Vintage Racing at Laguna Seca, with Jim Huff
Annotations will appear as you listen
0:00
37:54
Car
Toyota Supra
Car
Alfa Romeo Gta
Car
Ford Anglia
Car
Ford Mustang
Car
Shelby GT350
Car
Shelby Cobra
Car
Chevrolet Camaro
Car
Porsche 911
Car
Mclaren F1
Car
Jeep Renegade
Car
Datsun 510
Car
Honda S2000
Car
Ford GT40
Car
Ford Got Ford
LIVE
[Music]
The Bring a Trailer podcast.
>> Hello everybody and welcome back to the
Bring a Trailer podcast. Alex coming to
you from the studio at Bring a Trailer
headquarters joined by Randy Nonenberg.
Hey Randy.
>> Hey. Good to be here.
>> And a surprise guest who joined us a few
minutes before we started recording, Jim
Huff. Jim,
>> hello everybody.
>> Welcome.
>> Yeah, welcome. Thanks for I don't think
I've ever used your fresh name, Huff.
Jim Jim Huff,
>> I answer the boat,
>> but usually to Huff. Uh, we are all
fresh back from Monterey Car Week. You
guys were both racing and so what a what
a wonderful coincidence to have you stop
by, Huff, so that we can talk about uh
driving and you guys both did historics
and prehistoric. Is that right?
>> We did. I thought we were going to talk
about speedboats on BAT, but Oh, we're
going to talk about racing. I'm ready to
talk racing. I'm ready to talk about
speedboats. Whatever you want to talk
about, J.
>> Let's talk about Monterey and racing cuz
it's fresh on the mind. It's something
we did a couple weeks ago and uh wish I
was there today.
>> You wish you were three weekends back to
back to back.
>> Four.
>> You did the pre-reunion. I did the
pre-reunion. You kind of convinced me to
do it and it ended up being a great
decision to some practice laps before
the actual event cuz the actual event
goes by in a blink of an eye.
>> It does. The actual event, you know, the
reunion, you're getting one run a day.
uh four days in a row and then the
pre-reunion you are getting two races a
day two days in a row and there's less
people in the group. So it does give you
a little wiggle room to uh test a few
things and and gear up for the reunion
itself.
>> Tell everybody what you were driving.
That's the most important part. So, I'm
driving a 1965 BMW 1800 Ti Noi Classic
car, a four-door sedan, and I race
within the Dane Gurnie group, uh, they
call it during the event, and it's also
called the saloon group. So, it's an
interesting mix of sedans, uh, Julia
Supras, quite a few, uh, Alfa Romeo GTA
this year, uh, a few minis were tossed
into the mix, Ford Anglia, and a couple
of other random cars to get us to a
field of about 30 cars.
>> You've done PreS before, or you've only
done historic?
>> I've always done the pre, and I find it
to be helpful. I'm going to be down
there anyway and sort of make the most
of this time of year.
>> How do the two compare in terms of like
size of groups that are running? Is it
about the same or is the mix about the
same or is it pretty significantly
different?
>> I think Randy can attest, you know, it's
it's somewhat different. I think uh for
my particular group, which is different
than Randy's, I think pre-reunion we had
about 20 cars, 18 cars, and then the
reunion we had 30 plus. So, uh it does
jump up a bit. It comes a bit more of a
full field there. And the starts a bit
different. And there's always a place to
find a race within the race.
>> Who's fast? Who's out in front of the
GTA? Definitely the GTA were the fast
cars this year, front of the pack for
the most part. Uh, but there was also a
couple behind me too this year.
>> Nice. Do you have 26RS in your group or
are those one of those snuck into my
group?
>> That's a There were other That's a
different group of those can run with
the Alphas or beat the Alphas. So, you
have Alphas in your group that are
pretty hot, but BMWs can keep up.
>> Uh, not my BMW, but yes, some BMWs can
keep up. But nonetheless, it's still
such a great event and it's uh an honor
to be out there keeping spirit alive, if
you will.
>> Randy, could you intro the kind of car
you were driving and talk about the
difference for you? First time for you
for both pres and historic.
>> First time for me, but I was just coming
off of Road America, which made it a
little easier entry. I had a little bit
of practice at a fast track and a
slightly more intimidating track where I
had never been before. But Laguna was uh
interesting for different reasons.
higherend cars, expensive cars. On
Sunday, I was racing a car I was a
little bit intimidated and scared to try
to pass or try to outre or do a Cobra
because the million I don't know. Don't
do much. I don't even know. All I know
is don't bump into.
>> So, that was kind of a different sort of
feeling than some of the cars at Road
America, which were a little bit more
like modded for speed and they were not
as much sort of trophy pieces as they
were in Monterey. So, Monterey was super
cool. It was a dream of mine to be
there. It was a dream of mine to be
there with Huff. We've been talking
about this for years. He's been trying
to get me to come. I've been a kid on
the fence, you know, since I got
pictures of me when I was 7, 8, 9 years
old at Laguna on the fence like watching
guys race Mustangs. So, I got to race
Yeah. 65 Shelby GT 350 and run in a
group with Corvettes and some Cobras,
real Cobras. Um Jim Farley was the
winner by far in the group in his 427
Cobra with black with the black heart.
