Hard Parking with Jhae Pfenning

Jasser Valerio (NASCAR Senior Manager of Event Technology) returns for his first in-studio Hard Parking appearance. They talk life on the NASCAR event technology side, the cars he drives (NSX, S2000, and thoughts on Integra Type S), Japan Auto Salon, and the NSX community. Solo segments cover the Honda Cars & Bikes event, an expensive Fogo de Chao that underwhelmed, a solid Madre mezcal experience, My Top 10 cars of the 21st century http://getcarcurious.com/bestcars, the screen-used Avengers NSX Roadster live on Cars & Bids for charity, and what Audi’s $4 billion U.S. plant announcement actually means. Guest: Jasser Valerio — Instagram @jasserv Prior appearance: EP 200 – Jasser Valerio | Being a NASCAR Official (Nov 2023) Related: Ep 341 – Navy to NASCAR: Jesse Iwuji Avengers NSX (Cars & Bids): View listing Audi $4B plant: Official Audi announcement Full Article on Car Curious: https://getcarcurious.com/stories/best-cars-of-the-21st-century-poll Timestamps 0:00 Intro & Blanton’s Gold 0:21 Show open + coming up 0:56 Honda Cars & Bikes / Fogo / Madre mezcal 7:19 Arcus Foundry / Spark Forge 8:00 Car news: Top 10 + Avengers NSX 12:00 Audi $4B U.S. plant 15:00 Welcome Jasser Valerio 18:00 NASCAR event technology life 28:00 Cars we drive: NSX, S2000, Type S 38:00 Japan, Shinji, Montana & NSXPO 46:30 Outro & sponsors Contact Email: [email protected] Website: www.hardparking.com Patreon: patreon.com/hardparkingpodcast Instagram: @hardparkingpod YouTube: youtube.com/@HardParking TikTok: @hard.parking.jhae Main Show Sponsors: Right Honda: righthonda.com Right Toyota: righttoyota.com Arcus Foundry: arcusfoundry.com Autocannon Official Gear: shop.autocannon.com The Warehouse AZ: thewarehouseaz.com

Hard Parking Ep 348 – Emergency College Football Talk with Que + Tesla Roadster Demo & Acura Newsbody { font-family: system-ui, sans-serif; max-width: 800px; margin: 2rem auto; line-height: 1.6; padding: 0 1rem; color: #e8e8e8; background: #111; }h1, h2 { color: #ffffff; }.timestamp { color: #aaa; font-weight: 600; }a { color: #6eb5ff; }.sponsor { background: #1a1a1a; padding: 1rem; border-left: 4px solid #6b2d9b; margin: 1rem 0; }Hard Parking Episode 348 Emergency College Football Talk with Que + Tesla Roadster Demo & Acura News Host: Jhae Pfenning | Guest: Que | Gilbert, AZ studio Brought to you by: Right Honda and Right Toyota out of Scottsdale, Arizona. Show Notes An emergency episode because the college football chaos demanded it. Guest Que joins to break down Michigan (4-2, Underwood benched, running game issues), Texas and Arch Manning, last week’s massive upsets, the SEC, the Cowboys’ frustrating lack of discipline, the Jalen Hurts blood clot situation, and outlooks for the rest of the season. Before the football talk, timely car news: Acura’s goal of selling 200,000 vehicles annually by 2030, Honda 0 Series Alpha updates (not coming to the US), next-gen NSX thoughts (Nexera Vision Concept EV as a potential foundation), and a full breakdown of the Tesla Roadster demonstration in McGregor, Texas — suction fans, cold-gas thrusters, the different versions, and why it was a real technology showcase rather than a gimmick. Chapters 00:00 – Intro & sponsors 00:27 – What’s coming (college football emergency + Tesla + Acura) 00:44 – Arcus Foundry Spark Forge 01:48 – GetCarCurious Top 10 of the 21st century teaser (next week with Jasser) 02:22 – Acura 200,000 annual by 2030 02:58 – Honda 0 Series Alpha & next-gen NSX thoughts 03:39 – Tesla Roadster demonstration deep dive 10:05 – College football with Que 34:47 – Outro & full sponsors Sources & Further Reading GetCarCurious.com (automotive podcast ranking site referenced) Autoevolution report on Honda 0 Series Alpha resurfacing Tesla Roadster demonstration (McGregor, Texas) – Sawyer Merritt coverage referenced Contact Email: [email protected] Website: www.hardparking.com Patreon: hardparkingpodcast Instagram: @hardparkingpod YouTube: youtube.com/@HardParking TikTok: @hard.parking.jhae Main Show Sponsors Right Honda Right Toyota Arcus Foundry Autocannon Official Gear The Warehouse AZ Next Episode Next week features Jasser from NASCAR (who was in studio last week) and the delayed Top 10 Cars of the 21st Century list.

