The Magic of Grand Prix Weekend
The streets of Long Beach are officially alive
Happy Race Day! especially to YouTuber Adam LZ for what has to be the funniest title to any video I’ve ever seen in my life. I mean right?
Now that is how you build a captive audience right there.
BUT FIRST — I received so many incredible messages after last week’s newsletter, titled I Cannot Lose: 12 Hours of Chaos in Japan. I truly appreciate every Like, every email and every share. That newsletter and my trip are part of my new book on the legacy, culture and controversy surrounding the Nissan Skyline GT-R, and the biggest way you can help is by paying for Race Day. Thank you to all paying subscribers, and if you get Race Day for free, join us and become a paid subscriber here!
Grand Prix Time, Baby
The eyes of the motorsports world are on my hometown this weekend as the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach rolls into town. This year we’ve got IndyCar, IMSA, Super Trucks and even historic Formula One cars on track all weekend.
For me this is a national holiday. I’ve written extensively on the unique magic of Long Beach, speeding through the city, the variety and party atmosphere. Email if you want to meet and say hello because all weekend I will be celebrating accordingly.
In fact, the festivities have already begun. Last weekend the Grand Prix track hosted the 2023 Formula Drift season opener. How does 1,200-horsepower smoke machines screaming around city streets sound to you? Sounds good to me, too.
Drifting is in an interesting spot. The sport itself has come of age in recent years, successfully graduating from an underground niche/outlaw perception to an extremely well-organized series attracting loyal fans both in person and online.
The sport has (mostly) outgrown the old days of neck tats and vape pens. FD has a massive influence with under-30 consumers. Drivers like Chris Forsberg and Vaughn Gittin Jr. boast over 500k followers. Outside of F1, they may be the best-known faces in motorsport. Drifting is big business. Just with neck tats and vape pens.
One thing I’ve been fascinated with lately is how closely linked FD is with tires. Yes, tires. The type of car you drift or the engine you use is important, but often, tires are the stars of the show.
Involvement in FD can lead directly to increased sales. Plus, it’s the only series I can think of that has a championship standings for tire companies. It’s like if the NFL had one Super Bowl for the Chiefs and Eagles, and another for Nike and Puma.
This year, FD welcomed two new tire companies: Kenda Tire and Vitour Tire, after the departure of Federal and Falken last year. Falken built a massive motorsports reputation partly due to FD success. Can the new guys do it, too?
Here’s how it’s going so far: Vitour, boasting 2nd and 4th place drivers, currently leads the tire standings. Both Vitour and Kenda launched new performance street tires this year. Now they’re on the biggest stage in the hottest market. Pretty good investment!
I’ll have more on this next week, further diving into the business case of FD and its sponsors. For now, you can watch last weekend’s highlights here to catch the action.
I want to also draw attention to our official Carrara Media photographer, Matt Formica. Did he crush these drifting photos or what? Matt will be at the Grand Prix this weekend and recently shot our coverage of the Hagerty Women in Motorsports event and the GT-R cruise with Hiroshi Tamura. Check out Matt on IG and let’s get him more well-deserved followers!
And Finally…
So far in 2023, the biggest winner in motorsports media is IMSA. Lots of racing series have talked about launching a “Drive to Survive”-style docuseries in recent years — IMSA actually went and did it. It’s called “Win the Weekend.” And it’s taking off. Each of the four episodes has over 1 million views, which is attention that any motorsport would kill for in a crowded global racing market. This is highly-valuable earned reach as the series seeks to expand and draw attention to its new hybrid era. You can find the entire series here, or watch the most recent episode below.
Drive hard and be safe. Black Lives Matter.
Race Day has subscribers in 30 states and 15 countries! Want your event included? Shoot me a note with subject line “Race Day” at ryan@carrarabooks.com.
Check out Carrara Media on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and visit our store to order one of our many fine books and eBooks.