D1GP DIRECTOR QUITs.....

[TIREKILLER]

If your concerns are splitting up the professional circuit of drifting....then make things more accessable for everyone!

Fixed, East Cost arent the only ones left out.

[TIREKILLER]

That doesnt make sense to me,you just said that you were involved in the formation of IDRC, and you broke away from D1 to start FD as well. How can you preach that division will hurt the sport (even though i agree with that) when you yourself have been involved in/created division in both sports yourself?

[Tracy]

Guys I really hate to chime in. Personally, I leave all the dialogue to everyone because this is a place to share and debate about issues, ideas, and such in the world of drifting. But I do feel I need to give my 2 cents about a few issues...

our pay:
Yes it is a business and one day I do wish that this business can make me some real money, but in the meantime my passion fuels me. I welcome any of you to come to my office and take a look at my personal tax returns and my monthly paycheck stubs. The money we make pays for Ryan and I's living needs, our hard working team and goes right back into Formula Drift.

import drag racing history lesson:
I was there first hand. In 1994, I was working for Sport Compact Car magazine, at that time it was only SCC and Turbo (that is a whole other story) and we attended all the Battle of the Import events. They were sold out; LACR was packed to its capacity. But Battle was not a national series, so a group called IDRC (import drag racing circuit) was created in 1996.

A number of influencial people were part of this team (Eddie at Dynamic, Eric at XS, Mike now currently D Sport Magazine, Dave Buscher of Buscher Racing, Hubie Fuh of SPI and others) and I became the Sponsorship Director. We created the first import drag national championship with events from LA to NJ to Denver to Houston. We got IDRC on TV. We were growing but we were still a small operation.

Then people with "big pockets" came in, first it was NIRA (ran by formerly Peterson Publishing; Super Street & Motor Trend). They came with more prize money and TV as well. And when Peterson Publishing got sold to Primedia (SCC and Import Tuner), Primedia closed down NIRA and rolled it into helping NHRA form the Sport Compact Series. So now it was NHRA and IDRC that did battle on a national level.

Then can NDRA (NOPI drag racing series) with even more money and more TV. At the same time Battle of the Imports began to hold more national events; which would bring the tally to 4 national import drag racing series! It became, which series had more money and import drag racing got watered down. And the people that suffered the most from this were the fans. A drag racing fan would attend an event hoping to see their favorite driver, Steph Papadakis or Ed Bergonholtz or Craig Paisley, but sometimes they were there and sometimes they were not. Why? Because some were at an NDRA event and some at an NHRA event. And rarely would you see a full line up of all the drag racing stars.

Now Battle of the Import still operates nationally but not a national championship. They have a good loyal following. IDRC has become like Battle, more holding regional events, going from a one time 12 event season to 5 or 6 this year. NHRA and NDRA are fiercely battling still. NDRA has gone toward the party theme with foam pit parties and bikini contests. NHRA has gone to car shows and drift events.

My point in all of this ranting is this that I have seen it first hand how a new growing sport can be seriously affected by division in the sport. The potential of what import/sport compact drag racing could have been will never be realized because of the events that happened in the last 10 years. Even established Motorsports like open-wheel racing (Champ Car/IRL) can be affected negatively by a split.

So with that said, you the fan, you the driver, you the sponsor, you the media all play a vital role in steering the direction of this sport.

I don't think anyone thinks that anyone is getting rich off of this I, myself own an amateur series. I feel ya and I know all about the paychecks. This isn't really about whether or not you are getting rich anyways. It's about HOW CAN WE, ON THE EAST COAST, DRIVE PROFESSIONALLY??!!

If your concerns are splitting up the professional circuit of drifting....then make things more accessable for the East Coast that's all I'm screaming! 3 of the East Coast pro am events were cancelled here. The only one that came through was the same day as the NOPI Nationals. POOR PLANNING. PERIOD!

[Jim @ FD]

Guys I really hate to chime in. Personally, I leave all the dialogue to everyone because this is a place to share and debate about issues, ideas, and such in the world of drifting. But I do feel I need to give my 2 cents about a few issues...

our pay:
Yes it is a business and one day I do wish that this business can make me some real money, but in the meantime my passion fuels me. I welcome any of you to come to my office and take a look at my personal tax returns and my monthly paycheck stubs. The money we make pays for Ryan and I's living needs, our hard working team and goes right back into Formula Drift.

import drag racing history lesson:
I was there first hand. In 1994, I was working for Sport Compact Car magazine, at that time it was only SCC and Turbo (that is a whole other story) and we attended all the Battle of the Import events. They were sold out; LACR was packed to its capacity. But Battle was not a national series, so a group called IDRC (import drag racing circuit) was created in 1996.

