, death—was truly eye-opening. I began watching more races, even though finding them on television was still not easy.

Then the explosion came with Drive to Survive on Netflix. I have talked about the show in other posts, so that I won’t belabor the point here. But needless to say, that series has done more for the popularity of this worldwide sport in America than anything I can think of.

I don’t think an American driver winning the F1 world championship would have attracted as much of an audience as Drive to Survive has. It is such a spectacular success that every other major sport has created or is trying to create its version of it. Even golf–yes, that’s right, golf.

For some, the show focuses too much on the people and the soap opera-esque drama off the track, and I get that if you are a hard-core race fan. But the compelling stories that land with an audience and make them want to care are inevitably the human ones. Knowing that, Drive to Survive nails it.

For people who want more on-track action alongside their off-track, personality-driven drama, I suggest another documentary: Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story, narrated by Keanu Reeves. If you are not a fan of Reeves, his narration may get on your nerves, but hang in there. The story he tells is so fantastical that you may forget it’s all true and actually happened.

I had only a vague recollection of the Brawn GP team when I saw the documentary’s thumbnail on Hulu. The only thing I really knew about the team was that Jenson Button drove for them. I like Button; he’s a talented driver with a great personality and has been doing a lot of sports car racing recently, so I figured I would learn a bit more about his time in F1.

The story of the car, team owners, managers, and drivers is so spectacular and at times, outlandish, that if it were a movie, you would laugh at the absurdity of the script. If you haven’t watched this series, I implore you to check it out. Even if you are a casual fan of motorsports, the drama of this team —how they developed their car and ultimately won a championship — is genuinely superb.

The story could probably never happen in today’s F1, but it could happen in other series. It is a testament to the underdog and the drive of people to do their absolute best regardless of the odds. The documentary is precisely the kind of blend of information and excitement that makes you want to watch more, learn more, and ultimately follow the sport more.

Most recently, I watched the racing documentary American Thunder: NASCAR to Le Mans on Prime Video. It doesn’t have the same impact as some of the others I’ve mentioned, but it is a fantastic behind-the-scenes look at the project that captivated the sports car world and seemingly every fan at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The task of taking a NASCAR Camaro and turning it into a machine capable of lasting the entire race at Le Mans and matching (or in many cases besting) the speeds of the other cars on the track was no joke. That group did a phenomenal job, and the documentary is very good at bringing the viewer into the team to see how it all played out.

So the next time you are in an endless scrolling loop trying to figure out what to watch, just think of a subject you already enjoy and then find a documentary about it. There’s a good chance you may find something that enhances your love of the subject, or one that makes you stick with something you were about to abandon.

The guests and topics cover the gamut from fitness, health, business, literature, and philosophy. One of the episodes, 1057, was a deep dive into the value and history of keeping a notebook. It introduced something I was not familiar with: a Commonplace Book.

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The point of this notebook is not to be a diary or journal, but more a collection of things you find interesting or valuable. It could include ideas, poems, recipes, quotes, and more. Things you encounter in your daily life and say to yourself, “I like that, I want to remember it.”

There are tons of resources out there on how to keep and organize a Commonplace Book, but I try not to put that much thought into it. I don’t need another thing to analyze and wonder whether I am doing it “correctly.” Ideas on how to organize one go back as far as the Enlightenment philosopher John Locke in 1685. I don’t intend to get into any of that, but know that if you are curious about the idea, you have an almost endless supply of resources.

After listening to the podcast, I started keeping one near my desk specifically for quotes or ideas I see in articles or while I am reading. I also keep a Note on my phone so I can capture a quote when I hear or read it and then later transcribe it into my Commonplace Book.

Having them in one place, which I can pick up and review from time to time, is more valuable than scrolling through them on my phone. Not to mention that writing them out causes me to process them a second time, making them more beneficial than a highlighted line in a magazine or book.

I want to share some of the quotes I’ve collected recently, in the hope that they may inspire some of you to start a Commonplace Book for yourselves. The nice thing about the practice is that, unlike many trendy organizational techniques, this doesn’t require much rigor. It can be as detailed or vague as you like, because these collections are for you. It is the thoughts and items you find essential and want to hold onto. On the other hand, it could also include a grocery list for the week; it’s your book.

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“Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.” – Gore Vidal

“Let go of who you are supposed to be, and just be who you are.” – Unknown

“The Renaissance man is at home wherever he goes.” – Matthew McConaughey

“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” – Mark Twain

“Real pleasure can only be found in useful work – in the house well built, in the farm well tilled, in the books well kept, in the page well written, in the thought well expressed, in all the improved conditions of life all around us.” – Frederick Douglas

“Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle.” – Thomas Jefferson

“The greatest threat to public virtue was American greed, which led speculators and war profiteers to circumvent the boycott or sell supplies to the army at monopoly prices.” – George Washington

On the politics of ancient Rome from Catos Letters – Division, strife, and civil war were caused by demagogues who encouraged factions and played them against one another to shore up their own absolute power.

“Remember when you used to leave a single CD in the player in the car for weeks on end? Just the same songs, over and over, never getting old? Why was that so satisfying?” – Sam Smith

“To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” – Seneca

“Coffee is always the beginning of something: a meeting, a break, a moment of sharing.” – sign at the Lavazza Coffee HQ/Museum

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” – Mark Twain

“Eat food as medicine, or you will be forced to eat medicine as food.” – Steve Jobs

“You tie your shoes and walk out the door every morning, even as the process fights back, because you are vertical and breathing. The nature of the deal means that you don’t get to name the variables or pick the dates. You simply wake up each day and do it. Because you can. Because you get to.” – Sam Smith

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These quotes and ideas are just a few things I’ve encountered in the past year and have jotted down in my notebook. I will continue to add to it as I see things that strike a chord with me. Hopefully, this has sparked an interest in you, and if not, at least I hope it has brought some moment of reflection or entertainment.

Last weekend, I attended an event called “Parked” at the former Cumberland Commerce Center, which is the fancy name of the now-defunct limestone mine. I saw an advertisement for it on Instagram through one of my favorite Nashville coffee shops, Barista Parlor. They were going to be providing cold brew and hot coffee during the show, which was enough to pique my curiosity.

When I saw the photos of the limestone cavern with a few vintage Porsches, I was hooked. I bought a ticket, which is not something a typical Cars and Coffee event would require, but hey, this show was clearly not going to be typical.

I drove an hour from downtown Nashville to the small town of Cumberland Furnace in Dickson County, Tennessee. The drive was enjoyable, as more than half of it was on winding, two-lane state roads through farm country and small towns. Much of it was uncharted territory for me, as I had only heard the town names on the local news weather segments.

Parking for the Parked event was in a dusty dirt lot outside the mouth of the cave. I always smile when I attend an automotive event and see beautiful sports cars, often worth six figures, parked in a dirt lot. The cars in the parking lot for the event would’ve made for an above average cars and coffee in most towns in the US.

Staff met attendees at the entrance to the tunnel to check their ticket and give them a wristband. I could feel the cool air coming out of the tunnel and realized I might need my jacket, but decided to press ahead. The cave was cool but not unpleasant, so I was fine without the coat.

A black Porsche 911 (993 generation) greeted attendees at the end of the tunnel, parked on a loading dock. The juxtaposition of a sleek sports car with the white/gray, craggy limestone walls and the smooth ceiling and floors was precisely what I expected for this event. As I entered the main show area, I was not disappointed.

I was greeted by the sight of one of the vehicles that cemented my love of cars as a kid in the 1980s, a white Ferrari Testarossa. It wasn’t the same year as the iconic Miami Vice one, since it had side-view mirrors on both sides, unlike the high-mounted driver’s mirror seen on 1986 US models and in the show. As an adult, I know there are better Ferraris, and cars in general, but the Testarossa still hits the nostalgia bullseye.

As I walked into the show space, the scale of the room really made an impact. The high ceilings and natural walls complemented the beautiful shapes of the cars perfectly. Whether vintage or modern, everything looked extra special in the environment. The lighting was varied wildly, a bit too bright in some areas and a bit dim in others, but that’s what gave it a sense of charm. Especially when paired with the occasional perfect highlight on a car, I loved it.

The show featured all the heavy hitters, including classic, modified Porsche 911s, modern Porsche 911 GT3s, vintage Alfa Romeos, heavily modified classic Mercedes (powered by modern AMG engines), and a slew of modern supercars from Italy.

Any time you get to be up close and personal with a Lamborghini Revuelto, make the most of it. For those unfamiliar with the Revuelto, it is Lamborghini’s latest flagship model, boasting 814 horsepower, all-wheel drive, and a hybrid system that pairs small electric motors with a 6.5L V-12. The Revuelto starts at around $600,000.

While I respect the capability of the Ferrari 296 GTS, the Revuelto, and the Ferrari 12 Cilindri, it was the vintage resto-mods and race cars that I appreciated the most. As someone who works in the motorsports industry and is affiliated with the Porsche Club of America, I see many modified Porsches. But I will never get bored of seeing a well-sorted hot rod 911. An air-cooled 911 is a beautiful canvas to work with, providing you have a significant budget, of course.

I was surprised to find a Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo2 race car that I shot on track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the prior weekend. The couple who run social media for the Project Racecar were there and explained that they had heard about the show and thought it would be a great place to raise awareness about the team. Job well done, plus seeing the car in as-raced condition from the week prior was really fun.

