“Owning an M3 was bound to happen.” At least that’s what Eibach Springs account manager Tony Jackson says about his transitioning from tracking smaller, Japanese-based sub-compacts like Honda’s Civic to the performance-minded BMW. Jackson’s been honing his skills on racetracks across California for nearly 10 years, mastering the art of maneuvering a highly modified front-wheel-drive car yet with sights always set on something with its drive wheels posted at the other end.

There’s something different about Rob Parsons’ workshop. An overhead hoist spans about the 29-year-old’s welding and fabrication space, allowing whomever holds the remote to do everything from shelve a longblock to position a main hoop inside of a car. Dollies are everywhere but are used for more than just moving race cars around. You won’t find the sort of two- or four-post lifts that typically occupy an auto garage, either. Instead, a portable one that ascends no more than 48 inches, according to Parsons, gives him all the clearance he needs.

Once a hotbed for drag racers with more than a dozen strips dispersed from San Diego to Sacramento, Los Angeles County’s last remaining stretch of legally sanctioned asphalt is the next on the list to be razed come 2016. To make way for an outlet mall, of course. Irwindale Speedway, which opened in 1999 and is situated just 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, is more than just an eighth-mile dragstrip

For many, Formula One racing is considered the motorsports beacon of glamour. Nowhere else are such exorbitant numbers of dollars allocated, such heightened levels of engineering explored, and such exotic locales designated officially sanctioned circuits. Formula One stinks of sophistication, and its fans love it for that. Naturally, then, Travis County, Texas, wasn’t where anybody expected Formula One’s United States Grand Prix to reconvene after the series’ five-year North American hiatus.

They’ve done it before, back in 2011 when the suspension parts manufacturer revived a 1967 Camaro broadcasted over a live web feed from its headquarters in Jasper, Indiana. RideTech’s Bret Voelkel says the idea to do all of this developed pretty organically: A 2010 SEMA bench-racing session discussing the abundance of 1967-1969 Camaro parts soon led to his claiming that all he and his team would need to build one of those cars was a weekend.

In 1986, the sub-$5000, uber-econo Excel defined Hyundai in America. The brand, with its only U.S. model boasting a 68hp engine and taupe interior, did the company well, appealing mostly to telemarketers, librarians, and data-entry clerks. To everyone else, it was the company with the car with the 68hp engine and taupe interior. It was not the brand of racing victories. Hyundai’s no longer the data-entry clerk’s car company, in part, because of models like the Genesis coupe.

At first glance, the Bauer Ltd “Catfish” immediately conjures up thoughts of vintage roadsters, the classic Speed Racer cartoon and once suggested, sure, resembles the wide mouth and tapered torso of a catfish. But what exactly is it? On paper, it’s appears to be little more than a Miata heart and legs with a stout tube frame and sexy cover. The reality is that it goes well beyond that.

What were you learning about when you were 8 years old? Chances are, it wasn’t advanced car control on the frozen roads of Sweden, like Samuel Hubinette. Growing up near the Arctic Circle typically meant seven months of snow and ice, both of which played a major role in Hubinettes incredible abilities behind the wheel. So how does an unknown kid from a small town in Sweden end up as a drift champion and stunt car driver for commercials and major motion pictures? We sat down with “The Crazy Swede” to find out…