Jhae and returning guest Andre “Dre” Mullins recap NSXPO 2026 (Orlando area, October 1–5, with Sebring HPDE) after Jhae’s unforgettable pre-event Montana / Big Sky trip that included time with Shinji Kawai and Aki. They break down the friendships forged through NSX ownership, the car show, drives, gala, track vibes, and why these gatherings feel different. Pure laid-back car-culture conversation on the non-automotive automotive podcast. Referenced links & sources: Larry Chen / Hagerty feature on Shinji Kawai’s NSX collection (Route KS, including the 2022 factory one-off NSX-R): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXGp7BNeBmg Hagerty article: https://www.hagerty.com/media/videos/understandable-obsession-one-on-one-with-route-ks-nsx-owner-shinji-kawai/ NSX Club of America official NSXPO 2026 event page: https://nsxca.org/event-6685623 ClassicCars.com photo gallery of NSXPO 2026 Orlando: https://journal.classiccars.com/2026/10/12/photo-gallery-orlando-hosts-nsxpo-2026/ Chin Track Days NSXPO Sebring HPDE: https://chintrackdays.com NSXPO Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nsxpo/ Timestamps 01:43 – Dre in studio + Montana pre-trip overview 07:00 – Shinji & Aki, Japan NSX collection & the invite 15:00 – Glacier / Big Sky stories & real-life notes 30:00 – Full NSXPO 2026 Orlando recap begins 45:00 – Car show, drives, gala & community 58:00 – Sebring track day / HPDE takeaways 1:30:00 – Movie talk (Sisu energy) & studio stories 1:56:00 – Closing thoughts (Ohio next year) 1:57:00 – Outro, bottle, sponsors & One Drink Wednesday Contact Email: [email protected] Website: www.hardparking.com Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/hardparkingpodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hardparkingpod/ YouTube: youtube.com/@HardParking TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hard.parking.jhae Main Show Sponsors: Right Honda: https://righthonda.com/ Right Toyota: https://www.righttoyota.com/ Arcus Foundry: https://arcusfoundry.com Autocannon Official Gear: https://shop.autocannon.com/ The Warehouse AZ: https://thewarehouseaz.com/

Jhae brings back Hard Parking Episode 187 with John and Marcus of The RTWJ Podcast — one of the five episodes he says shows the full range of the show. The original conversation started after he heard their July 5, 2023 episode “Pride Month 2023. Pride Gets Personal” and wanted in. John came out in high school. Marcus waited until his 20s. They talk coming out, whether you can be “gay enough” inside your own community, kids and sex ed, and why cars still sneak in at the end. After the classic, Jhae updates the tape: RTWJ’s last episode was August 11, 2025 (“America is (Not) Healing”), the friendship cooled when politics got personal, and why he still thinks this one is worth hearing. RTWJ: @thertwjpodcast · thertwjpodcast.buzzsprout.com Original Ep 187: Watch on YouTube Chapters 00:00 Why this classic is back 00:02:41 John and Marcus of RTWJ 00:05:14 Coming-out stories 00:35:59 “Gay enough” and community infighting 00:54:24 Kids, schools, and sex ed 01:16:46 Cars still show up 01:19:48 Where RTWJ is now Contact Email: [email protected] Website: www.hardparking.com Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/hardparkingpodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hardparkingpod/ YouTube: youtube.com/@HardParking TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hard.parking.jhae Main Show Sponsors: Right Honda: https://righthonda.com/ Right Toyota: https://www.righttoyota.com/ Arcus Foundry: https://arcusfoundry.com Autocannon Official Gear: https://shop.autocannon.com/ The Warehouse AZ: https://thewarehouseaz.com/

Jim Mandel sits down with Jhae as a car-scene friend who also happens to be the bassist in Small Leaks Sink Ships. The Phoenix-born, Portland-based experimental art-pop band has been at it since the mid-2000s, and Jim still daily-drives a black 1999 Honda Civic DX. They talk the band’s run from Mesa’s Beyond Analog days through Golden Calf and 2023’s Low Tide, the skateboarding life that never really left, why cheap EK Civics still own the culture, and how a local friend group called Cartuned Network came together. Band: smallleaks.com · Spotify: Small Leaks Sink Ships · Instagram: @smallleaks Cartuned Network: @cartuned_ntwrk 00:00 Intro + why Jim is in the chair00:05:40 Who Jim is — construction, karate, Hondas00:08:30 Small Leaks Sink Ships00:21:02 Skateboarding never left00:54:53 The Civics — ’92 K24 hatch and the black one01:11:18 Cartuned Network + wrap Contact Email: [email protected] Website: www.hardparking.com Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/hardparkingpodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hardparkingpod/ YouTube: youtube.com/@HardParking TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hard.parking.jhae Main Show Sponsors: Right Honda: https://righthonda.com/ Right Toyota: https://www.righttoyota.com/ Arcus Foundry: https://arcusfoundry.com Autocannon Official Gear: https://shop.autocannon.com/ The Warehouse AZ: https://thewarehouseaz.com/