Latest / BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show / From NYC Streets to Carolina Circuits: AJ Campo’s Audi-Fueled Ascent

Transcript

From NYC Streets to Carolina Circuits: AJ Campo’s Audi-Fueled Ascent · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

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BreakFix podcast is all about capturing the living history of people from
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all over the autosphere, from wrench turners and racers to artists, authors,
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designers, and everything in between.
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Our goal is to inspire a new generation of petrolheads that wonder.
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How did they get that job or become that person?
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The road to success is paved by all of us because everyone has a story.
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Our guest is a force to be reckoned with hailing from the bustling streets of
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New York City, but finding her true home on the winding roads of North Carolina.
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Little did she know that fate had something extraordinary in store for
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her at a local cars and coffee event.
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Amanda.
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Better known to her friends as AJ Campo crossed paths with a
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fellow enthusiasts and leaders at the Audi Club of the Carolinas.
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And that chance encounter ignited a friendship that would change the
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trajectory of her motorsports journey.
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And she's here with us on Brake Fix to share her story.
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With you.
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And with that, welcome to the show, AJ.
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Thank you very much.
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Happy to be here.
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Well, like all good break fix stories, there's a super heroine origin story.
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So tell us about the who, what, when, and where of you and your racing career
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and your motor sports background.
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Did you come from a racing family?
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I somewhat did.
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Yeah.
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I grew up watching my dad and my brother race, just hanging out in the
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paddock and always wishing it was me, but never really thought of it as like
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a tangible thing that could happen.
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But no, nothing really turned into anything fruitful until I left
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New York, moved to North Carolina and started pursuing whatever
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I thought would make me happy.
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And I ended up behind the wheel.
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The move from New York to the Carolinas.
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Was that because you just couldn't really open the taps in New York city or was
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there some other draw to move south?
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I felt so restrained and confined in New York in my mid to late
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twenties, I wanted to invest.
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I wanted to buy a house.
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Everything was so difficult financially.
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It was the hustle was insane.
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It was always work, hardly any fun.
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And I just, I wanted to be somewhere that was removed from all of
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that constant fast paced stress.
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So that way I could focus more on really what made me happy, not
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just keeping up with the Joneses.
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Racing in New England is kind of interesting because you
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do have some famous tracks.
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Let's call that nearby if we discount traffic disasters.
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You've got places like Lime Rock and you've got places like NJMP, even
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within reach Watkins Glen and Pit Race and Summit Point and places like that.
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So there was no shortage of opportunity to go racing though.
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There was a shortage of time.
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Really?
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That was it.
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It was just like always working two, three jobs, always treading water.
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As you moved to the Carolinas, obviously your motor sports background suddenly
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began to blossom as you made friends within the Audi club and so on.
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And I want to talk more about your Audi S3 Quattro, also known
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to many people as the beast.
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But I also want to recognize the fact that you come by the VAG family of vehicles.
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Honestly, I heard rumor your dad owned a VW Porsche shop.
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He did.
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Yeah.
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Up in New York when I was growing up, it was actually called AVP technology.
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Yeah.
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Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche in uh, Patchogue, New York.
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Mom and pop shop, just the one.
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Pretty big, I have to say, but I grew up in there with my sister.
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I remember basically throwing tantrums and making my grandpa lift us on the lifts
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over and over again, up and down, sitting Indian style, trying not to fall off.
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You can't do that these days.
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Somebody would get arrested, I guess, but you know.
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So yeah, we, we grew up in the shop surrounded by them.
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So I can make the assumption that you recognize that Audi started well
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before the B4 S4 came to market.
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So growing up around a VW Porsche shop, was there a car that got you excited?
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Something that, you know, was like, I got to hang a poster of that on my wall.
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That's the car I want to buy or something that got you excited about motorsport?
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No, not really.
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Every sports car was just, yes.
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I wanted it all.
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How did you settle on the S3?
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As a early twenties girl on long Island, New York, my father wouldn't
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let me get behind the wheel of anything other than an Audi.
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It was safer.
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It had all wheel drives.
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There's snow all the time, et cetera, et cetera.
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And then when I kind of got into my industry at work and wanted to buy
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something nice, new and fancy for myself, I went for the S3 cause it was
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sporty, but it was still affordable.
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And it had everything that I was already accustomed to.
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And actually, funny story, I was driving a Sonata before that.
