Ask RYAN HAMPTON Something!

[Craftsman]

Hey I heard rumors that you were building a RX8... Care to dwelve on the rumors?

Matt.

[CounterLock]

Originally posted by RyanHampton


Counter lock,
Yeah that was a frustrating weekend...
That particular Crown Vic was not normal, but a very good drift car. I probably will never have that car again, and neither will James Bondurant, its a long story I care not get into.....

Later guys , and thanks for the response....

Damn, I wish I could see it in action one more time.

[Craftsman]

What type of classes do you teach at Bondurant School of Racing?

Whatever happened to that drifting school at Bondurant?

What car will you be running at Formula Drift this weekend?

Matt.

[RyanHampton]

Originally posted by swifty949
Hey Ryan, any word of advice for finding financial backers for a Formula D drift car? Me and the Grip video guys have been banging our heads for several months trying to secure funds for the red FD3S that Ross Petty drives. 3 Tranny's...in 4 events is not cheap to keep up with. Neither are transportation, team travels, and blah blah blah.
Btw, if you need help with the Haltech tuning, i'll talk to my teammates, our FD is running Haltech. PM me.


Ray

Finding financial backers isn't easy in any sense. (I know that sounds redundant?)... Sponsors and backers come from many different places as you know. The guy who helped my in my IRL efforts was found at the post office while getting his mail..Yes I know it sounds crazy, but it is true. The biggest thing right now I feel is what you can offer in exposure. With drifting gaining in media popularity, it seems to be what everyone I have talked to is looking for. The good thing about drifting, is it is like how racing was a few decades ago, people are doing it for publicity. In the current situation, racing is all about business to business deals, or the family has lots of money to burn. Drifting also offers the best dollar to impression ratio. A Formula D season is about 1/5 the cost of a Formula 2000 car, and it gets about 15 times the exposure. The best way to go about getting a sponsor, is find every source of media that your car or driver has been mentioned or shown. Once you compile that start to build a proposal and figure out your budget. Always error on the high side of costs. When you get the proper amount for the budget, make sure everything you promised happens for the sponsor. If you make an agreement don't break it or fail. Also don't promise more than you can deliver. It is never a wise idea to say if you sponsor us we will win the championship. That has never worked. Always under promise and over deliver. Any sponsor we bring to drifting has to be treated right, it is now OUR responsibility. I don't want to see good sponsors get chased off and ruin it for everyone. This has been done several times in racing. Its easy to get a sponsor, its even harder to keep one. Also, most successful proposals I have seen have been only one page long, I have seen many-a proposal be about 50 pages and it just ends up boring the reader to death. Make it short sweet and to the point. One page for your media, one page for what you will bring them, and one page for your budget. Thats it.. Ultimately what the sponsor wants is return on investment. Oh did I also mention you have to have a silver tongue. (not a silver tongue ring!!). Sponsor hunters in racing are not cheap to hire, and ones that actually are successful are impossible to find. The best luck I have had is make your own deals. That way if you fail you can blame yourself and no one else..


Thank you again,

[case]

hey Ryan, when do you plan on updating your website? looks like the last time it was updated was december of '03. i liked the miata video, seems like it would be a fun car to drive. was that track rather bumpy or is the miata a relatively twitchy?

[RyanHampton]

We teach Road Racing, Anti Terrorist, and Drifting. Actually they don't have me teaching drifting, it is actually some guy who has never drifted....go figure?

As far as my website, yeah I need to go through it and update it, been lazy. I will get on it after this weekend...

The miata is a fun car, and it is hard to drift. The setup on that car was too soft. The car has too short of a wheelbase for drifting.


Thanks!

[Craftsman]

Ryan's still the winner in my book... He ran with a car that was hesitating. Didn't have power abover 4000 - 5000 RPM, but he pulled off great run anyways...




Oh... His wife is @#%*ing HOT!!! He's lucky he found her first...

Matt.

[hatebbobbarker]

didnt get to see you at all, saw your car competing and in the pits though, wish you had done better.

ryan, what do you mean you teach anti terrorist?


craftsman did you come all the way out from texas yesterday?

