By Parker Smith
Motorsports in America are on the brink of extinction. I’ll say it again; motorsports in America are on the brink of extinction. The “hey days” of the 1970’s, 80’s and early 90’s are gone. Kids don’t think about Andretti or Foyt, they think about Johnny Manziel and LeBron James. Why you may ask? Here is why:
Kids do not resonate with motorsports. Back in the day, people had an appreciation for the automobile and how men could push limits of man and machine. Today, kids have technology right in front of them. They don’t want to learn about an engine when they can just go on their phone and watch a machine do the same thing on YouTube. Take it this way, racing is like art. Only so many people will appreciate the “fine points” and the art of racing, and some people will just look at the canvas and see a bunch of cars run around in circle.
Oval racing is the epitome of motorsport death. How do you combat the question “Its not a sport, all they do is turn left”? Here is my answer, Red Bull Global Rallycross.
Red Bull GRC has infused the danger of action sports with the combination of speed and athlete relevance. With global icons like Travis Pastrana, Bucky Lasek, Tanner Foust and Ken Block, GRC is the saving grace of American motorsports.
They don’t just turn left. These 600 horsepower cars go from 0-60 faster than a Formula One car and they race on dirt and asphalt in the same race. That’s not all; they throw in a 65-foot dirt jump for the cars to go side-by-side and race in the air. Holy Shit.
One big name has already made the jump into Red Bull GRC, Michael Andretti. Andretti fields the Andretti Rallycross team with drivers Scott Speed and Tanner Foust. Not only is this team winning on the track, they are winning in the boardroom.
Andretti saw Red Bull GRC has an opportunity to lure in potential clients and existing clients into investing more because his team can now cater to every sponsor demographic. The largest fan base in Red Bull GRC are millenialls, every sponsors dream target. In IndyCar, they have the middle-age college educated man with a family. And in Formula E, they have aligned themselves with the future of auto racing with cars powered by batteries.
Within three years, every major motorsports team will want a piece of the pie in Red Bull GRC, because GRC is young, innovative… and a better product.
The BULLPUP 