Formula D - Heading the Wrong Way?

[AlexPfeiffer]

My question to you guys in atlanta or anyone who is complaining about not having legal drift events:
What have you done to build a drift comunity in your area? Have you even taken the effort to organize the drifters together for more than just a meet? Who have you actually contacted in order to have an event in your area?

There was no drift comunity just a few years ago and we have made alot of sacrifices to beable to drift legaly and you guys just complain that we are not flying into your town to help you out. You have to make the effort for yourself.

I personally put together a few drift events in different areas, did the first open track drift and at night in hawaii, did it on vacation, yeah what a vacation that was. Then went back and did another one on vacation. Then went back and helped by sponcering the Battle Version Drift Showoff event where we had Signal bring in there car and driver for the first time. I also did the first drift events in northern cali, 2 years in a row. I was also one of the main influences that helped make D days happen and move from just running ether at buttonwillow or willow springs to moving them into parking lots closer to the major population.

My view on this topic is untill "you" yourself can say that you do more than drift your mouse around, dont complain about things you cant control and go work for something you can do for your comunity more than typeing on a message board, if you guys spent half the effort you do bitching on this board, im sure you could get a legal practice day in your area, (and if your in hawaii or cali, get a private one for you and your friends like we do)

[sil8tydrifter]

heres my .02

coming from arizona where we had nothing for a long time but an abandoned airstrip we would break into and use for our own good and the cops didnt care...

we had nothing for a long time, and then a buddy of mine and i decided to organize a real drift event at a crappy venue. sure, it was a crap track and a crap set up, but it was a legal event, and got the awareness up of the people around here. now we have gotten with different tracks in arizona and are getting many different interested in working with us. I dont see why you cant go out and try to set something up. the organizers of arizona's events were both young kids who had no money, but somehow made it work, now we can get all kindsa *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored* done out here.

quit whining and do somethin. like alex said. that is all.

[sil8ty]

like alex said. you have to put the effort into finidng an event. find a venue that will let you hold an event. it takes a lot fo work. but what do you expect to have it drop right into your lap with no work whatsoever. you must be living in a fantasyland for that to happen.

scope out every single site that is big enough to hold and event. then get contact info and call, convince, and setup and event. it takes a lot of work and not everyone wants to do it so you have to press on and find that one place that will let you hold the event. like "sil8tydrifter* (no relation) said find something even if its crappy. i went to the frist az drift event and had a blast. i didnt give a s h i t if the track was crappy. i was finally drifting without a cop on my *Censored**Censored**Censored*.

try to organize and event and then *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored* and complain about it. until youve actually tried to do one you have nothing to say. its not as easy as it looks and you need to work to get it done. once you do its worth it.

plus we are all here for one reason right....to drift. so if you want to drift make it happen instead of hoping someone else will make it happen beucase that other person is probably waiting for someone else to do it.

[CrazyHawaiian]

I dunno, I used to think about these professional leagues like Formula D and wish that I could get involved. I kind of built it up as the pinnacle of what I wanted to accomplish in this sport. But recently I've started to realize that drifting itself is what its all about, not necessarily competing at events or getting sponsored. Yeah these events are great and all, but it also adds a lot of un-needed stress to the grassroots amature driver trying to get noticed. Spending all that time trying to get sponsored, or trying to fix the car in time for the next event. I drift because its fun and when I put things in perspective, I realized that getting involved with leagues and sponsors and all that stuff makes everything a little too complex for me right now. Maybe its because I'm not some previous professional driver, just some unknown guy with no connections trying to get noticed. Maybe its because I'm relatively new to the sport (only been drifting a few years) and I realize that I need so much more practice to compete at the professional level. Or maybe its because the scene I'm involved with is so far away from that scene over there in the mainland USA with all these professional leagues, feel sort of dis-connected. I dont really know what it is, but I'm starting to think to myself, is it really worth all the trouble? Drifting at events is fun but I have just as much fun drifting at the local street spots and its way less stress. No crowds, no costs, no politics, no deadlines, no schedules, no judging, only drifting. This is why I've been avoiding all the local competitons this year. I still attend track days, but I'm not really into competing or wanting to compete anymore. I just want to drift.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you feel that Formula D is heading in the wrong direction, then the simple solution is not to get involved. You can still drift and you can still have fun. You dont NEED to compete at events to be "cool" hahaha. The only guys that should really care are the guys that actively compete in these leagues like Ryan or Alex ... guys that have stepped up to that "next level" and are actively involved. The rest of us (amature driver or not) are spectators at this point. And from the spectator point of view, who can argue with additions to the event? Just gives you more stuff to do, more stuff to see, more things to make that entry fee worth it.

