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A Look Back At Monterey Auto Week: Jay Leno. The Quail, The Concours & Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

About the time Jay Leno and friend arrived in a chocolate-brown vintage Bentley sedan, 78-year-old Mike McNally had likely fixed the persistent oil leak in his 1931 Riley Port Ford.

Leno, comedian, late-night talk show host and obsessed automobile  motorcycle owner and enthusiast, doesn’t know McNally. But while Leno was meandering through an early morning crowd on a pristine Friday morning at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley, McNally, of Sacramento, California was tinkering.

A race car driver for more than 50 years, McNally was finally set to compete on Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway after spending a few days practicing, prepping and fixing the oil leak with a few cranks of an oversized crescent wrench.

Leno, owner of more than 80 cars — Duesenbergs to a Honda Insight hybrid — and McNally, an independent owner/driver/mechanic,  couldn't be further apart in the world of automobile ownership. Yet Leno and McNally were solidly connected, just like the thousands of others who attended Monterey Auto Week.

Whether to gawk or bid on a Berlinetta Lusso, the Ferrari 250GT once owned by actor Steve McQueen or to appreciate a restored 1946 Ford Woodie, what began 57 years ago as a centrally located display of rare automotive works of art at Pebble Beach Golf Links, is now something substantially more. It's a weeklong extravaganza of all things automobile.

Monterey Auto Week: Wondrous Vintage Cars, Maserati to Bentley, Ferrari to Lamborghini

Monterey Auto Week is hard to describe, particularly since it lasts nearly two weeks. And Monterey Auto Week isn’t really an official name, either, because there isn’t an official name to all of the car-related activities on the Monterey Peninsula in August. Nonetheless, the sensory overload of all things automotive was held Aug. 11-18 at various peninsula locations.

Running With Autism: The Anthony Crudale Story

Daily summer life begins early in Las Vegas. Just after dawn, construction workers fill industrial size jugs at convenience store water vending machines, and sprinkler systems gushing like high-pressure fire hoses flood city parks.

Shadows quickly move across the backdrop of the red-tinted mountains that surround the valley. Blinding daggers of light reflect off the mirrored-glass windows of hotel-casinos along the gambling strip.

It is 6 a.m. and the city is hot before it is hot. Like other runners, cyclists, mothers pushing baby strollers and retirees on their daily constitutionals, morning is also Anthony Crudale's best time. Most days, he awakens at 4 a.m. and begins his day as his stepfather also prepares for work.

Crudale is not employed. But in recent times, his daily routine has consumed his time. Like others who suffer from the disorder of autism, Crudale is focused to near obsession. He wants to run fast marathons.

Auctions, Vintage Racing, Concours d'Elegance, Memorabilia Highlight Monterey Peninsula Auto Week

Pebble Beach Golf Links to Spyglass Hill, golf still rules on the famed Monterey Peninsula. But automotive enthusiasts will have a dozen good reasons to disagree next week.

A diverse selection of auto-related activities — displays of opulent classic cars to muscle car memorabilia — will be showcased Aug. 14-19 at various venues throughout the Monterey Peninsula.

The most renowned event, the Concours d'Elegance at Pebble Beach, will again provide the week's concluding pinnacle highlight Sunday. It's often described as "automotive works of art on display."

Toss in vintage Indy car racing at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to Christie's auction days at Monterey Jet Center where Steve McQueen's Ferrari Lusso will be "on the block" and any automotive enthusiast will be close to nirvana.

Putting Fitness To The Test: My Time With UCD Sports Medicine

One poster hanging on the wall of the testing room at at the UC Davis Sports Performance laboratory in midtown Sacramento is a freeze frame of cyclist Andy Hampsten.  While cresting Gavia Pass, he's riding alone en route to gaining the race leader's jersey and an eventual Tour Italy overall victory.

The image spotlights performance in  dramatic form. The now-retired cyclist is positioned slightly erect and forward as he progresses on a slick, slushy mountain road on a dark June day. His face, uniform and bike are covered in snow as he reaches the 8,500-foot summit.

Dr. Massimo Testa, a native of Italy, was Hampsten's team physician in 1988 when the Colorado cyclist became the only American to win the three-week event.

As a former sports medicine specialist for several international cycling teams, Testa has helped many professionals, including Hampsten, Lance Armstrong and Dr. Eric Heiden — now his colleague — to optimize their abilities through physiological testing. Several years ago, Heiden persuaded Testa to move to the United States.

The walls of Testa's office and the midtown Sacramento facility have a dominating cycling motif, mostly posters and computer screensavers in homage to the sport's finest.

The Hampsten poster hangs on a wall parallel to the lab's treadmill and between two pro cyclists' signed jerseys. It's where Testa and his physician and physiologist co-workers implement a medical concept prevalent in Europe but fledgling in the United States: Optimal performance is for everyone, including me.

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