New racing media group, F=ma, has acquired Gridlife

Gridlife is, in concept, something I really like. Given my background, you probably wouldn’t be surprised that my immediate reaction when I first set foot upon the grounds of a race track was, “I’m getting real TRanSFoRMAtiONal fEstivAL vibes from this!” It did not boggle my mind to learn that some race promoters take that to its logical conclusion and have full-weekend EDM lineups playing in the infield, but it also heartened me enormously to learn that Gridlife’s take on the motorsports part of that was an inclusive club-racing model. I doubt I’ll ever go to one of these unless my kids want to take me someday, but I am glad it exists.

Of course, as a motorsports writer, Racer is also, in concept, something I really like. I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite motorsports publication across all categories, but it’s the go-to for IndyCar, and it is comprehensive, so it’s always worth sticking around. When that group acquired MAVTV last year and created the Racer Network, I thought, “That’s a good idea. Give us some racing to watch with our subscription, and hell, I’ll gladly also take your magazine.” Unfortunately, the first year of the service did not fill me with optimism about the second, and there is currently no form of racing I follow that requires me to subscribe to it, so I no longer do.

Now more pieces are starting to fall into place. An umbrella organization has been created called F=ma. It’s no DXDT, but it is at least an engineering reference that applies to motorsports, and that is the signal they would like to send. It is led by Chris Dyson, son of Rob, so, racers. Racer is now part of F=ma’s portfolio, along with PR firm The ID Agency, which represents the likes of Porsche, Bridgestone, and Hot Wheels. F=ma has now also acquired Gridlife.

This all makes sense. You can see a coherent portfolio here. But so far to me it sounds like a closed loop that will live or die on its own, rather than part of the broader racing world.