2026 In Wheel Time Episodes

128 cars entered a factory stock dirt race and the winner took home $30,000. That single stat says a lot about where American racing energy is flowing right now, so we sit down with award-winning track announcer Rodney Rodriguez to unpack why dirt track racing in Texas and Louisiana keeps growing while asphalt fights for attention. We get into what “affordable” racing really means, how teams spend money, and why the crowds and car counts keep showing up for dirt. Then we zoom out to the driver p...

A car club is only as fun as the miles you actually drive, and Richard Jones proves it. We talk with the president of the Mustang Club of Houston about how an 80-member group keeps the calendar full, from casual Saturday cruises to bigger road trips and national Mustang gatherings. He shares what it’s like leading a club when “nobody else wants the job,” plus the simple systems that keep things moving without bogging everyone down. Richard also gets specific about his own ride: a 2020 Ford Musta...

A wheel stud that “may separate,” airbags that are “misassembled,” and fuel tanks that can leak after a crash. That’s not clickbait, that’s our recall list. We kick things off with straight talk on the latest automotive recalls, including 2026 Hyundai models, the Tesla Cybertruck, Volkswagen Taos, Land Rover Defender, Audi Q5 seat belt concerns, and even instrument panel display failures tied to the Dodge Charger EV and Jeep Wagoneer S. If you like your car news useful, fast, and a little skepti...

The fastest way to time-travel through car culture is to flip through old ads and we do exactly that, one glossy page at a time. We react to vintage magazine car advertisements packed with chrome, bold taglines, and illustrated renderings that feel closer to concept art than photography. Along the way, we ask a simple question with a complicated answer: why did car marketing used to feel so direct, and why does it feel so scattered now? From there, we chase the nostalgia into newsprint. We talk ...

Ford supplying boat propellers sounds like a punchline, until you hear what happened next. We break down a Detroit manufacturing story where Ford becomes the supplier for a startup propeller company and uses 3D sand casting to collapse lead times from months to days. It’s not just a cool headline, it’s a clear signal of how advanced manufacturing, additive manufacturing, and deep supplier networks can reshape a small business overnight. From there, we zoom out on the bigger question: are automak...

A racetrack doesn’t survive on horsepower alone, it survives on trust, safety, and giving people a reason to spend their Saturday together. We sit down with Steve Quien, General Manager of Pine Valley Raceway in Lufkin, Texas, to hear how a refurbished NHRA-sanctioned quarter-mile drag strip gets rebuilt the right way: smarter scheduling, clear communication when weather threatens, and a welcoming setup for racers traveling from Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Louisiana. We also dig into what ...

Tariffs aren’t just a headline, they’re a lever that can change where cars are built, what parts cost, and how fast automakers can commit to new investments. We walk through the big trade questions hanging over the auto industry, including the looming legal fight over tariffs and the upcoming USMCA review that could reshape North American manufacturing across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. If you’ve ever wondered why “policy uncertainty” shows up in car prices, this is the practical vers...

Jeep clubs don’t survive on mud alone. They survive when people feel welcomed, protected, and genuinely helped when something breaks on the trail. We sit down with Tim Mahaffey, President of the Lone Star Jeep Club, to talk about what happened to membership after COVID, why so many automotive communities quietly fade, and how a 30-year-old Texas Jeep club rebuilt momentum by getting serious about culture and member value. Tim shares how LSJC reframed the “why pay dues” question with practical pe...

Detroit’s skyline hides a different kind of museum: abandoned car factories where America’s automotive identity was forged, expanded, and then left behind. We take you through the stories that still cling to these buildings, from the legendary Packard Automotive Plant and its wartime manufacturing legacy to the massive Fisher Body Plant 21 and the hope of redevelopment through new loft plans. Along the way, we connect the dots between industrial design, urban exploration, and the uncomfortable q...

Your car doesn’t stay “reliable” by luck, it stays reliable because a technician knows how to diagnose, repair, and verify the fix. We sit down with Jennifer Maher, CEO of TechForce Foundation, and Christian Fuhr, a Ford Auto Tech Scholar in the Dallas Fort Worth area, to talk about what it really takes to enter the auto technician trade and why the country’s technician shortage is becoming everyone’s problem. We get specific about the funding and the path. Ford Philanthropy and Ford dealers hav...

Car ads can feel like a game you’re meant to lose, and we’re not letting that slide. We dig into the FTC’s warning letters sent to dozens of dealerships and major dealer groups over suspected illegal advertising practices and break down what the agency is targeting, including price ads that don’t reflect the true out-the-door cost. If you’ve ever shown up for a “deal” that magically required financing, a huge down payment, or a rebate you could never qualify for, you’ll recognize exactly why thi...

Granbury doesn’t just host a car show, it turns the whole square into a rolling festival. We’re getting you ready for the Lone Star Street Rod Association State Run in Granbury, Texas, where rows of street rods and resto-mods park right in the heart of town and the weekend feels like a reunion. From when cars start “trickling in” to what happens on Saturday and how the community treats these visitors like family, we lay out what you’ll see, where you’ll walk, and how to make the most of the trip...