Overall, the show was what I expected. A well-curated selection of sports cars guaranteed to delight a variety of spectators, artfully placed in a unique environment. We can all thank former Porsche factory racer Patrick Long and his business partner Howie Idelson for shows like this.

The transformation of car shows from staid concours held on golf courses to pop-up art installations set in environments perfect for Instagram photos really began with Long and Idelson’s creation of the air-cooled-only Porsche show, Luftgekühlt. It has been eleven years since their first show, and the growth and popularity of it has been the signal to everyone in the car community that the future is not golf courses.

Yes, there are still numerous high-end and prestigious car shows held “on the lawn.” But the younger generation of enthusiasts is far less interested in those shows than they are in ones like Luftgekült and Parked. Organizers of these new shows focus on the backdrop and lighting of each car to ensure it is a visual experience for guests and those watching on social media. Something no car parked on green grass, no matter how rare or stunning it is, will ever be.

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I had the chance to shoot the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at the Nashville Superspeedway this year for a client of mine. It was the first chance I’ve had to compare the race since it changed from the street course in the heart of downtown to the superspeedway branded as “Nashville,” which is actually about 45 minutes from downtown.

In all honesty, the street course never produced the best racing. It improved in each of its three years, but street courses are often very tight, with less-than-ideal surfaces and no room for error. Nashville was no different, except that it was kind of worse.

The course was unique in that it used the Korean Veterans Memorial Bridge to cross back and forth over the Cumberland River. It was great to watch the cars shoot out of turn three and launch across the bridge at maximum velocity. It was even cooler to see them remerge a few minutes later as they crossed back to the east bank of the river and attacked the stadium section of the course.

What wasn’t great for the drivers, was the horrible, cracked, and bumpy street surface upon which they raced. The city attempted to improve some of the worst areas each year, but the roads were still uneven and bumpy, to the point where cars would lose contact with the track several times. In case you aren’t an avid race fan, race cars perform at their best when they are on the racing surface rather than skipping across it.

However, the questionable racing surface, nor the poor decision-making of several racers that led to frequent crashes and caution-flag laps, were not the reason the race left downtown Nashville. Construction on the new football stadium took away several sections of the track and the entire paddock and pit lane area.

A vain and futile attempt to keep the race downtown was initially announced, with the course running through the heart of party Nashville by going down lower Broadway. A magnificent idea in theory, but one that anyone who has lived or worked downtown knew was not going to happen in less than a year, which was the timeframe they had to work with.

The Las Vegas F1 race proved that it is possible to build a race track in the heart of a busy city, surrounded by apartment complexes and hotels on every block. To do so, you need to construct temporary automobile bridges to allow people who live and work within the racing area to actually, you know, go to work and come home and stuff. Those bridges are not cheap.

2024 marked the first IndyCar event at the Nashville Superspeedway, located in Lebanon, TN, since 2008. By any objective measure, the race was excellent, like really good, and much better than the street course. The problem is that excellent racing isn’t the only thing that brings a crowd. I couldn’t find official numbers, but the crowd at the superspeedway race was visibly smaller than the downtown crowd.

This makes sense, as downtown offered so much more for fans. The street course enabled three different racing series to be on the track before and after the IndyCar series. Fans could walk across the pedestrian bridge from the track's infield area to downtown Nashville for food or drinks, and musicians played live music nearly nonstop from three different stages. It was a party.

People who flew into the city for the race could walk from their downtown hotel. They didn’t have to worry about finding a ride or having a designated driver since everything was within walking distance, or at worst, a speedy Uber or Lyft ride to a hotel.

The Lebanon location is close to nothing but massive warehouses and distribution centers. It couldn’t be in a less fan-friendly location for visitors who want to enjoy the vibrant bar, restaurant, and music scene Nashville is known for while also attending the race.

I watched the race on TV last year, but this year I was right in the middle of it, literally. The track is an oval, and the media center is in the middle of the infield. Races operate in a predictable rhythm where the crowd, both fans and media, builds a little more each day from Friday to race day.

The stands become increasingly crowded, the number of fans walking around the paddock and fan zones grows each day, and the media center becomes busier and louder as more people arrive to cover the event. Friday and Saturday were busy, but not as busy as what I typically see at IMSA races. A series that historically draws fewer people than IndyCar.

Sunday offered a significant boost in fans and a modest bump in media coverage, so it’s not like the place was a ghost town. However, at the height of the race, the main grandstand (there is only one) was perhaps 70% full (I am being generous). The camping area down the back straight was nearly empty, and there were plenty of spots open in the other designated camping areas I could see around the track.

Once again, the racing was spectacular. From a fantastic battle for the lead between the drivers who were first and second in the championship standings, to the eventual and dramatic victory for the hometown hero Josef Newgarden, the race was great.

There were lots of passes for position throughout the field, especially from Conor Daly, who started the race in 25th and finished in fifth after putting on a driving clinic. There was drama as tire failures struck several potential race winners, including Pato O’Ward, who was leading the race when his right front tire blew, with everyone unsure of who might be the next one to have a problem.

But racing is a business, it is sports entertainment, and the small crowds are not going to keep this event alive. Scott Borchetta and his Big Machine Label Group and Borchetta Bourbon companies have been integral to sponsoring the Nashville race since 2021, and I am glad they are so involved. But at some point, this race needs to have both a big fan turnout and a great race.

After two years of great races but small crowds, I can’t see the NTT IndyCar Series keeping the Nashville Superspeedway race as the season finale. The season finale and crowning of a champion deserves to have more energy and fanfare. It deserves to be downtown where the fans, drivers, crew, and everyone involved with the event want to be.

I don’t know what will happen over the next two years as they complete construction on the new Tennessee Titans’ stadium. I can only hope that the city and organizers pave a path for the IndyCar race to stay in Nashville and return to a street course that rewards fans and drivers alike. Because what we have now is not fair to either party. The drivers are putting on a show, but the fans aren’t there to see it.

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My first adult road trip was when I packed up my Mitsubishi 3000GT and moved from New Hampshire to Pensacola, FL, to attend flight school after college. I remember my AAA TripTiks highlighting my route, which seems silly today since the route was pretty simple: drive on 93 south until you reach 95 south, then drive that until you can’t stand it anymore and turn right onto I-10, exit at Pensacola. Done.

Throughout my military career, I had the opportunity to make multiple long drives from one region of the US to another. Sometimes those drives were in clumsy moving vans loaded to the brim, other times I was in whichever vehicle I owned at the time for temporary assignments. Regardless, I saw a lot of the central US through my windshield. 

When I retired from the Air Force, we celebrated by putting about 7,000 miles on my Corvette Grand Sport, driving a route from Rapid City, SD, to Glacier National Park, and then to the Oregon coast, where we hopped on the Pacific Coast Highway and drove it south to Los Angeles. I then traced historic Route 66 eastbound into Illinois before driving to Maryland, where we were living at the time. 

Our move to Tennessee in 2021 spurred a springtime, no Interstate Highway road trip west with my wife and me each driving our sports cars. Our COVID-era trip put over 6,000 miles on both cars and brought us through most of the National Parks in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and finally, a few in Colorado. It was epic.

Now I drive to IMSA races around the country to cover them for articles and clients. Most of the time, I am in a hurry, so I use the much maligned, but actually quite spectacular, Interstate Highway System to get me to events. 

I recently drove a Porsche Macan 4 EV from Atlanta to Oklahoma City for an article. That trip in particular reminded me of how beautiful some often overlooked states are. Take Arkansas, for example–simply stunning. 

Arkansas has spectacular forests and lakes, and it can be as beautiful as areas of New Hampshire, where I grew up. Even Oklahoma had a surprise in store for me with a lovely scenic drive when I had to parallel I-40 for a bit due to construction. I was only three or four miles away from the Interstate, but it was a different world, with lush trees, scenic farms, and even some slight elevation changes. Since I have traveled I-40 through Oklahoma more than a few times, this was a delightful surprise. 

Just the other week, I drove to America’s “National Park of Speed,” Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. I decided to avoid our Interstate system and used only back roads and state highways to meander through Kentucky, Illinois, and Wisconsin. 

The journey was certainly longer, but I don’t regret it for a minute. Even though some of the county roads I encountered in the Land of Lincoln were in poor condition, I ignored the sound of rocks bouncing off the rocker panels of my Toyota GR86 and enjoyed the ride. 

Driving through cornfields with their microclimates only to suddenly pop into a small town was a blast. By the way, if you find yourself near Fairfield, IL, do yourself a favor and go to Fusion Coffee. The coffee selection is excellent, the staff are super friendly, and my pour-over was sublime.

I don’t know if it’s the expectation of adventure, the unknown possibilities, or something baked into my DNA, but I love being on a road trip. After making a statement like that, it should be no surprise that one of my favorite books is John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley. 

The key to transforming a long drive from a pain to a pleasure is time. There are instances where you just “have to get there,” and those drives are probably going to suck. I’ve done them plenty of times, and they leave no time to stop and enjoy the places you are traveling through, just the pressure to get to your destination. 

If you can add an overnight stay to your plan, do it. That stop should provide you with the breathing room to take a few detours. Stop at the rest areas near a state border crossing; they are usually excellent and filled with information on interesting places to see. When you see the signs for a scenic overlook, pull in and check it out. Stop and read the occasional historic marker you typically fly past. 