[A.YEN]

less talk, more drifting!

and just wanted to thank FORMULD D for putting out the events this year. With out them, none of us would be improving or what nots this year. Looking forward to next year...........

again LESS TALK, MORE DRIFTING!

[jaydm180sx]

Good points everyone, but my team and I arent just sitting on our butts typing and wishing that we were drifters. Were trying to make that dream into a reality.

We hold weekly events in our city for 240sx enthusists and make bi-weekly runs up to the mtn. to practice. I feel that we have made attempts to contact the right people to to get sponsorship and try to get a localized event. But we are just starting out and understand that It will take a little time.

So, instead of putting us down and calling us lazy I was hoping that the PROS. would understand that we're starting out just like they did and wish us luck, instead of putting us down.

[AlexPfeiffer]

Well if your not lazy and doing something, there is no reason for you to be offended.

Good luck! And who did you talk to at the track?

[nissanguy_24]

One thing i would like to add, to the gentlemen who are out side of california and such is this..

Lets say they are trying to set up a drift event, they call up billy bob joe nascar fan who runs a local track. The guy doesnt know what drifting is. He is shown a Formula D irwindale flyer.. Do you honestly think he will take it seriously? Whats he going to see? he will see "'buncha half nekked heavens liberals from california prancin around with there fast and furious" (yeah i know it doesnt make sense, play along)

Look at the flyer, "NIGHT DRIFT" is in bigger print then "Need for speed underground formula d"

First of all wasnt SCCA of america involved? did they drop out or something? and second of all did we just name the series after a a video game? like the prestigous Nopi the fast and the furious series for the Xbox cup. Honestly guys think about this.

Yes i know we are all whinning because we arent the pros, and how dare we discuss something on a discussion forum. Who do we think we are?

Lets go back to that track owner out in rual georgia or whereever. Perhaps he doesnt see the flyer, but his son or someone knew a guy who went to "night drift" and tries to explain what drifting is. This kind of stuff will do more to hurt drifting in general in my opinion then anything else.

You guys think Formula D is going the right way? thats fine you take it that way, it will force more of us back underground as people continue to take it seriously. And im not just making things up, this kind of stigma is already attached to the whole "imported car scene" and as guys like my friend CrazyHawaiian proves drifting should cross those boundries.. but honeslty this kind of stuff wont do that.

So go ahead call me a whinner or whatever you want and continue with formula D, but please keep that in mind.

[pony]

Originally posted by nissanguy_24
One thing i would like to add, to the gentlemen who are out side of california and such is this..

Lets say they are trying to set up a drift event, they call up billy bob joe nascar fan who runs a local track. The guy doesnt know what drifting is. He is shown a Formula D irwindale flyer.. Do you honestly think he will take it seriously? Whats he going to see? he will see "'buncha half nekked heavens liberals from california prancin around with there fast and furious" (yeah i know it doesnt make sense, play along)

Look at the flyer, "NIGHT DRIFT" is in bigger print then "Need for speed underground formula d"

First of all wasnt SCCA of america involved? did they drop out or something? and second of all did we just name the series after a a video game? like the prestigous Nopi the fast and the furious series for the Xbox cup. Honestly guys think about this.

Yes i know we are all whinning because we arent the pros, and how dare we discuss something on a discussion forum. Who do we think we are?

Lets go back to that track owner out in rual georgia or whereever. Perhaps he doesnt see the flyer, but his son or someone knew a guy who went to "night drift" and tries to explain what drifting is. This kind of stuff will do more to hurt drifting in general in my opinion then anything else.

You guys think Formula D is going the right way? thats fine you take it that way, it will force more of us back underground as people continue to take it seriously. And im not just making things up, this kind of stigma is already attached to the whole "imported car scene" and as guys like my friend CrazyHawaiian proves drifting should cross those boundries.. but honeslty this kind of stuff wont do that.

So go ahead call me a whinner or whatever you want and continue with formula D. We will still drift, it will just be privately like people have been doing sence drifting started.

So the other day at work, right? me and some friends were talking about these hardcore mustang guys we knew, and some actually knew what drifting was and they actually thought it was pretty rad. dont act like youre part of some underground scene that you only know about. this isnt Hackers.

And for the guy who said most import models were whores, id like to know how many you have slept with or how many you have seen personally doing anything whore-like.

[nissanguy_24]

I am not acting like its underground in any way, You totally missed the point. As drifting becomes more and more mainstream i want to see it presented professionally. yeah gee im so hardcore underground.

