Drive to Survive Was a Breakout Hit. Can Anyone Else Capture Its Lightning in a Bottle?

Just as Nirvana kicked off the grunge gold rush in the Nineties, so has Drive to Survive ignited a barrage of hopeful motorsport media projects. It’s too late for the flannel-clad bands that DNF’d the race to stardom, but there’s still time for these new TV, streaming, and film ventures to bring new fans to racing series.

This story originally appeared in Volume 13 of Road & Track.

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No doubt the projects will get a boost from the names in the credits, including F1 drivers Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo and NASCAR’s Austin Dillon, along with racing nobodies like Brad Pitt and Keanu Reeves. Their star power is jump-starting some very different productions.

NASCAR is the largest racing series in the U.S., but it’s growing at a track dryer’s pace. It’s also a lifestyle brand caught between its “family first” messaging and the questionable judgment displayed in the Talladega infield. That’s the intersection where Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane sits. One of two new NASCAR shows airing on NBC­Universal’s USA Network, Fast Lane follows the lives of Dillon, who happens to be NASCAR royalty (he’s the grandson of ex-driver and superstar team owner Richard Childress); his wife, Whitney; and their son, Ace. Also featured are Dillon’s best friend and tire carrier, Paul Swan, and his wife, Mariel. It’s a sort of Chrisley Knows Best for stock-car racing, with all the McMansion-based hijinks that implies. More promising for hard-core NASCAR fans is USA’s still-in-development Race for the Championship, which is expected to train its focus on the racing circuit.