GRIDLIFE Gears Up for First Event of 2025 at Carolina Motorsports Park

Kershaw, SC - GRIDLIFE returns to competition next weekend at Carolina Motorsports Park April 11-13, marking its first event of the year and return to the south for the third consecutive year. With a star-studded lineup in the newly renamed GRIDLIFE RUSH Series, a nearly 40-car field in the Eibach GRIDLIFE Touring Cup Championship, and a packed GRIDLIFE TrackBattle Time Attack field, the competition will be fierce from round one. Attendees will also be treated to the return of GRIDLIFE Drift, with cars tackling the full course at Carolina Motorsports Park, and navigating the technical karting track in both single and tandem runs. The on-track action will extend for a full three days this year, with Friday, Saturday, and Sunday all featuring racing, drift, and time attack.

GRIDLIFE RUSH Series Returns with New Name & Big Names

The GRIDLIFE RUSH Series has changed names for 2025, dropping the “SR” nomenclature associated with its RUSH SR sports racer, as the series gains an additional model - the SRX - making the RUSH Series GRIDLIFE’s first multiclass racing series. The light-weight, high performance racecar has skyrocketed in popularity in grassroots racing, with field sizes of 25 or more cars at nearly every GRIDLIFE event last season. 

YouTube superstars TJ Hunt, Grant Anderson, and Evan Shanks are entered for the South Carolina event and will race wheel-to-wheel with series regulars like Ryan Leach and Jason Oehler. James French is also entered for competition, notable for his extensive experience racing in the American Le Mans Series and IMSA WeatherTech Championships in prototype machinery. The provisional entry list for GRIDLIFE South Carolina features nearly 30 cars for the GRIDLIFE RUSH Series, which will race four times during the weekend.

Eibach GRIDLIFE Touring Cup Championship Rockets into Seventh Season

Once the “new series” on the block, the Eibach GRIDLIFE Touring Cup Championship kicks off its seventh season as GRIDLIFE’s original wheel-to-wheel racing series. Armed with a new logo and name courtesy of support from Eibach, a field of 36 drivers is set to take the green flag four times throughout the weekend. Amongst the competitors is 2020 champion Eric Kutil, returning alongside reigning champion Matan Rosenberg. Other familiar names set to race in South Carolina include James Cathers, Eric Magnussen and teammate duo Thomas Lathrop and Carlos Mendez. 

Though the field is healthy with returning drivers, a strong influx of new drivers is present on the entry list too, with Austin Hill, Raul Iriarte, Andrew Nabb, and plenty more. The rookie field includes some drivers from the GRIDLIFE TrackBattle Time Attack championship. Those making the jump this season to wheel-to-wheel racing include Christian Aranha and Alan Newsome. The Eibach GRIDLIFE Touring Cup Championship races at every event this season and is poised to continue delivering some of the best grassroots racing in the country.

GRIDLIFE TrackBattle Returns with Modified Competition Format

GRIDLIFE TrackBattle Time Attack, a race against the clock in eight different competition classes, is back in 2025 with a field of nearly 90 drivers and cars. Drivers will compete in a slightly different format than previous years, blended between the Podium Sprint qualifying format and the “Classic TrackBattle” heats. Competitors will be sorted into groups by pace, irrespective of their class, and then run seven heats. Then, the top five drivers from each class will run the Podium Sprint, a last-chance shootout-style session on Sunday where the podium is determined.

Many drivers return with the same weaponry as previous seasons - Mario Mirone, Evan McLaren, Stan Fayngold, Kevin Vue and Jerami Bailey are set to battle in Falken Club TR, while Kal Fortner, Dayton DelaHoussaye, and Devin Hoffman are back in Street Mod competition. The renamed Club SC category features reigning champion Chris Rice, alongside Lennon Radcliffe and David Best.

Eibach GRIDLIFE Touring Cup competitors Luke McGrew and Austin Hertel will return to their GRIDLIFE TrackBattle roots at Carolina Motorsports Park, both armed with brand new Chevrolet Corvette C8s for time attack competition. While Austin Hertel is expected to return to wheel-to-wheel competition in addition to efforts in TrackBattle, Luke McGrew will only compete in a limited-time attack campaign in 2025.

The packed field of GRIDLIFE TrackBattle entrants will offer plenty for fans to watch in South Carolina alongside the wheel-to-wheel racing and drifting.

GRIDLIFE Drift Takes on Full Course, Kart Circuit

GRIDLIFE Drift has long been a staple entertainment offering at events, and for a third year, it will highlight the action on the track and in the paddock, with both full course drift and a kart circuit configuration. The full course layout will see drifters take on the 2.3-mile, 14-corner layout at full speed, while the kart course layout will offer a tighter, more technical challenge for drivers in South Carolina. In addition to his entry in the GRIDLIFE RUSH Series, Grant Anderson will bring out his E36 BMW for drift action, alongside Cole Richards, Justin Pawlak, Hert, and Lee Yearwood, amongst others. Fans trackside and in the paddock will get to see the full course light up with tire smoke seven times throughout the weekend, with the kart track running all day.

Highlighting GRIDLIFE Drift’s entertainment is the reintroduction of Night Shift Drift on Friday and Saturday night, drift sessions into the darkness beginning at 7:30 PM each night. This spectacle was first introduced at the GRIDLIFE Alpine Horizon Festival and is now back as part of GRIDLIFE South Carolina’s attractions.

GRIDLIFE’s on-track schedule is packed for its first event of the season; fans on site will enjoy cars on course from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM daily. Attendees can also roam the open paddock, the arcade, and watch acts on the music stage from Jake Panda, JEFE, Emo Nite, and more. The on-track action will be streamed live Friday through Sunday via GRIDLIFE’s Twitch and YouTube channels, starting at 4:00 PM ET on Friday. Tickets are still available for spectators on the GRIDLIFE South Carolina site.