And just like my stop at Fusion Coffee in Illinois, do a little advanced scouting on Google Maps and find a local cafe, diner, or coffee shop that is off the main highway for your lunch or just a coffee break. As great as Buc-ee’s can be, a local small business in the town off the highway might be a more fulfilling experience.

Also, never underestimate the effect of seeing the sun set in a completely different place from where you watched it rise. Yes, getting up early if you don’t absolutely have to can be difficult. But I have never regretted being awake to watch the sun rise once I was there. 

Finally, a great road trip doesn’t need to be an epic adventure that crosses multiple states. If you don’t have a lot of time off from work, use a long weekend to explore areas near you. Most people, myself included, haven’t fully explored their own state, let alone others. So find a cool lake, state park, or historic sight within a half day's drive of your house. Make plans for a weekend away and take the back roads. It's easy, just set Google Maps, Apple Maps, or Waze to “avoid highways” and start driving. 

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I think it’s only fair to share what I’ve been up to in the 11 months or so since that last post, and what I’d like this newsletter to become going forward. Namely, an actual newsletter with content I hope people find entertaining and valuable. 

Since September 2024, I have finished my Bachelor of Graphic Arts degree in Photography and begun a full-time freelance career. The degree program was a fantastic experience and taught me more about photography and people than I ever expected. 

Having a degree is undoubtedly not a prerequisite for being a photographer, nor is it a guarantee that you will be better or more successful than someone who has learned along the way. However, I know there are so many techniques and experiences that, had I not been in a formal academic setting, I may never have encountered them in the wild, and they have unequivocally made me better. 

2025 was the year I planned to work as many IMSA sportscar races as possible as a freelance photographer and writer. I worked five races in 2024 as a build-up, and things were working as I planned by the end of the year. I had met and become friends with several of the regular photographers, and was starting to feel like I belonged in the paddock. 

What made the start of the year more fulfilling was my new “position” as the Motorsports Editor for the Porsche Club of America’s magazine, Porsche Panorama. I have written sporadic features for the magazine for several years and have enjoyed an excellent relationship with its editorial staff, so when they approached me about revamping their motorsport coverage, I was ecstatic.   

I now write a monthly column covering the exploits of factory and customer Porsche racing teams and series in North America. While the highest profile series is the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, Porsche competes in so many other series that it is actually challenging to fit them all in the space I have.  

Overall, the year has unfolded about as I expected. People in the paddock recognize me. My contacts and list of friends are expanding, and I am more comfortable working in and around the race track. I’ve had new clients come my way through referrals from other photographers, and those experiences have been tremendous. 

One of the biggest lessons for working in motorsports, and for life frankly, is just to show up and be a “good dude.” No one wants to work with someone they don’t enjoy being around, and the high-stress, fast-paced environment of a race track amplifies that feeling, not to mention the fact that more people are trying to do this work than there are jobs to do. 

By making friends and reaching out when I saw people needed help, I have had the opportunity to photograph several drivers and a few teams that I had no idea I would work with when the year began. 

So what do I want this space to be? Well, initially, I thought this blog/newsletter would be a place for me to write “articles” that I had no other venue for. Thoughts I had based on events in the automotive or motorsport space, or reflections on my travel experiences. 

But as I have subscribed to and read more newsletters on Substack (The Contender and A Continuous Lean are my favorites), I realized that the most value I receive from the excellent writers and people I follow here has not necessarily been from their reviews of things, but from their personal experiences with them. 

I’m not saying this newsletter will be my journal, but I do plan to be more myself here versus me, the “writer.” Most of my writing will still deal with things automotive and travel-related because that’s what most of my life is right now. Stuff like style (I refuse to say fashion because for me, fashion is trendy, whereas style is timeless), watches, sports, books, TV shows, movies, etc, will have some coverage as well.  

A newsletter with a post once a year is not worth much, so while I won’t commit to writing every week, I will be posting at least once a month, if not more. Things will naturally evolve, and I hope that whatever I have to say provides you with some value, even if it's just for a laugh. 

See you soon.

You are aware of significant changes like the opening or closing of malls or shopping centers. However, insidious changes occur as buildings age, houses get remodeled, and neighborhood demographics shift. Those changes tend to happen under your nose; they are gradual and don’t garner much attention. 

So when you return from a long absence, all of those small changes now appear large and jarring. You notice every facade that doesn’t mesh with your childhood memories. Each storefront, now altered or vacant, grabs your attention and forces you to acknowledge that time has moved on from your childhood memories—as have you. 

Whether you’ve been living away from the area where you grew up for two years or twenty, you have also changed. You have seen things and been places; attitudes have shifted, and priorities have changed. Like the unfamiliar downtown main street, you are a different person. 

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Some will instinctively categorize these changes as bad. Some of them might be just that. A lack of activity in a downtown area is not a good sign. Old storefronts lying vacant and a mainstay diner shuttered or in disrepair are not signs of a healthy and thriving town. Apartments and living quarters have grown, but without the amenities people want and need from their pseudo-urban living, those too will be vacated, leaving the area to rot. 

Then there are the changes that are vast improvements from your memories. The decaying apartment building, empty convenience store, and derelict mill have had new life breathed into them. Someone bulldozed the decrepit apartment building, known mainly to a few residents and all the local police officers. Now, it is a beautiful building housing stores, restaurants, and apartments where people want to live. Store windows showing nothing but the aging newspaper covering them are now alive with activity in the form of coffee shops and local commerce. 

As I mentioned in my last post, I ended a recent vacation by spending a few days with relatives in the town where I grew up. I find it odd to call it my “hometown” since I haven’t lived there in over 28 years, but it is the town that shaped me. 

My Air Force career took me far away from Laconia, New Hampshire. After my parents moved from the area to escape winter’s wrath, I have only visited twice. As expected, the town has changed since I was a kid. But there are also many ways in which it hasn’t changed at all. 

Businesses have come and gone, but many places I remember are still operating. Lake Winnipesaukee is still a massive tourist draw, as is Weirs Beach. The land that used to be the water slide where I worked as a high schooler is now a parking lot, and the old snack bar is a patio-focused bar/restaurant. But my memories of working there and the fun the staff had together remain.

I recognize many of the family names on businesses around the city, and thankfully, places like the Kellerhaus are almost unchanged. Even their make-your-own-sundae bar is exactly as I remember—delicious. 

Yes, Laconia has changed a lot since I lived there, but so have I. Instead of grousing about what has changed or what hasn’t, I am simply happy to see familiar places that hold so many memories. Some bad, some good, and some great. For whatever faults it had during my childhood, and whatever it may have now, this town will forever hold a special place to me as a place that shaped my early worldview. From my family and friends to my teachers and employers, my experiences paved the foundation for who I am today. 

To be fair, I have probably changed more than Laconia has. I’ve traveled the world, worked with people from every region, race, and socioeconomic background our country has, and seen and done things I only dreamed of as a child. All of that experience and exposure to other philosophies and ways of life have made me a better person and made me appreciate what I see when I return to areas I’ve left for a long time. 

So, for those who say you can’t go home again, I say yes, you can. But you have to go home with the right frame of mind. You have to understand and expect that things will be different. Just as you probably don’t fit into the same clothes you wore in high school, your hometown will not look the same as you remember, and that’s okay. 

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Yes, Bar Harbor is far more spectacular. Still, Kennebunkport is that beautiful middle ground where the coastline provides the quintessential rocky face Maine is known for while allowing for a few sandy beaches. The kind of beaches that disappear the farther north you travel. The weather was perfect for late summer, with a mix of sun and clouds and temperatures mainly in the mid-70s. 

With the end of my trip slated for New Hampshire, it made sense to fly into Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Manchester, NH. If Maine was your only destination, you may want to fly directly into Portland. Either way, getting to your destination is not arduous. The drive from Manchester to Kennebunkport was less than two hours, and that was via state roads and highways while avoiding the major interstates. 

Growing up in New England, I have long been a seafood snob, especially after working in a restaurant in college where the seafood we sold arrived by boat each morning. I’ve rarely enjoyed lobster outside this region, so I was on a mission for that delicacy of my youth, the lobster roll. And let me be clear: I am referencing the correct way to make a lobster roll—with mayonnaise. I leave the “Connecticut-style” warm buttered lobster roll for the seagulls. 

To my surprise, many of the purveyors of these delights in Kennebunkport also accommodated those afflicted, as I am, with Celiac Disease by providing a gluten-free bun option. A little something is lost without the toasted New England-style frankfurter bun, but at least I could enjoy my favorite dish without resorting to a knife and fork.

For me, the winners were local favorite (and one of the only restaurants open year-round) Alisson’s and the annoyingly famous (though for good reason) The Clam Shack. Both provided the perfect mix of lobster meat, a hint of mayo, a little green leafy lettuce, and salt and pepper. 

If I could only eat one again, I would go with The Clam Shack. Their lobster roll had prodigious amounts of claw meat; by that, I mean whole claws! They also toasted their bun more, which is essential for a gluten-free bun to maintain its form while eating. 

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But there is so much more to the small coastal town than lobster rolls. Let’s talk about fudge! As my wife and I walked around the main street perusing the shops and their wares, we discovered The Candy Man. Tucked away near an inlet and just off the main square, this non-descript candy oasis is a beacon to your sweet tooth. Inside the store are hundreds of sweets of all kinds. Gummy bears by the pound, sweet and sour candies galore, basically everything you wish you could scoop into a sack and munch on all day as a kid. 