A number of influencial people were part of this team (Eddie at Dynamic, Eric at XS, Mike now currently D Sport Magazine, Dave Buscher of Buscher Racing, Hubie Fuh of SPI and others) and I became the Sponsorship Director. We created the first import drag national championship with events from LA to NJ to Denver to Houston. We got IDRC on TV. We were growing but we were still a small operation.

Then people with "big pockets" came in, first it was NIRA (ran by formerly Peterson Publishing; Super Street & Motor Trend). They came with more prize money and TV as well. And when Peterson Publishing got sold to Primedia (SCC and Import Tuner), Primedia closed down NIRA and rolled it into helping NHRA form the Sport Compact Series. So now it was NHRA and IDRC that did battle on a national level.

Then can NDRA (NOPI drag racing series) with even more money and more TV. At the same time Battle of the Imports began to hold more national events; which would bring the tally to 4 national import drag racing series! It became, which series had more money and import drag racing got watered down. And the people that suffered the most from this were the fans. A drag racing fan would attend an event hoping to see their favorite driver, Steph Papadakis or Ed Bergonholtz or Craig Paisley, but sometimes they were there and sometimes they were not. Why? Because some were at an NDRA event and some at an NHRA event. And rarely would you see a full line up of all the drag racing stars.

Now Battle of the Import still operates nationally but not a national championship. They have a good loyal following. IDRC has become like Battle, more holding regional events, going from a one time 12 event season to 5 or 6 this year. NHRA and NDRA are fiercely battling still. NDRA has gone toward the party theme with foam pit parties and bikini contests. NHRA has gone to car shows and drift events.

My point in all of this ranting is this that I have seen it first hand how a new growing sport can be seriously affected by division in the sport. The potential of what import/sport compact drag racing could have been will never be realized because of the events that happened in the last 10 years. Even established Motorsports like open-wheel racing (Champ Car/IRL) can be affected negatively by a split.

So with that said, you the fan, you the driver, you the sponsor, you the media all play a vital role in steering the direction of this sport.

[Tracy]

John, none of this is directed toward you.

So if i understand correctly the rules have changed yet again to accomodate the west coast drivers. Initially, the proam finals were going to be held in Ohio on September 18th along with the NASA road racing events going on. The top drivers from this event in Ohio were supposed to get there Formula D licences. lol, why didnt they get their licences? I would like for somoeone to explain to everyone what happened in Ohio? So now instead of the Ohio winners becoming Formula D drivers they are just "regional champions"? This just forces them to spend more money after being led to believe that they would become Formula D drivers. What will happen in Nevada on November 11th? I have a theory, WEST COAST DRIVERS WILL BE AWARDED THERE LICENCES. Boy am I glad I didnt waste my time going to the east coast regional events just to lead up to no Formula D licences being given away at the Ohio event. Now the proam series is forcing people to travel to the west coast again for the "chance" to get their license. Give me a break, how much money do you want unsponsored people to spend to get a licence that will most likely be given to a west coast driver? I think that Formula D and the proam should just concentrate on giving licences to people that can actually make it to formula d events, that would help out their driver attendance. lol, wait, that is what they are doing.

So in a nutshell the major flaw with the proam series is as follows: The proam is forcing competitors to travel in their region to compete for a regional chapmionship. Competitors can't get sponsors because there will be no exposure in the regional events, regional championships or the national championships, for that matter. So yet again, formula d and the proam are forcing the amateur competitors to spend more money for hopes and dreams. By the time an amateur competitor actually gets their licence they will be broke. After winning a regional championship the competiors who are in the 3 other regions, other than the west region, will have to travel to the other side of the country for $0.15 cents a mile. By the way, thats not really any money at all. It seems that Formula D and the pro am are just throwing everyone a bone to keep them happy. The unfortunate thing is that there are good drivers all around the country that sponsors would love to help out but the proam will not expose these drivers. For the sport to grow there has to be new talent developed, formula d and the proam are not helping the sport develop new drivers. The proam is set up to develop rich drivers, not skilled drivers. The concept of the proam series was a great thought when it originally came about but I am not sure what has happened since then. From cancelling almost every event and changing the rules all along the way I dont beleive that it is a good idea anymore. I love to drift but with the money I put into the proam series for traveling, maitenence, etc I could just rent tracks and have private practice days for me and my friends all year long. Sponsors are not stupid and will not support drivers financially based on the proam series alone. The proam and formula d are taking the fun out of the sport and are doing nothing for the competitors once again. Unfortunatelly for them there will be other competitions to attend next year.

