You know you are addicted to racing when you plan your vacations around various race events. In fact, when my husband and I were trying to determine a wedding date 23 years ago, we had to check all the schedules of our favorite race series to verify we wouldn’t miss an important event. How times have changed. If we got married now, we could just stream a race on our phones in between “I do” and the obligatory smashing of the cake.
When I’m not in the PRI office or covering a race, how else do I spend my time? It usually centers around something automotive. My 19-year-old son recently was on his spring break from college, and I asked him what he wanted to do. “We haven’t been to the Petersen Automotive Museum in a while,” he replied.
Off we went to the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles to see the latest automotive exhibits. While the cars are what draw us to the museum, anything motorsports related is what really piques my interest. How fun to see a 1966 Meyers Manx on display. I could just picture myself driving it through the sand, flying over the dunes with all of its (estimated) 60 hp. (OK, it’s a reach, but it was how I would dream it.) Also on display was a 2022 Red Bull Racing RB18 chassis, along with a 1958 Porsche 356A Carrera GT Speedster (my dream car), and lo and behold, Lightning McQueen, my son’s favorite race car circa 15 years ago.
But the real treat for me were the various gems inside the gift shop. As we walked in, we were met with a large table filled with a variety of books. The first one I saw was “Hot Rod Magazine: 75 Years” by PRI contributor Drew Hardin, who researches historic stories in the Petersen photo archives adjacent to the famed and exclusive Vault. Right next to Drew’s book were titles by other authors whose bylines have appeared in these pages, including “Land Speed” Louise Noeth, who has always championed saving the Bonneville Salt Flats and promoted women in motorsports; and Ian Wagstaff, who covers European motorsports history. As I turned the corner in the gift shop, I was met with several beautiful paintings that I quickly recognized as being done by Lyn Hiner. When I began working at PRI, Lyn was the PRI Trade Show manager, and her husband Rob eventually became PRI’s director of creative. Lyn has successfully launched a painting career with exquisite automotive artwork featuring various makes and models, and she is highly sought after to display these paintings at the SEMA Show, the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, Monterey Motorsports Reunion, and many others.
While I initially called motorsports an addiction, let me refer to it as something else: It’s become our lifeblood. Once we get motorsports into our system, it’s a part of us. And I am proud to say that I have done my part to ingrain that same passion for everything automotive and motorsports to the next generation with my son.
After we completed our Petersen tour on Monday, we concluded the week with the ear-jarring, eye-popping show called the NHRA Winternationals. Race season is already in full swing here on the West Coast, and there is no other place I’d rather be.