If you’ve cracked open a muscle car magazine in the last few years, you’re probably already familiar with Rodger Lee, the owner and founder of Ironworks Speed and Kustom. Ironworks is an elite fabrication shop in Bakersfield, CA which, for over 20 years, has been dreaming, chopping, and masterfully welding up some of the most celebrated custom cars in the world. 

Freelance auto photographer Andy Carter doesn’t focus on the competitive side of car culture. He’s not one for retreading old ground. Instead, he’s shining the spotlight on unique—but never over-the-top—restorations.

When it comes to carving your mark upon rugged and untamed terrain, the best tire can make all the difference.

Randy Nonnenberg was born a hunter. But not the kind with a freezer full of venison or a closet full of camouflage. The kind with a mailbox of magazine subscriptions, a desk drawer of red pens, and the fastest dial-up connection that money can buy.

To put it simply, Charlene Bower does it all. To expand on that, she has started her own PR and marketing shop and founded the Ladies Offroad Network, among being an avid off-roader with a bevvy of skills. Bower is a powerhouse in the off-road world. And while she may not be in the spotlight, it’s her behind-the-scenes hustle that makes the difference.

While separated by geography and terrain, onroad and off-road motorsports have one thing in common: the intense dedication required to succeed. For the first chapter of our Crossroads series, we invited Gabby Downing and Shelby Hall — two rising stars in the on and off-road spaces — to strap into one another’s worlds for a fun, reflective ride.

On December 31st, 2020, Jim Zilisch posted a photo of his 14-year-old son Connor standing on top of his family’s RV, hands on his hips, looking out to the horizon. Pictured beside him stands Gary Willis, Connor’s kart racing coach of eight years. Gary’s arms are crossed as he stands beside Connor, gazing out over the pits, watching the sun set on their final race weekend together as driver and coach.

Laying in a big, white bed, wrapped up in a big, white bathrobe, picking at room service from a big, white hotel room, Gabby Downing stared at the big, white, empty ceiling imagining she was somewhere — anywhere — else.

Hang a right at the Arco in Echo Park, Los Angeles, and head a few blocks up a sunny residential street lined with work vans, sidewalk dogs, and flowering shrubs and trees. You’ll know you’ve arrived when you stop to admire the three bright red vintage Toyota trucks. A 1988 Land Cruiser, a 1986 pickup, and a 1977 Land Cruiser. All parked in a row.

with Nick Goepper

“Stacey strikes again.” 

Somewhere in the desert outside Reno, Nevada, kneeling in front of a towering sagebrush, five-year-old Shelby Hall grins for the camera. She’s wearing her signature uniform: a car-themed t-shirt (today it’s Hummer), a pair of hand-me-down jean shorts and her pink sparkly cowgirl boots. She’s just pushed her dark brunette bangs aside to get a better look at her freshly-plucked prize — a handful of dusty Nevadan dirt.It may as well be fairy dust.