Why Motorsports Fiction Is Finally Getting Its Moment—And Why It Matters

Motorsport fiction has always been a niche passion—adrenaline-fueled, full of heart, but often relegated to the sidelines in mainstream storytelling. But in 2025, that’s changing fast. With the release of F1: The Movie and a recently announced sequel to Days of Thunder, the world is finally taking notice of racing stories not just as spectacle, but as something deeper.

As someone who grew up watching Days of Thunder (and immediately wanted to become a race car driver), I understand how powerful a racing story can be. It’s not just the cars or the circuits—it’s what those things represent. They’re metaphors for purpose, for legacy, for breaking and rebuilding yourself again and again in pursuit of something just out of reach.

That’s the kind of spirit that led me to write Legacy Drive, a motorsport novel series that centers around a multigenerational racing family. From the sweeping vistas of Mount Panorama during the Bathurst 1000 to the private pain of failure, heartbreak, and redemption, this story wasn’t built backwards from the race track—it was born from it. In this world, racing isn’t just a backdrop. It’s a character.

The two novels of the Legacy Drive series (with a third book planned)

Why Racing Stories Hit Different

We’re seeing a cultural hunger for motorsport stories with real emotional weight. Not just highlight reels, but full narratives—human, flawed, inspiring. Rush scratched that itch for many in 2013, and more recently, Drive to Survive brought new fans to the sport of Formula 1 by revealing the personalities behind the visors.

But what’s different about fiction—whether it’s a movie or a novel—is that it allows us to go even deeper. To live in those quiet, uncertain moments before the lights going out and after the checkered flag falls.

In Legacy Drive, racing becomes something different for each character:

• For some, it's an escape.

• For others, an addiction.

• For a few, it's salvation.

• And for others still, it’s a monster that consumes everything in its path.

That duality—that raw, emotional truth—is what motorsport fiction is uniquely positioned to explore.

Legacy Drive is available in digital and physical copies on Amazon and Audible.

Hollywood Is Waking Up

The release of F1: The Movie, starring Brad Pitt and helmed by Top Gun: Maverick’s Joseph Kosinski, signals that racing stories are finally getting blockbuster treatment with the respect and nuance they deserve. And the fact that Days of Thunder—arguably the first real racing drama for the modern age—is returning, shows a full-circle moment.

These stories are no longer just gearhead cinema. They’re starting to be recognized for what they are: deeply human narratives wrapped in speed, danger, and drama.

Why This Moment Matters

There’s a generation of kids out there who will watch F1: The Movie and (eventually) Days of Thunder 2 and feel the same way I did—like they were just handed a glimpse of something bigger than themselves. They may want to race. Or they may want to write about racing. Or maybe they’ll simply find a piece of themselves reflected in these stories.

We need more of that. And we need to show that motorsport isn’t just for the elite, or for people with garage access and lap times to prove. Motorsport is for dreamers. For the broken. For the bold. And sometimes, for the people just trying to make sense of who they are.

That’s what Legacy Drive is about. And I’m excited to see this moment, because it means stories like it are finally getting their place on the starting grid.

Want to see what motorsport fiction can really be?

Watch the trailer for Legacy Drive below. Let’s ride this wave together—because this isn’t just a trend. It’s a movement.