One more brilliant planning move by the proam series was to have the east coast proam regional finals on the same weekend as the nopi nationals. I am not known to be conceited, but 8 of the east coasts best drivers were driving at the nopi nationals. Going back to the sponsors, thats where they wanted these drivers to be. Was that a planned move by formula d and the proam or just poor planning? Eitheir way, it was a bad move.

Dan typing from Tracy's account

[John Yim]

Hi all, I just wanted to take a moment to clarify some things about ProAm before things get too confusing. ProAm is a creation of the US Drift Association which consists of organizers throughout the country. These organizers are Drift Association and Just Drift out of California representing the west, ClubFR representing the north, Drift411 and US Drift representing the east and Daily Drifter from the south. The heads of these organizations got together in order to help their respective local drivers gain recognition and possibly sponsorship if they were interested in persuing a professional career.

Here is a map of the areas the organizations will cover:


This year was a bit of a rush to organize which is probably why so little was known about it but next year we will be going all out. Keep in mind that this is not a national pro series, this is a regional series with a single national event at the end of the season. Drivers from each region will compete in 3-6 events (depending on the region) for regional championship points. From there the top 12 drivers from each region will be invited to a single national event. The regional events will be held within the 'circle' of your region so any traveling that will be done won't be too far.

I also want to make it clear that we are a separate entity from Formula D and we do not receive any financial support from them. We work closely with them, however, and are holding a licensing event for them but our main focus is on the amateur drifters. Our event in Laughlin in November are 2 separate events that are going on, the ProAm finals and the FD Licensing event. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew who we were and what we are trying to do. If you have any questions feel free to contact myself or any other representative of USDA.

[CamelTouge]

There is sponsorship money out there, but I dont think that Drifting has made it to that level that NASCAR is currently at. The sport has grown so much within the last 2 years thanks to the small media outlets like g4 and local news channels that gave it a chance. Finally automotive manufacturers, energy drinks, and more tires sponsors have decided to step up, but thats where it stops.

Youre not going to get interests in larger sponsors that will give out cash (Dewalt, Budwiser, Home Depot, Wrangler, blahblahblah) if they do not see their name adversised on National television. **HINT to Current and Future Series**

As far as the east coast goes. I know that there is hidden talent out there that is unknown to the current series, due to budget constraints. Falken picked up most of their drivers through driftdays and local events. I really think that other larger businesses (tire manufacturers, shops, etc), should invest in looking at the east coast for potential formula D or D1 drivers.

As far as the other series that may or may not start go, i think that Formula D 's idea of the Pro AM series is good, but maybe they can work with these other series and make them a Pro AM series larger enough to satisfy the talent on the east coast, and throughout the country. Alot of companies/sponsors may look to Formula D, and find talent through them to sponsor.

by the way, I live on the west coast and I know there is talent on the east.

[Tracy]

there are more sponsorship dollars out there then you think. therefore, if another series were started that was more east coast based, more AM drivers that are really good but just can't get out to a west coast FD qualifier can go compete, get an out side of motorsports sponsor and move up to FD or even D1.

Think about it. 43+ teams in Nascar, only 43 can run in a race. Each of those teams spends over 3 million alone in tires each season. The money is out there. The drift teams just have to figure out how to get it. If doing two "Pro" series that equals out to say 12 events for the year will help spread that sponsors name, they (the sponsors) will spend the money to sponsor that driver or team.

Yes, It's all about "IMPRESSIONS". That's the goal of sponsors.

I can tell you this, whoever has a NETWORK television show is going to have the upper hand, unfortunately. That reaches more "buyers" than anything out there. Product placement is the best ROI for any company, especially with TV going the way it is...on demand and Tivo.