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Got into my only accident ever, knock on wood, really stupid, pulled out of
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a parking spot and hit a guardrail that I didn't realize was right next to me.
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So I had a loaner for a couple of weeks and it was this adorable convertible
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A3 and it was red and it had the vents.
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If anybody knows the A3s, S3s, they have like these.
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And like, you can turn them any direction that you want.
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Like I'm a little bit of a snob about comfort and convenience and the vents
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sold me on that platform because it was like the heat of the summer.
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I was going to work.
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I was in like suits and everything and it could get cool and
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total control over the air.
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It's funny you bring that up because Audi purists would say, well, those got their
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inspiration from the first generation TT.
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When I argue that they actually came from the Pontiac Aztec.
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But you know, that's a story for another day.
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Your S3 has gone through a bit of a metamorphosis.
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So walk us through the build and why you decided to take your daily driver S3 and
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make it into more of a, let's say a beast.
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You never really sit there and make the conscious decision to
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transform something like that.
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At least that's not something I think I would ever do.
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Coming from the girl who, you know, flipped a switch and left everything
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in New York overnight to move to North Carolina, but whatever, that's
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another story, but you know, when I came down here, I met Jess and others
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at the Audi club got super involved.
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We started going on mountain runs and I was realizing that there's a couple
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of tweaks I could do here and there to make the car better perform in the
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mountains, make it something that I can really enjoy that's safer, that keeps
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up with the friends with the R8s and the TTRSs and all that sort of stuff.
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Getting into networking with the track guys and having them pull me
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in and actually getting my car on track for the first couple of times
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and realizing this is right here.
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I can make some minor changes and have a really great time.
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And then it snowballs a shop reached out dynamic auto tune in Charlotte.
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They said, you know what, we think you're awesome.
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You're coming out to all the shows.
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You're doing awesome on the track.
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We want to work with Unitronic and build your car out.
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And they put everything full Unitronic suite that is offered for the eight
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feet and a half platform, all the bolt ons, the two and everything on the car.
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I had already had Oh three, four kind of like street density suspension on the car.
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So it was a little bit of a bump from other people.
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In different directions got me to where I am today.
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But what did you think was a shortcoming of the S3?
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What was the first thing you felt you had to change or overcome that was
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inhibiting you from growing as a driver?
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It's actually funny that you say that because originally before I even started
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tracking the car, the one thing that irritated me was that it was a DSG.
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I've totally gotten over that since then.
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It's just it blows everybody like so fast.
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I would say one of the biggest struggles that I have right now, I would say
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heat and the lack of legitimate track performance aftermarket support.
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I can see that.
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I mean, you know, the S3 was never really intended to be a track car.
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Like a lot of the.
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Transverse, let's call them Quattro based Audis that exist like anything, you know,
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that shares a platform with a Volkswagen.
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It's kind of interesting.
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You bring that up.
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I hear a lot of people say, ah, well, they understeer quite a bit because it's
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still front wheel bias, things like that.
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So I was really curious, you know, what it was like to drive on the
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track and are you happy with the mods you've made to a bigger point, it's a
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lot different driving it at the track and setting it up for the street.
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So have you had to make some compromises between the track and the mountain runs?
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Yeah, there's definitely been some compromises more
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so moving into next season.
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I'll see that a little more significantly.
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For example, I'm running my stock seats, but with the Shroth quick fit harnesses,
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I'm still having some level of support.
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It's still street legal.
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I can still use my regular belts on the street if I want to, but for daily
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driving and mountain driving, et cetera, I still can sit in a regular seat.
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So it's actually a compromise on both sides because now moving toward a more
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serious build in the next couple of.
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And it's going to be more and more difficult to get
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the car out on the mountains.
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And it's going to be more dedicated to track everything.
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You'll make it to the point where it's no longer street legal and you're
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trailering it somewhere like completely gutted cage and all that kind of stuff.
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If it doesn't, it's because I bought something else, but that is the goal.
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I've actually already ordered a cage from studio RSR.
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So they are doing really awesome job expediting that for me.
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So I can get it in really early in the season, this season.
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So I'll have the cage going.
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I'm still trying to decide on seats, but I just last week actually bought
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a pickup truck and I'm shopping for a trailer now because it's getting
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a little worrisome being out there on track and wanting to push it.
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And then you have that thing in the back of your head that just clicks.
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It's like, I got to drive this home so many hours and then go to work tomorrow.
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You know, it's stressful.
