Hello, my name is
Tristan Doak.
This is Your Garage.

I grew up on a farm in Maryland. I’ve been into cars for as long as I can remember. I loved Hot Wheels, and my room was full of them. I’d turn them over and read the car’s name on the bottom. That’s how I started learning what everything was.

By the time I was four or five, I could name cars that most adults didn’t even recognize. Those little cars taught me a lot. I loved being able to spot the real thing and know what I was looking at.

Some of my earliest car memories are going to the local Tuesday evening meets with my Papa in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Those evenings are a big part of why I love cars today. It was mostly muscle cars, but there was a Porsche 930 that always caught my eye. Out of everything there, that was the car I kept coming back to. Porsche quickly became my favorite.

Looking back, it wasn’t just about the cars. It was getting to share something I loved with my Papa. That’s why those memories have stayed with me. Porsche will always have a special place in my heart, but what started there has grown into a passion for all cars.

Need for Speed and other racing games fed that obsession too. They gave me another way to spend time with the cars I loved and imagine what I might own someday. And of course, whenever I could pick a Porsche, that’s what I picked.

One of my biggest icons was Ken Block. The first video I remember seeing of him was him jumping an original stock Ford Raptor in the desert. That was all it took. He immediately became my favorite person to watch.

I quickly went through the rest of his videos, then Hoonigan and Gymkhana. I loved his personality just as much as the content. He was a great racer, but what really drew me in was how he took something he loved and built successful businesses around it.

He got to work with cars, build a life doing what he loved, and bring other people into that world. The businesses and the car culture were as inspiring to me as the driving. To me, he was a great example of having your cake and eating it too.

That’s something I want for myself. I want to turn my love of cars into something I can build a life around. Seeing what he did made that dream feel possible, and it’s a big part of why Your Garage matters to me.

His passing hit me hard, and it still does. When someone has been such a big part of something you love, losing them stays with you. He’s a big part of my story and always will be.

Before I could drive or had a car of my own, I was already finding ways to work on things. As a teenager, I rebuilt ATVs and go karts and flipped them to make money. I’d strip them down to the frame and build them back up.

I couldn’t work on my own car yet, but I could still get my hands dirty, figure things out, and take pride in something I’d put back together. That was how I got to do a version of what I loved before I had the keys to a car of my own.

My first car was a 2012 Chevy Sonic. I made some modifications to it and enjoyed making it my own. It wasn’t the Porsche I’d always dreamed about, but I still got to do something I loved with the car I had.

That’s something I want people to see in Your Garage. You can start anywhere. You don’t need an expensive car or some huge build to enjoy working on it and being part of the community. My Sonic was where I started, and that’s part of my story too.

As I got older, I also found my way into management, automotive shops, and local politics. I studied political science and worked for Delegate Ric Metzgar in the Maryland House of Delegates. I’ve enjoyed working with people, leading a team, and helping get things done.

Today, I have a 2017 Volkswagen GTI SE with a 6 speed manual and a 2004 Porsche Boxster with a 5 speed manual. Having a Porsche of my own means a little more when I think about the kid who used to pick one out at those meets. I work on my cars myself when I can. Some jobs turn into a whole night in the driveway, but finally figuring something out is a big part of why I keep doing it.

I’m still learning as I go. I want that to be part of Your Garage too. You shouldn’t have to know everything about cars or have some crazy build to get involved.