Automotive

Be Differential

The automotive and motorsport world has always had a seat at the table — it just hasn’t always been yours. BeDifferential is the podcast for newcomers, outsiders, and anyone who’s ever felt like they didn’t quite fit in car culture.

Each week, host Eva Gregory goes behind the scenes with racers, engineers, executives, and industry insiders to share the stories, career paths, and hard-won lessons that don’t make it into the mainstream. From grassroots motorsport to the paddock, from vintage cars to cutting-edge tech — if you’re curious about where you fit in this world, you found the right show.

New episodes every Tuesday, plus solo industry takes every Thursday.

Latest Episodes:

F1 | Antonelli’s Path & How to Start a Racing Career Late Nov 05, 2026

Show notes

Kimi Antonelli was signed by Mercedes at 11. If nobody put you on a ladder that young, here’s how to build a motorsport career anyway.

Antonelli just became F1’s youngest-ever world champion at 20, the first Italian champion since 1953. Eva Gregory looks at the pathway behind that story, and the very different one for everyone who isn’t a driver: transferable skills, getting close to the sport on purpose, and finding the person who sees you early. No age limit required.

Learn more about this episode's sponsor, KNIPEX at https://www.knipex-tools.com/

Follow Be Differential for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday; https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/

Women in Motorsport & Car Restoration | Laila Quezada Nov 03, 2026

Show notes

Women in motorsport, car restoration, and engineering with Laila Quezada, founder of Pretty Girl Motorsports.

Laila Quezada is a mechanical engineer, automation technology student, and vehicle restorer who turned a love of Ford Mustangs into a motorsport media brand for women and girls. In this episode of BeDifferential, she shares how Pretty Girl Motorsports grew from apparel into educational media, a magazine that breaks down engineering and physics through restoration stories, and its first Rebelle Rally team sponsorship.

We talk about her path from Cal Poly Pomona’s College of Engineering to Southwest Technical College’s Automation Technology program, what a restoration teaches you that a classroom can’t, and what the “Under the Car Lift” stories reveal about why cars mean so much to the women who work on them. Laila also explains how she connects motorsport to trade education advocacy, from the Utah State Capitol to her rural community’s water and data center debate.

We also get into her TechForce Foundation nomination, what SEMA represents for a founder building a brand in a space that has historically had very little representation for women, and the single most important thing she thinks the industry could do to change that.

If you’re a young woman who loves cars and engineering but doesn’t see a clear path in, Laila has a message for you.

Learn more about today's podcast sponsor, KNIPEX at https://www.knipex-tools.com/

Take a deeper look at Laila's work, https://prettygirlmotorsports.com/

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SEMA 2026 & Aftermarket Careers: How to Get In Oct 29, 2026

Show notes

SEMA is trade-only, so you need a job in the car industry to get in. Here’s how to build a career in the automotive aftermarket.

The SEMA Show takes over Las Vegas November 3–6, and every badge on that floor belongs to someone who works in the car world. Eva Gregory breaks down the five types of aftermarket jobs, four ways to get your foot in the door, and why this industry is closer to enthusiasts than racing or the big carmakers. Plus: Antonelli wins in Austin and can clinch the F1 title in Mexico City this Sunday.

Follow Be Differential for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.

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Learn more about our sponsor, KNIPEX here: https://www.knipex-tools.com/

Formula 1 Patents vs Trade Secrets | Dr Paul Loustalan Oct 27, 2026

Show notes

From the Racetrack to the Road: The IP Behind Formula 1 Innovation.

When a Formula 1 team builds something brilliant, the next question is just as important as the engineering: do you patent it, or do you keep it secret? In this episode of BeDifferential, Dr Paul Loustalan, head of the Future Transport team at specialist IP law firm Reddie & Grose, pulls back the curtain on the legal strategy behind motorsport’s most valuable innovations.

