I’ve been writing ever since I figured out how to put a pencil to paper. My first book was published when I was in kindergarten, a one-of-one hand-drawn narrative of a day in my life. It took its rightful place on the classroom bookshelf alongside other more professional publications. My interests in writing and computers led me to a career in technical writing, mainly in software documentation for various products and companies.
I’ve been fascinated with wheels since I was a kid, starting with staging enormous crashes of Matchbox cars almost approaching the destructive levels of the crashes on CHiPs. I covered thousands of miles on my mountain bike across Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire before gaining access to motorized vehicles of both the four- and two-wheeled variety.
The Early Days
After stumbling into a Boston Chapter BMW CCA autocross, I got hooked on performance driving of all varieties. I’ve done autocross, rallycross, track days, and ice time trials, with a number of trophies to my credit (except for track days, of course). I’ve also combined my interests in stage rally and amateur radio (callsign KJ1H) to assist with communications for rally events all over the northeast U.S. I currently maintain the website for the Northeast Rally Radio Club, W1RLY.
After writing articles about autocross events for the chapter newsletter for a while I served as Editor from 2000-2001. That was the last I wrote about wheels for a while until I started a motorcycle blog, Two Wheel Tripping, in 2012. Later I joined the Oppositelock community and began writing about cars and motorcycles there.
Hitting the “Big Time”
At some point, my work was noticed by the editors of Jalopnik. OK, I poked and prodded them until they noticed. Soon they began reposting the best of my Oppositelock pieces to Jalopnik and its sub-blogs. I also joined the crew of The Rally Takeover, an independent Kinja blog focused specifically on rallying, around this time as well.
In June 2015 I began writing for Right Foot Down, which led to even more opportunities. I started to review parts and cars, even the occasional press car, such as this Ford Mustang EcoBoost that I used as the course opening car at the 2015 Black River Stages rally in upstate New York. I was also invited by Chin Track Days to be among the first to drive my new local track, Palmer Motorsports Park, at their first event there and report on the experience. I also attended and reported on the 2016 New York International Auto Show and multiple Red Bull Global Rallycross events.
In From 2017 to 2018 I joined The Drive as a Contributing Writer. I shifted my focus toward more news-oriented stories, such as accusations of racism against Tesla, explaining what automotive autonomy levels really mean, and interviewing Massachusetts State Representative Benson regarding her carbon tax bill. I’ve also reviewed vehicles ranging from the Toyota Camry to the Vanderhall Venice, accessories like the COBB Tuning Accessport, and gadgets like the NUVIZ motorcycle helmet heads-up display.
I try to work oddities into my writing where I can. During the summer of 2017, I turned our VW Jetta into a Smyth Performance Ute, detailing the entire process through a series of articles and including a factory tour. I pointed out the upcoming Ford F-150 hybrid’s special ability to keep your beer cold, wrote about Ernie Boch, Jr.’s Subaru Tribeca limousine when it was for sale, and covered the Sage Hill Rock‘s agenda of world domination starting with unsuspecting cars in a Calgary parking lot.
I enjoy finding and sharing the weirdness of the automotive and motorcycle worlds more than anything. I’m doing more of this at Oversteer by Autotrader, starting with an overall summary of the Jetta Ute project. My previous truck project went totally wrong, which was unfortunate for me but at least made for an interesting article. I’ve also ranted about how the Subaru BRZ doesn’t need more power and how Massachusetts really needs temporary license plates.
In the fall of 2018 I switched my focus to motorcycles for RideApart where I joined as a Daily News Writer. I covered topics such as a beautiful kit that takes a BMW R nineT back to the 1930s, the time Harley-Davidson sued Honda for making a too Harley-like motorcycle, and why a bikini is not suitable riding gear. In January 2019 I became the Weekend Editor, continuing to cover news, interesting stories, and funny videos.
YouTube
In September 2016 I started a YouTube channel. Originally called “The Masshole,” I joined the ever-growing ranks of motovloggers and achieved a small amount of success sharing my motorcycle adventures, rants, and reviews with subscribers.
Later I rebranded the channel with my real name, and expanded it beyond motovlogging to be a more general motorcycle oriented channel. My reviews have been among my more popular videos. I’m also starting to include more events, like a non-sportbike track day and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
Justin Hughes 