But just as with a high-end jeweler, the good stuff is behind the glass case. That is where the best, and I mean the absolute best (apologies to Mom and Nana), peanut butter fudge I have ever consumed is found. The turtles and truffles are top-notch, but the fudge is straight-up gold-medal stuff. 

Their peanut butter fudge was terrific because it was clearly fudge but tasted more like a peanut butter ball. The typical sugary mouthfeel and, at times, overly sweet taste of fudge were subdued and only appeared as an afternote. Peanut butter is the star of the show, no question. I’m unsure if I can enjoy this confectionary from any other store. I am ruined. 

I must also mention the cafe across the street from our hotel, Mornings in Paris. This corner coffee shop has a nice little outdoor seating area and ample seating inside for those chilly mornings. The coffee is very good, but there is better in town; more later. The reason I have to mention them is self-centered in that they offer a wide array of gluten-free products. This is the second time I’ve made that point, but it is crucial. Adjusting to a gluten-free diet is not fun, but it is manageable when at home. Traveling, on the other hand, can be a nightmare. Mornings in Paris had some of the best coffee cakes I’ve eaten, period. It was so good that after sampling my piece, my wife bought one, and she has no dietary restrictions. It is rare for a GF product to be so good people choose to eat it over a “regular” version, but that’s how good this coffee cake (and banana bread) was. 

Now, about that coffee. A trip down Port Rd past several restaurants and shops will bring you to the Coffee Roasters of the Kennebunks. If the wind is in your favor, you will smell the store before you see it. The aroma of roasting coffee was like no other, and it pulled me into the storefront. I felt like a character in an old Bugs Bunny cartoon being lifted in the air and magically transported via scent. 

Opening the screen door to the Coffee Roasters (actually a part of a classic New England home) is like walking into the past. In a way, you are going back in time as the enormous roasting machine on display has been roasting beans for over 100 years, and the owner, Sandra, has been doing it for over 40 years. She learned the business from her father, who purchased the roaster. 

They roast multiple varieties of beans and have several types of coffee brewed and ready to purchase in carafes. With the smell and strength of these beans, I knew I had to have something fresh, so I opted for a double espresso to liven up my afternoon, and I was not disappointed. I failed to ask Sandra what type of beans were in the espresso machine, but it didn’t matter; they were terrific. I sampled coffee from several locations in Kennebunkport, and they were all tasty, but the Coffee Roasters of the Kennebunks are on a different level; ten out of ten!

Another “must-have” for a seaside town like this are shops and galleries, and Kennebunkport has them both in spades. I appreciated the trends throughout the many galleries of using recycled materials, focusing on icons of the local area, and presenting a diverse selection of painters and photographers. There are many galleries to choose from, and I encourage you to visit them all. However, I have to say I was most impressed with the Northlight Gallery on Ocean Ave. It is a working studio, and we had the pleasure of chatting with artist Harry Thompson, who was working on another beautiful painting of the iconic boats moored in the harbor.  

For me, no visit to the ocean would be complete without trying to capture a brilliant sunrise or sunset, or both. In our case, the conditions never granted us a magical sunset, but we did get to witness a lovely sunrise overlooking one of the more famous neighborhoods in the town. The Blowing Cave rocks did not live up to their name as the sea conditions were relatively calm. Still, the Sandy Cove area and the peninsula just beyond housing the homes of many of the Bush family provided a beautiful foreground for the sunrise. 

There is something about being near the sea that always recharges me. My childhood was spent near lakes far more than the ocean, but regardless of whether it is the northern Atlantic, the Pacific or Indian oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, or the great Mediterranean Sea, being near the ocean feels right to me. As we left Kennebunkport, it reminded me of how special this area is and that my wife and I must make room for a trip to Bar Harbor and the spectacular Acadia National Park soon. 

We wrapped up the trip by spending time with family in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, specifically Laconia, where I grew up. Since my parents moved out of New England, I haven’t visited often, so catching up with aunts and uncles was a joy. Returning to the town where I grew up was a strange mix of nostalgia and curiosity as so much has changed. 

I had so many thoughts about being a tourist in my hometown that I will discuss them in another post. I hope I have inspired you to visit the Maine seacoast for your own adventure; I doubt it will let you down. 

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This journey was a work/study trip, as I was there for a travel photography course. The course is a component of my Bachelor’s program in Commercial Photography. It demands a final portfolio of photos covering a variety of things you would expect to see in travel-related marketing magazines, websites, and books.

With a focus on specific photographic tasks, my view and purpose in the city and national park were quite different than a leisure trip. But that doesn’t mean the journey was less fun; it was a different kind of fun. With 18 people, including our instructors, we also had to manage the typical large group dynamics issues, also known as herding cats.

For many students, this was their first trip to the West Coast, and for a few, it was their first time on an airplane, which made things even more enjoyable.

Seattle

The city didn’t disappoint with some of the best weather, splendid architecture, good food, and even better coffee (of course). My first Seattle visit was strictly for pleasure and sightseeing with a group of some of my closest friends. We walked the city doing all of the tourist things, as well as some organized trips to surrounding vineyards for wine tastings. It was, in a word, delicious.

Much of downtown was as I remembered: very steep hills, a variety of old and new architecture, many, many coffee shops (thankfully not all named Starbucks, although there were dozens of those, too), and interesting shops. What has changed is the homeless presence, the drug-addled and mentally unstable souls wandering the streets, and the evolution of legal marijuana—the latter being of much interest to many of my touring companions.

It was sad to see most of the stores on 3rd Street between Union and Pine deserted. Store windows were replaced by plywood sheets and graffiti as the stores that used to inhabit the locations had been vandalized, looted, and finally closed. The intersection of 3rd and Pine houses one of my favorite coffee shops (Victrola), but the store was nearly empty when I visited. That probably has much to do with the beggars on the sidewalks and those openly doing hard drugs in front of the McDonald’s across the street. There was no legal weed being smoked here, strictly lighters, spoons, and rolled dollar bills for inhaling.

This starkly contrasts the buzzing and lively environment two blocks away at the famous Public Market. Tourists and, I imagine a few locals line the walkways to check out the wonderful fresh produce, flowers, and seafood available, not to mention the famous fish throwers on the corner.

I know the market is cliché and probably a place locals avoid. But it is one of the top things to see, so I spent a fair amount of time photographing the crowds, vendors, and workers. I also sampled some of the fresh fish for a fantastic lunch.

A trip focused on photography would not be complete without a visit to the Seattle Public Library. This building is massive, architecturally unique, and utterly fascinating. I spent 30 minutes just marveling and photographing the exterior and still left several areas uncovered. But the experience begins when you enter the building, and the light and shadows from the exterior structure play and dance on the floor and bookshelves. Not to mention the variety of colors, textures, and multi-level floors. It is simply an architectural photographer’s dream. Ten out of Ten.

Visiting Kerry Park for sunset is another popular stop for tourists and photographers alike, and our visit proved worthwhile. The warm and rosy sunset light enhanced an already splendid view of the Space Needle, the waterfront, and (for our trip) Mt. Rainier. I would suggest taking an Uber or some other rideshare, though. Parking is scarce, and the hill you must summit to reach the park is dauntingly steep.

Another spectacular sunset location is the piers along the sound, especially Pier 62. The view from the floating lower dock is magnificent and unspoiled by anything other than boats and waterfowl. The larger, elevated pier provides a spectacular view of the city, The Seattle Great Wheel, the waterfront, Lumen Field, and T-Mobile Park.

Olympic National Park

The contrast between Seattle and the quaint town of Port Angeles could not be more severe, but Port Angeles’s location makes it an excellent base from which to explore the park and its many sights.

Our time was limited, and while late April brings Spring to much of the country, the highest elevations of the park received significant snowfall the first few days of our trip. So, visiting the peak of Hurricane Ridge was off our itinerary.

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Lake Crescent greeted us with a stunning sunrise despite a slight rain shower (the first of our trip!). No sunrise photography journey would be complete without the reward of a proper breakfast, so we returned to town for an outstanding and filling meal at the New Day Eatery.

With bellies full and much coffee consumed, it was time to return to Lake Crescent for the short hike to Merrymere Falls. Olympic National Park covers over one million acres, ranging from wild rocky coastlines to glacier-capped mountains to mind-blowing old-growth rainforests. The hike to the falls was our first introduction to the mossy wonderland the park is known for.

I had to constantly check the white balance on my camera because every photo looked impossibly green. But they were all accurate representations of what I saw with my eyes. With dozens of types of moss covering the ground and living on every tree the eye can see, the forest is greener than anything you’ve seen.

Hiking through trails of the Hoh Rainforest brought even more green overload with hanging losses flowing in the breeze. In most cases, the moss is so thick you can’t see the bark of the tree it grows on. I couldn’t help but think of the area’s mythical mascot, the Sasquatch, as the long mosses made trees look like fur-covered creatures.

No trip to the area would be complete without a stop at one of the many beaches along the Pacific Ocean. It may be a two-hour drive from Port Angeles, but sunset at Rialto Beach is worth it. We were not blessed with the most colorful or dazzling sunset, but the location made even a middling sunset stunning.

