Editorial: The Grudge Race That Stopped a Nation
If ever there was a grudge race had the perfect narrative elements, this was it. There was a hero — Garrett Mitchell with his huge social media following — and there was a villain. Joel Grannas probably didn’t intend to fill that role before FL2K, but when he missed a lane call and went on Facebook to vent, the internet was not kind.
Make no mistake, Grannas owns one of the baddest stick shift cars in the country. Grannas was the number one qualifier and a favorite to win FL2K. But when he missed the call, that was all for nought, and Mitchell went on to win the event against drag and driver Chad Fegley. Grannas was not happy with the situation.
Grannas’ posts generated a lot of social media attention, with the incident getting relentlessly memed. Never one to miss an opportunity, Mitchell gave Grannas a chance at redemption.
“Grannas Racing. If you’d like to race tomorrow at BMP for $15,000 Leroy is ready. It’s what the people want — 4pm?”
The Supra had about two tenths on Mitchell on paper, but Mitchell wasn’t setting himself up as the duck. He took to heart one of the principles of Sun Tzu’s Art of War — avoid strength, attack weakness. On an 86F day in Bradenton, the full sun would be on the track and Mitchell’s Corvette, better known as Leroy the Savage, would be able to use one of its own strengths, consistency.
Support drag racing and American print publications by subscribing to Sick The Magazine. Printed in America, made in America!
Grannas countered. He wanted lane choice and an 8pm run time. Mitchell held firm, declaring that the FL2K final was run at 4pm. Lane choice would be given to the winner of a coin flip.
The master stroke from Mitchell was to live stream the whole thing on his FRDM+ platform. Admittedly, I don’t live stream a lot of races. I simply tend to fill my weekends with other interests besides drag racing. But finding 10 minutes on a Tuesday afternoon to turn on FRDM+ was too easy. Going from the social media response, a lot of other people did the same.
Track co-owner Victor Alvarez served as ring announcer, hyping the race to maximum effect. Electronic billboards and screens trolled Grannas on the way into the track, declaring ‘Stick Shift to the Lanes at 4pm!’ Throw in a mariachi band to heighten the ridiculousness and this was pure grudge racing cinema.
The two drivers fired up their machines and went to battle. Mitchell claimed a small holeshot but Grannas poured the power in after 60 foot, moving past Mitchell by 330 and a tenth ahead by 660. But then disaster for Grannas, as he lost a cylinder and hit the crankcase pressure safety cut. Mitchell took the stripe and $15,000 from Grannas.
The internet once again went wild, celebrating their hero. Mitchell made sure the video was on his YouTube channel just hours later, racking up a million views in less than 24 hours (let alone other social media channels). For perspective, the NHRA issued a news story celebrating 1.036 million live viewers on FOX for their US Nationals telecast — the highest in the event’s history.
If there is one thing drag racing fans love it’s a good rivalry. Snake and Mongoose, Garlits and Muldowney, Force and Pedregon — those were the names that made drag racing the sport it is today. Mitchell himself said he hadn’t been this fired up for a race in years.
People love to say that the golden days of drag racing are behind us, but the truth is that thousands upon thousands of people (including many young people, the ones people say are no longer interested in drag racing) stopped what they were doing on a Tuesday afternoon to watch this grudge race. One wonders if Mitchell has stumbled onto another big idea. Could Bradenton Motorsports Park and FRDM+ make other grudge races a spectacle like this? Or was this a case of catching lightning in a bottle? Either way, it just goes to show that drag racing is far from dead. You might just have failed to keep up.