[case]

Congratulations on placing in the Top 20, Ryan! Glad to see that Glenn and the other guys from TeamFC3S managed to help you along, they're a great bunch of guys (most of whom I've met). I look forward to your next event with the 10th AE, it looks gorgeous!

[Craftsman]

Originally posted by hatebbobbarker
didnt get to see you at all, saw your car competing and in the pits though, wish you had done better.

ryan, what do you mean you teach anti terrorist?


craftsman did you come all the way out from texas yesterday?

Yup... I'm back in Houston right now though... In my home... I love being home...

Matt.

[rmj_drift]

Ryan, brotha, it's Miguel, just want to let you know that you did awesome. A lot of the guys from my neck of the woods came down, I did not even know they were there. They loved watchin the FC move.


Just wanna say on behalf of Glenn, Dave, Kevin, Lawrence, myself and the rest of my boys, that it was an honor losing sleep and getting wired on Red Bull and Rock Star, to get your car done.

Anytime you need us we are here for ya bro you know that. I hope Upgrade and Mazda were happy with our work. I am proud of my guys and you man.

We promised you and Upgrade late last Friday night that you would be drving the FC on Sunday and I hope we came through.

And no worries, Glenn, Dave and us will make sure you have a kick *Censored**Censored**Censored* FC for the drivers search in November.

you the man.

Oh ya my girl loved the t-shirt and can't wait to meet you.

Later, Miguel and your boys at RMJ Motorsports

[kaosman]

I agree with Miguel, it was awesome working on your car Ryan and you are world-class. Thank you for the opportunity to contribute my knowledge to your car. It still weighs heavily on me that we couldn't dial out that hesitation on Sunday, despite the timeframe. Dave & I should have it resolved by this weekend so you can have a good set of runs. Also then I can let you loose on my car and you can see what Dave & I are capable of with a little more time to work with..my RX is the embodiment of everything I know in regards to the rotary.

Glenn

[RyanHampton]

Hey guys,

I first off have to say thanks to all those who made Formula D a reality. Those are David (AKA Haltech Dave in my book), Glen Price (Tuning Guru), Shawn Catilico (the Drill Meister), Miguel Jimenez (The Persistent Peruvian), Patrick (the Wunder Kid), Matt (craftsman) and his buddy...(can't remeber his name), Todd (my friend), Tony Angelo (you know him), Chris Forsberg (Topics II), Alex Pfeiffer(super alignment), East Coast Pete, my wife for putting up with me being at the shop till 4:30 in the morning, Upgrade Motoring (my sponsor), Yokohama Tire, Neo, Swift Springs, RMJ Motorsports, Mazda Racing, Rotory Xecret 7, Brendan and his dad for the expensive stuff, Formula D for putting up with constant requests, and everyone who stopped by to wish us well and give us a hand. I owe this event to you guys, and you all came through! Thanx you from the bottom of my heart man!

Hope everyone enjoyed the event, I know you were all on no sleep for 2 days!

Now as far as the anti terrorist class, its a blast you get to crash cars and do drive bys...its for diplomatic limo drivers who could be attacked.

Thank you guys,

[case]

Ryan, you said you were coming out to the next Vegas event, right? I just wanted to find out if you needed directions or anything. Heh, nah... just messing around, I know you didn't say that. I think I already asked, but it's been a long day at work and all that good stuff, but when do you think (and if) you'd be able to make it out here? I'm sure we can keep you entertained here in Vegas, too - if you can stay awake after the event, I doubt we'd run out of things to do. I know you're busy with getting ready for Formula D, and like I said on TeamFC3S, feel free to call me whenever (I don't sleep, so it's no big deal) when you need help. My motor will need a break-in soon, so why not put it to good use? Also, how long of a drive is it from Vegas to the shop where you do your work?

Side note: what's your opinion on the SilkRoad coilovers for the FC? I'm definitely considering them over a set of TEIN's, as I've heard only great things.

[NiteKids]

Originally posted by Slonie
The only drifter to ever lead an Indycar race flag to flag...

Then again other professional drivers have JGTC and other real professional series under their belt.