Tommy Lee Byrd is an outside contributor to the Toolbox.

Tommy grew up working in his dad’s body shop in his family’s backyard, mostly focused on hot rods, drag cars, and motorcycles. He helped family and friends build cars his entire childhood.

Tommy has worked at Coker Tire Company as a Marketing & PR Coordinator, Buckaroo Communications as a Feature Editor as well as MotorTrend.com and In the Garage Media.

Throughout his career, Tommy was a SEMA 35 Under 35 Recipient, and he won a Best of Books award from the International Automotive Media Awards for a book he wrote in 2012, “Lost Drag Strips”.

Tommy has organized the Chattanooga Cruise since its inception in 2011, and he organizes an annual swap meet in his hometown of Dayton, Tennessee.

In his car collection, Tommy rebuilt a 1964 Corvette, a 1964 Chevelle, and a 1967 Camaro. He also owns a 1977 Nova four-door, a 1984 Buick Grand National, a 1964 Studebaker Wagonaire, a 1965 Studebaker Commander, a 1973 Chevy C10 pickup, and a collection of crusty drag cars from the 1960s and 1970s.