The offshore and onshore rocks make this coastline a spectacular setting for violent motion and the serene beauty of nature. Sprinkle in a few bald eagles, and you have yourself a true American treat.

The towering rock islands near the famous “Hole-in-the-wall” beautifully framed our sunset. Meanwhile, the surrounding tide pools offered unfettered views and interactions with sea creatures typically seen in aquariums. The experience was one to remember, even if things were chilly.

The contrast between a dense urban city and untamed nature made this trip an excellent reminder of how the environment impacts us. The feel of days in the city couldn’t be more different from those spent in nature. Both have pros and cons, and I wouldn’t want to live in one without time spent in the other.

If you haven’t visited this area of the country, you truly need to add it to your list. If you prefer the city lights or hikes in the rainforest, you will not be disappointed, but I recommend doing both.

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This was my second time at the Sebring 12 hours, but it was my first time as a credentialed media member. I have covered the Rolex 24 at Daytona three times before and understand what to expect at that longer event. Thus, I have a decent strategy for attacking the day-long race without too much fatigue. Sebring presented a different challenge that I didn’t give enough respect to.

I live in Nashville, TN, but I spent a decade living in West and South Texas and a few years in the Middle East. I feel comfortable saying that I know heat and what it can do to you if you don’t prepare. Spring in Nashville has been quite pleasant, with fluctuating temperatures between the low 50s and the low 70s.

When I packed for the race, I considered all the potential scenarios and made sure I had my rain gear, sunscreen, a good hat, and clothing made for hot weather that included sun protection.

Sebring greeted me with bright sun and temperatures in the mid-eighties, which I expected. What I forgot about was the humidity. I worked races at Sebring when I was with PCA Club Racing, but those races were in February. Those events provided me with a great familiarity with the track and its facilities, but they also gave me false comfort because it is rarely humid during those events.

I know how to stay hydrated, but walking the paddock area and the track itself while trying to capture quality images makes it difficult to always carry water. The track did a solid job providing media with water, and whenever I returned to the media room, I made sure to down a bottle, but it was never enough.

My fatigue grew each day as the week went on, and each day’s high temperature eclipsed the day before. To familiarize myself with the entire track during Thursday’s practice and race sessions, I walked a little over eleven miles, and while I tried to drink as much water as possible, it was not enough. Friday brought fewer on-track events and, therefore, an opportunity to take it easy, so I only logged 8.5 miles.

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When Saturday (race day) arrived, I was at the track at 6:30 am to get settled, check my gear, and get out to the paddock to capture the cars as they traveled down the narrow lane to the staging area before practice. It is a well-known photo op, as the sun rises behind the cars, making for some glorious photo compositions.

As you would expect, Saturday was the hottest day of the week and the day my fatigue peaked. The race began at 9:40 am, and I spent the first few hours walking the inner sections of the track to cover the corners where most of the early-race jostling tends to happen.

By 1 pm, I was wiped out and needed to retreat to the air-conditioned media room to review what I had photographed, hydrate, and recover. By the time the race ended at 9:40 pm, I had covered another twelve miles, was dehydrated, and exhausted. As I sat in the Winner’s Circle awaiting the podium celebrations for each of the four classes represented in the race, all I could think about was getting back to my Airbnb, taking a shower, and going to sleep. Perhaps that’s why most of my photos of the winners are crap.

Not correctly managing my hydration, sun exposure, and fatigue cost me opportunities to capture some spectacular photos. I still recorded more than required, but my performance would've been sub-par if I had been working for a team or other type of client. That is something I cannot afford to have happen in the future, which is my primary lesson learned from the race.

Endurance racing is always a spectacle of perseverance for the drivers and crew members, but few people think of the toll it takes on those covering the event. Experience can lead to success, but only if you internalize and use the lessons learned from each event to improve for the next one. I will surely use my Sebring adventure this year to ensure I am better physically capable of providing continuous coverage regardless of the elements.

The next race I cover will be a completely different environment from Sebring. For one, it will only be six hours instead of twelve, so I have to provide the same amount of content in half the time. It will also be in upstate New York in the middle of June—a very different environment with its hazards and obstacles.

Every race I cover expands my bag of tricks regarding my photographic skills and from a planning and execution standpoint. Hydration will still be essential for Watkins Glen, but so will bug spray.

To see a complete Sebring photo gallery, check out my website here.

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The WEC race was the Qatar Airways Qatar 1812km (just rolls off the tongue) endurance race held in, you guessed it, Qatar at the Lusail International Circuit. The track surface looked spectacular, with brilliantly colored run-off areas and heavy influences of the magnificent shade of purple from the Qatari flag. The paddock buildings were clean and modern, the lighting around the track was quite bright, and the towering structure for the race officials and luxury suites looked great on camera. It is probably a fantastic place from which to view the circuit.

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The problem was that you couldn’t help but notice the barren desert surrounding everything that wasn’t paved. Then there were the obvious signs of recent and ongoing construction, such as open pits and trenches just off the track and cranes and bulldozers parked haphazardly around the outskirts of the circuit. Not exactly a scenic vista.

These “issues” are natural side effects of rapid growth and the effort required to be a top-tier international venue. The Lusail circuit now hosts not just the WEC but also Moto GP, several regional series, and, of course, the granddaddy of them all, Formula 1.

From the races I have watched, the Lusail team has done a spectacular job creating a circuit capable of producing entertaining racing. The relatively remote location on the northern outskirts of Doha probably results in few noise complaints from neighbors, but it holds the venue back when viewed on TV. There isn’t any sizzle when the camera pans the cars through the long corners. The shot shows nothing but white sand and the construction mentioned above.

A quick look on Google Maps will show that the circuit is not far from the Persian Gulf. However, due to the flat terrain, a viewer could spot just a glimpse of the water from the various trackside cameras during the race.

Compare that to the Formula 1 race in the neighboring country of Bahrain at the Bahrain International Circuit. The track is similarly located on the outskirts of civilization, but it looked spectacular on TV. One of the main differences was the time of the race. Being an endurance race lasting just under 10 hours, the Qatar event began in the day and finished under the lights in the early evening hours. The Formula 1 race was roughly two hours long and was held entirely at night.

The dazzling lights on and around the track hid the desert and provided a beautiful backdrop to the spectacle of F1 cars on the circuit. The track isn’t just well lit for the drivers, it is designed to be attractive to the eyes of spectators both in person, and on TV. That made a huge difference in the feel of the event from my perspective thousands of miles away.

Racing at night always looks more dramatic, with sparks flying as the cars bottom out on the track and the glow of brake rotors as they slow for a corner. With sportscar racing, the different colors and styles of headlights add to the spectacle. It just looks better, especially on TV, and especially if the area surrounding the track isn’t, well, let’s say, all that pretty.

The Qatari track has existed for almost 20 years, but it has only seen the world’s top-tier racing series for the last three and has been undergoing rapid changes based on its recent experience at this level. It shouldn’t take long for the organizers to paint and decorate it to ensure it looks good on camera regardless of the race time. Other Middle Eastern tracks with more experience (Bahrain and Abu Dhabi) have found a way to look spectacular, and I’m sure Qatar will, too.

The positive is that the racing was great. The Qatari track has a smart blend of long sweeping corners, short, high-speed straights, and smooth tarmac reminiscent of larger, more storied venues.

While these facilities will never have the lush green backdrop of a Spa Francorchamps or Road America to boost the romantic quality of their races, I have no doubt the circuits will build a history of exciting racing and their own beauty. In the interim, it may take creative production work and camera placement to help television viewers.

The following two weeks provide more exciting examples as Formula 1 attacks the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia and the IMSA series readies for the famed Twelve Hours of Sebring in Florida. The Saudi track is very new, with no provenance of history, but it has its claims to fame. It is the fastest street circuit ever in Formula 1 and the third-longest track on the calendar.

It is also built along the Red Sea and, critically, takes place at night, where wild LED lighting can make the facility look amazing. As a street circuit, it benefits from the glimmering skyscrapers and city lights, adding to the aesthetic quality when seen from the helicopter camera filming the race.

Sebring International Raceway in Florida would appear even bleaker to the casual observer than the tracks mentioned thus far. It is located in the heart of Florida’s orange belt on an old World War II Army Air Corps training airbase and has zero elevation to speak of. But the storied past of decades of racing, the legends who have graced the track, and the brutality of the bumps in the 80-year-old concrete grant Sebring a mystique the other tracks can only hope to attain.

Sebring is a perfect example for Qatar and other tracks that are not graced with rolling hills and lush forests. While it certainly helps, a race track doesn’t need to be beautiful; it just needs to be good.

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Just nine minutes into the first practice for the race, the first moments of payoff from a year-long construction project drawing the ire of thousands of residents and tourists alike, the red flag flew, and two multi-million dollar race cars were ruined. Why? The concrete surrounding a water valve cover failed under the incredible vibration and suction of state-of-the-art Formula 1 cars racing over it at top speed. Ouch.

Of course, the “internet” has quickly lambasted anyone involved in creating the event and circuit as idiots for failure to foresee such a thing. I saw the phrase “shitshow” on my Instagram feed more than a dozen times.