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So let's talk about mountain runs doing tail the dragon and things
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like that versus going to the track.
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Which do you prefer?
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Is it about the same and why?
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I love hate this question so much because mountain runs and the fun
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with people and the scenery, I mean, that's where it started for me.
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That's where it kind of like ticked in my head that I just want to go fast
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all the time and I want to challenge, but on the track, it's obviously safer.
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It's legal.
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You can really hit it all the way.
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You don't have to worry about is there going to be like a dog
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running out in the street in front of us, et cetera, et cetera.
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So I like to be on the safer side of things.
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Being on the track is more comfortable for me, but just getting out
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there in the mountains with your friends and their exotics that
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they only take out on the weekends.
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And it's a totally different monster.
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For example, when Mike and I went to the Tale of Dragon with the Audi
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club a couple of months back, we had a good time just in the parking lot
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with Rob at Faster Skunk, putting the carbon fiber wheels on the car and just
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kind of hanging out, drinking beers.
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We did not drive after, we waited till the next day to take it out.
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But you know, just the hang out, have a good time part of it.
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That's really where it all started for me anyway.
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And without that.
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The rest of it doesn't mean anything.
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So I'm glad you bring that up.
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Cause we work with our friends at ESC carbon and they do sponsor the show.
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So I'm wondering what was it like having the E2 carbon fiber wheels on the car?
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People ask, does it drive differently?
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Does it feel differently?
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You know, does it handle better?
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You know, all of these questions, what's it really like?
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I'm like cheesing like a fool right now, because I love those wheels so
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much from the second that I got into the car with those wheels on it, it
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was a completely different monster.
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They're light.
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The car is so responsive with them on.
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I walk around like tossing my keys to people, just go take
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this for a ride around the block.
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You need to feel this car with these wheels.
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Nothing has made me happier in a really long time than making
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the switch over those wheels.
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I mean, I did come from a heavy set of street wheels, but I have never
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experienced anything like these.
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I highly recommend them too.
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Everybody that will even hear me, at least try them out.
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And you're running a big brake kit on the car, which a lot of
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times limits the selection of wheels that you can choose from.
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Even on my time attack car, I run custom made team dynamics
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because I'm running Porsche brakes.
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And so I have to be able to fit around those monster calipers.
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Did you run into any of those kinds of problems with the wheels, or was
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it just straight bolted on and go?
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It was straight bolt on and go.
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Yeah, I have pretty monstrous willwood calipers on the front
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and the wheels went right on.
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They're fantastic.
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Let's talk a little bit more about the track and your HPD experience, right?
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And you've graduated away from HPD into time trials, and
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we'll get into that as well.
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So down in your area, which tracks are you frequenting?
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Are you going to CMP?
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Are you gonna VIR?
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What's your favorite?
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CMPI would say is.
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Kind of my home track, it is the closest and nearest and dearest to
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my heart because that's the first time I actually was on a track
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in my car, really testing it out.
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I go to VIR a lot.
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VIR is hands down my favorite track, without a doubt.
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It is just technical enough, but it's not too difficult.
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I guess I'm a little bit biased because I've been there so many times as well,
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but it is just always a good time and you always feel great about yourself
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when you're going around that track.
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CMP is great for just comfort and fun and goofing off.
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Any bucket list tracks you want to drive at?
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Yeah, I want to drive on every single track ever made in the world.
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Fair enough.
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A lot of people are car aficionados, enthusiasts, etc.
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And then you talk about the track and they're like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
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I'm not leaving the house.
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I'm going to polish it, go to the car show, not taking autocross might be
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a stretch sometimes, but then you get those adventurous types that do jump in.
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What was it like for you?
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Were you like ready to rock and roll or were you hesitant?
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Was there some sort of apprehension you had to get over going from, you
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know, doing mountain runs to going to the track for the first time?
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Absolutely not.
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No way.
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I will say it was completely the opposite.
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I could not wait to get on the track as soon as I realized it
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was an option and it was tangible.
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I realized, you know, on the mountain runs having so much fun, but the level
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of danger and always having to hold back really irritated me and everything
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was telling me I want to go faster.
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I want to push harder.
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I want more challenge, et cetera, et cetera.
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So as soon as the opportunity to get on track came up, I immediately jumped on it.
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And to be honest with you, zero apprehension or nerves
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or anything in terms of.
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My capabilities on track, but my buddy Ryan would say is committing the
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apprehension for me was just making sure that I was following all the rules.