Super fast.
>> He did so well in their car.
>> Yeah. Anyway, but a number of really
fast cars and fast drivers. A lot of
drivers that had been there for a long
time and then some drivers that were
like young and handed the keys to these
fast cars and it was wild to see pro
drivers go and rip them around. So, we
had a lot of fun.
>> And I got to throw it back at Randy. I
mean, applaud him. He he did so well out
there uh having not run that GT 350 too
many times on the track and it was uh
really impressive to see how he was uh
you know chipping away as I say at those
lap times and uh sometimes that race is
really just against yourself and not
anybody else out there and uh Randy was
figuring out some of the goodies that
that make you go.
>> Thanks for saying that. Yeah. Yeah. No,
it was fun to do it and but when you're
at the beginning stages you can chip off
a lot of time, right? And like as as
time goes on, you start like worrying
about hundreds and maybe tenths, but
right now I'm still chipping off a
second. Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, so that
was good. Uh and really fun to do, but
also E types and Sunbeam Tigers in my
group. I neglected to mention that. So
some real cars to go out and run against
>> and a big contingent of GT350s.
>> Yeah, there were eight of them in our
group. One of them didn't start. One of
them had a mechanical. A couple guys had
some interesting things, but I ended up
fourth, I think fourth GT350. So, I was
kind of middle of the group, but found
my guys to run with. And the cool part
was yeah, the the four cars in front of
me and me were all within 1 second lap
time. So, we were kind of pretty
race. So, it was it was cool.
>> Alex, as you know, I mean, the event
itself is just so awesome to go wander
the paddock and whatnot because of the
variety of cars, you know. So Randy was
talking about the cars within his group
and the cars within my group and you
just uh have this plethora buffet of
vintage machines that uh even when
they're not running, you know, it's just
so engaging to to cruise around and and
check them out and speak with the
drivers or people to work on them or the
crew or or whatnot. And that's what
creates a well-rounded event.
>> Anything catch your attention in the
paddic this year, Huff? Um, I would say
this gentleman named Heroki and his uh
26R race car on the back of his
stretched Volkswagen.
>> Oh, that whole vintage setup. Somebody
sent that to me and he had the old like
director's chairs and like the whole
that was such a cool setup.
>> Yeah, his whole setup was was brilliant
in a in a non-racing manner, but also he
ended up taking P2 in his class. I'm
that Lotus. So, it was it was great to
see that car running and great to see
that car sitting. Um, the AROC cars were
cool to see together, uh, gathered all
in one spot. And then I have my go-to
favorites, you know, Steve Walker's 3.0
over at Racecraft and, uh, Ry's car was
great to see, honestly, for the first
time in person, even though there was a
few others there. It is Ry's car and so,
you know, you I looked it over a bit
more and the setup just seems amazing.
>> Yeah, we could go on for another hour
about that, but yeah,
>> totally. I gravitate towards the weirdo
pre-war stuff, as you know. Yeah,
>> we were going over talking to the old
guys running the Bugattis. I mean,
really cool early stuff,
>> that light blue unrestored tech 35 was
there again that we were looking at
that. So cool. But then there were 80s
Trans Am type cars, right? Like the Fox
Bonnet, the Motorcraft Pre and Camaros
and stuff from that era are super cool.
>> And I was pitted with a really cool 68
is it 67 911s I think Trans Am car. you
know, the the Pacific Northwest car.
Anyway, there's a a really nice variety.
And then they had the big F1 display,
which I thought they did a good job of
doing old old F1 like Mercedes silver
arrow early stuff all the way up to my
kids wanted a picture next to, you know,
the current McLaren F1 car that was
there and the current Mercedes and
stuff. So, they had a good showing.
>> They had a 154 like a Fangio car there.
>> Yes.
>> They also had an 804, which is the only
Porsche Grand Prix. It only won one race
and I don't I don't think it was Bernie
definitely drove it.
>> Encyclopedia Alex is coming out.
>> I want to say somebody else won in it.
Uh Yagamint maybe. Maybe. Anyway, not a
very successful car, but amazing. Little
tiny flat eight in that car. Anyway, it
was
>> they gathered some great stuff.
>> Mhm.
>> The iRock series was cool. You see all
the Howard was kind of geeking out about
all the big names climbing out of those
cars. But Button was in that class, but
Jeff Gordon was there, too.
>> Those are even better days. sides.
>> Well, and I think some of them, maybe
Labani, some of them were driving their
old cars, some were driving other guys
cars. It was an interesting situation.
>> If you search uh iRock on BAT, not for
the Camaros, but for the race cars, uh,
one of the guys that was very
competitive walked up to me in the
paddic and said, "Hey, I just bought my
iRock race car on BAT and I'm racing."
And he got for 50 grand on BAT of He was
out there and he was fast and he was
midack and I remember him, his name's
Randy, cuz he came up to my head, Randy,
too. And I was like, "Wow, which car you
in?" He was in one of those Crown Royal,
"Oh, you NASCAR looking things." He's
like, "I got it for 50 grand B." And I'm
I'm ripping. And And I looked him up and
he was like, "Good." He was like in
front of pro guys and stoked for it.
Anyway, I was pretty stoked to see.
