Introducing the "Slow Car Fast" Cover
Automotive eBook now available for preorder, plus gaming goes global.
A weekly newsletter by Ryan K. ZumMallen | @zoomy575m
Happy Race Day, especially to the famous car designer who once used a fake name to freelance to avoid getting in trouble at his job. So the original blogger, basically.
This is a special week for me. Most of you know my debut book, Slow Car Fast, is slated for release in August. Today I can share with you the cover, designed by incredible artist and my good friend Aaron Sanchez, for the first time:
Inspired by classic motorsport style and typography, and influenced by modern tastes with an eye toward the future, the cover of Slow Car Fast expresses several generations of automotive enthusiasts in one glimpse. I couldn’t be happier. I hope you enjoy.
You can preorder the book now at a special price for early buyers, right here.
Culture
I’m not the only one getting into automotive books and newsletters. I really enjoy following journalist Elana Scherr, who is working on a book about legendary drag racer Don “The Snake” Prudhomme. She also started a newsletter called Quick Drive which is fantastic. Go subscribe. I never knew I could laugh so hard reading about cleaning rusty engine blocks.
Dirk Nowitzki. NBA Champion. All-time great shooter. SEGA Indy 500 simulator enthusiast.
BMW is known for its signature dual “kidney” grilles. But what happens when the grilles… go wild? Kevin McCauley dared to dream.
Graffiti is pretty common on the Nürburgring, one of the most intimidating tracks on the planet. So you’d think they’d choose a group picture location carefully.
The geniuses at @oilstainlab are the best follow on Instagram right now. Every post leaves me in awe of their skill, dying of laughter or both.
Women race fans lifting up women race drivers. A beautiful thing.
Video Reel
Speaking of the Nürburgring, the annual 24-hour race ran there this weekend. It was full of badasses. I don’t know how to process the guts it took to make this pass at 150 mph.
Also at the Nürburgring, the legendary video game Gran Turismo held its annual championship for the best virtual racers in the world there. The final turn on the final lap of the final race created some thrilling drama:
The question posed here is an interesting one. Virtual racing is getting exciting. Drivers go all out, the cars are sweet, it’s fun to watch and, critically, it has the interest of young people. Will its popularity overtake real racing one day?
Honestly this crazy side-by-side drag race for the win, here, was probably even better racing than the clip above. I honestly held my breath for like 8 seconds.
And just look at the image below. The guys racing for the win happened to sit right next to each other with the cameras watching. There’s some serious tension between them. And not to spoil it for you, but things get heated at the end.
One theory I heard recently is the Internet is dividing cars and motorsports into tons of small niches. In the future there won’t be big series or trends that everyone follows. Instead there will be more variety, each with its own small but dedicated community.
Gaming may not surpass F1 or NASCAR or IndyCar — but it could grow, as traditional series shrink, until they’re on equal footing. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. But it’s interesting.
Race Results
Formula One: Mercedes scored another 1-2 in what is quickly becoming the most predictable season in F1 history. Honestly, the best part of the video highlights is the hilarious comments from angry viewers like this one:
Runoffs are red, Runoffs are blue
Another boring race, Mercedes 1,2
IndyCar: Road America is my personal favorite racetrack in the country. Lots of fun action and a stellar move on the first lap for Alexander Rossi, a shooting star in the series who looks poised to build an all-time career.
Formula E: Lately the electric open-wheel series is packing all the drama that F1 isn’t. And the old guard better take note. For the Swiss E-Prix last weekend the cars jostled through the streets of Bern in a really tight race. It was super fun! Enjoy this recap.
Blancpain GT Series Asia: Sports car racing will always have my heart and Blancpain is a serious reason why. The coolest street cars going toe to toe on iconic tracks — it doesn’t get any better. I highly recommend the whole 60-minute race from Suzuka.
Ask A Millennial! Randall Haywood, 18
Haywood at the FIAGTC event in Germany last weekend.
Randall Haywood is one of the best racers in the world. The Illinois teenager (technically a post-Millennial) spent his weekend in Germany battling top global talent. Not in cars, but in Gran Turismo Sport, the latest video game hoping to take eRacing mainstream. Haywood took a remarkable win from starting in 9th place (including an incredible pass for the lead) to bring BMW a third-place finish out of 12 teams in the Manufacturers Series. The competitors had VIP passes to the Nürburgring 24 Hours, walked the starting grid and played in front of a packed crowd. But Haywood has his eyes on bigger things. Here’s an excerpt of our conversation:
My experience in Germany was great. Gaming can take you places you would have never thought. If you tell your family you’re leaving the country for free to play video games they call you crazy!
People are taking motorsport gaming more seriously. Fernando Alonso has an eSports team now. It felt great to represent the U.S. There were only three Americans and we all did great.
I’m very into cars outside of gaming. I watch all kinds of motorsports like F1, WEC, Indycar, IMSA and Blancpain. I’m also majoring in Automotive Service Management soon. Racing games have all the cars I like to watch and be able to race them competitively.
Motorsport gaming will continue to grow if there’s more big racing events like Gran Turismo did for Nürburgring and Forza Motorsports does for Le Mans. There’s so much potential for this to really blow up.
I would like to win an event and hopefully gain more attention for more opportunities. I would love to drive a race car, it’s one of the things on my bucket list. I don’t race on tracks or kart much but it does translate in a way. You can use the same thinking of attacking corners, accelerate out of them and still be fast.
Auction Results
Do you even overland, bro? Bring A Trailer took a break from flipping air-cooled Porsches to move this utterly pristine ‘04 Unimog that I desperately want to hoon through the desert. Is it possible to consider $195,000 a bargain?
This Weekend
One of our country’s most bonkers racing traditions takes place when drivers with a couple loose screws haul ass up the side of a mountain for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado. If I were you I would follow the official event photographer Larry Chen who is already posting absolute gems.
And Finally…
The inspiring team at Valkyrie Racing is driving from China to France to fight human trafficking. In addition to its incredible cause, Valkyrie is worth your time because of its adventurous spirit as evidenced below. Please consider supporting their effort.
Drive hard and be safe.
Want your event included? Shoot me a note with subject line “Race Day” at ryan@carrarabooks.com.