Street circuit races have their fans and detractors, and they are often a mixed bag of success and failure. Any time you take public roads and convert them into a high-speed race track, there will be less than optimal aspects. From the construction and paving efforts necessary to create a suitable (we hope) race surface that disrupts local traffic leading up to the event to the required road closures and disruption to daily routines during the race weekend, there will be unhappy people.

The best race organizers can do is put on a show that is good for the fans and the race teams so that all of the pain leading up to the event is evened out by the revenue, attention, and excitement the race creates. I have seen this happen live and in person as someone who lived a few hundred yards away from the course layout for the inaugural Music City Grand Prix.

For the most part, I have to say that the organizers of the Nashville race have done an exceptional job of mitigating inconvenience to residents and tourists while building the course each year. The event has never been perfect, and the surface started life as almost too rough to race on but has been refined each year. But as much as there are many parallels between the cities, Nashville is not Las Vegas, and Indy Car is not Formula 1.

Las Vegas will not get a pass on anything for a race that has cost around half a billion dollars to produce and is watched by nearly one hundred million people worldwide. So far, things are off to a very rough start. We will probably never know precisely why the utility cover did not stay in place. I have to assume that each one on the circuit had been mapped out and welded or otherwise secured before cars hit the track because that has been a standard practice for street circuits for some time. But things get overlooked, and this was either a minor oversight or an unforeseen issue that led to an outsized impact.

It is certainly not the first time a street circuit has had similar issues. Most recently, in the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a similar drain cover was dislodged and damaged George Russell’s Williams car during practice. Other street circuits in Formula 1 and other race series have had similar issues with utility covers and potholes. Not to mention problems with the curbing a few weeks ago in Qatar that required a change to the track layout.

Canceling the first practice and substantially delaying the second had follow-on effects, making the news as security was seen removing spectators from seats they had paid thousands of dollars for. The scheduled security shifts had ended because the delay had pushed the schedule to the right. Without adequate security, the organizers had to close the track, removing all fans from the stands for the final practice session.

For anyone on the outside looking in, this is a disastrous start to the inaugural event. Even for experienced event organizers, this is so far from how you want a race to begin it’s hard to see how they will recover. But I’m sure they will, and by the end of the weekend, I hope the race lives up to the hype and is worth the effort and inconvenience.

This is also a fantastic lesson and gut-check moment for all other cities that host street circuit racing, whether preparing for their second race (Chicago) or close to the fiftieth event (Long Beach). I especially hope the organizers of my hometown Music City Grand Prix have been watching (and I know they are) because while the 2024 race will be the fourth one, it will have an entirely new layout through the city and one that poses very similar problems to that of the Vegas race.

Due to construction beginning on a new football stadium for the Tennessee Titans, the original track layout cannot be used for the next three years. At the 2023 race, the organizers unveiled the new course that will race through the heart of downtown Nashville including the famous lower Broadway area, home to the neon-coated bars, Honky Tonks, and hotels.

The track will close several downtown city blocks containing apartment buildings and hotels. I initially wasn’t sure how this could work as people living and staying in the area “inside the track” will still need to be able to go to work or move around outside of downtown. But Vegas solved similar problems with massive temporary bridges built not for pedestrians but for regular traffic to go over the track. Using the same system, I can see how the track can be closed, and the people living/staying in the closed area can still come and go as they need, but it will require a lot of work.

Also, several streets that will see Indy cars racing on them for the first time are in terrible condition. I drive them weekly; they are bad, with numerous potholes and broken, uneven asphalt. Significant paving work is required before the event while serving as critical residential and tourist traffic routes. With less than a year to the race, I feel it needs to begin soon to avoid what we see in Vegas now.

At least the Music City Grand Prix won’t have to deal with the schedule issues Vegas has, which are so convoluted and odd that I won’t even begin to get into it here. If you want to read about why the racing doesn’t start until midnight Eastern time, you can Google it; there are plenty of rants, I mean articles covering that topic.

Two of these concepts are stunning, and I hope they become real-world products ASAP: the Mazda Iconic SP and the Honda Prelude concept. Of the two, the Honda looks like it could be on a dealer lot this spring; the Mazda is far more “concept-car” looking but could easily be road-worthy with a few tweaks here and there.

Of course, the industry has a long and torrid history of providing us with juicy concept cars that get everyone excited, only to never produce anything remotely like them or to pull the rug out entirely and say, “Glad you liked that design, but here’s the real WRX.” Sorry, Subaru, but it’s true: you have teased the public too often with concept cars only to fail to deliver.

Some concept cars are just that, concepts. They are design exercises or engineering projects to see what could be done with a particular product or propulsion system. That was certainly the case in the 50s and 60s when truly space-age concepts were debuted at auto shows with no real pretense they would ever be a vehicle a consumer could purchase. These are good things that provide designers room to breathe and exercise their skills while raising brand awareness. I get it.

But over time, many manufacturers trained us to believe the concept was more of a stylized version of a car that would soon be on dealer lots. Porsche has reliably delivered since 1993, when the Boxster concept debuted at the Detroit Auto Show. Yes, the production car was changed from the concept (which was for the better regarding the interior), but the shape and design held firm. The road car’s resemblance to the concept is easy to see. Then, they teased the public with a supercar at the 2000 Paris Motor Show, and the production of the 2004 Carerra GT had only minor revisions from the concept.

Porsche again debuted near production-ready concept cars at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show (918 Spyder) and the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show (Mission E). The 918 Spyder and the Mission E (which became the Porsche Taycan in production form) were thinly veiled production cars. Minor design or functional changes were made for production, and many of those were obvious items such as cameras for side mirrors, giant wheels, or impossibly low ride height or flared side trim pieces.

But then there is Cadillac—a brand with a storied history but also one of the worst concept car offenders. Remember the 2003 Cadillac Sixteen? Striking, sporting, revelatory for the brand at the time, and never even came close to production. How about the 2011 Cadillac Ciel, a massive droptop that would make any titan of industry drool. Too bad they were never produced.

Cadillac couldn’t stop there; they had to go one better at the 2013 Pebble Beach Concept Lawn and show off the Cadillac Elmiraj. Insert drool emoji here. This car was stunning, better looking than anything from the European luxury competition, and it looked like a production-ready vehicle. Surely, this time, Cadillac would pay off for its customers and make this beauty right? Wrong. Some styling cues found their way into Cadillac’s revamped lineup, but nothing worth discussing.

Which brings me back to this year’s Japan Mobility Show. At a time when the auto industry is pulled in several directions with future propulsion system options and ever-changing political climates, it is refreshing to see that people are still thinking about making fun cars. Not only that, but fun cars that are cleaner (with hybrid or electric powertrains) and, presumably, items a person with a reasonable annual salary can afford.

It’s one thing to introduce a million-dollar hyper electric-car concept with 2000 horsepower; it is far more interesting to see a hybrid or electric small, lightweight* sports car that should be in the average new-car ballpark of $45,000. Not that $45K is cheap, but it is the average nowadays, and it can be attained as opposed to the Rimac Nevera and its ilk.

Even as I write this, Toyota and Nissan have unveiled their concept specials at the show. The Toyota is an electric take on a modern MR2, and I am down for it, but I fear it may be more concept than car. I hope I am wrong because Toyota has been hitting home runs with the GR-series cars (Supra, 86, and Corolla). As for the Nissan concept, maybe that should’ve been left in the drawing room… Thankfully, I don’t think there is any chance of the Hyper Force Concept, or anything approximating it, seeing time in the real world.

The auto news has been very interesting this week because of these concepts. The fact that many were unexpected and surprising moves from brands known for their conservative approach to design is even more exciting. It almost reminds me of the 1990s when the prominent Japanese automakers were cranking out sports cars that people wanted and could afford. I certainly hope we are heading back in that direction. We’ll see.

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I agree that in many situations in life, you make your luck. Hard work, dedication, and perseverance often pay off in ways that appear to be “lucky” to people who haven’t witnessed the long hours of study or training that preceded success. But I’m not sure luck only exists as a by-product of your effort or lack thereof. That’s probably because I am a motorsports fan and have witnessed many hard-working drivers and teams do everything they should and yet still be defeated.

I was at the season finale race for the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship series at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta this weekend. This annual race is a ten-hour endurance event named “Petit Le Mans” in honor of the pinnacle of sportscar endurance racing, the 24 Hours of Le Mans held in France for the past 100 years.

Petit Le Mans is no stranger to spectacle that borders on legend, with championships in multiple racing classes typically on the line. The last several years have seen bold and borderline reckless pass attempts in the closing laps as teams have been in a situation where the race winner is also crowned the season champion. Imagine the pressure when a season of 10 or 12 races comes down to a final 10-hour event to determine who wins. And then that 10-hour race comes down to the last two laps. Rational thought and self-preservation are often abandoned, and the result is typically a dramatic championship victory or a pile of wrecked race cars.

But drivers make conscious decisions to take those risks, and luck rarely has much to do with it. Throughout the other nine-and-a-half hours of racing, luck can be found, some good, but a lot bad. This year’s event was no different, as several teams were struck down early in what can only be described as episodes of bad luck.

The first was a team I documented during the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsports entry into the top-tier prototype (GTP) class. The team entered the race third in the points for the season title, just five points behind the leader. When 30 points separate the first-place finisher from second place, five points is practically nothing.