Paul advises automotive manufacturers and innovators on protecting high-value engineering through patents, trade secrets, and wider IP strategy, and recently wrote about how F1 operates as a testbed for the technologies that eventually reach road cars. We explore what makes the sport such a powerful innovation environment, the trade-offs between patents and trade secrets, what published filings can tell us about propulsion, electrification, and mobility over the next five to seven years, and the IP story behind the 2026 regulation changes.

We also talk about IP law as a non-traditional entry point into motorsport, and the one question every young engineer should answer before telling anyone what they’ve built.

This episode is sponsored by KNIPEX. https://www.knipex-tools.com/

Learn more about BeDifferential at https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/

How to Work in Motorsport: 5 Ways In | F1 Austin Oct 22, 2026

Show notes

Want to work in motorsport but you’re not a driver or engineer? Here are the 5 side doors into a racing career, and how to start this year.

F1 hits Austin for the US Grand Prix, and Kimi Antonelli could clinch the title. But the cameras follow 20 drivers while thousands of people run the weekend. Eva Gregory breaks down the jobs behind a race weekend: operations, media, business, technical, and officials. Plus five practical ways to break in, no connections required.

Follow Be Differential for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.

Learn more about our sponsor, KNIPEX at https://www.knipex-tools.com/

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Annie Van Orman | Helen the VW Beetle, the Hemmings Great Race, and What Air-Cooled Ownership Actually Looks Like Oct 20, 2026

Show notes

Meet Helen — a classic VW Beetle owned, driven, wrenched on, and genuinely loved by Annie Van Orman, the enthusiast behind @annies_vw. In this episode of BeDifferential, Annie talks about how she fell into the world of air-cooled cars, what she saw in Helen when she found her, and what years of hands-on ownership have taught her that no manual ever could. We get into the Hemmings Great Race, the best and worst roadside repair stories, the projects she's quietly given up on, and the ones she'd do all over again. Annie also shares what's in her non-negotiable roadside toolkit — including the tools she trusts when things get real, thanks to this episode's sponsor KNIPEX — and looks ahead to SEMA 2026 with advice for first-time attendees. Whether you're a seasoned air-cooled owner or someone who has always wanted to get into classic cars but doesn't know where to start, Annie has something real to say to you.

Find KNIPEX tools at knipex-tools.com.

Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss a thing at https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/

How to Actually Get a Job in Motorsports — No Fluff, Real Steps Oct 15, 2026

Show notes

Eva Gregory gets asked this question more than almost anything else: how do I actually get a job in motorsports? This week she answers it — for real, without the motivational speech.

She started as a cashier at a karting facility. She ended up as Director of Operations at Road Atlanta. The path wasn't linear, wasn't glamorous at the start, and didn't come from a motorsports degree or a connected family. It came from showing up, learning how things actually work, and developing a specific skill that made her useful. In this episode she breaks down what most people misunderstand about how this industry operates, the five steps that genuinely move the needle, and the mindset question she thinks more people need to sit with before they make the leap.

Practical, honest, and directly applicable — whether you're fresh out of school, considering a career pivot, or an enthusiast who's been quietly wondering for years.

Learn more about our sponsor, KNIPEX at https://www.knipex-tools.com/

Join our newsletter to stay in the know: https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/

Topics covered: how to get a job in motorsports, motorsports career paths, corner marshaling and volunteering, track operations, mechanical empathy, career advice for enthusiasts, motorsports community, SCCA, NASA, club racing entry points.

#BeDifferential #ThursdayPitStop #MotorsportsCareer #GetAJobInMotorsports #AutomotiveCareer #RoadAtlanta #CareerAdvice #Karting #MotorsportsPodcast #CarPodcast #EvaGregory

James Dornor | Driven By Us — From Isolation to Impact, and What It Really Takes to Change Who Belongs in Motorsport Oct 13, 2026

Show notes

James Dornor looked around the motorsport industry and couldn't find a community that felt like his, so he built one. In this episode of BeDifferential, the founder of Driven By Us traces the full journey from that personal experience of isolation to an organization that has directly impacted over 4,600 students and reached nearly 19,000 more through workshops, conferences and academia events.

