For many, the sport of auto racing is like art. Come October 23rd, Motorsport Games, Live Fast Motorsports, and contemporary artist Frankie Zombie will truly make art out of the No. 78 Ford Mustang.
In a unique collaboration, BJ McLeod will drive a brightly colored Motorsport Games machine in the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway which was designed by Zombie.
“We’re excited to kick off our partnership with Frankie Zombie, as it will push our philanthropic efforts forward, pay respect to the art community and provide a new way for our community to interact with the sport,” said Jay Pennell, Brand Manager, NASCAR at Motorsport Games. “It is an ongoing priority for Motorsport Games to take new approaches in expanding our audience offerings and events and we feel Frankie is the perfect person to help bridge fans together through crossover appeal. Frankie is a one-of-a-kind artist, and we hope this upcoming initiative will not only welcome a new community into the Motorsport Games ecosystem but give our pre-existing fans even more unique and creative elements to our in-person activations and game offerings.”
For Zombie, who specializes in contemporary abstract art forms and has experience in a wide array of artistic styles, making a design that will hit an actual race track and hit speeds over 170 miles per hour is something he’s looking forward to seeing.
“Converting a NASCAR stock car into a piece of art is not something you would typically see nor expect, and as a lifelong fan of racing, I cannot wait to see the design putting in 400 [miles] of racing,” said Zombie in a press release. “I’m excited to partner with Motorsport Games and Live Fast Motorsports to bring these paint schemes to life for fans and help them gain a new appreciation for art and vice versa. I encourage everyone to come to the live painting events to be a part of some great initiatives for charity.”
As a unique wrinkle to this partnership, the paint scheme will be available for download on NASCAR 21: Ignition Victory Edition as well as the 2022 Throwback Pack DLC, the Season Pass 2, and Season Pass Complete for Xbox, Playstation, and PC through the Steam store.
Fans that purchase the Victory Edition of the game or the aforementioned DLC or Season Pass will be able to pilot the Frankie Zombie-designed No. 78 car on October 6th.
While the paint scheme and its availability in the NASCAR 21: Ignition video game is incredible, the partnership between Zombie, Motorsport Games, and Live Fast Motorsports will also include a series of charity activations, according to a press release from Motorsport Games.
At the NASCAR race weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on October 8th and 9th as well as the race weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 22nd and 23rd, Zombie will be conducting live in-person painting events at the track.
During the live in-person painting events, Zombie will create custom-designed wraps on two additional car hoods. The hoods will be raffled off with proceeds benefitting Speedway Children’s Charity and the NASCAR Foundation.
Homestead will mark the sixth primary sponsorship activation for Motorsport Games on the No 78 car in 2022. The partnership between Live Fast Motorsports, Motorsport Games and McLeod dates back to the team’s inception and the game developer was the primary sponsor for LFM’s first-ever race in the 2021 Daytona 500.
McLeod, who hails from Wauchula, Florida, which is roughly 210 miles from Homestead-Miami Speedway, has one top-10 finish, a career-best seventh-place finish at Daytona in September, through 24 starts this season.
The 38-year-old driver and co-owner of the No. 78 team has a career-best finish of 32nd at the 1.5-mile speedway near Miami. McLeod will look to bring home Zombie’s work of art in one piece and in the process he hopes to score his career-best finish at Homestead.