The two Porsche entries have had an up-and-down season but seemed poised to be a genuine threat for the win. After little more than an hour of racing, the No. 6 car, with British driver Nick Tandy behind the wheel, lost all chances of winning the race and the championship. Tandy was approaching turn 10A, a hard braking zone after the fastest section of the track, when two cars ahead of him made contact, sending one of them into the side of his car, which then careened off the track and into the wall.

Tandy had done nothing wrong. He ran well with quick lap times and executed the team’s chosen strategy. He wasn’t pushing the limits, and he wasn’t making any risky passes. He was driving his lap, as were 50 other cars on the track. The two cars responsible for the incident weren’t in his class and weren’t racing Tandy; he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Isn’t that bad luck?

If Tandy had been a few tenths of a second faster, he would’ve missed the wreck, a few tenths slower, and he would’ve seen it happen and had room to avoid the cars. Had his and the rest of the No. 6 team’s efforts throughout the season “made” this incident occur, or was this just bad luck?

Another team that suffered an ignominious defeat was the GTD Pro class entry from Corvette Racing. The factory-backed Corvette Racing team has been a staple in American sportscar racing for 25 years, but 2023 was its final year as Chevrolet is transitioning to a customer-based racing program for 2024. They have been among the best teams in the paddock with 127 victories, nine wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and 14 drivers and manufacturers titles.

The No. 3 Corvette did not start the race in the pole position, but they soon found themselves leading the class. While they were not in contention for the season title, which was clinched by the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F as soon as they took the green flag, they emerged as the car to beat on Saturday until about five hours into the race.

As long-time Corvette driver, Tommy Milner raced down the front straight and into turn one, the engine sputtered, and the car died. He was able to coast up the hill and into turn three before pulling off the track and out of the race. The exact cause was not apparent or announced at the track, but something in the engine let go, and a storied program lost the chance to end on a high note.

A mechanical failure could result from poor performance and fall into the “making your luck” category, but it can also be no one’s fault. You can do everything correctly and still have a part fail. I consider that bad luck and not of anyone’s making.

While Tandy and Milner may not say what happened to them was “bad luck,” I think most people would. I know I do. But what do I know? I’m a guy who flew every sortie in a 20-year career with the same 50-cent piece in my flight suit pocket. Not that I’m superstitious or anything. Because that would be bad luck.

I’ve been home for a few days and am still unsure if I have fully processed the four-day extravaganza I just experienced. It isn’t easy to describe to anyone not swimming in the pool of Porsche, but I’ll try. Imagine going to a racetrack with tens of thousands of people all routing for the same team and having cars from the 1950s to the present day race on the track nearly every minute. You may have only heard of some of these cars but never seen them in person.

At the same time, imagine there were also ten different Cars and Coffee experiences scattered around the facility, along with a small county fair, a concert or DJ, live interviews, and random celebrities roaming around. Oh, and the line for the merchandise store averaged two-and-a-half hours of wait time every, single, day.

If you imagine this bizarre convergence of experiences, it probably scratches the surface of what Rennsport Reunions are like. They are a pure and unadulterated celebration of the Porsche brand, its racing history, and the people who made and continue to make it. Oh yeah, and all the brand fans whose support is deeply rooted and just maybe a little cultish. 

To put it another way, I spent four days at Weathertech Laguna Seca Raceway and walked about 20,000 steps daily. I walked through the main paddock area dozens of times, crossed the Continental Tire bridge to the vendor row and Porsche Club of America tent and massive parking corrals as many times, and hiked to the top of the famed Corkscrew and back a few times. Yet, as I look at Instagram, I see photos of cars, people, and locations I somehow missed. How is that possible?

At one point, I sat on a picnic table in the heart of the paddock and just watched the masses pass by. It was amazing. Race cars sputtered at walking speed as hoards of people walked in all directions alongside the main “street.” Staff members directing traffic with whistles and frantically waived hands tried to get people’s attention to direct them from oncoming traffic. Most of which were the aforementioned race cars with brakes that don’t work so well when they are not hot to the touch. 

I felt for the staff members trying to clear the path, but I completely understood the spectators because no one knew where to look. It is easy to say they should have known to stay out of the road, but sometimes that road was a pedestrian walkway and sometimes a path for vehicles, but all the time, it was surrounded by shiny objects of desire that made everyone stop and stare. 

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The weather was fantastic, except for Saturday, which was cold, windy, and rainy. It was not a great recipe for a motorsports event or a car show, but while the crowd was noticeably thinner, the action did not cease. The wet weather provided some exciting moments on track, with six-figure cars pirouetting out of corners and nearly hitting other vehicles or cement walls. Several drivers of some of the more fragile and expensive vintage race cars (their values have two commas) decided to wait until later when the track had dried, and I don’t blame them. 

By the late afternoon, the rain was gone, and the weather was perfectly agreeable for the planned concert that evening. Porsche managed to cater to all generations of fans with its displays, gaming centers, DJs, and bands. Still, Saturday evening’s Doobie Brothers concert was aimed at their largest demographic and was a huge hit. 

The “lifesize” Transformers on display were yet another reminder of Porsche’s brilliant marketing people, as they were an integral part of this summer’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts movie, screened on the main stage Friday night. Three of the movie’s hero Autobots were on display the entire event, along with the exceptional and rare 911 Carrera RS 3.8 hero car (only 55 Carrera RS 3.8 cars were ever produced).  

During the event, I was lucky to be a spectator and freelancer for the Porsche Club of America. I wrote and photographed different features for the “Live Blog” PCA ran on their main website, which you can read here at pca.org, and gathered photos and interviews for upcoming articles in their new quarterly publication, Club Racer. 

Based on my last post, I consciously planted myself in one place several times to observe the activity around me while searching for unique photo opportunities. With over 4500 photos shot in four days, I still have much work to do, culling the unusable and out-of-focus from the keepers and then editing those. But while I continue to kick myself over what I “should’ve” shot, I think I came away with some great photos. 

More importantly, I had a fantastic experience, made new friends, reconnected with a treasured mentor, and made new contacts in the freelancer world. It was a magnificent event and one that I will not forget. I do not know when the next one will occur, but I am sure there will be another; they are typically held every three to five years. This was the seventh iteration, and they are only getting more popular and spectacular.

I will make one significant change for the next event: I will not fly there but drive my own Porsche and make an epic road trip out of the experience. Cars, especially Porsches, are made to be driven, and your experiences with them add to their value and yours.

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As I have written before, I am a checklist-oriented planner. I enjoy checking off a completed item and knowing I achieved a goal and earned a small victory. Most of my professional life has been task-driven. There was always room for improvisation and creativity, but only within a given set of rules or boundaries. 

My goal-oriented personality has led to some amusing moments while pursuing a degree in Commercial Photography. I have heard from more than one instructor that the photo I made was technically perfect and that I met all the listed goals of an assignment except for one: my photo was stunningly dull. When you are practicing something on the more artistic spectrum, checking all the boxes doesn’t necessarily produce success.

I’ve had to learn around or outright break some old habits. I’ve appreciated the challenge, but it has not been easy, and I was recently reminded that I have a long way to go. 

This week’s latest example had me lose sight of the creative flow and fall back to checklist-conquering habits. I had to produce a street photography photo essay in downtown Nashville. My idea was to create a tourist-oriented piece by capturing tourists doing tourist things. These scenes play out thousands of times daily on “lower Broadway.” They are sometimes annoying but almost always entertaining. 

We were on location just before sunset, and I noticed the sun perfectly positioned between two signature buildings on the Nashville skyline. I tried to get a quick shot to see if I could make something enjoyable. It wouldn’t work for my project; it was just a cool shot. I manipulated the settings on my camera to get a nice starburst effect on the sun, but overall, the image was just meh. So I bailed on it and marched toward downtown to get the photos I had in mind for the class. I immediately encountered a couple having their picture taken on the pedestrian bridge and quickly found many of the other scenes I envisioned for my assignment.

Had I been open to different ideas or just the moment’s inspiration, I probably would have done what my instructor did. As a professional photographer with over ten years of experience, he took the time to step back and see what kind of scene he could capture. His result was a fantastic shot of the sunset beaming between the buildings with the pedestrian bridge in the foreground and the blurred motion of two people riding their bicycles past him for extra depth and interest. 

In other words, he relaxed and observed the entire scene to see what opportunity lay before him. I was trying to complete my checklist. My narrow focus on the images I “had to get” prevented me from seeing the other images surrounding me. 

I eventually found some great scenes and captured the feel I sought as tourists enjoyed the city. I felt pretty good about what I had as I left downtown and drove back to the school. There, we looked at the photos everyone made in class. Then I saw the instructor’s photo and realized I again missed the forest for the trees. 

I succeeded in the assignment but missed the bigger picture and let moments of creativity pass me. The fact that my instructor made such a superior photo isn’t surprising; he’s an excellent photographer. But the fact that I let myself be consumed with a task when I should’ve been more open to my surroundings, again, left me disappointed in myself. 

The doubts about whether I could be a “Creative” started creeping in again. I know this is part of the process, but I feel I should be doing better by now. Planning is required for most great photography. Yes, sometimes you are just in the right place at the right time, but typically, a good photo comes from at least some planning. Even if it is as minimal as knowing where the sun will be and positioning yourself in an area with good lighting or interesting shadows.

I have a long way to go to see the world around me the way a good photographer should. I think it’s time for me to re-read my copy of “How to See” by George Nelson.

