Reset. Refresh. Restart: RACER reimagines the motorsports magazine experience

Refresh. Reset. Restart. Those are the underlying themes of the latest issue of RACER magazine, The New Challenges Issue.

On the content side, that means RACER No. 333 is taking a deep dive into Lewis Hamilton’s reenergizing switch to Ferrari, and asking whether the 40-year-old, seven-time Formula 1 World Champion still has what it takes to land a record-stretching eighth title with the Prancing Horse. Spoiler alert: we think he has.

It’s also MotoGP G.O.A.T. Valentino Rossi switching from two wheels to four – and not just dabbling in it, but racing with BMW in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s ridiculously-competitive LMGT3 class.

Plus, it’s three-time NASCAR Cup Series champ Tony Stewart strapping into an 11,000hp, nitromethane-burning NHRA Top Fuel dragster because…well, he can. And Robert Wickens defying life-changing injuries to compete in North American sports car racing’s pinnacle series, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

And that’s to name just a few.

But the refresh and reset extends to the look and feel of RACER magazine, too. Stealing a march on the NTT IndyCar Series, we decided we needed a new chassis and aero package, and we hope you like the new look – and the extra pages.

We’ve always celebrated the spectacle – the color, the speed and the drama – showcased the stars and cars, and told the stories that take you inside the sport, but now we’re delivering it in a bigger, better and more vibrant way. With its stunning photography, leading-edge design and engaging writing, RACER’s been leading the field since 1992, and now we’re elevating the magazine experience once again.

As well as looking and feeling different, we’re also taking this opportunity to widen our track and lengthen our wheelbase. Rest assured we’re still dialed in to the best of U.S. and global motorsports, but we also want to focus on where racing fits in with the bigger picture – performance road cars, automotive culture, and the challenges and opportunities for our sport in an evolving landscape.

For performance road cars, we take a look at Ford’s ’Ring-busting Mustang GTD, a no-compromise machine that doesn’t just share DNA with the Blue Oval’s multi-tier Mustang racecars but rewrites the whole genome to spectacular effect.

We’re building the narrative on participation, too – and not just at racing’s most rarefied levels. This time around, we’re going maximum bang for the buck, with legendary racing photographer Larry Chen getting behind the wheel of a Mini Cooper S in the low cost, high fun ChampCar Endurance Series.

RACER’s always enjoyed joining the dots between the present and the past, and this issue we’re telling the story of a multiple F1 champ taking on a fresh challenge with Scuderia Ferrari. Sounds familiar? In this case, it’s Michael Schumacher’s risky, yet ultimately hugely successful move to the Prancing Horse in 1996.

And as the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach celebrates a half century of SoCal street racing, we head back in time to a whirlwind few months in the fall of 1975 and the spring of ’76, when the dreams were big, the stakes were high and, almost unbelievably, the F1 circus came to a run-down port city and kick-started an amazing transformation.

Add in an interview with NTT IndyCar Series ace Colton Herta as the rumors swirl around an imminent switch to Cadillac’s new-for-2026 F1 program – yes, another potential reset and refresh – and a look at why Fabio Quartararo is committed to turning around Yamaha’s MotoGP fortunes, and it’s a packed (and did we mention very different-looking?) issue of RACER magazine.

CLICK HERE to purchase the new issue of RACER. And to have the new-look RACER magazine delivered to your mailbox six times per year, CLICK HERE to check out print and digital subscription options.