[Toycoma]

there are more sponsorship dollars out there then you think. therefore, if another series were started that was more east coast based, more AM drivers that are really good but just can't get out to a west coast FD qualifier can go compete, get an out side of motorsports sponsor and move up to FD or even D1.

Think about it. 43+ teams in Nascar, only 43 can run in a race. Each of those teams spends over 3 million alone in tires each season. The money is out there. The drift teams just have to figure out how to get it. If doing two "Pro" series that equals out to say 12 events for the year will help spread that sponsors name, they (the sponsors) will spend the money to sponsor that driver or team.

[Tracy]

"Update: Top drivers from each region advancing in the finals has been expanded to 12 (originally 8). 48 drivers will now compete in the Pro Am Drift finals."

So you go to a regional event to be invited to the finals? and then you still compete mostly on the West Coast if you make it?

[Tracy]

to clarify you can get your formula D license without ever coming to california, although nevada is the home of the final and that isnt much closer, but if you make it to nevada you should know wether you have a chance or not http://www.proamdrift.com/

and before that there were Drivers searches in your neck of the woods, but it was usually california people that made the treck who were able to get licenses. (like texas early this year)its not their fault they were better.



drifting definitely need more local events for people outside of California, but another pro series? hardly.

I was in Houston still not that close. Where were the drivers searches in my neck of the woods? I must have missed that.

Not every day is a good day...for anyone. Not to mention the 1 person who got their license in Houston came on the trailer with the judges. Ironic.

[hatebbobbarker]

to clarify you can get your formula D license without ever coming to california, although nevada is the home of the final and that isnt much closer, but if you make it to nevada you should know wether you have a chance or not http://www.proamdrift.com/

and before that there were Drivers searches in your neck of the woods, but it was usually california people that made the treck who were able to get licenses. (like texas early this year)its not their fault they were better.



drifting definitely need more local events for people outside of California, but another pro series? hardly.

[CamelTouge]

good points. Never thought about some of that.

and i dont think alot of these rumoured series thought about that as well.

[Tracy]

In a nutshell, businesses are starting new series because they think thats what the fans want. Im 100% sure that fans would love it if something like a d1, form d, etc, etc, came to their town at least 2 times a year. different series is not bad in this way. keep in mind that in Japan, there is more series than D1. D1 is obviously the largest, but they tend to survive with more than one series over there. Japan is a much smaller country than the US.

what the businesses that are starting these rumoured series are failing to realize is the financial strain on the competitors(sponsored and privateers), teams, photographers, etc. All of these large companies involved in drifting all have budgets to abide by, and having multiple series is forcing these teams to "pick and choose" the series or events they want to compete in. Im just using this as an example but i dont think that it would be good to see a Sam Hubinette competing in next years Formula D and seeing Casper Canul competing in another series (just an example). Granted there may be more events because of more series, but it wont be as exciting not seeing the full lineup that Formula D has currently because of budget constraints on other teams.

My only suggestion is to do what the fans and the teams want. Maybe these other series should work with the current series and share ideas to not step on each others toes. ITs a good idea to bring more events/series to the table, but you wont get as much as a fanbase if their favorite driver/team is in another series.

good points. Never thought about some of that.

[CamelTouge]

In a nutshell, businesses are starting new series because they think thats what the fans want. Im 100% sure that fans would love it if something like a d1, form d, etc, etc, came to their town at least 2 times a year. different series is not bad in this way. keep in mind that in Japan, there is more series than D1. D1 is obviously the largest, but they tend to survive with more than one series over there. Japan is a much smaller country than the US.

what the businesses that are starting these rumoured series are failing to realize is the financial strain on the competitors(sponsored and privateers), teams, photographers, etc. All of these large companies involved in drifting all have budgets to abide by, and having multiple series is forcing these teams to "pick and choose" the series or events they want to compete in. Im just using this as an example but i dont think that it would be good to see a Sam Hubinette competing in next years Formula D and seeing Casper Canul competing in another series (just an example). Granted there may be more events because of more series, but it wont be as exciting not seeing the full lineup that Formula D has currently because of budget constraints on other teams.

My only suggestion is to do what the fans and the teams want. Maybe these other series should work with the current series and share ideas to not step on each others toes. ITs a good idea to bring more events/series to the table, but you wont get as much as a fanbase if their favorite driver/team is in another series.