A $5,500 Cadillac Fleetwood. A $39,900 Pontiac Catalina convertible. A clean 2007 GMC bringing nearly $20K. We jump into the week’s most eyebrow-raising Hemmings sold results and talk through what those numbers say about the collector car market right now, from big-body comfort cruisers to classics that keep climbing. If you’ve been wondering what your project is really worth or what it’ll cost to buy your next toy, these comps are the kind of reality check you can actually use. Then we get into...

A live road trip check-in should be simple, but when you’re a live car talk show, it turns into a full-speed sprint through the biggest stories of the week. We start with some real-time studio chaos, then dig into why Ford F-150 inventory is suddenly so tight and what a supply shock like an aluminum plant fire can do to prices, selection, and dealer lots across the country. Next, we get into the uncomfortable stuff: the FTC asking dealers to report other dealers who break federal vehicle adverti...

Castles, pirate hatches, trophy rooms, and a Manhattan condo that hit $30 million: we start by tracing how NASCAR success turns into real-world luxury, one jaw-dropping home at a time. We walk through the standout properties tied to names fans know, from Kevin Harvick’s fortress-like estate to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Key West pirate paradise, plus the trophy-ready design choices that make a driver’s house feel like a personal museum. Then we flip the focus from celebrity real estate to a hands-on e...

Randy Borcherding drops a surprise that instantly changes the vibe: he’s moved Painthouse out of Houston and into the mountains of Utah. We talk through the why behind the decision, the reality of relocating a hands-on custom car business, and what it feels like to start a new chapter at 60. Randy also shares how the move becomes official only recently, why he keeps things quiet until the dust settles, and what he actually gains day to day with less humidity, friendlier traffic, and a new pace o...

A 300-car convoy is a moving story, and we catch it while it’s happening. We get Sabre Sparkman and Bobby on the phone as they roll into Blanco, Texas, sharing a real-time update from the Hot Rod Tour of Texas, including the Victoria kickoff night, the symphony at Town Square, and what it takes to get hundreds of cars and 600 plus participants fed, fueled, and back on the road without chaos. We dig into what makes this tour work: all-new routes through the Texas Hill Country, smart lunch stops l...

Helium is the last thing most drivers think about until a car can’t ship because a chip can’t ship. We follow a surprising thread from helium balloons to the clean rooms where semiconductors are made, and why a strained global helium supply can raise fresh questions about automotive chip availability. If you remember the pandemic-era semiconductor shortage, this conversation makes one thing clear: the next bottleneck might come from a material most of us never associate with cars. We break down ...

Watching a car run on a dyno is pure theater, but the numbers can also save you money, guide smarter tuning, and even keep you safer. We head to Northeast Texas Community College in Mount Pleasant, Texas, to talk with Austin Maness from the Carol Shelby Auto Institute about their Dyno Day event and what really happens before a vehicle ever makes a pull. We get clear on what a dynamometer measures, why rear-wheel drive matters for their setup, and what participants actually learn from horsepower ...

Glowing tires were once pitched as one of the most dramatic developments in automotive history, and we can’t stop thinking about how close it came to being real. We dig into Goodyear’s illuminated tire experiment from the late 1950s and 1960s: translucent polyurethane “neothane,” dye colors, and small lights mounted inside the rim so the whole tire could shine at night. It’s a perfect slice of retro car culture, equal parts engineering ambition and marketing bravado, right down to the promise th...

A modern car can fail you in two very different ways: a broken part you can hear and feel, or a software and security issue you never see coming. We start with the real-world stuff first, running down this week’s biggest automotive recalls, including the Ford F-150 transmission problem that can trigger an unexpected downshift, plus a long list spanning Kia, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, Lexus, Tesla, Volkswagen, and more. We also revisit the Takata airbag mess and the simple step that still matters mo...

Gas at $6.50 a gallon changes the mood of any car conversation fast, and it kicks off a wide ranging hang with auto journalist Jack Nerad as we compare California’s pump prices with the rest of the country and unpack the idea of a coastal “weather tax.” We talk about why the Golden State stays irresistible to visit even when the politics, taxes, and cost of living feel like a constant headwind, and what those pressures mean for everyday drivers. From there, we get into the good stuff: what’s act...

Recalls are supposed to be rare. This week proves they’re practically a genre of automotive news all by themselves. We start by sorting through a big stack of safety and compliance issues across major brands, from Ford truck and SUV problems like wiper arm failures and trailer braking or signal concerns to GM’s backup camera glitches and even scarier talk of rear wheel lockup risk on diesel trucks and SUVs. If you follow automotive recalls, new car reliability, or just want to know what could af...

EV demand slows down, a classic American brand hints at a sedan return, and BMW flat-out says software is now the core of the car. That’s a lot of change for one Saturday, and we talk through what it means for real drivers and real enthusiasts when factories idle, platforms get shared, and “digital functions” become as important as horsepower. We hit the week’s automotive news from multiple angles: GM’s EV production pause in Detroit, the surprising direction of Buick’s future lineup, and the br...