The off-season (also known as sim racing season) is winding down, and we've secured the bag with a packed Gridlife Gold Pass.
We hope you'll come out and say hello if you're near these events! Gridlife festival events are sensory overload for car nerds. They've got something for everybody, even if you aren't into cars! From racing, time attack, and drifting, to car shows, live music, and great food vendors, any attendee will have an enjoyable day.
My Gridlife schedule would not be possible without the support and logistics provided by Condor Speed Shop and the help of our sponsors HRE Wheels, Motorsports Hardware, and ROWE USA.
The season kicks off in a month at our home track, Carolina Motorsports Park, in Kershaw, SC. The 2.3-mile road course will feature all sorts of racing and full-course drifting, plus drifting on the 0.7-mile karting track and the skidpad. The relatively small paddock is jam-packed with race cars, vendors, food trucks, a concourse/car showcase, and live music on Friday and Saturday nights.
Gridlife returns to renowned Road Atlanta in May as the support series for Formula Drift. I'm excited about this one. Road Atlanta is a technical and challenging track, and I have never raced wheel-to-wheel there. Being a support series for an event that I have attended as a spectator is a dream come true. We're done early each day, so Formula Drift can take the spotlight in the afternoons and evenings. This is a Friday—and Saturday-only event, with FD running until 10-11 p.m. on Saturday.
Midwest Festival is an experience unto itself. Gingerman is a small facility, and this event is wildly attended, given the somewhat remote area. So many spectators line the fence at this event that it is the closest I've ever felt to being a professional racer. The absolutely packed paddock makes this event feel like you are a part of something huge.
This is the first year Gridlife's Mid-Ohio event is a spectator-oriented festival. I don't know if this one will have live music, but filling out the paddock at this legendary track will still be great. I look forward to returning to this fun track, where I started an inverted race in P2 on the front row and led a lap of a GLTC race for the first time!
Road America was easily the nicest racing facility that we visited in 2024. It is massive, clean, and lovely, with great food and facilities around every corner. We're hoping for more green flag racing after many red and yellow flags last year. However, the weekend ended on a high since Deadmaus performed last year! This event is now Gridlife's "flagship" festival, so we expect it to be huge again in 2025.
Lime Rock was my second favorite facility and tied for my favorite race track in 2024. Some of my favorite racing-related memories are hanging out on the hill as the sun sets over the mountains surrounding LRP. The roller coaster ride that is this 1.5-mile, ~1-minute lap track is a blast! This is one of the most spectator-friendly events on the schedule.
Gridlife 'Finals' wraps up the season at Pitt Race again, which is tied with LRP for my favorite track of the season. This year, we are coming prepared with new tires for Pitt's rough track surface! Like Mid-Ohio, 2025 will be PittRace's first spectator-oriented event, so we're excited to see what Gridlife has in store for this event.
Hopefully, we see you at some point in 2025! ✌