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I just did not want to mess up anybody else's lap or anybody else's day.
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I'm always trying to be the most considerate of other people.
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But when you're newer, it's a little overwhelming.
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Everybody knows what's going on, like, 2nd nature.
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So that's where my anxiety always kicks in.
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It's just like, am I doing all the right things?
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Number one, and then number two is, okay, now go have fun and kill it.
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So there's a lot of people that make the argument that, oh, I'm only getting,
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you know, 30 minutes at a time a track day, and I gotta sit around all day.
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When you calculate the number of hours you spend on track, it's actually quite a bit.
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What do you think about that?
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Are you getting value for money at an HPDE versus doing a mountain run?
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I mean, I know they're a little bit apples and chainsaws, but there's
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something to be said about getting off the street and really driving
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the car at its designed limits.
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First of all, I, Would pay almost anything to be able to do that, to just get off the
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street onto a track and push the car to, it's like you said, designed limits, but
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to be honest with you, if you're pushing yourself that hard and you're getting the
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absolute most out of your track day, it's not all about your literal seat time.
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It's about coming off and analyzing how you did, what you could do
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differently, keeping yourself hydrated, keeping yourself fed, keeping your.
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Mental emotional health in check, and by the time I've done all of
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those things, then I'm getting called to go back out again.
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I'm like, all right, now I'm ready to go.
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So I have never had an issue with not having enough actual
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seat time at an HPD event.
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So what are the kind of darker sides to both of these types of
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motorsport, you know, whether it's the mountain drives or the HPDs is those.
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Oops moments, those Code Brown situations, we like to call them, and they happen on
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the street, and they happen at the track.
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Now, I'll preface that by saying that in the HBDE world, we can get
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additional track day insurance to help us if something happens that
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isn't available on the street.
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So what have you seen and what have you learned?
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If I ever have to have an incident, it better only be on track.
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I do purchase additional insurance.
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For myself and for the car.
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Every time I go out on track on the street, there's
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absolutely nothing you can do.
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The risk is so much greater if you're going out there on mountain runs,
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especially with like the caliber of vehicles that we typically go with.
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They're going to know that there's going to be videos.
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Somebody will have posted it or something.
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There's too much risk.
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It's way too dangerous and way too unsafe.
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I get it.
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It's fun.
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I like to have fun and I sound like a buzzkill talking about it, but.
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An incident can always occur.
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It better not happen on street.
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And the reason I bring it up is I'm going to assume as you progress
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through the HPDE system, you've learned some lessons on track too.
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So tell us about maybe a moment where the car gave you a reality check.
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I would say there were two particular incidents on track for me.
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The first one was actually at CMP through the infamous kink.
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We still don't know what happened, but the car rotated 180 degrees and I ended
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up going across the wet grass in reverse.
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Starting at, I don't know, I think I was going over the kink at like
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a hundred and change miles an hour.
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And I had just no control over anything.
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Once you're on wet grass, that's it.
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You just let go of the wheel, brace for impact, you know.
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Nothing happened.
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I got really lucky.
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If there was anything around, that would have been a really bad day.
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But I also know that because I was on track, more than likely, nobody
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else would have been involved.
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I would have had the car towed home.
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Insurance would have taken care of everything.
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And I'd be moving on and buying another track car.
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But there was another incident also at CMP, actually.
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It was, I guess, just an HPTE day.
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But there was an R8 in front of me that lost it going around.
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Can't even remember what corner it was.
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I have a video of it on my Instagram though, but he was right in front of
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me, lost it, and we got pretty close.
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I actually had one of my buddies who is an instructor in the car with me and
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we both kind of got a little nervous.
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He got a little pucker.
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We were all paying attention.
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We did fine and carried on, but it could have been, could have been a bad time.
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So I'm glad you brought up instructing.
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Is that something you aspire to do in the future?
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It absolutely is.
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Yeah.
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That's something that I will be working on dipping my toes into this season for sure.
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I do think it's very important if you have the ability to go
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ahead and give back to others.
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There is no reason not to.
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And I think that I have a little bit of a niched position being
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a younger female in that world.
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That can probably help others with some of the ins and outs that most
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men don't necessarily think about.
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I would love to help out some beginners that are trying to get on track for sure.
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Well, and it is one of the steps out of the HPD arena and you took
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another one already, which was to head into competition with SCCA
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under their time trials division.