>> Sounds like a good bike. It's always fun
to walk around the paddock and see some
B alumni.
>> And just one more part on that. I mean,
it's also great to walk around and uh
you know, Bay Area connection wise,
there's some gentlemen there that have
been racing that event for decades. and
they're there this year racing once
again. You know, I think of Marx and his
TZ, you know, John Norman, um a few
other folks like that that that is just
another big component of it because, uh
all the decades they've run that event
just give you a higher level of
appreciation as well.
>> Those guys are loyal and I think
Martin's longest longest tenure. He was
at the first one or something which is
incredible that he's still out there
racing number seven which is a very
valuable car. We appreciate him. Bethy
was here that last week uh with some
visitors before walking through BET
which is super cool. So yeah, a lot of
those car guys and racers are floating
around and it's cool to reconnect with
them. People were asking me about the
week in general and I'm always like the
track is the place to be.
>> The same thing and I I I cross paths
with so many people who go to quote
unquote car week and like hey which day
you go to the track? Like no never been
to the track. So, I'd like to push that
out there in the universe for people
that are attending several days in
Monterey to look at cars and do these
other uh on the lawn events or whatever
it might be. Um, get to the track for
half a day or a full day or whatever cuz
the action there and the cars there and
just the spirit and the energy is unlike
the rest of the happenings around the
Monterey area.
>> Last thing I'll give a shout out to is
the Pebble Beach Road races little
display there on the end of your road.
Did you see that?
>> Oh, yes. There's probably five or six
cars that are early 50s era shags or the
road racing specials or weird stuff that
that they tie maybe were on back then as
you know to the pillow beach road races
which are whenever I'm down by
>> the pillow beach concourse stuff. I'm
always like looking down the roads like
imagining that old era of, you know,
string a start banner across and, you
know, throw on your goggles and go rip
in a V8 powered car and not even sliding
the bus into those trees. I know, but
everybody died and it was so dangerous.
>> So anyway, crazy stuff. But a couple of
the cars had ties to the actual event,
but some of them were just in that
spirit. It's a good connection point for
the local geography.
>> Yes. I mean, the historical component is
just hard to even measure.
>> To Rainy's earlier point, had such a
ball in Wisconsin at Road America and
maybe got a little carried away in my
enthusiasm and then came back to
Monterey. I was like, "Oh, this is where
the heavy hitter cars are, right? Like
you almost it's almost uh you almost
take it for granted." You know what I
mean? Because there's so much to see and
so much to take in and so many
significant cars.
>> It was fun.
>> Uh did you guys presumably there's fewer
spectators or maybe almost none at the
prehistorics. Is the vibe around the
track considerably different too? Does
it feel more huff like a like kind of a
standard vintage race?
>> Um, I would say there's still some
action. Okay. It's not as amplified as
the reunion itself. And there's
definitely more spaces and gaps open
within the paddic, but it the energy's
rumbling. It's being built. It's not
like you're going from nothing to all of
a sudden everything. It's a nice
buildup.
>> A lot of people are doing both.
Personally, people do both. And
honestly, a lot of people go to pre-
reunion to avoid all of the crowds at
the reunion and get a little more
breathing room and don't get caught up
in the shuffle quite as much.
>> Can you stay set up in the pits the
whole time or do you have to close down
and reset up?
>> You stay in the pits. Yeah. You set
yourself up on Friday and stay through,
you know, a a week and a day after that.
>> Awesome.
>> That's nice. Kind of living there. Did
you guys get away from the track that
much at all? I know, Randy, you had a
couple dinners, but
>> I ended up getting sucked in quite a
bit. I would race in the morning and I
was I'll certainly be out of here by
like 11:00 and you look at your watch
and it's like 4:00 and you're like, "Oh,
okay. So, I guess today was a track day
all day just cuz there's fun stuff and
you run down people and then you have
lunch and then you you want to catch
that race at the corkcrew at two and
then this that and the other." No joke.
I mean,
>> yeah. Um, time is different there. Yeah.
time is different at the track and and
as Randy was saying, all of a sudden you
cross paths with 30 people you haven't
seen in a while and you're pulling all
these directions and four hours goes by,
you know, but you're trying to get into
Carmel Valley or into Carmel or to
Monterey to go check out a street show
or or uh go to dinner or some other
event and sometimes you end up missing
those things.
>> Yeah. I got way one day that day I came
out to more imports and saw you out,
right?
>> Cuz you had super early morning races. I
had a morning run and then we were
watching the live stream from More
Imports. More import is a cool dealer
there, our local partner in Monterey and
they were selling 15 cars and they were
just having a great old time and we had
our crew over there.
>> So those were going live on the site
during the event.
>> Those were during the They've all since
passed but people can look at it. What
did they call it? They had some name for
it. Postcards.
>> Postcards for Monterey as here. But
they've done that six or seven years in
a row and this was a really big year.
They had great cars and it's the old
Porsche dealership uh their facility and
I'd never been.
>> You know the name Wester? It used to be
painted on the side of famously a 904.