I feel I’ll get there eventually, and recognizing when I fail or am about to fail is an integral part of the journey. But who knows, maybe you can’t learn to be creative. Maybe I need to create a few standing checklist steps that say:

• Stop

• Observe everything

• Be open to the unplanned

Concours judging can go to levels that make a military white glove barracks inspection look tame. They are not for the faint of heart, and at the highest levels, judges will deduct points for whisps of dirt on suspension components or incorrect fasteners on a battery tie-down. For those who relish in the most minute details, Concours shows are the ultimate events. I am not one of those people. But I do enjoy looking at beautiful cars.

Planning an event like this takes a significant undertaking from many people, all of which can be dashed by Mother Nature. On this Saturday, it rained. The many thanks from the people attending and an increased chance of winning a trophy awaited owners who braved the conditions. Several competitors opted to stay home due to heavy rains in the surrounding areas. Thankfully, the rain we saw at the event wasn’t severe and never lasted too long.  

From brand-new cars (200-300 miles on the odometer) to ones from the seventies with a single owner, the eye candy on the lawn Saturday was excellent. Amongst all of the candy-colored Porsches was one that was bound to elicit the most conversation. The car and ones like it tend to drive a massive wedge between people regardless of how much they share in their automotive passion. 

The car I am writing about is a 1974 Porsche 911 SC Targa. On the surface, it looked like a nicely modified vintage air-cooled 911. It wore a younger model's front and rear bumpers, modern Recaro seats, and several interior upgrades. But the cause of consternation for many people was under the bonnet and the front trunk, or “frunk.” 

The first clue that something was amiss was the sound or lack of it. Where once lived a quintessential German flat-six engine now houses batteries. That’s right, this vintage 911 is now an EV. 

While I have my opinions, in the end, I am mostly indifferent to what an owner wants to do to their vehicle. Suppose you pull out a fantastic flat-six or V8 engine and swap in a turbo four-cylinder because that’s your jam; fine. It might not be what I would do, but it’s not my car, so who cares? But I am mixed when it comes to swapping out Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) for an electric powertrain in a vintage car. 

I have problems with EV swaps in vintage cars where the powerplant defines the enjoyment of the vehicle (think big-block Corvette, hi-revving small displacement Ferrari V-8s, or Porsche flat-sixes). But I think an EV-swapped Volkswagen Bus or a 1969 Lincoln Continental would be pretty sweet and vastly improve upon the original. 

But if the car in question was a lost cause and then resurrected as an EV, all I have to say is bravo. In that instance, someone brought a car back from the dead and made it into something interesting, which enthusiasts should celebrate. 

This 911 was purchased as a crusty hull with no engine. The owner didn’t take an appreciating asset and rip the guts out for the hell of it. He took a husk of a 911 that would probably never be anything of value and made it an exciting project. 

The owner spent a lot of time, and I would assume money assembling the parts taken from a wrecked Tesla Model S to create an electric 911 that still drives and looks like a 911 should, just with a boatload more torque than any air-cooled 911 ever had. The attention to detail and level of finish is very impressive. I love it. In the land of the internet and social media, my opinion is probably the minority one.

The Concours attendees seemed to appreciate it as well. I’m sure some felt it was sacrilege, but you can’t please everyone, so don’t even try. There were many exceptional cars on display. This EV conversion was probably the most unique, but certainly not the only one worthy of attention. 

You don’t have to be a PCA member to attend one of these events, and the people are generally quite warm and welcome to newbies and non-members alike. If you see a similar event advertised by a local car club, you should check it out. You never know who you might meet, what you might see, or what it may inspire you to do with your car. 

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Whether your chosen form of football resides on high school fields or college or professional stadiums, September means it’s game time. It’s time to evaluate your team’s chances of victory this season, time to hedge your bets and be openly optimistic even if you have no reason to be. It is time to plan for tailgates and evenings and afternoons spent with friends cheering for or against the teams on the field. 

I love football. I spent my childhood watching football every Sunday. I have always favored the NFL over college football, but enjoy a good college matchup. I still don’t understand the legions of fans (mainly in the South) who never attended a school but root for them as if they played for the team, but I guess I don’t have to. It’s all part of the wonderfully irrational state of being a fan.

Football is also an excellent signal for the arrival of Fall, which is the best part for me. The games start when the weather is still quite warm, but you know that by the middle of the season, you will need a good coat and hat to be comfortable at the game. Hot coffee or chocolate will be a gameday requirement if you want to be happy (maybe with something extra added for fun).

I spent most of my formative years in New Hampshire, and even though I haven’t lived there in over 25 years, I still think that is why Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year. Lord knows it’s not because I was ready to witness a devastatingly successful season from my favorite team, the New England Patriots. People less than 30 years old may not understand this, but my favorite team sucked for a very long time. I thoroughly enjoyed watching their success during the 2000s but truly appreciated it because it was unexpected. Growing up, I assumed I would never live to see a Patriots team win the Super Bowl; that was just how it was, until it wasn’t.

Fall also brings back great memories of college days on the University of New Hampshire’s beautiful campus, watching the leaves turn every rich color in the Crayola catalog. Fall is also my favorite season for sartorial reasons. I grew up admiring the preppy J.Crew, L.L. Bean, and Ralph Lauren styles. Nothing says fall like a great pair of jeans or corduroy pants with a flannel shirt or a roll-neck sweater—oh, and tweed, lots of tweed. 

Since graduating college, I have lived long stretches in areas of the US that don’t experience a true Fall season; they just got from really hot to slightly less hot before a brief winter called February. But that never soured my excitement and love for the season.

Even if the weather didn’t change much, or there was no fall foliage to look at, there was always football. Football is the indomitable sign that Fall has arrived. With the college season already a few games old and the NFL having just kicked off the 2023 season, I am looking forward to Fall and football again.

Now that I live in the Nashville, TN area, I am in a city with a football spirit and pride for their Titans that is fun to watch and be a part of (I still root for the Patriots, but it is nice that one of the heroes of the early 2000’s Patriot teams, Mike Vrabel, is the Titans head coach).

This area of Tennessee has many seasons; thankfully, one is a legitimate Fall season, even if it is usually too short. Although the line between Fall and Winter often gets blurred, that’s okay. We still have Fall foliage to observe and photograph. With the spectacular roads around the state, I can often combine two of my passions as I attack the twisties in my Boxster while occasionally stopping to take in the sights and maybe shoot a nice landscape photo or two.

All this will be done while wearing a nice sweater, maybe a sport coat for extra style and layering. And don’t forget a cashmere knit hat to keep my head warm as I drive with the top down. As I said, I have been outside of New Hampshire for a long time, but the New England prep kid has never left my wardrobe.

Cheers to Fall and football! May your team do well, as long as they aren’t playing the Patriots.

Planning was a critical part of my prior career, and I have been good at, or at least enjoyed, planning since I was a kid. My professional planning required arriving at a target at a precise moment. But it also taught me that a perfect plan is just the framework you improvise from. As the popular synopsis of Motke the Elder’s saying goes, “No plan survives contact with the enemy,” or my favorite modern take from Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” 

Knowing that the act of planning is more impactful than the actual plan is essential. I find comfort in the plan’s structure and enjoy the freedom to play around in real time. Never be too rigid with your plan. 

Travel brings an entirely different element to planning because I know that whatever work or frustration I go through will be rewarded by a rich experience later. I am writing about this because I’ve been planning a trip my wife and I will take this winter. We’ve always wanted to experience German Christmas markets together. This year, we are taking some time to do so while also experiencing the Christmas holiday in a city and country we’ve never visited before, Prague, Czech Republic. 

The trip itself is not cosmic, but I have tried to use every travel hack I’ve learned to make this trip as comfortable and luxurious as possible while spending as little money as possible. Most of the time, luxury and frugal spending are not friends, and we are certainly not flying first class or staying in penthouse suites. Still, it should be a nice trip with some good travel hacks and judicious use of credit card and reward account points. 

I have followed YouTube travelers Kara and Nate for several years and picked up a few mileage/points and travel hacking tips from their journeys and the companies they created, Fare Drop and the Daily Drop. The key to maximizing points for travel is lots of research and a little luck in timing. 

Thanks to a Fare Drop price alert, I got round-trip flights from New York to Prague for my wife and me for less than the going price for a round-trip ticket for one person. Honestly, I think our flights could be categorized as a “mistake fare” because they were ridiculously cheaper than the regular pricing.

Once the airline tickets were secured, it was just a matter of figuring out which cities to visit and in what order and using our credit card points and travel portals to book hotels. I’m happy to say that we now have our rooms booked for the stay, and we paid almost no money out of pocket for any of them. To top it off, we still have enough points left over to cover the train tickets we will purchase to travel between different cities on our trip. 

All these savings mean something crucial for the trip: more money for fantastic local foods and shopping at the Christmas markets. I will write more about the journey as it gets closer. Still, I felt the need to celebrate my love of planning and the fact that I have now completed the framework of our upcoming excursion. Will every event unfold as I have designed? Probably not (I hope the flights go according to schedule), and that’s okay.  A little unpredictability and spontaneity are part of the process and should be embraced.

Also, for those of you who have followed my blog for a while now (thank you!), you may notice something is a little different. My blog has a new home at Substack, so the email notice you receive may look slightly different, but rest assured, it is still me.

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