That Time I Snuck Into the Grand Prix
Come to our reading this Sunday, July 28! That and more in this week's newsletter.
A weekly newsletter by Ryan K. ZumMallen | @zoomy575m
Happy Race Day, especially to whomever thought up the incredible optional packages for a 1998 Mitsubishi Pajero.
Which package are you? (I’m Short Super Exceed Edition.)
In 2006 I had no ticket to the Long Beach Grand Prix. And I had no money. And I was denied a media credential. But none of that was going to stop me from getting into that race. So I found a way in, and it sparked a love affair.
Photo by Ryan ZumMallen
I told that story recently on the 562.org podcast What Up Long Beach?!, with my old friends Mike and J.J. We talked about why the LBGP means so much to so many, and what makes it stand out. And like most special things in the world, it’s the people.
I’ll tell that story again this weekend, during the first live reading of Slow Car Fast, my new book. Monday we announced the first featured guest and today we’ll announce the second. There’s also music, games and good beer. Kids welcome!
This is my thank-you to Long Beach and its people for inspiring me to write the book, and sparking that joy in me and so many others. I hope you’ll join us.
Sunday, July 28 from 3-6pm at Liberation Brewing
3630 Atlantic Ave, Long Beach, CA 90807
Culture
Rally-spec Renaults? Sure. The most ‘90s dirt bike you’ve ever seen? Uh-huh. Back to the Future references? Oh yeah, we got ‘em. All that and more at Radwood PNW in Washington over the weekend.
Clean Culture is The Fast & The Furious grown up—a little. It’s characterized by dropped, stanced, widebody Japanese cars with bolt-on fenders, big wings and lots of power. Its biggest meet of the year in L.A. was a smash.
The auction website Bring A Trailer held a meet-up of readers and customers at Road America in Wisconsin, which included track time and more for a wide array of beautiful and straight-up weird cars—until it got stormed out!
You can tell ’90s nostalgia is alive when wheel companies are building designs that look like they’re about to pull into a Blockbuster.
Video Reel
Formula One held a live draft for its e-racing series. They had real commentators, real teams and—most importantly—real fans participating in the live chat! This feels like a turning point in the professionalism of eSports. Watch here.
The theme of the draft: the earliest picks were rarely the most decorated. Esports was supposed to be the great equalizer, but the fastest driver went fifth. FIFTH! So maybe not. Teams are passing up talent for… what exactly?
Last week I said we should all pay attention to 18-year-old Spanish driver Marta Garcia in the W Series. Get to know her here:
“Function. Form. Drive like an asshole.” That’s how our host Hert sums up Final Bout, a drifting tribute event that puts immaculate cars on the track. People love it. After watching this, I’m inclined to agree:
In the video, one driver calls Final Bout the best thing that’s happened in drifting since 2007. Meanwhile a team of people swapped the new transmission he just bought into his car in the parking lot so he could go drifting. It’s a beautiful thing.
Race Results
Every single driver threw the kitchen sink at Josef Newgarden, but nothing stuck. The Indycar points leader took his fourth win of the season in Iowa. [Highlights here]
Heavy rains, rooster tails and a really nice chase-down win in the first DTM race at Assen, followed by sunshine and beautiful driving in the second. [Race 1 and Race 2]
The W Series needs to fix its highlight packages, but this was an improved recap of Emma Kimilainen’s maiden win in Assen this weekend. [Highlights here]
Ask A Millennial! Will Pierce, 35
Will Pierce draws cars the way I dream about them: twisting, screeching, sideways hunks of metal spitting dirt and rubber in every direction. The illustrator is a hit on social media and is completing a coloring book of the Group B classic racers. Here is an edited version of our conversation:
Instagram is great because I’m never quite sure what’ll take off. As someone who never likes to draw the same thing twice, it feels great to sketch some Peking-to-Paris beater classics on a whim then find out people dig it as much as I do.
Group B was the last time in rallying where a dramatic diversity of ideas were allowed to solve for speed in all conditions. It was a golden age—no car was good at everything, but every car was best at something. With so many shapes and sizes, it’s been rewarding to try to capture each one, their character of movement.
Last summer, I got curious to see if there were any cool car coloring books out there. They weren’t all just bad, they were, like, unethically bad. I started the project that day to correct the universe. I made a list of collections I’d like to draw, like Dakar or Le Mans underdogs, but Group B became obvious.
When people follow you on IG, you become part of the visual texture of their daily life. If you’re mindful of that, you can grow an audience just by contributing to their day. It can be a healthy feedback loop: you’re incentivized to observe & express new things.
Waking up to comments from France, Turkey, Japan or Indonesia never ceases to amaze me. You find your creative output dovetails with a some fervent niche on the other side of the world. It’s a cool time to be alive.
This Weekend
Our friends at the AutoConduct pop-up car show series are hosting another one at Original Venice Crew Mustangs in Gardena on Saturday morning.
Come to the first live reading of Slow Car Fast, this Sunday afternoon! RSVP to the event page here and keep your eye on my Instagram for more information.
And Finally…
Audi built exactly one A8 Coupe concept in 1997. In extremely important breaking news, it is aging wonderfully:
Just wish they’d built a few more.
Drive hard and be safe.
Want your event included? Shoot me a note with subject line “Race Day” at ryan@carrarabooks.com.