>> Oh, and then is it Dawn Wester? Anyway,
this was the VW Porsche outpost in
downtown Monterey, California. And they
raced at Laguna with some cool stuff.
them sure sold beetles and buses and
everything else into all the uh cypress
tree properties down there which would
be pretty cool to go drive down to uh
big su in your airpool vdub. So anyway,
what a cool spot. But yeah, they have a
little facility in what used to be that
dealer and are moving cars through there
like crazy. I had never walked through
their little showroom and the back area
was all full of cars sold on BET in the
whole place. So we had some fun there.
>> They were really successful. We've
recorded a pod. I want to hang out there
every year. We were watching one of
Howard's races and everyone was cheering
him along. The whole staff was there. It
was great. We had a lot of fun. You were
right, by the way. Dan Gurnie is the one
who won a race and then for the one car
and that was what drives me crazy cuz I
love Dan Gurnie and I can't believe I
dissed him that way. Anyway,
>> it really hurts my heart.
>> Don't kiss Dan Gurnie. I know when he
raced the one of my favorite Grand Prix
anecdotes of all time when he raced his
Eagle uh car that he like built himself
or the you know that was like the
all-American entry he would cuz he was
so tall you know Gurnie bubble he would
hunch down it was before belts this is
like 1966 or ' 67 to get more speed at
spa on the straightaway like cuz he was
so tall he would have to hunch down in
the cockpit to get it all the way up to
197 or something like that amazing
>> terrifying that's road America stuff
dude in high speeds. Did uh Laguna feel
more approachable after the very high
speeds of Road America?
>> Uh yeah, it was 145 mph versus 12
something at Laguna on the front
straight. Totally different rear end
deer setup. Uh I forget what we swapped
out my rear end ratio to, but it was way
lower for uh Laguna Seca cuz you don't
hit those insane speeds that you do at
Road America.
>> Yeah. And a lot of tight corners,
tighter race track.
>> More technical, more technical, fewer
turns, but short turns and interesting
stuff at the bud.
>> How far a field have you taken the NK
Huff? How many tracks have you taken it
to? You've gone back east with it at
all, or is it pretty much all West
Coast?
>> No, California is where it's lived. I've
been racing the car for 5 years. That
car was owned previously by Steve
Walker. Um, so yeah, it's only been
Californiaentric. I've been sort of
lightly threatening to go to some other
tracks uh up in the great Pacific
Northwest. Um, but that's sort of where
I am with it. Local.
>> Have you done Willow?
>> I have not done Willow. I've done Button
Willow. Confusing. Willow Springs.
Button willow.
>> Yeah. Yeah. I go. And then there's
Button.
>> Willow.
>> Willow Springs.
>> Tree. That's a name. But
>> yeah, that car could theoretically race
at Pittsburgh Grand Prix, right in the
trees. Speaking of racing in the trees,
>> I went to that event and there was one
of the other ones and years ago, didn't
I send you that photo? There was a guy
with this the 17 car, wasn't it? The
silver red 17 on the door. No, you're
17.
>> You're upset. Maybe it was 71. I
remember this Sarah font, this fancy
car. I don't know what it was, but
>> there are in case I run out there, that
means maybe you could.
>> Yeah. Don't people run street cars in
that event? Actually,
>> it's an interesting park course. And I
like to run lime rock. I should bring
you with when we do run the BAT race
team. We've dreamed about that for a
long time. Vaccine Kawoon. Okay, let's
put him on an airplane.
>> Oh yeah. As soon as Bring a Trailer
comes into the mix. It's like we're
going along. Let's go. I know you guys
didn't ask, but
>> that's great. All of a sudden, the
ambitions are more brought. We're
lightly threatening.
>> You go the good way. You know, you can't
do it all. They can only try.
>> That's great. Randy, what is the
feedback after? I mean, you jammed an
awful lot of racing experience, uh,
vintage racing experience in a pretty
short period of time. How are you
feeling about the Stang after all that
time?
>> Everybody's asking that like, "What are
you going to do next?" And I'm like,
"Man, I just got off the track with that
thing and I I like live the full dream
and now I don't know. I kind of like
decision paralysis." So, Jim is like
volunteering me for all the next season
stuff that we're going to go do
together. But I'm like, man, I don't I
don't
>> But in a small door car story, you want
He wants you to be in a car that's in
runs in his group.
>> Well, he doesn't care. He just wants to
be at the track hanging out. Run with
your home. Yeah. Run anything. But uh it
would be fun to run in the same group.
But no, the Mustangs we're going to do
some tweets over the winter and see if
we can have some more fun. I I mean, I
would be Monterey again if they'll have
me again. That would that was a great
effect.
>> Yeah. I mean,
>> I don't know if I'm racing to get back
to Road America with that car right
away, but uh it's fun to be on track. I
I enjoy I'm not a daredevil, but I do
enjoy trying to improve upon my skills
and I really like just kind of being
inside the ropes a little bit. It gives
you a different mentality of where you
need to be and when and that adrenaline
feeling when you're sitting on the
>> your your brain is is firing in several
different ways in regards to shifting
and breaking and apexing and who's
around me, who's in front of me, who's
behind me. And uh you know, mastering
that and developing uh the race craft,
if you will, is just what I find so
intriguing and interesting about it. And
uh once again just sort of carrying that
spirit of the 1960s and a few other
decades that surround it, you know, in a
current day manner.