Driven By Us' mission is to drive meaningful change by championing underrepresented talent in STEM and reshaping perceptions across the automotive and motorsport sectors. Built by industry professionals, it empowers aspiring leaders through a community space that offers mentorship, development pathways, and real-world opportunities, supporting personal and professional growth in environments grounded in inclusion, excellence, and equity. Its reach spans the UK, North America, Europe, and beyond, and through partnerships with schools and the wider industry ecosystem, it shapes a future where diverse voices lead, inspire, and succeed, supported by industry-leading role models embedded within the community.

That work includes a Driver Academy, which supports young talent from underrepresented backgrounds through a system that was never designed with them in mind, in partnership with the FAT Karting League, founded by Rob Smedley, former Ferrari Race Engineer. Recognized with the Prime Minister's Points of Light Award and the Black Talent Award for Social Change & Race Media – Inspirational Campaign in Motorsport, Driven By Us has also built genuine partnerships with Aston Martin Amarco F1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, and Mission 44, Sir Lewis Hamilton Charity.

In this conversation, James gets honest about what the industry keeps getting wrong about this work, what "inclusion built into the chassis" actually looks like in a real conversation with a manufacturer who thinks they're already doing enough, and what the version of motorsport Driven By Us is building toward actually looks like. For any young person who loves this sport but has never once seen themselves reflected in it, this conversation is for you.

Learn more about Driven By Us at https://www.drivenbyus.org/

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Learn more about today's sponsor, KNIPEX at https://www.knipex-tools.com/

Why the Indianapolis 8 Hour Deserves More Attention Than It Gets Oct 08, 2026

Show notes

The SRO Indianapolis 8 Hour is happening this weekend at one of the most iconic motorsports venues in the world — and most American motorsports fans couldn't tell you what series it's part of. Eva Gregory wants to change that.

This week she makes the case for SRO GT racing and the Intercontinental GT Challenge: what it is, what makes it distinctive, why Indianapolis Motor Speedway's road course is a genuinely compelling venue for endurance GT machinery, and why this format has a specific argument to make for car enthusiasts that goes beyond the racing itself. When Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren, and Aston Martin are all on the same grid for eight hours, running production-based cars with road-going analogs — that connection to the broader car culture world matters.

She closes with the question she's genuinely asking: if you could add one racing series to your regular calendar, what would it be, and why?

Topics covered: SRO Motorsports Group, Intercontinental GT Challenge, GT World Challenge America, GT3 racing, Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, GT racing and car culture, endurance racing formats.

#BeDifferential #ThursdayPitStop #SRO #Indianapolis8Hour #GTRacing #GT3 #InterContinentalGTChallenge #MotorsportsPodcast #CarPodcast #CarCulture #EvaGregory

Sean Patrick MacDonald on SimCraft Motion Simulator, Six Degrees of Freedom, NASA Architecture and Translational Seat Time Oct 06, 2026

Show notes

SimCraft co-founder Sean Patrick MacDonald joins the BeDifferential Podcast to talk motion simulation, racing technology, and what it really took to build one of the most advanced simulator platforms in the world. From the center of mass architecture SimCraft shares with NASA to six degrees of freedom, 90% real-world fidelity, and translational seat time, Sean breaks down the science behind why SimCraft performs differently from every other simulator on the market. We cover endorsements from Jimmie Johnson, Jordan Taylor, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Scott Pruett, professional team applications with Wayne Taylor Racing, Skip Barber Racing School, Legacy Motor Club, and Abel Motorsports for INDY NXT, and a product range from $12,900 to $149,900. We also talk about SimCraft's role in democratizing access to motorsport for drivers and engineers who can't afford traditional track time.

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https://www.bedifferentialpodcast.com/

This episode is sponsored by KNIPEX. Learn more at https://www.knipex-tools.com/

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