anybody drift pro?

[nissan~240sx]

if so, how did u do it and how much money, time and effort did u take to accomplish your goals?

[AZhitman]

We have several pros here on the forums - Joe (Kamin), Matt (mattback), and JR (Vaughn Gittin) even posts on occasion...

[nissan~240sx]

great, hopefully they can help me with some advice on how to become pro

[S13xCrazy]

your sig is huge,

and also, atnight i dream of being a super-drift star with endless amounts of cash.

i also wake up wet in the morning.

[yessir240]

it seems like there are a few things that are clear that you must do.

1)Practice2)Get to events, OFTEN3)practice4)making your car stick out is good5)practice6)practice7)then i would think once you are good talk to some companys and get some sponsors then enter into higher level events, get a license be it nopi first or whatever, then work your way up to formula d or d1 or w/e

oh yea and practice!; )

[S13xCrazy]

^^^ i must say, i love your headlights dude. they look AMAZING. now you just need some clearer corners.

[Encryptshun]

And posting in the Drift Forum (under Motorsports Forum) would be a great place to start, as well!

[nissan~240sx]

thanks guys. hopefully after college is done, or even during, i can get some real practice in. see i live in MASS and there really aren't any tracks i can go to that are close. sure there are some in NH and maine but thats a far drive and i don't have a trailer or spare tires.

[eDmSiL80]

im not pro, i wish i was, im striving to become one once im up to par along with my car.

Get noticed by just being a badass driver. Know the right people, attend many events, go for your licenses for different leagues. And work your way up to the podium!

remember the only competition is yourself

[Joe]

to be a pro drifter:

1) drive. as a newbie going pro should be the *LAST* thing on your mind. you have so much to learn before its even an option dont even consider it till you are whipping *** at all your local competitions. it took me about a year and a half of regular monthly events to start thinking about "moving up" but i also had a background of autocross/hpde. DO NOT NEGLECT GRIP DRIVING WHEN YOU ARE LEARNING TO DRIFT. it will only help you in the long run.

2) have lots of disposable income (your gonna need a truck, trailer, TONS of tires, TONS of parts, TONS of gas, etc). i cant even begin to count how much money ive spent on drifting. my buddy justin (d1, FD, nopi licensed) and i were talking about it over the weekend, he said to get his FD license was in the 15k neighborhood with all the qualifier events then the national proam.

3) meet everyone in the industry. getting a license is only half the battle. the other half is getting noticed by the right people and actually DRIVING in pro events. i may have a pro license but dont have the money to travel out of state to drift so ill never get "real" corporate sonsors. maybe someday, but not now. my buddy ryan hampton told me "professional driving is 98% how you sell yourself to potential sponsors and 2% ability"

my advice is to just go have fun. if you get good enough to be a pro, chase it but make sure you are always still having fun. people take drifting way too seriously. corporate BS left and right, drivers backstabbing each other with sponsors, sponsors caring too much about a "professional image" rather than realizing that its all about GOING SIDEWAYS AROUND A CORNER. how seriously can you take it? just have fun man. ive always said im going to take this sport as far as i can so long as i still look forward to going to events. the second i DONT want to go to an event im done.

i hope that helped a little, its just some advice from someone who is on the absolute bottom rung of the "pro" drift ladder

[cmoody2006]

I am really far from pro. Not even really considering it but a friend of mine owns his own tire place and gives me all the 17" used tires he gets for free. they usually have around 75% of tread left. So I guess there right its all about who you know and how far you want to go with it. Stick to tracks not the street.

[nissan~240sx]

what did u guys do for jobs earning enough money to become drifters? i mean the sport calls for massive amounts of money. but of course over time. what did u guys do as jobs. im very into almost anything that has to do with cars. but im not qualified to work at a shop. any suggestions?

[Joe]

what did u guys do for jobs earning enough money to become drifters? i mean the sport calls for massive amounts of money. but of course over time. what did u guys do as jobs. im very into almost anything that has to do with cars. but im not qualified to work at a shop. any suggestions?

i work at a shop

[nissan~240sx]

see, u mad lucky, im not so fortunate. did u go to mechanic school before then or did u just get a lot of training?

[Joe]

im not "mad lucky" lol ive been tinkering with cars for the past 8 years. it was just inevitable. i did go to UTI but my job has nothing to do with it.

like anything else you do in life its about dedication. the past 4 years of my life have been dedicated to cars, my work (cars) and drifting.

[nissan~240sx]

i see. i mean i got a long ways to go too. im only 18 and most of the pro d1 guys are like late 20's early 30's. i just wanna be on some Ken Gushi style u know like a phenom. but then again, patience is a virtue...

[Joe]

ken isnt a phenom, he put his time in like everyone else. just started at age 14 with help from his dad.

there is no shortcut.

[jbguillo]

practice is a good thing. stick to it for life if you want to go anywhere.

[2stealthysx]

seat time is all it takes. skill comes from practice so the more you practice the more skill you will develope. i work at a dealership so i get as much used tires as i need and a decent payroll every week.

[Not_a_sr]

we have a 19 year old right now we are sponsoring, he is spending a ungodly amount of money right now trying to get his FD license, even with the work and parts we are supplying hes way behind alot of cars, hes rocking no aero, crappy vinyl we made last minute. he just spent alot of money to get his car up to the power level of some of the lower powered FD cars, because they were leaving him in the dust at his last big event. That is just getting the car ready to compete and we are far from finished with it. he has hit every U.S.Drift event trying to rack up points to get a invite to Nevada in november, hes the only Ohio driver ranked and has had to travel 7 hours or more to every event this year. the one event that we really needed to hit was 20 mins from his house and was canceled so he missed out on much needed points. Now he had to drive 8hours to VIR and has to place in the top 6 at that event to have enough points to get to Nevada. We are really hoping to see him get to the Pro Am event in Nevada, but that trip alone will set him back a at least $1500 or more. Fuel alone towing the car will probably be more then most people can afford.

I was talking to a shop about 20mins from us they had a driver in FD and/or D1 this year, and we were talking about how much more it cost them then they even thought it would. I don't even know if they really benefited any from the exposure of the car.

Jon

[xckid]

stick to what you love practice practice practice and put forth effort and dont give up. And you'll see progress

[White Comet]

never had a desire to go pro, just get better

[nissan~240sx]

so do drifters actually make any money? like pro's such as rhys millen, foust, orido, u kno those guys in the d1 or formula d events

[Joe]

the TOP drivers do. but not many.

its like any other form of racing.

[Lroi]

drifting is like a labor of love type deal...Im tight with a few guys whom are pro and they see nothing...they hit nopi & fd events out of pocket...my advice is hit a few pro events and watch the teams..look at the trailers full of tires,parts..ect.. then watch the drivers talent....its a humbling sight!

[dirty240sx]

i live in colroado. and i think that theres like maube 3 drift events a year. are there anyplaces around co that u guys would recomend?

[nissan~240sx]

i live in colroado. and i think that theres like maube 3 drift events a year. are there anyplaces around co that u guys would recomend?

what a way to try and thread jack.

[nieko]

responding to the complete thread jack.. but check out codrift.org or com or net forgot which one but my cousin lives in colorado and they have an even everr month or so or couple months? not sure just check it out