National television series filming at Autocross Racing Event in Biloxi

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - Day 2 of Cruisin’ the Coast is bringing on the action. 

Between a national television car series filming on the same turf as hundreds of cruisers participating in the ultimate autocross adrenaline rush, South Mississippi is loaded with momentum.

In the West parking lot of the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, American Streetcar Promotions is hosting its annual autocross racing three-day course.

“We’ve been partnered up with Cruisin’ the Coast for the last eleven years,” Brian Finch, American Streetcar Promotions owner. “We come down here and put on the Autocross. We run our ‘share the ride’ program for them. It’s been an incredible relationship; we get lots of great feedback. The spectators are here for three straight days.”

Finch tells WLOX that participants need to be at least sixteen years old to register and must also sign a waiver to take the ride. The main idea is to maneuver around the cones as quickly and safely as possible.

On the same lot, MotorTrend television series, “Faster with Newbern and Cotten” is filming. Production is using the location to tape an episode for season 2.

“We’re a car show that basically has a premise,” says Michael Cotten, MotorTrend’s Faster with Newbern and Cotten TV Host. “We build a car and after we race it. So we race first build the car, then we come back and race it again.”

Cotten’s co-hosting the show alongside his best friend David Newbern, both former mechanics.

“It’s pretty awesome. I have to pinch myself because to do the things we get to do is kind of surreal. I’m very blessed,” says David Newbern, MotorTrend’s Faster with Newbern and Cotten TV Host.

Throughout the season, the duo will be testing a variety of different vehicles. For this episode, they’ll be using one of Newbern’s.

“We’re taking my ‘57 Chevrolet — which is not meant for my autocross at all — and we’re going to go out here and see what happens when we do that,” says Newbern. “Then we’re going to take tomorrow, convert it to an autocross car, and then Wednesday, come back and see how much time we can actually shave off just by doing some work to it.”

Season 2 of MotorTrend’s “Faster with Newbern and Cotten” is slated to air in March 2024.

The first season began airing on September 20. You can tune in on MotorTrend and the MotorTrend+ App on Wednesday nights at 10/9c.

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