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What made you decide to go that way versus club racing?
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What class is your Audi even in and how is it doing versus
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everybody else that's out there?
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I kind of got pulled into the SCCA time trials because I attended a
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racing for ALS event that was combined with SCCA time trials, racing for ALS
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hosts the HPDEs, but since I was there anyway, it was Jim's race at CMP.
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Can't remember what year that was a couple of years ago.
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I said, you know what, I might as well just sign up for the time trial portion
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and see how I like the competition.
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And it really was all downhill from there.
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I got sucked in.
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I will say I'm a very competitive person.
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And going out there and racing against the other guys.
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We're in 2 0 3.
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It's usually the same group of us going out time after time.
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Really good group of guys though.
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It's very rewarding.
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I guess you can say.
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The S3 holds up very well against those guys.
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I think I hold up against them very well too.
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But I guess that's.
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Pretty subjective, but we do pretty great.
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I've taken home a couple of first place trophies and our last
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event, first place in my class.
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And then third place overall, the entire event.
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Just like your car evolves and will continue to evolve.
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Obviously your driving career is evolving too, but have
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you learned from time trials?
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What comes next?
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Because when you set it up for the mountain runs and then you set it
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up for DE, which you're moving fast and you're lapping, but it's not the
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same as when you're in competition.
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Have you had to mod the car since you entered the time trials?
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I have not had to, too heavily, but I have the itch.
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I have been trying very significantly to hold back because I would love
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to continue to compete in my class.
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I think we are doing so well in it.
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My sponsors love it.
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I'm having a great time.
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I'm feeling great about myself, meeting the boys out there.
19:49
It's pretty cool.
19:50
So I'm trying to hold off on anything that might bump me up out
19:53
of that class until next season.
19:55
And there is a big book of work that we plan to do next season.
19:58
I will tell you.
19:59
But in the meantime, it's really just about getting the most out of the car.
20:03
I'm still working on some heating and fueling issues.
20:06
And the brake setup was a really big one for me last season.
20:09
It's just keeping the car up to par with my skill level for now until we decide to
20:13
really dive in and do some crazy stuff.
20:15
And the dangerous part is, you know, you're playing the classic game with SCCA
20:19
and you go from tuner three to something like STU and suddenly you're like, why
20:23
are there 900 horsepower Corvettes here?
20:25
You know, things like that they introduced a couple of years ago, at
20:29
least in our region, the idea of bracket racing, are you thinking about that?
20:33
Because I think club racing would be very difficult to class your car in right now.
20:37
I have no idea what direction I want to go in the next couple of years.
20:41
I have to tell you, I'm taking everything day by day right now.
20:45
There is nothing that I won't consider.
20:47
It's just a matter of how the next couple of months go for me and who I'm talking
20:52
to and what I find an interest in.
20:54
And I say yes to everything.
20:56
So we'll see.
20:57
We joked earlier about knowing Audi's older than the year 2000, the Biturbo S4.
21:04
As we stated, you know, you're a member of the Audi club and more so you're
21:07
on the board of the Carolinas region.
21:09
There are tons of Audi owners out there, but not everybody is a club member.
21:13
So as an ambassador for the club, How would you entice someone to join?
21:18
What's the value proposition there?
21:19
Why become an Audi club member?
21:21
I wouldn't entice someone to join cause I'm not a salesperson, but I can tell you
21:25
the reason why I joined is because I love to drive and to attend the, they call it
21:32
wheels in motion events with Audi club.
21:34
You have to be a paid member, which is.
21:36
It's like totally reasonable because you're covered by insurance for
21:40
the events, et cetera, et cetera.
21:41
But there are a significant amount of other benefits as well that I
21:45
probably should be more mindful of taking advantage of myself.
21:48
But the even national level sponsorships that the members get discounts.
21:53
For almost anything you want to do, not even necessarily just
21:56
performance upgrades on your car.
21:57
But there are some big name sponsors that you can really take advantage of too.
22:01
It pays off.
22:02
I think the cost of the membership is like less than what you pay for a tank of gas.
22:07
Your role can be influential in this place by recruiting new members, but
22:10
You also have other duties as assigned.
22:12
So how are you affecting change?
22:14
Are you helping to come up with new events, new ideas?
22:17
How are you keeping members involved?
22:18
This is something I've been thinking about a lot the last couple of weeks.
22:21
I was recently elected the president of the Carolinas chapter.
