The Cutting Edge Garage Podcast

Today's guest Jeff Crutcher started racing Moto in 1995 on a white KTM 50 SXR. Jeff later landed a job with FedEx and quickly decided that corporate life was not for him. He continued to race while collecting dozens of championships, running his own sticker company, instructing hundreds of racers, and launching three successful brands. He now manages his own team, Cycle Zone Powersports KTM. We wanted to know what drives Jeff to be...

Today we're speaking with Michele Lancia, president of Mantis, The manufacturer and supplier of the patented ToolGrid™ tool organization system. Created in 1986, Mantis is 100% Canadian-owned and operated, located in Ontario. Although they are now a well-known and respected name in the industry, ToolGrid™ success didn't happen overnight. We wanted to know how they did it and continue innovating while staying on top of the ever-evol...

Today Lee is back in The Cutting Edge Garage with return guest Alexander McCulloch from Shop Style Design. They discuss everything from the importance of keeping your company's "Google My Business Page" up to date and how not doing so could be detrimental to your business's online success. If you're interested in creating an online business or need some world-class service and support, Alexander and his team might be a perfect matc...

Brayden Ankin is not your average 16-year-old young man. He began his love of anything with wheels at just 1-year-old, with a custom electric four-wheeler sponsored by pampers. He outgrew that four-wheeler and has been obsessed with going bigger and faster ever since. It's no surprise that being the son of Toymakerz David Ankin, Brayden would share his love of tricked-out vehicles with his dad. While being an A-B honor student, Act...

In January 2001, Nitro Dave’s LLC started out by reselling performance products, filling nitrous bottles, and supplying race fuel. It quickly became a full-blown speed shop, complete with installation and tuning services. In 2003, Nitrous Outlet was born. Nitrous Outlet originally developed unique nitrous accessories used in conjunction with other system brands. Through Dave’s tuning and racing of nitrous-fed applications, he disco...

In this episode, the tables have turned, and Lee gets interviewed for a change by the host of The Heavy-Duty Parts Report Podcast, Jamie Irvine. They discuss why a new approach to selling tools to repair technicians is necessary for 2022. What effects covid has had on the industry, and the steps Cutting Edge and SP Tools USA has already taken to spearhead the inevitable change that is starting to take place in the mobile tool and e...

TEXA is a global leader in the Design, Development, and Production of Multibrand Diagnostic Tools, Exhaust Gas Analyzers, Air Conditioning Recharge Stations, and Telematic Devices for Truck and Off-highway Equipment.   TEXA has an extensive, worldwide distribution network and employees more than 730 people, 600 of which are based in the company’s head offices in Treviso, Italy, where all TEXA products are designed, developed, and m...

Since her first vehicle, a Volkswagen bug, Bogi Lateiner has been smitten with the automotive industry. She studied at UTI before becoming a BMW Master Tech and eventually opening her own shop. As we all know, the automotive industry is predominately male, especially in the technician sector. Because of this, through her personal experiences, empowering women in the business has become her passion. 

Through her passion, she has bee...

In today’s episode, we are talking to the main man from the show Lifted Life TV. Steve Hill is the owner of the shop, Five-R Trucks, where they understand your passion for making your beloved trucks perform at their best! In the show, Steve, along with his family and crew, make someone’s 4x4 customization dreams into a reality, every week. The Hill family has become internationally known for its award-winning builds, from show truc...

What does it mean to be a professional drifter?  

On today’s podcast, we’re talking with Ben Hobson about just that. 

He has been drifting for 6 years and received his Formula Drift Pro2 License in September of this year by placing 1st in the lone star drift shootout. 

His drift car is a Nissan Silvia S15 with a 6.8L supercharged LS engine, also known as THE JOKER! 

What is drifting, how do you get into it and how do become a profe...

The racing industry has been a predominantly male business and hobby since day one. This makes us wonder, what is it like being a woman in a male-dominated extreme sport?  

In today’s episode, we have Sara Price, a Professional Off-road Racing Champion, stuntwoman, and businesswoman. 

Since the age of 8, when she got her first dirt bike, she was hooked. And since 2006 she has competed in a ton of races and come away with many metal...

Kasey Hull is an automotive photographer and blogger as well as a director for the NBC News network. Since his first NASCAR race as a child, he has loved cars and his photography hobby started off with recording RC cars. He discovered the show Cars and Coffee during college and that’s when his car photography gig really started. He continued attending car shows for photography reasons and eventually realized that there was one mis...

Full-time RV-ing… selling all your belongings to live in a small camper traveling around the country with no “home-base” to land. Could you do it? On today’s podcast we have Olivia and Kyle, or as a lot of people know them, Drivin’ and Vibin’, and they did exactly that, 5 years ago. And guess what else? They’ve made it into a successful business with a Youtube Channel and Blog! These two took the chance of having a life-changing ex...

Eric Saunders was a successful up and coming motocross racer, but in 2010, he suffered a crash that he wasn’t able to get up from. He was paralyzed and lost the use of both of his legs.

Fortunately, racing is simply the competition between people to determine which one is the fastest and he made his way back into the racing world through sprint cars, despite his condition.

Because of his condition though, he has become an advocate ...

As we have mentioned before, success in the automotive industry is abundant and defined in many ways. In saying that, success does not always come easy. Today's guest Kris Martin Is a professional race car driver, social media influencer, and motivational speaker. He was also born profoundly deaf. Today he receives partial hearing through a hearing implant he received at eight years old. He has grown up with racing in his blood and...

Maybe you are following in the footsteps of your parents; perhaps you’ve been inspired by an automotive show on television; you may be continuing your training after high school automotive shop class, or maybe it is just in your blood. Whatever path led you here SP Tools’ respects your decision to join one of the most valuable professions in the world! We understand the challenges you face with being a student tech. The amount of k...

Hoosier Tires is the world’s largest race tire manufacturer. Today’s guest, Irish Saunders, is the Asphalt Oval Business Unit Manager for Hoosier Tire. With a racing background, a passion for MX, and two sons following in his racing footsteps, how did Irish get to where he is today, and what is it like to be a Business Unit Manager for a massive tire manufacturer? Let’s find out! Welcome to the Cutting Edge Garage Podcast!

To learn...

Success in the automotive industry is abundant and defined in many ways. Today, with our guest, Mike Friesth, the current director of Automotive Tool and Equipment at Great Neck Saw, we want to know how he was able to gain such success in completely different sectors of the automotive industry and the struggles he had to face transitioning between them. Prior to starting in this industry, he was a civil engineer designing concrete ...

Some people find success in an already, well-defined industry, some people create their success in something different than anything else. Today’s guest, Chuck Olsen, is a co-Inventor of the Remote Vehicle Programming System and Method and has developed several methods for remote diagnostics, calibration, and programming. Chuck has 40 years’ experience in the automotive industry ranging from apprentice technician to operations man...