Drissi Markets Movies With ‘World’s Fastest Billboard’

With summer blockbuster season upon us, race fans may wonder why Tomy Drissi often carries the names of popular movies on his race cars.

It turns out that the driver of the No. 20 BAR1 Motorsports ORECA FLM09 is a life-long resident of Hollywood area, and has been involved in the entertainment industry for years. This weekend, Universal’s upcoming adventure flick “Jason Bourne” will be along for the ride for the Chevrolet Sports Car Grand Prix presented by the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers.

“I’ve been in the creative advertising business for the movies for many years, ever since I was a teenager,” said Drissi, who co-drives with Johnny Mowlem in select races in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. “Now I’ve got my own agency with a couple of partners. Every image that you see, whether it’s driving on a street looking at a billboard, or walking into a theater lobby and seeing our standees letting you know what’s coming out next, is from our agency. You also see our images while watching TV or seeing a trailer – that’s what we do.”

Drissi is a late bloomer in racing. He started off in vintage racing at age 35, and then went to Trans-Am prior to competing in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón and the WeatherTech Championship.

“My first race was at Long Beach [in 2000], and I did pretty good,” Drissi recalled. “My next year there, I won the thing. I’ve been on the podium there a few times since then, and also found the wall there.”

Drissi’s Long Beach victory paid additional dividends for his racing career.

“Right after my Long Beach victory, I went to a studio and talked to them [about sponsoring his racing]. They thought it was a great deal, so I’ve been sponsored by the studios for the last 15 years.”

The sponsorship ties in with his main business.

“We advertise on the fastest billboards in the world. It’s a straight deal with me as the driver, and then I find the best ride. BAR1 is not the biggest team, but they do a great job and they’ve got the biggest heart – just like the drivers.”

Recent movies that Drissi has promoted included Captain America: Civil War, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Zoolander 2 and X-Men: Apocalypse.

Drissi opened the year with a third-place finish in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, joining Mowlem, Marc Drumwright, Ricardo Vera and NASCAR’s Brendan Gaughan in putting the Zoolander 2 car on the PC podium.

At Long Beach, X-Men: Apocalypse was featured, with Mowlem joining Drissi for a fourth-place finish in his home race. With his busy work schedule limiting his racing schedule, he is planning to compete at Road Atlanta on Oct. 1, in addition to NASCAR Xfinity Series road course events at Mid-Ohio, Road America and possibly Watkins Glen.

Right now, Drissi isn’t thinking about the films getting ready to open at your local cinema – he’s already planning strategy for movies coming one or two years down the road.

“We start thinking about how to market the movies long in advance,” he explained. “We think about the materials, the key art and trailers, how we market them in-theater and outdoors. We plan this stuff way ahead of time.

 “I’ve got to thank ‘Jason Bourne,’ the team at Universal, the GBS/CIDP Foundation and all my sponsors, for helping me get to Detroit, along with all the IMSA fans. I’m looking forward to putting on a great show at Detroit.”