>> Yeah. What's the camaraderie like with
the other drivers in vintage racing at
this level? Do you get to you walk over
to the other pits and chat with people
like that?
>> Depends on the driver.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah. I would say it's mostly chatty. I
would say, you know, sometimes there's
situations that uh, you know, uh, don't
wreak too much havoc, but, you know,
it's not like you want to go sit down
and chat with the person as well.
>> Yeah. Okay. That's an interest. I mean,
I guys wander the pits like looking for
a spare transmission.
>> There's stuff going on. There's these
shoes that come up and you need some
camaraderie. Um, and in my group, I
thought it was super interesting. You
start to just from being on track with
some of them, you get the feel for what
people are like. You're like, "Whoa,
that guy's aggressive." and they were
like, "Oh, okay. That guy's just sort of
cool being here. He's back of the pack.
That guy's really really good and I I'm
going to try to follow him."
>> Right. That's what I was asking about.
Right.
>> And then so anyway, it kind of suses
itself out over and that's why it's
helpful to have the days in advance as
well because I've learned a lot the
first couple days about the card
personalities about, you know, side by
side on the front side. Can I get that
guy or can I not? You know what I mean?
Yeah. And then you go chat. Some of them
came up and chat with me. They're like,
"Hey, you're new here. Was your deal?
Send me up a little." And then some of
them are just super friendly and like
hey it's great to have new folks here
and thanks for being here.
>> So as a whole it's meas honestly I mean
the really people do rely on each other
because not everyone has every single
part or or or machine or tool to fix
something and you know it's good to have
a good rapport with folks because you're
in situations where somebody's going to
help you out in a manner than in which
you can't help yourself. Yeah. And of
course, I was thinking with so many
GT350s, Randy, you were saying a big
group of them were like right around the
same pace. That can be really
invigorating and and like create a lot
of enthusiasm when you tuck in behind a
guy who's right about your pace and
you're sometimes, you know, trading off
back and forth. That can be like I've
ran over to somebody else's pit and been
like, "Dude, that was awesome." Right.
Like that can be pretty fun.
>> Yeah, absolutely. you know, you can you
can grow in your camaraderie like that
and then the next you like go to sleep
and you're like tomorrow I'm going to
chase that guy down and I'm going to get
and there's some like uh some of it
feels really good and some of it feels a
little you got a competitive gene kind
of comes out whether you realize you had
it or not and you want to go faster and
you want to improve and you want to do
it differently. You're like, "Oh, I
screwed that up. I I had them but I blew
it in 11 or whatever." You know,
>> miss shift. Yeah. And break properly.
>> Totally. Stuff happen.
>> You want to challenge yourself with
that. And um you know again even on
track it's great to know sort of who's
to your left and your right um and
understand each other and and find
common ground.
>> You guys get frustrated. I was a helmet
yeller back in the day. You ever yell in
your helmet or you guys keep it calm?
You both are pretty cool cats.
>> I yell in my own
>> I add myself.
>> That's me thinking me just like oh man
you again. You told yourself 10 times
you weren't gonna, you know, do that
move and you turned in early again.
>> Friends don't let friends turn in early.
I do yelled myself in the helmet for the
most part. But there's also those
situations where I'm definitely yelling
at somebody else outside.
>> I had a couple where I was just going
down to Prince and just stoked like
yelling out of stoke, you know? You're
like, "That's crazy. How do I get to do
this sort of thing?" So anyway, it felt
and once going through six. I did I tell
you about this? This stuff was my like
euphoria moment. I was going through six
and ess350
GT350 Cobra vet me and Shelby like right
in my mirrors and I was like looking
around I was like this is crazy you know
like your favorite Disneyland ride as a
kid like can't even nearly compare right
I was like this is really just really
crazy. So anyway, I have that snapshot
in my mind and then it went up to the
corpse crew with all sorts of chaos and
tire smoke and people people died
bombing and yeah, I was that little
freed it sust. But I mean, man, it's
it's just a fun a fun environment. So
fun to watch from the crowd and also fun
to be there.
>> Amazing. I'm jealous of you guys. I
really like that that you know I've been
present at two of these three races that
you uh have done Randy and one that you
were at Huff and it really it makes me
forget all the reasons I quit racing
here. But there's also good reasons to
do it.
>> I was thinking you know one of the
things that's a pain in the butt is and
I think you guys both escaped this but
having to have a tow vehicle and a
trailer parked somewhere. Uh but the B&B
racing team
>> I haven't escaped it. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
>> You driving around a pickup truck, huh?
>> Yeah. All exposed and good for you.
Yeah. Hope it makes it.
>> Yeah. And I was I was borrowing tow
rings, so there was a lot of that please
don't overheat on the tatropy gray kind
of stuff. So,
>> I still want to get a pretty simple toe
setup. It's people are shaking their
head at that, but I want to get like a
station wagon unibody that you shouldn't
even put a toe hitch on.
>> Make it
>> and do it and tow a Shelby behind some
sort of galaxy
>> like a picture or something like that
sort of package setup. you and Marik
showing up whip hailing on the sign.
>> He used to tow it with that thing I
think right he still brings all the
parts to the truck kind of thing.
