10 MOTORTREND.COM MAY 2020Mark Rechtin
NEWS I OPINION I GOSSIP I STUFFDownload the app!
MotorTrend delivers a slew of spectacular new video content
Reference Mark
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or less than the cost of one venti coffee, you can
subscribe to the MotorTrend app and watch the
brand-new season of Top Gear America, the
amazing new live-drama NASCAR show All In, and
tons of newly launched shows about cars and the
automotive lifestyle. Plus there’s an all-you-can-eat
buffet of the past 20-plus seasons of the notorious Top
Gear and all the best of shows like Roadkill.
Yes, this is an unabashed sales pitch. But I wouldn’t pitch
it if I didn’t believe in it. The MotorTrend app allows you
to watch all these shows on your iPhone, Android device,
or iPad, or you can link your laptop to your TV with an
HDMI cable, or you can also stream to your big-screen
television via Amazon channels, Roku, or FireTV.
For those of you living under a rock, MotorTrend got the
rights to produce Top Gear America, hired actor-slash-real-
deal-car-guy Dax Shepard as host, along with comedian
Rob Corddry and legendary hot shoe Jethro Bovingdon,
to take the series in a whole new direction. We know past
iterations of TGA have been, uh, lukewarm. This is a whole
new deal, starting May 30. And. It. Will. Be. Awesome.
Lest we forget, we are the only place where you can
livestream the epic, historic 24 Hours of Le Mans, which
happens the weekend of June 13.
Why wait until spring, though? We just signed a deal
with NASCAR to create All In: Battle for Daytona, which
profiles the seasonlong chase for the Cup, by going behind
the scenes with drivers Austin Dillon, Corey LaJoie, and
Tyler Reddick. You know the acclaimed football show Hard
Knocks? Think that, but at 200 mph with hot tempers.
After Dillon finished second in the Busch clash,
followed by Ryan Newman’s horrific, miraculous
crash as Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag
at the Daytona 500, there will be tons of fantastic
behind-the-scenes footage you won’t want to
miss. (See page 12 for more details.)
Don’t care for NASCAR, you say? Watch one
episode, and you’ll change your tune. And if
you do like NASCAR, then check out Blink of an Eye, our
exclusive documentary about two-time Daytona 500
winner Michael Waltrip and his star-crossed friendship
with legendary driver Dale Earnhardt.
And that’s just the start. Among the cool
new shows coming this year:
Ever wonder what it’s like to drive the most
extreme vehicles ever built? In Dream Jobs,
Le Mans LMP2 driver and six-time Olympian
Chris Hoy puts you in the passenger seat as
he drives everything from rallycross racers
to monster trucks (see page 26).
Wonder what really happened to all the
automotive entrepreneurs who flew too close
to the sun? Delusions of Horsepower will tellthe real story of influential but failed automakers. We dig
up unknown details of John Z. DeLorean’s stainless-steel
machine and Jerry Weigert’s Vector, not to mention the
bizarre tale of The Dale, from our uniquely historical,
cultural, and psychological perspective—warts and all.
In case that’s not enough prurient content, there’s
AutoBiography Backroads, which tracks down the truth
behind wild automotive urban legends. Teaser: Police
find a $500,000 convertible in the middle of a winter
snowstorm. The driver has vanished without a trace.
What really happened?
Bitchin’ Bootcamp, an offshoot of our acclaimed Bitchin’
Rides, follows eight contestants working on crazily modified
cars—with the winner getting a full-time job at the Kindig-it
Design company featured on the flagship show.
Meanwhile, you still get the great shows that viewers have
come to love, such as the unpredictable Road-
kill—where David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan
create rebuilds that have as much chance of self-
immolating on the way to the
dragstrip as they do of turning
a 10-second quarter mile.
While not taking those
incredible risks to life and limb,
Finnegan has launched the offshoot Faster
With Finnegan—where Mike finds some of
the worst junkers in the world and, with
two nights of wrenching,
tries to beat modern-era
cars on the track.
And that’s just the start.
There’s more cool stuff
coming in the second half of the year, which
I can’t tell you about yet.
There are two ways you can subscribe:
make an annual payment, which comes out
to $1.99/month, or a $4.99/month plan that
you can cancel anytime.
Did I mention there’s no advertising? QFaster With
Finnegan,
an offshoot
of Roadkill,
pits slapdash
rebuilds versus
modern-era
metal.@markrechtin