22:25
Congratulations.
22:26
Thank you.
22:26
Thank you very much.
22:27
But what I am trying to be mindful of is not to infuse my own personal
22:34
goals and missions for the club across the rest of the board.
22:38
So it's something that we're all working on this year is to make
22:42
sure that we are representing a vast audience and their interests.
22:48
So I would love to say that we are posting track events all year long
22:54
and pulling everybody in and making sure that everybody's getting the
22:57
most out of driving their car and all that sort of high performance stuff.
23:01
But it's about giving back to the community and what they want.
23:06
So we have a couple of ideas up our sleeves this year
23:09
within the Carolinas chapter.
23:10
That will be kind of probing our membership audience, you know, what do
23:15
you want and what can we do for you?
23:17
And that's where we're going to put our attention.
23:19
And to be honest with you, I think that's the only way to do it.
23:21
Well, that also brings up another great question and kind of going
23:24
back to talking about track rat life.
23:26
How can we make the paddock not just more diverse, but inviting for
23:31
people that are like we talked about earlier, maybe hesitant, but also have
23:35
that idea of if I don't see myself there, then I don't belong there.
23:38
I think that is a responsibility of every person involved.
23:43
Those of us that are already comfortable in the paddock need to reach out and
23:48
pull others in and say, come hang out.
23:51
Don't feel out of place.
23:52
See how easy it is to get involved.
23:54
Come have a good time.
23:55
I don't care if you're driving, turning a wrench, cooking hamburgers.
24:00
Or taking photos, you know, there's a place for everybody.
24:02
But the other side of it is realizing that if there's something you're
24:06
interested in doing and you don't feel comfortable necessarily doing it, there
24:10
is a level of self accountability.
24:13
Do what you need to do.
24:14
Step out of your comfort zone to find your happiness.
24:18
So people need to understand that it's not so scary to step out of your comfort zone.
24:23
And also the rest of us need to be there to catch those people that are doing it.
24:26
There is a place for everyone at the track.
24:28
I always joke that it's a party waiting for a race to happen.
24:30
You know what I mean?
24:31
You can always get involved.
24:32
And I've personally made some lifelong friends by going to the
24:35
track and probably would have never met them anywhere else had it not
24:38
been for us all going there together.
24:40
Now, there's something else I've heard you talk about before, which
24:43
is this concept of car girl culture.
24:45
Can you explain that to me?
24:46
And why is that important?
24:48
Car girl culture is a very sticky subject.
24:54
I have spent a lot of time in that typical tuner slammed show vibe culture.
25:01
And the Women that you see there, the girls, your interests are completely
25:07
different than someone like myself.
25:09
Whereas I just want to go fast and I don't really care about how it actually,
25:14
it's funny, I do care about how I look at all times, but like, that's not
25:17
my top priority, but there are other girls out there that are really just
25:19
doing it for the social media, do it for the gram type of attention thing.
25:23
And it makes it very difficult for us who are out there trying to be
25:26
real and feel like we need to compete with, well, I have to also look good
25:30
while doing it or whatever it is.
25:32
There are a couple of us women in the area that have a personal prerogative.
25:39
To pull those girls further into the sport, if they're interested,
25:44
but to just not let them just hang out and sit on the sidelines or be
25:48
kind of like a passenger princess.
25:49
If we know that you're interested in it, at least in some way, and
25:52
you're putting yourself out there and you're making a social media
25:55
name for yourself or whatever it is.
25:57
Do you want to come to the track?
25:58
Do you want to come for a ride along?
26:01
You want to sit in my passenger seat?
26:02
I'll drive you around, be my passenger princess, you know?
26:05
So it also creates a little bit of a stigma, I guess, for the rest of us, too.
26:10
Someone sees me, a car girl.
26:13
And they wonder, you know, is she, is she trying to take my man?
26:15
You know, like that type of a thing.
26:18
No, I'm not actually, please keep them.
26:20
I don't want nobody's man.
26:21
I don't have one myself.
26:22
I'm, I'm cool.
26:25
So it creates a fine line that women in the industry have to kind of walk,
26:33
which is unfortunate, but you know what, we all contribute to that in society.
26:37
And I think we all need to do better.
26:38
Say you're at the track and a little girl walks up to you and says, AJ.
26:42
Why do you race?
26:44
What would you say?
26:44
Because it makes me happy.
26:46
Well put.
26:46
You have a lot of stuff going on.
