The Scooby Doo franchise was more often than not very much at home when it came to episodes with a sports theme. Almost every incarnation had at least one sport-themed episode, and there are some great ones. It was very familiar ground before 'The Scooby Doo Show' and it was a theme revisited a lot since, but that didn't matter so much as the franchise did show that it could balance an interesting mystery with depicting the sport in question with at least some impact.
Something that "The Spooky Case of the Grand Prix Race" did incredibly well. 'The Scooby Doo Show' did three sport-themed episodes. The first was "The Ghost that Sacked the Quarterback" centred around football. The second was this, "The Spooky Case of the Grand Prix Race" with car-racing. The last was "The Warlock of Wimbledon" with tennis. Of the three, this one is by far the best and the only one to be close to great (being someone that considers "The Ghost that Sacked the Quarterback" a little above average and who has never cared for "The Warlock of Wimbledon"). This is not quite a show high point or the best episode of Season 2 but it is one of the creepiest episodes.
Visually, "The Spooky Case of the Grand Prix Race" is one of the better looking episodes of 'The Scooby Doo Show'. The foggy atmosphere created is hugely effective and the phantom racer and the racecar are incredibly well drawn. The music is affectionate and doesn't sound silly or cheap. Still love the theme song and that love will never die. Likewise with my long-term love for anything Scooby Doo.
Writing always keeps the mystery intriguing with welcome bouts of endearingly silly humour. Other episodes of 'The Scooby Doo Show' do have more of the latter though. The story has a real creepiness, especially at the start and the very ghoulish state of Carl when he reappears. The Grand Prix setting is very well used, although not a racer or a sports fan those cars were cool, and the phantom racer is a genuinely spooky villain. The final solution may have one or two inconsistencies but was on the whole one of the cleverer final solutions of Season 2.
Nothing is made too obvious too prematurely, what really happens were considered as possibilities by me but never found myself absolutely certain. The gang still have great chemistry and their personalities have not been lost. One really cares about what happens to Shaggy. The voice acting is good.
Admittedly though the physics, or should we say defiance of it, does require some suspension of disbelief. Namely regarding the picking up of other cars in the way it was done, which would not have been achievable at high speeds, and tire tracks disappearing suddenly with no explanation.
That aside though, this episode is still great. 9/10