>> Yeah. So anyway, I still want to do that
sort of thing. I think a lot of people
talk you know rampant trouts and fancy
trucks and renegade Vista cruiser stuff.
But if you can Yeah. If you can set up
where it's a pickup truck or a van or a
station wagon like those old the goose
pictures from you know 667 in the
parking lot.
>> Yeah. mimicking such things as a bad.
>> That's what I'm after.
>> But ultimately, it's just um you know,
getting a car to the track and I'm ready
to race. But I understand uh the more
interesting components of that could be
a great ramp truck that's period correct
or the uh Clark Griswald station wagon
setup could be awesome.
>> Downgrading is actually a positive. Like
I started with a big enclosed trailer
and ended up on a little open single
axle, right? Like make it simpler. Make
it simpler. But a lot of the cars you
guys are running with, people would be
nervous to do that. They want the big
fancy setup.
>> Yep.
>> I mean, that's what, you know, Monterey
um shows as well. I mean, when you're
cruising the paddock, it's uh, you know,
a big setup with 8 n 10 cars under the
tent uh down to people that are just
running solo and you privateeers as I
call them, you know, compared to the
group efforts. Um, that's another
interesting component to it to sort of
see the overall of that. Uh, speaking of
privateeering, Huff, you were telling me
a couple days ago you did you ran the
Enduro Solo and your own fuel.
>> Oh, jeez. So,
>> did you really could you guess?
>> That's your car.
>> So, my my pretty ball
>> my car gassed me. The past few years at
the event uh in Monterey at the historic
uh the saloon group on Friday were the
last race of the day and we do a 1-hour
enduro race. And so one has the uh
option to choose a co-driver or you can
run it solo. Uh there is a mandatory
stop in the middle of it um where you
have to go into the pits for 3 minutes.
And uh historically the past couple
years I've gotten out and gassed up my
own car, gotten back in, you know, put
on belts and then go for it. Um, this
year I did a test and maxed out my gas
tank before the race and uh actually
made it through the whole race. I think
it ended up being 29 or 30 laps
>> and uh pulled in, waited for 3 minutes
and went back out and yeah, it's
different. Speaking of time, like we
were earlier, time takes on a whole
different thing when you're in the car
for an hour, lap after lap, and you
know, you start sort of floating off and
next thing you know, you're like, why am
I way out here in turn nine? And you
have to keep your thoughts collected and
keep some level of focus, you know, so
you're not stay on it.
>> Amazing.
>> Yeah, that's great. That was great.
>> You have interest in doing something
like that already.
>> Our endura sounds pretty long, man. It's
a lot of work to drive that car. I think
yours is a lot of work. I mean, they're
all a lot of work.
>> They are.
>> But you feel it,
>> man. I I was like sore for a few days
after. If I did an hourong stint, most
of the stints are 22 minutes or whatever
they are, right? So, man, an hourong
stint would be serious. But I may sign
up for the driver change option if you
want to trade in. Dude, you
>> I was going to say Cranble would
probably join.
>> Yes, he would. I hope he's listening to
this. He was sailing around the track.
Yeah. What was he driving in? Three
different groups by the end.
>> Amazing.
>> Um I don't know how he's like Iron Man.
But um he could certainly set a lap that
I could aspire to in my own car. So that
would be fun. I'd love to I'd love to
break somebody else in to drive that. It
would be fun. the uh the guys who do
multiple braces. That's crazy to me, you
know, like that button was all over the
place, right, Jensen Button? He just
running in a bunch of different groups.
That is wild to me to be able to hop out
of one car right into the other.
>> There's people doing, you know, three,
four groups at times, you know, it's not
uncommon for people to be doing two or
two or three.
>> Did they hold up your start sometimes
for someone in another car? Uh shout out
to Chip Fudge who's a big BAT user and
buyer. He was racing in my group. He was
in that crazy Bitserini.
>> Uh I did see the car. Yeah. And he was
running in the group before us, too. So,
they would hold the start. Everybody
would be and he'd come up on a pit card.
I'd jump out and jump in the car and
we'd take off and it was like back to
back. I was like, "Man, that's got to be
You talk about doing an enduro. Try
doing it. You got to recalibrate." But
they know, the organizers know like who
we're waiting on, who's running up the
runway, you know, like come jump in.
>> Um, and they're waving at him and giving
us the one minute and he's belting up.
And anyway, there's some logistical
uh fireworks right before you pull out.
So when it's all said and done, I mean
to keep all the balls juggling in the
air, it's a feat in its own right. You
know,
>> there's nothing like that, man. When
they hold up three fingers and then they
hold up one finger, it's like, oh, it's
on. You're ready.
>> The peak mist.
>> Yeah. Heartbeats shift, adrenaline
starts pumping, and you just want to get
that pace lap over with and get to that
start, and you see where you start uh
landing, you know.
>> When was the last time you watched the
movie, the Stephven Cream movie, Lama?
They have that whole countdown thing
where the heartbeat gets louder and
louder and the little Rolex clock is
ticking down.
>> It's been a few years. Modi was made by
a guy who's raced before. Yes. Our buddy
Chris rented out a small theater for his
birthday and showed that film um a few
years ago. So some of us did a little
vintage car back road run up to to the
Gville area and there's a fever there
and he showed uh rendevu and then le and
so that was a really cool thing to be
partying.
