Keanu Reeves is one of Hollywood’s biggest car and motorcycle enthusiasts, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise when I heard that he’s going racing. However, he’s mostly associated with big, powerful muscle cars or high-end exotics, so it was a bit surprising to hear that he’s going to be competing in the Toyota GR Cup at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend. He’ll be suiting up for the Eagle Canyon Racing team, which is fielding a feisty Toyota GR86 Cup car.
Reeves announced his upcoming participation in a short clip on the GR Cup’s official Instagram account. However, this isn’t the first time Reeves puts on a racing suit. While Reeves isn’t as much of an actor-turned-racing-driver as, say, Paul Newman or Patrick Dempsey, he is still a massive motorsport enthusiast he’s raced in various celebrity races, has a collection of fast cars and bikes, and even owns his own motorcycle company, ARCH. He isn’t bad behind the wheel, either, as he won the 2009 Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix Pro Celebrity race and he reportedly did much of his own stunt driving for the John Wick franchise. The GR Cup, though, will be considerably more challenging than any celebrity race, as his competitors will be professional racers.
The GR86 Cup car Reeves will be driving is essentially identical to the ones he’s racing against. While it’s based on a GR86 road car, it has quite a few go-fast modifications for racing duty. The engine is mostly stock but it has Bosch engine management and is paired to a six-speed SADEV sequential manual transmission. It also has a Borla exhaust, JRI adjustable shocks, Alcon brakes, a carbon fiber wing, a 22-gallon fuel cell, and, of course, a roll cage.
It’s a drastically different car than the one Reeves used to win the 2009 Long Beach Grand Prix. Back then, he ran a Scion tC, which was a front-wheel drive coupe. The GR86 Cup car is rear-wheel drive, more powerful, and more sophisticated. It will be fun to see Reeves racing against far more accomplished drivers than the other celebrities he beat in 2009. Can’t wait to see how his skills stack up.
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