GRIDLIFE Takes Grassroots Streaming to the Next Level
CHICAGO (15 September 2025) — What started as a grassroots mashup of track days and music stages has grown into one of the most innovative motorsport festivals in North America. GRIDLIFE is redefining what it means to go racing at the community level by blending pro-grade technology, a growing lifestyle media machine and a rapidly expanding global audience tuning in at every turn.
This summer, the series launched into a new era with Fire Laps stepping in as the Official Data Partner of the newly minted GRIDLIFE Grand Touring (GT) program. Debuting earlier this year at GRIDLIFE Summer Apex at Road America, the integration brings real-time performance data, live graphics overlays and AI-powered coaching directly into the livestream.
“For GLGT drivers Fire Laps is included in their entry,” said Kyle Heyer, GRIDLIFE’s lead producer and Voice of GRIDLIFE. “We’re pulling live metrics like maximum speeds, G-forces and corner minimums in real time and displaying them in broadcast graphics. It’s more than just numbers. It's the context that helps fans understand why each moment is so impactful.”
LIVE Stream Replay from GRIDLIFE Circuit Legends
Live Stream Broadcasts and On-Site Media Take Grassroots to a Professional Level
Behind the live stream is Project Priime, the Sarasota-based broadcast company led by Chris Jennings. Their Outside Broadcast truck rolls into every festival looking like it belongs at a national network show. Inside is a 13-person crew that covers everything from replay operators to graphics coordinators to engineers running wireless camera systems. They set up as many as five roaming cameras, deploy drop cams across the paddock, employ FPV drone pilots, fly drones that skim the edge of guardrails and dive through bridges mid-drift and direct a full multi-cam show in real time.
Jennings says the magic happens because the team has freedom to experiment.
“When you mix creative freedom with technical integration you explore this new world of what can be,” said Jennings. “That’s what makes GRIDLIFE so exciting. The sky’s the limit.”
That freedom has led to some of GRIDLIFE’s most iconic shots. The GRIDLIFE stream team often storyboard wild maneuvers together, climbing drones vertically into the sky then diving back into the smoke of a tandem drift, creating the kind of edge-of-your-seat visuals that keep fans engaging on the live stream.
The final layer of the live stream is the human element with new live cuts from sideline reporters, dropping into the broadcast with live updates from the pits or the paddock. That immediacy mirrors pro sports, pulling fans directly inside the action as it happens.
It is not just about the main show. The stream crew also works hand-in-hand with the on-site media team, a dozen-strong army of photojournalists and videographers, who fuels GRIDLIFE’s storytelling across social media platforms, filling feeds in real time with a mix of highlight reels, candid portraits and lifestyle images that make the community feel tangible even for fans watching from home.
Cuts from the live stream also feed straight into GRIDLIFE’s social channels, adding behind-the-scenes moments, driver reactions and viral clips that pull fans directly into the racing action from their phones. At Road America, the team caught drifting ace Matt Coffman’s record 160-mph drift initiation into Turn 1 as it happened, pushed it to social within minutes and watched the video climb toward 10 million views across all platforms before the session was even over. Together, these efforts frame GRIDLIFE as more than a motorsport weekend, showing its content and vibes travel far beyond the festival gates.
For sponsors, the payoff is equally strong, as every image and video connects their brand with the authentic culture of the event.
Numbers That Don’t Lie
The growth curve tells the story. In 2024 GRIDLIFE staged five festivals and nine club rounds, featured more than 1,900 drivers with an average age of 34-years-old and drew over 65 million impressions across a following of over 335,000 fans on social media.
GRIDLIFE expanded this offering to 10 envoys in 2025, supporting a projected 2,500 drivers entries, 120,000 live attendees and over 80 million impressions with more livestreams than ever before.
More Than Grassroots
“I’ve been part of GRIDLIFE since the very first Midwest Festival in 2014,” Fire Laps Co-founder and longtime GRIDLIFE driver David Calzada said. “Partnering now means we can give drivers and fans pro-level insights while keeping that same community spirit. We’re a family constantly pushing the limits.”
With live data integration, pro-grade broadcasts and a media team that captures both tire smoke and festival energy, GRIDLIFE is proving that grassroots racing doesn’t have to feel small, and has become one of the most modern motorsport shows in America.
Subscribe to GRIDLIFE YouTube to be notified of the next live stream: https://www.youtube.com/@Gridlife