RACER Creator Awards Presented by Dunlop 2025: Winners announced following a packed inaugural event

The inaugural RACER Creator Awards presented by Dunlop lit up the LA Auto Show on Thursday night, bringing together the automotive world’s most innovative creators, filmmakers, storytellers, and community builders. Despite the rain, the KYB Red Carpet Car Show attracted numerous high profile cars including the KYB Tundra equipped with the new 2000 Series.

Hosted by Zack Klapman, the night celebrated the talent shaping modern car culture across every platform.The event kicked off with a panel on How Automotive Meets the Creator Economy – featuring Taro Koki, Larry Chen, and Diego Rodriguez.

SPECIAL AWARDS

CREATOR OF THE YEAR: Presented by Jeff Zwart, this year’s top honor went to: Emelia Hartford

RACER LEGACY AWARD, TO BE NAMED KEN BLOCK RACER LEGACY AWARD: Brian Scotto presented the RACER Legacy Award to Lucy Block, who responded with a video message and announced that this award will be named the Ken Block RACER Legacy Award in honor of Ken Block.

BEST BRANDED CONTENT AWARD: Taro Koki, President of the RACER Creator Network presented the Best Branded Content Award to Warwick Patterson and Christopher Bowes for Subaru Launch Control Season 12.

Zack Klapman announced the winners of the following Category awards.

CROWN CONTENT AWARD WINNERS

All winners have an option to select either the Crown Creator Package, which includes a production grant and VIP credentials for a Crown Racing weekend, or the Tucson Filmmaker Experience, which includes a paid trip to Tuscon, Arizona with opportunities to produce amazing content.

Best Car Review Content: “The Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Is a $10 Million Hypercar Legend” – Cars & Bids

Best Cinematic Videos: One of One – Ben Bertucci

Best DIY / How-To Content: How to Fix a Sloppy Shifter and Leaking Transmission – ChrisFix

Best Educational / Explainer Content: Dinner with Racers: Dinner(s) with the Rileys – Sean Heckman

Best Motorsports Content: Sylvain Guintoli – From Bikes to Cars – Adam C. Hughes

Best Short Form Content: Building a 911 Engine in 90 Seconds – Nicole Johnson

Best Tuning & Custom Builds: Superbird NASCAR Build – Emelia Hartford

Best Vlog: Unbroken Pursuit | Robert Wickens’ Inspiring Comeback – Matthew Spivey for IMSA

PRI PLATFORM AWARD WINNERS
(All nominees and winners of the PRI Platform Awards receive passes to the 2025 PRI Show in Indianapolis)

Best Newsletter/Written Creator: The Prototype – Sam Mitani

Best Podcast/Audio Content Creator: The Smoking Tire Podcast

Best TikTok or Instagram Creator: AI Arena – Ignite Media

Best YouTube Channel: ChrisFix

K1 CIRCUIT COMMUNITY & CULTURE AWARD WINNERS
(All winners of the RACER Creator Awards receive a 2026 VIP experience at K1 Circuit’s new outdoor track)

Best Automotive Lifestyle Creator: Luke Huxham – Street Fighters Presented by Peaches

Best Emerging Creator: Suellio Almeida

Best Fan Engagement/Community Builder: Polyphony Digital/Gran Turismo

Best Female Automotive Creator: Emelia Hartford

Best International Creator: Dino Dalle Carbonare

The evening wrapped with a reception for nominees, winners, and fans – interviews by Sonya Klaus, capped with NEFT Vodka and plenty of well-earned celebration.

Congratulations to all the creators who are defining the future of automotive storytelling. A one hour special program of the awards show will debut on December 15 on the RACER Channel on YouTube and the RACER Network.