26:48
You got a lot of stuff on your plate.
26:50
And so we tend to just keep piling stuff onto our plate sometimes.
26:55
And I wonder, what's next for AJ?
26:57
What kind of events, projects, do you have some builds?
27:00
Anything you can share?
27:01
Upcoming projects or collaborations.
27:04
What's the, not just this season's outlook, but next season?
27:06
There's so much going on.
27:07
I don't even know how to answer that question.
27:09
I gotta refer to the whiteboard.
27:10
Hang on.
27:13
I just bought a truck for myself last week.
27:14
So I have a daily driver now.
27:16
I am shopping for a trailer so I can transport the car, be a
27:19
little more comfortable on track, a lot more comfortable on track.
27:21
I have a cage in the works.
27:24
I will be kind of transitioning a little bit off of the street onto the track.
27:29
For the S3, I'm looking forward to next season, probably doing some Aero, doing
27:34
a significant amount of suspension work with Pete at 529 Innovations.
27:38
Other than that, I don't know what's next.
27:40
I just want to hit the ground running and do, I just, like I
27:43
said, I say yes to everything.
27:45
Even Mike at ESE Carbon with the E2 wheels.
27:48
He's like, you want to see if we can get them going on track?
27:51
Yeah, I would love to figure out how to test those on track.
27:53
Like, let's do it.
27:54
I would love to be able to be part of testing their product out and opening
27:59
it up to a completely new market.
28:01
Whatever gets me behind the wheel, I am down to do it.
28:04
Is there a dream drive out there still?
28:06
Not a road or a track, but maybe behind the wheel of a special car?
28:09
When I was growing up, maybe like early 20s, I was like, Oh,
28:12
I wish one day I could own an R8.
28:15
So I'll probably get one for a little bit, but like, that's
28:17
not like a dream car anymore.
28:19
I don't know what is.
28:20
I really don't know what is.
28:21
I'm transitioning from what you see coming off the line at the factory.
28:26
And that, you know, this shiny new toy to like a track monster
28:31
is what really just gets me going.
28:33
Ask me another year or two.
28:35
Well, with that, AJ, we've come to that part of the episode where I'd
28:38
like to invite our guests to share any shout outs, promotions, or anything
28:42
else that we didn't cover thus far.
28:43
I have to give a shout out to Racing for ALS.
28:47
Without them, I would have never gotten behind the wheel on a track.
28:50
So I owe my entire journey in large part to them.
28:54
If anyone wants to know more, you can go to Racing for ALS.
28:59
But they are a non for profit organization that raises funds and
29:03
awareness for ALS patients and research.
29:07
Everything that they do is entirely donated and with true good behind it.
29:14
They are a network of people that, again, there's a place
29:17
for everybody at the track.
29:19
Not everybody drives, but a lot of them do, but everybody's an enthusiast about
29:23
having a good time and saving lives.
29:25
I feel like everyone in the world should in some way, at least be
29:29
aware of what racing for ALS does, because I've never met a better
29:33
group of people out there doing good.
29:35
AJ's story doesn't end here.
29:38
She's not just conquering curves, she's breaking barriers.
29:41
As a woman in the automotive world, AJ stands tall, proving
29:44
that horsepower knows no gender.
29:46
She is now the president of the Audi Club of the Carolinas, fostering a community
29:50
where enthusiasts, regardless of gender, come together to celebrate their shared
29:53
love for all things four wheeled.
29:55
To learn more about AJ and her Audi, look no further than social media
29:59
and follow her at Nomad underscore S3 on Instagram and Facebook.
30:04
And don't forget to check out her YouTube channel or connect with her on LinkedIn.
30:08
And with that, AJ, I can't thank you enough for coming on break,
30:10
fix, and sharing your story with us.
30:12
And I have to say, whether you realize it or not, you are
30:15
what I call a silo breaker.
30:16
You are an inspiration for women out there trying to get them up
30:19
off the street and onto the track.
30:21
And perpetuating and spreading motorsports enthusiasm, which is important these
30:27
days in the midst of everything that's changing in the automotive world.
30:30
And I deeply appreciate the fact that you're out there time trialing an Audi.
30:34
So maybe we'll see you at CMP in the future and best of luck this season.
30:39
Thank you very much.
30:45
We hope you enjoyed another awesome episode of Brake Fix Podcast brought
30:49
to you by Grand Touring Motorsports.
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