[CRASHDRIVE]

Alex, maybe its just me taking it offensive, but, personally I participates on practices, I support DriftAssociation by participating. Im sorry, but not all of us here works within the car/aftermarket industry.(such as you)

Im a System Admin. CrazyHawaiian is in the IT industry too. Some are waiters, some are office managers. We're not related to the car industry. CrazyH dont have connections within the sport, neither do i. But you know what. we're out there participating, supporting the sport. That's our way of supporting it. Porche Car Club of America, are they all racers? majority of them are old career driven guys. We're the weekend warriors, we can't do it 7days a week. We work hard too, in our own way, but you cannot say that we're whining and we're not doing anyting about it.

Just like you and other pros, Our cars break, we fix it up with our hard earn money. This thread was not to point out that we're whiners. This thread was to raise concern on the aftermath of an event that was purely being presented as "NOPI" like (no offense to NOPI fans).

You don't think we're organized, how do you know that? Currently, Im looking airfields to rent out. I can't do it alone, but damit im trying.
++++++++++++++++

Also, my previous post was ignored, but I want to attached the questions.
Some of my questions to FORMULA D and the rest of the PRO. I hope I could get some answers in a professional manner. Here it is.
++++++++++++++++
(see original post @: http://www.drifting.com/forums/showt...&pagenumber=12 )

Let’s say the public eye has been opened to drifting; now we see young drivers trying it out. We see them crashing (remember part of drifting is crashing, this is normal to an average drifter), causing millions and millions worth of damages. Who’s responsible? Drifting? Parents? Or the whole import culture?

Will that be on Slipstreams or Formula Ds conscience? Would they care? Would they do something about the whole perception to the general public? <- those questions are for FORMULA D.

Ken G. Andy Y. Nadine T. etc, they’re icons to the drifting world you guys/gals are our hero’s we look up to you. Do you think “Channel 6 action news” will defend you, when they show your demo run Video Clip along side with a crashed S13 on the side of the mountain and explaining what drifting is? <-- Any PRO driver can answer this.

Do you think COPs will not be more aware on what’s going on the huge parking lots and mountain pass (im pretty sure they are already).
++++++++++++++++++++++

NOTE this is not a personal attack, Just an observation.

Thank you.

[spock]

Originally posted by pony
And for the guy who said most import models were whores, id like to know how many you have slept with or how many you have seen personally doing anything whore-like.

Um, let's see...
To answer the first question, I've never slept with any because I wouldn't bring myself down to that level. And secondly, I'm sure most people would agree with me that any girl posing practically nude and looking like she's ready for some action is pretty whore-ish.

[nissanguy_24]

Common guys this is going off topic. If you want to stay a topic on the ethics of import models feel free to in the off topic forum. but lets keep this to formula D's overall direction.

[Formula D]

but down here in Atlanta Formula D seemed like some NASCAR event that was cool to watch but impossible to participate in.

If you ever want access to compete it is easy as a call away.

949.394.2177

[AlexPfeiffer]

Crash, To answer that question and im sure allot of people will agree with this, its the person who did the actions fault. Its just like anything else in the media, you see gang violence, jackass, bank roberies and rape seens in movies and on tv, killing people in video games is normal, doesnt mean you have to go out and copy everything you see. What ever you do, you are responceable for your own actions. If people go out and crash their cars, its not anyone but their fault.

Also, I was working a full time job at the time of putting on events plus starting up battleversion at the same time. Most of us are still weekend warriors but alot of you in here think we are "pro", what does that mean to all of you?

To me "pro" means we should be getting payed for doing this.
I have personally spent about 10 to 20k for the last 5 years on road racing and drifting. Thats because its what i love to do, drive.

You have to pay to play one way or another. In track fees or totaled cars and tickets, ether way it doesnt come cheep. And your experiences and memories are the only things you will take with you as you get old. Do what you can do, and dont regret what you do.

If it means trying to go pro or just hanging at your local spot with the boys. We had no events till we made them, and formula d is doing a great job at bringing these events to your towns where D1 wouldnt. They have brought the best of US and japanese drivers to you and all they get is complains from people on this board who think they know how to run things.

It seems like some of you have dreams of being in formula d and i can see why, its cool and fun to drive in these events. But im with crazyhawaiian on this, does it really matter that much to you or are you just happy to drive? You ask yourself that the next time you get out of your car after a good run. Do you really need fans to be happy?

I'm my own best fan and my best driving was never seen by anyone but myself.