Racer's Story

“Wake up! It’s slide time!”

It’s 6:30 in the morning, and Mike Sudduth and I are huddled on the floor of Mike Collins’ room in the Richmond home of Lookout Drift. We are being called to get ready for today’s “First Slide of ‘05” event, run by Lookout Drift at Virginia Motorsports Park.

After a quick breakfast and a hair-rising ride to the track led by Lookout’s own Jerry McGovern (driver of Team Lexus drift car), we ended up at Virginia Motorsports Park in time to get teched, meet a few new people and say hi to a few old friends before the event really got started.

The weather was cold and windy. The thermometer touched 40 degrees at around 10 AM and hovered there for the entire day. The biting wind stole our warmth and forced the corner workers to wrap themselves in blankets and keep active. We decided to help keep them moving by knocking over a few cones whenever we could. 

“At least it isn’t raining. Or snowing,” was all Sudduth could say. 

The course was challenging, technical and fast. The beginning of the course was composed of a tight sweeper with a switchback at the end, several 180˚ turns, and finally a very tight e-brake turn that required you to position the car between two cones spaced barely 10 feet apart. After the slow portion, the course opened up to a medium-speed, second-gear right hand sweeper that ended with a small straight. After reaching about 70 mph on the straight, a long third-gear left-hand sweeper lay ahead. After this extremely fast sweeper, a medium-speed right-hand sweeper led to the stop box. 

It was tight, it was fast, it was precise and it was tough. Some drivers were able to navigate it smoothly, but many struggled with the demanding course. 

I enjoyed the technical aspects of the course and tried to see it as a challenge to my abilities. Some drivers didn’t share my view, saying the course was too difficult. 

“People were complaining about the first part of the course being too technical so we removed a few of the tighter elements to make it easier,” said Mike Schneider, a Lookout Drift member and organizer of this event. After a few of the cones disappeared, some drivers still seemed unable to follow the line of the course.

“People just didn’t pay attention during the run-through of the course, and they’re plowing through the cones faster than we can pick them up,” said Dan Summers, another driver and occasional course worker.

Today’s was a well-attended event for Lookout Drift. Some of their Thursday VMP events have attracted crowds of more than thirty drivers, but this one brought fifty participants from far-away lands such as Georgia, North Carolina, and Maryland. The drivers were split into two run groups and given four runs apiece each heat, with about three heats per group and a free-for-all at the end of the day. Many drivers had gone home or suffered mechanical failures by that time, so I got four more runs in the free-for-all for a total of 16. 

Mechanical failures brought down several cars during the day, including Rob Prince’s Volvo due to problems unknown, Mike Collins’ recently-prepared BMW 325 due to transmission failure, Matt Martin’s S13 due to a broken alternator bolt, Mike Bowman’s 4G63-powered 1988 Starion due to an explosive oil leak, and Syn Lee’s S13 due to electrical gremlins. The only cars to suffer cosmetic damage were the Corolla owned by Preston “Where’s my bumper?” Sawyer and the 1999 Miata owned by Jadie Cho.

Many events run problem-free, so it was very strange to see this many cars sidelined. I’ve never seen anyone hit an obstacle on the course, but Jadie smacked a trash barrel on one of the free-for-all runs. Way to go, Jadie!

Unusual cars seen at the event were a pristine third-generation RX7, a competition-prepared and sponsored Mustang GT, an autocross-prepped 1989 Camaro, a multicolored and blinged-out 1996 Supra, a 2001 BMW 325Ci, and a manual-transmission SC300. Driving clubs South East Drift Association (SEDA) and Drift Mechaniks made a strong showing, rolling into the event four and five cars deep. 

“We don’t get a lot of events in Atlanta, so if we want to drift we have to come here,” said Andy Sapp, driver of a 2001 BMW 325Ci and member of Drift Mechaniks. 

“This was an awesome event,” said Chris Rhoad, member of SEDA. 

Sponsored drivers Tony Schulz (Formula D competitor sponsored by Toyo Tires) and Vaughn “JR” Gittin (Formula D competitor sponsored by Falken Tires) made themselves available for ridealongs and gave pointers all day. Mr. Schulz rode with me and gave me some good advice on clutch-kicking, e-brake, and suspension setup. Today was my first time meeting Mr. Schulz personally, and I was impressed with his knowledge and his ability to get his point across with only a few choice words. Although reserved, he was not aloof. He looked like a guy used to competition and pressure, a perfectionist and an intense, keenly perceptive driver. I appreciated his comments and was glad to have an experienced driver on hand. Thanks, Mr. Schulz!

I am continuing to tune my 1990 Miata for drifting, and I got a chance to try out a few new things today. I tried out a stiffer rear sway bar setting, which helped the car slide and keep sliding. I also turned the rear shocks softer than the fronts to keep the car from transitioning too harshly, but I think I will try turning them both up next time (while keeping the rears lower than the fronts). The changes I had made definitely made the car more drift-friendly. I had no issues with understeer and the car was pretty stable at speed and sideways. For the first time, I used a clutch kick technique, which helped the car initiate a slide at lower speeds. My new Bride Vios III seat was so good I didn’t even notice it was there the whole day. I was strapped in tightly, and I could concentrate 100% on driving without having to brace myself against the transmission tunnel or dead pedal. I could be much more precise with my steering, instead of holding onto the wheel for dear life. I only noticed the seat on the way home when I realized that my lower back wasn’t sore and that I was not uncomfortable at all.

As always with Lookout events, I'm glad I went. Here's a shameless plug for you, Lookout. Keep up the good work.