>> I have kind of a hankering to do a
rewatch car movie podcast with you guys
like some car movie we all watch it and
then we talk about it on
>> I'm in.
>> Yeah. Tell me which one.
>> I thought well I thought we could
crowdsource it a little bit. There's
some famous car movies that I've never
seen and I rewatched. I did a little
test drive of this. I rewatched Ronin
the other day.
>> Talk about that one right now. Yeah, we
can talk about that whenever you want.
>> Audi,
>> don't pronounce it like that.
>> Make the list. Make the list.
>> I'm ready. I'm ready. Uh what else? H
What else you want to share? Any other
uh cool moments?
>> You know, I'm just super stoked that
Randy uh is behind the wheel, you know,
young in himself within his helmet and
trying to gain ground uh with his skills
on the track. And I just feel like it's
just the thing that we've both sort of
wanted to do. We like he was speaking to
earlier, you know, we hung on the
outside of the fence and watched so many
races over over many years. And you
know, you have those thoughts on
occasion about how do I get on the other
side of the fence? And so, you know, the
past 5 years, as I mentioned earlier,
I've had the opportunity to be on the
other side of the fence. And now Ry's
there. And I'm sort of a a cheerleader
for a bunch of folks trying to get them
out there to race uh when and and if
possible. And yeah, it's just uh just a
component of my life that is interesting
and trying at the same time.
>> Mhm.
>> Yeah.
>> And you're it's working. You're getting
your buddies out there, man.
>> Trying.
>> You're a good cheerleader for that.
We're just talking and we also always
riff on cars live on BET. This this BMW
we were talking about. Dude, did you see
this thing when it was live?
>> No.
>> Maybe 1600. It has a 16. He had had
Sears Point Laguna history from early
down to the level of trophies and time
sheets. Amazing pictures and from
documentation in the '7s and we were
like wait how do you get that time? We
started comparing his time. Turns out he
was racing this on the old format of
Zaguna with no turn three pull straight
up the hill too. Yeah. So this car was
there like way back in the day and it
just sold what it sold August 26th on
BAT and Steve Walker about that car. I
wasn't going to out that. And I didn't
know if you going to say who was bidding
the car. Anyway, he grabbed this BMW and
we're excited for that. That's a cool
car with real history on BET and see an
old Laguna stuff go through the site is
also sort of part of the magic.
>> It's that historical component, you
know, you have to appreciate it and it's
just so awesome to see documentation and
images and old trophies and you just you
feel like you can uh understand aspects
of it even though you weren't there
exactly during that moment in time. I
brought home my time sheet. Yeah, I
brought it at home right up here.
Hopefully someday down the road
somebody's going to look at that and be
some Looney Tune 148.
>> I feel like it's a carry the torch kind
of thing. I mean, it's keeping Spirit
alive truly.
>> I watch Randy and I'm like, "Oh yeah,
big bore cars." But really, I see, you
know, 510s with like rebell like that's
the car to actually start with.
>> When they see my performance, they're
like, "Yeah, I probably should have
started with a four."
>> Low horsepower cars.
>> I always say start with a BMW 2002. I've
never driven a high horsepower car and
drive. Fastest car I've ever driven on
track with my S2000. All my race cars
have like 120 horsepower. So, it does
teach you not to step on the brakes.
>> Good to see these cars go through BAT
though, man.
>> I love it, sir.
>> And you brought that up. You kid bust it
over to the office and you're like, "Did
you see that race car?" Oh, no. You
didn't do that.
>> I might have.
>> I might have. I might have already
gotten a text about it, too.
>> You also brought a piece of furniture to
the office. What are we supposed to do
with that, huh?
>> Nothing.
>> Look at it and admire it.
>> Just admire the aesthetic beauty. I got
a text from somebody that said, "I've
been a bad boy." And it was in relation
to that car. That's all I'm saying. Cool
machine. Awesome. What else we got? We
talked about other stuff on the site. We
can talk about boats with Vins if you
want. Did you see that? A Chris Craft on
the site called the Cobra. Were you
familiar with this? They made 108 of
them. It's 1955 only. It's like their
crazy performance boat. I've only ever
seen one of these live. It was at the
Tahoe Boat Concore. Check it out. It
looks sick.
>> Oh,
>> very 50s design. And this one's in
SoCal, but it lived its whole life on
>> Tahoe.
>> Um,
>> that's live on the site right now.
>> Live on the site. That thing is not
going to be cheap. It's got a huge caddy
V8 in it.
>> That will have closed by the time this
podcast goes live.
>> Also want to tell you, I didn't even
tell you this. Do you know that last
weekend at Soma was the 50th Shelby
American Automobile Club meeting and I
went to it with my dad on Friday and I
met Chuck Kwell who's 91 years old,
father of GT350 and Shelby American back
in the day. He also did the Penske
Camaro race program and the AMC Javelin
stuff. He's the dude who did all that.
>> Wow.
>> Um anyway,
>> AMC Javelin is like thericolor AMC Jam
that's like I have. So yeah, they bring
out some heavy heavy cars. They brought
the first GT350, the big Shelby Concord.
