Prepping for your first drift event!

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So you just got your new drift car, which was one of the 5 I mentioned in the last video. You are pumped on being stoked to hit your first drift event. What the hell do you do next? 

Here is my take on having a good ol time with your boys at your local track for the first time, so you don't look like a complete idiot.

Things to brings 

Tires... This may seem stupid but I have seen many a dude show up, roast his only set of tires until they pop, and have to get the car towed home. 

Find wheels and tires before you show up, as you never know if someone witll be there to change tires. 

A jack, duh

Fill your fluids up. make sure you are topped of and dont end your day prematurely. bring extras as drift cars like to shit themselves 

tools dont be the bro that has to borrow everything everytime they break something

duct tape duh 

zip ties, double duh

helmet for passengers if giving rides, not all tracks rent, but all tracks require helmets, illuminati confrimed 

water and stuff

long pants (some places need long shirts), no sense in cutting the dirty laundry you left in the trunk up to make a shitty long sleeve shirt. 

friends. bring them people as thats what keeps events going, plus you have a sick ass cheering squad to watch you spin out. 

that welded diff, no point in being there if you didnt do that one key step 

The first thing you have to do at literally every single drift day is

PASS FUCKING TECH

Over the last 10 years, I have seen some shit when teching cars, so make your local event organizers life easy, and dont be "that guy"

Don't

show up with 6 total lug nuts 

a half functional automatic seatbelt (or just lapbelt for that matter)

 a casually resting battery being held down by nothing but gravity

 5 different fluids leaking at the same time

a straight piped NA RX7

 a bicycle helmet

no doors

no windshield

a car full of shit

wires hanging everywhere

your ECU on the floorboard, unsecured in the slightest

ask for a refund if your dumb ass didnt pass. Its 100% your fault. 

Do

Read the tech rules for your local series, they all differ, comps will always be more serious tech wise than practice

Make your car adhere to the above, before you get there, doing it after is a waste of goddamn time for everyone involved 

have your helmet in the car during tech

get a 12 dollar fire extinguisher from Walmart, just because you don;t drift a Ferrari, doesn't mean shit won't get lit

Have your car empty when you bring it to be teched. If I have to move your stank ass laundry off your battery, and have you claim that was tying it down, I will throat punch you. 

show up to tech on time

have places to tow from, front and rear, as a new guy, you will probably go off the track and get stuck at some point. 

DRIVERS MEETING

DO NOT MISS THIS, especially if this so happens to be your first event. Drivers meetings usually occur within an hour of the actual event start time, check with your local track dudes. 

Many important things are gone over in the meeting, such as 

safety

more safety

did i mention safety? 

track entrance and exits 

course laytout

rules on passengers

rules for passengers 

skid pad rules 

track etiquette 

lead and follow lanes

run groups

what to do when you break

and most important a time for questions, if you are new, speak up, ask questions! We have all been there and most drift dudes love to hear themselves talk, cough cough 

So the track is hot and we have a skid pad available. now what? 

ask if you can set up a cone and do donuts around it both ways until your car breaks or you can do 4- 5 each way with minimal corrections. you are learning to throw and catch the wheel, and throttle control here people

then 

set up 2 cones about 10 - 15 yards apart, and practice figure 8s, you are learning advanced throttle control and focusing on doing the exacting same thing over and over, transitioning in the same spots each time. do this until you can do 4-5 of the exact figure 8s while mantling a non stabby throttle position. you want to be smooth and learn your cars particular timings. 

If you struggle with these, ask for pointers or for some of the more advanced dudes to ride with you, or better yet, let them show you, and pay attention. Not the time for a sick ass selfie of you riding shotgun with billy bad ass driving your car like you should be. 

Donts of the skid pad. 

its easy to get carried away DO NOT BLOW YOUR TIRES UP. Someone has to pick that shit up, and it's usually not the idiot who does it. 

dont be a pad hog. we get that your stock KA can go for 45 minutes without overheating because you listened to me in my last video, unless of course you are the only one there. pay attention rookie, and let others have some fun and learn as well. 

be dangerous or stupid. the skid pad is not a place to do standing burnouts, get sick with the wall, fence, your girlfriends mom, the selfie stick poking over the k rail or anything else of that matter. its a place to learn how to not suck when you actually go out onto the track. 

ok you've mastered that shit, now what? 

watch the normal track for a few laps before heading out, get the basic understanding of where to go. 

head out to the big boy track, and jump into the follow lane (which you know exactly because you listened in the drivers meeting) 

Donts for being out on track

jump in the wrong run group

tandem when you are not supposed to

do standing burnouts anywhere on the track 

get in the lead lane if you know you are struggling drifting the entire course 

put hands out, open your door, or let the passenger do the same

stop mid track to make a phone call 

go backwards for any reason

get out of your car if you break or get stuck, ever, unless its on fire, or the safety team cant figure out how to tow you and asks you to get out. 

and

don't go 11/10s immediately. you will crash spin a bunch or a combo of the two. get your bearings, pay attention to the course itself, do an autocross run first time out. Noone cares, people will think you are shaking down your car. 

start from the end of the course and work your way back. If you spend the whole day shittily entering and not being able to drift the rest of the course because your line is so far off its a circle, you are gonna be frustrated. the courses usually slow down at the end and have easier turns. master each turn starting with the last, and work your way back. 

ask for more advice when you struggle from the track workers, or other drivers in the pits. have someone records your runs so you can see where to improve

if you are over powering your front tires, air the back tires up more bit by bit until its easy to slide. 

I know that was a lot to cover, but these are real situations o've seen at my events over the years, and I want you as the new guy to come back and have fun next time. so I'll see you there.