Gridlife Circuit Legends weekend has come and gone at the legendary Lime Rock Park in Salisbury, Connecticut, and what an event it was. Gridlife is a motorsports and automotive lifestyle brand that hosts events that combine music, racing, and open track time. The events are held at racetracks across the United States and are known for being inclusive and accessible. The Circuit Legends section of the tour, hosted at Lime Rock for the past three years, is an action-packed celebration of motorsports and car culture from the 1980s to the present day.
Drift Kings!
Drifting is the most popular on-track event during the weekend. It brings a different crowd to the park than some of the other more orthodox racing events and in a way it is refreshing. Formula Drift legends such as Chris Forsberg, drifting his NOS sponsored Nissan 300z, Nate Hamilton, driving his new Toyota GR86 drift car, and even world-renowned motorsport photographer, Larry Chen, completed multiple drift sessions driving his camera-rigged Toyota GR Corrolla Circuit Edition.
A youthful, fun feeling is in the air every day. Drifting at Lime Rock attracts an incredible display of vendors, brands, and automotive legends. A notable name being TPain. As well as being a Grammy award-winning artist, he is also a regular at Gridlife Circuit Legends and drift driver himself. TPain attended the event this year with his brand, Nappy Boy Automotive, as well as popular automotive content creator, HertLife, who also found himself behind the wheel of a drift car this past weekend. On top of these two icons, popular european autoparts supplier, FCP Euro, arrived with an arsenal of modified vehicles that were a spectacle to behold, most notably, and my personal favorite of the fleet, the Mercedes 190E DTM recreation, a true masterpiece.
Nappy Boy Automotive: TPain and HertLife
Since his debut in 2004, T-Pain has significantly influenced pop, hip-hop, and R&B music, selling over 50 million singles, earning six GRAMMY® Awards, and achieving global success with countless sold-out shows. His voice has always been iconic, collaborating with world-class artists such as Chris Brown, Flo Rida, and Kanye West. In addition to his music career, T-Pain is a popular Twitch streamer, where you can watch TPain practicing his drifting skills on Assetto Corsa. He is also the founder of Nappy Boy Entertainment and Nappy Boy Automotive and an automotive enthusiast who began drifting six years ago. His goal with Nappy Boy Automotive is to make the automotive space more inclusive and accessible.
Focusing on drifting, Tpain and his team are changing the automotive world. T-Pain selected HertLife as a critical partner for Nappy Boy Automotive due to Hert’s deep passion for cars and his unique content creation skills. Hert’s automotive journey began with a love for video cars and content creation, eventually leading him to work at Enjuku Racing to create drifting content that gained recognition from Hoonigan Industries. After ten years at Hoonigan, Hert teamed up with T-Pain in 2018, contributing his expertise to Nappy Boy Automotive.
The two automotive legends found themselves at Lime Rock Park over the weekend to drift during Gridlife Circuit Legends. TPain attended the event in his custom Nissan 240sx drift car fitted with a Rocket Bunny (Pandem) widebody kit and wrapped in his infamous Pickle Rick livery—a perfect attention-grabbing combination of half bright pink and half bright green. Hert slid around the track in his copper and gold colored 240sx, possibly the most photogenic car in the drift sessions.
Although their paddock area was usually shrouded in a circle of people, the duo still found time to interact with and talk to enthusiasts who looked up to them. Having interviewed TPain a year ago, I figured he might not remember me; however, he instantly recognized me and started a conversation, showing how down-to-earth and friendly those at Nappy Boy Automotive are. It was indeed an honor to have watched two icons drive around my home track in a small town in Connecticut and form a connection to the track and those who attended the event.
FCP Euro and Their Masterpiece
Sunday hosted a rainy morning motoring meet presented by FCP Euro; this rain-soaked show focused on BMW, Audi, and Volkswagen. As per tradition, FCP Euro arrives on the track with its fleet of inspiringly unique vehicles, such as a rally-built Porsche 718 Cayman, a track-ready Volvo 740 turbo wagon, and most impressive, in my opinion, their DTM-inspired Mercedes 190E track weapon. FCP focused on paying tribute to the iconic 190E 2.3-16 that once reigned supreme in the DTM racing series of the late 1980s. This ambitious project combines the classic charm and engineering excellence of the original W201 chassis with cutting-edge modern performance enhancements that would make this project a track weapon even by today’s standards.
The journey began with selecting the W201 190E chassis, renowned for its robust engineering and motorsport pedigree. The team agreed that the model perfectly encapsulated the essence of late 80s DTM “war-room” engineering, making it the ideal platform for the build. Although it is difficult to beat the original Cosworth-tuned M102 engine in the original race car, the team decided to install the 375 horsepower M133, commonly found in the current CLA 45 AMG.
Reaching its peak power at 6,000 RPM, delivering a notable 350 ft-lbs of torque at just 2,250 RPM, as well as taking into account the incredibly quick spooling of the turbo to provide boost early in the rev range, the M133 is a perfectly adequate powertrain for a modern rendition of a hay-day DTM car.
As much as it is aggressive on the inside, the classic boxy and angular lines of the 190E are highlighted by brand new cream livery. The last time I saw the FCP 190E, it still bore the original white and green livery with bronze alloy Rotiform wheels. Now, the car bears its newly iconic cream base supported by a bottom layer of yellow, tattooed in FCP Euro details and sponsors, supported by color-matched aero wheels also provided by Rotiform.
It truly is a sight to behold, and I am more than lucky that this past rainy Sunday allowed me to take a closer look out on the track instead of its parking place on the midway surrounded by vendor tents. Of the fleet of FCP Euro vehicles, and with DTM holding a special place in my heart, this 190E is on the list of some of my favorite cars that I see regularly at Lime Rock Park and possibly on the list of my favorites of all time.