They did track racing of modern cars and
old cars. It's their big event and it's
the 50th one. I wasn't going to do a
third weekend of racing of road. I would
have loved to, but little busy, but
anyway, we went on the Friday and it was
cool to see that sort of action out
there.
>> Were any of the guys from Monterey out
there? Yes. Yes. There were guys that
are like, "You're here, so you're
running, right?" And I was like, "No, I
should be, but I'm not." Did you wear
like a Ford jacket for like
>> I didn't need that t I just creeped out.
I wore a white t-shirt, but there were
some for sale from some vintage events
and they had full like swap meetup. I
mean, look, it had an old timey feel. I
liked it. And then a couple guys brought
Cobras with history, like real old legit
Cobras. Oh, from your guys from the uh
Boulder Museum.
>> Oh, of course they Miller. Yeah, they
had some real Cobras out there. There
was a real Daytona Coupe there, right?
That was at Goodwood when I was there
once. GT40s. There are only a couple
GT4s. I think there are two of them.
>> Amazing.
>> Thought I would mention it. Shout out to
those guys. That was a fun event.
>> I've got Ford hot rods on the brace. I
have a another illness going on right
now. I'm basically watching every SBO
Mustang auction.
>> You have several. No, but we we have one
that's
>> called mental illness.
>> Have you seen the white one that's been
on the site?
>> No. I followed a black one and a low
mileage marine one from Competition.
>> Yes. And we've had some really great low
mile ones. We more recently had one from
Alaska. Am I going to buy a SVO Mustang
out of Anchorage? I was thinking about
it. I literally had Google Maps open and
was like, "What's the route?" Home Brook
Anchorage to Sailor, but not even paid.
>> It was pretty nice for an elastic car. I
thought it was going to be rusty or
anything. It wasn't
>> No reserve. I was watching a unit of
watching the se. I'm not even going to
show you my watch list cuz it's the same
as yours probably. No, there's no wooden
boats on it. Not right now.
>> Or on mine. There's a wooden boat route
hope for Anchorage as well. I sure there
is. It's called the Pacific Ocean.
>> You want probably a bigger 21 ft for
that one. More than two seats.
>> All right, boys. Anything else?
>> Thanks for letting me crash party.
>> Huff, it only took you working on Randy
for 5 years to get it behind the wheel
of a race car. I think you bring claim
full credit.
>> I think when I finally showed up, he
went and actually bought a car.
>> Our attention's off you now. We just
shift it over to Alex. That's good. And
we go for oneliner comments, site
munches, internet leaks, be part Alex
about it. I'll send the links to my wife
>> and the links will be sent back.
>> That's right.
>> All right. What a pleasure.
>> Always good to see you guys. Always good
to enjoy a banquet of beers.
>> I might get We'll do it again. Yeah, we
will. Awesome.
>> And thanks to all of you for listening.
We will catch you next time. Bye.
[Music]
About this episode
Jim Huff joins the crew to share his experiences from the recent Monterey Car Week, focusing on vintage racing at Laguna Seca. Both Jim and Randy discuss their participation in the historic races, the cars they drove, and the camaraderie among drivers. They highlight the differences between the pre-reunion and reunion events, the variety of vintage cars, and the thrill of racing in such a prestigious setting. The episode captures the excitement of racing and the connections formed in the paddock, along with anecdotes about memorable cars and moments from the event.
Original notes
Alex sits down with Randy and friend of BaT Jim Huff, furniture merchant and connoisseur of the Neue Klasse, to talk about racing at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion during this year's recent edition of Monterey Car Week. Both Randy and Huff drove in the Pre-Reunion and the main event later in the week; Huff describes mixing it up with Giulias and GTAs in the saloon class in his BMW 1800 Ti, while Randy and his Mustang held their own with more experienced racers amongst a crop of other animals: Cobras, Jags, and Tigers.
Heartfelt recommendations come from all to spend time at the track if you ever find yourself on the Peninsula for Car Week (it's where it's at!). The duo "lightly threaten" to expand their efforts to the Pacific Northwest and (well) beyond, talk about developing camaraderie from on-track observations and paddock interactions, describe "helmet-yelling out of stoke," theorize about the ultimate old-school tow rig, take a brief aside to mention the the wooden boat of our dreams, and wrap up by recounting the recent 50th annual SAAC meeting at Sonoma.
Links for things mentioned in this episode:
07:18 7 generations of IROC race cars you’ll see at Monterey this year Classic Motorsports
08:17 Exclusive Tour: F1’s 75-Year Display at Rolex Monterey with Zak Brown YouTube
09:15 IROC Race Cars BaT
09:24 Pontiac Firebird IROC Race Car BaT
14:39 Presenting the 2025 Mohr Imports Car Week Collection: Postcards from Monterey BaT
29:02 User cfujgo BaT
32:05 1968 BMW 1600-2 Race Car BaT
34:12 Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance Best-In-Class-Winning 1955 Chris-Craft 21’ Cobra BaT
36:40 SVO Mustangs BaT
Got suggestions for our next guest from the BaT community or One Year Garage episode? Let us know at [email protected]!
Bring a Trailer Podcast
Bring a Trailer Auctions
0:00
37:54