People - page 5

Would you take time off from your day job to fly to San Diego, hop in a van to a remote desert location in Baja California, Mexico, and sleep in a tent all day so you can stay up all night changing tires and fueling trucks for strangers in the middle of nowhere?

Meet Kyle Tucker: a racer, engineer, and the founder of Detroit Speed and Engineering—a company that specializes in manufacturing upgraded aftermarket performance parts for classic American muscle. Their parts allow classic Camaros, Corvettes and Mustangs to handle as well as—or even better than—modern vehicles, while retaining their iconic status.

January, 1948 - Barbara was furious. She hated motor racing and never understood what all the fuss was about. Something about the second World War seemed to have given every man in California an all-consuming fascination with machines.

Once upon a time, Morgan Sjogren had roots. Efficient, highly-regimented roots. Living in Mammoth Lakes, CA she rose early every day to a text from her running coach asking her for her resting heart rate. After breakfast, she was off to morning training as a part of an elite competitive track running team. Mornings meant team meetings, stretching, weight training, and a lot of precise stopwatch action.

“AHH-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! OOOH-OOOH-OOOOOOOOOOOOH!”

Roaring through Yellowstone on a summer evening at dusk, Sam and Josh Soholt roll down the windows to see the majesty of the land unfiltered by glass.

There’s a circle of life in the builder’s garage. It can begin as humbly as a body on blocks, running on nothing but a dream. Maybe, it’s a lucky find. Something with low miles and a lot of potential. First, it’s a vision. Then, it’s a work-in-progress. This is where builders become magicians, transforming possibility into reality. Solving problems. Adding horsepower. Embarking on rare part expeditions. All this work culminates in the cruise phase. The project is never done, but it reaches a point where you can use it, enjoy it, and show it off. For some, this phase never ends. For others, it does, and they enter the final phase in the cycle: the cleansing pain of selling out. 

You’ll be hard-pressed to find someone on the planet with a better attitude than Toby Price. Tom Hanks? Oprah? Maybe, but that’s an extremely high bar.

The 34-year-old off-road and enduro motorcycle racer has an unmatched passion for life. Which makes sense, given the fact that he’s had a few brushes with the end of it.

Growing up in southern California, surfing was in Josh Martin’s family. So was building. But to build, first you must gather materials. For the Martins, this didn’t mean a trip to a hardware store, it meant a trip to the desert.

Every build has a story; an identity that only it can claim. No one knows this better than DCD Customs in Los Angeles, a shop that literally builds Jeeps from the ground up. A focus on detail has found DCD Customs, and its owner David, at an intersection not often found in the world of off-roading— blending rugged with precision.

It’s golden hour in San Diego at Mission Beach. The sun hangs low over the Pacific surf as a light breeze ushers the daytime heat away. Swerving down the boardwalk past couples, families, aggressive seagulls, and friendly dogs, two men laugh as they swirl around on Rollerblades. They’re athletic and limber, pulling off tricks you’ve seen only on TikTok, and grooving to ’90s R&B while talking about life through mouthfuls of colorful fruit snacks. At face value, it’s a simple scene. Just two dudes out enjoying the evening air. Not a care in the world.

Jack Olliges is ambitious, talented and has a serious passion for racing. He’s also 10. His father, Steve Olliges, is a decorated racer with over 30 class wins and seven championship titles across the SCORE International and Best in the Desert racing series.

If to “err is human,” and “to forgive is divine,” then to rescue a stranger’s upturned rental Jeep out of a rocky gulch on an 80-something degree day in Moab is downright heroic. But it’s just a typical Tuesday afternoon for Rory Irish, owner and operator of the “Trail Mater” off-road tow truck. When wheeling out in Moab, Rory’s number is one that you never want to call, but if or when you do, you’ll be so very glad when he shows up.