GRIDLIFE’s Road America Entry Record Signals Ongoing Revolution in Grassroots Racing
ELKHART LAKE, WI (7 August 2025) — GRIDLIFE isn’t just growing. It’s breaking the mold.
GRIDLIFE set a new all-time series entry record during its last event, Summer Apex at Road America, with more than 300 drivers across multiple classes competing on the main circuit as well as on the Briggs & Stratton Motorplex. With more than 50 hours of racing between both tracks, every GRIDLIFE series, from Eibach GLTC to TrackBattle Time Attack to GRIDLIFE Drift, delivered about 3.5 hours of track time per driver per class.
And that’s not an anomaly. It’s the formula.
GRIDLIFE produces motorsport music festivals across North America that cater to the next generation of enthusiasts. The events combine on-track competition across multiple disciplines and present it to thousands of fans in weekend-long celebrations of car culture.
It’s the fastest growing, youngest paddock in the world. In 2024, more than 1,900 drivers competed under the GRIDLIFE banner and is projected to surpass last year’s entries by nearly 30 percent.
The reason? GRIDLIFE was built differently.
Where other paddocks prioritize exclusivity, GRIDLIFE flips the script. It’s about accessibility and inclusivity, a culture-first, community-driven approach that values entry-level wheel-to-wheel racing as much as pro builds.
It’s a place where a bolt-on, unsponsored Mercury Marauder gets the same respect as Shawn Bassett’s GTECHNIQ 240z Toyo Tire-sponsored TrackBattle car, the same car he raced last month at Pikes Peak. As part of a GRIDLIFE activation, Bassett of Mt. Dora, Fla., wrenches his car under the Toyo Tire open tent as fans surround him without barriers watching him work intently.
“GRIDLIFE is one of the few places where the paddock isn’t a hierarchy. It’s a hangout,” said Bassett. “It’s also one of the few series where fans can really interact with drivers and crews. It makes it a lot more accessible. I think that’s why when you come to GRIDLIFE there are so many fans. Other series have small windows where fans can come by and talk but essentially their pits are closed off, but our paddock is wide open at all times. It’s really cool to me to meet new faces and see old ones and people just truly excited about the GRIDLIFE series. You’re learning, growing and connecting with people who love cars as much as you do.”
More than any other series, GRIDLIFE has opened the gates to new drivers. Entry-level licenses, affordable team setups and a cross-platform mix of competition make it possible for nearly anyone to get on track like 19-year-old Ellis Spiezia, who has spent the last four years in Europe racing electric karts.
When making the decision to return stateside, Spiezia’s goal was to get into a spec series, but not just any spec series. The budget had to be right but so did the audience, in person and online. GRIDLIFE checked all those boxes.
The Austin-native lined up for the first time at Road America as part of a 47-car RUSH grid. In his debut race, he had 22 position changes in just two laps, he added another 11 passes in his second race of the day.
“To get to lineup with that large of a field out there on one of the most iconic tracks in the United States has been absolutely unreal,” said Spiezia. “I’ve had so much fun. Even though the car only has 150-horsepower, RUSH has been a blast to race.
“The price-to-performance was the most attractive thing about RUSH,” Spiezia continued. “There’s no other spec series besides maybe MX-5 Cup with IMSA where you get this kind of grid size and crowd with streaming and social coverage but their budgets are getting upwards of a quarter million dollars now. To get to race here at a fraction of the cost even compared to the USF Juniors and F4 U.S. are running has been unreal. It’s exactly what an entry point into motorsport should be, which is close racing, hard battles, a really fun and tricky car to drive and something that’s going to really develop your skills but not break the bank while doing it.”
RUSH isn’t the only low-entry cost series in GRIDLIFE’s offerings. A full season of entries in GLGT, GRIDLIFE’s newest class, can be purchased for under $7,000, including licensing costs. With GRIDLIFE’s focus on clean and fair racing, along with the short race durations and 200-treadwear tires, running costs are low in comparison to other series at the target power to weight ratio.
The track time is real and so is the culture. Every GRIDLIFE paddock blends competition with a community where the tents are always open and the atmosphere is as welcoming as it is competitive.
That spirit of openness and community is what brought Sunny Townsend from the sidelines to the starting line. The Powder Springs, Georgia-native first came to GRIDLIFE as a spectator, tagging along with her fiancé Ben Hobson. During Summer Apex, she became a driver, the only woman among nearly 100 entered in the GRIDLIFE Drift field.
Townsend drove the smaller of the two tracks used during the weekend, the Briggs & Stratton Motorplex. The .8-mile kart track featured both its traditional and reverse layouts, offering a rotation of configurations across three days. By the end of the weekend, she logged more than 100 laps of seat time, shredding sideways in her LS swapped 1994 Nissan 240 SX.
“I always come with my fiancé to the GRIDLIFE events, and the big tracks can be kind of intimidating so the fact that there are two separate tracks here, a lot of seat time on the kart track and I really trust Nick Swann (GRIDLIFE Drift Lead) running the track that’s what really pushed me enter,” said Townsend. “I’ve felt so accepted here. A bunch of people have come up to me and pumped me up, told me to keep up the good work. But, the biggest thing about being the only girl here and the thing that gets my heart at least is the little girls come up saying that I am inspiring them, which was unexpected.
“What attracted me to the series originally was that it is a multi-day event, I also trust Swann to keep us safe out there so we can maximize our seat time as much as possible,” said Townsend. “The other thing is the community. Everyone from everywhere comes here, and once you’re done for the day you get to go vibe and party at the NOS Energy Main Stage. It’s been everything.”
With Summer Apex in the books and GRIDLIFE Circuit Legends (Aug. 15-17), Chicagoland (Sept. 12-14), Laguna Festival (Sept. 26-28) and Pitt Race (Oct. 17-19) still ahead, the second half of 2025 is shaping up to be the most electric yet both on the track and in the scene.
Because at GRIDLIFE, it’s not just about who’s fastest. It’s about the people who show up.
For more information on how to become a GRIDLIFE driver or about upcoming events, visit, www.grid.life.