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| In the beginning, this was JR’s first drift car, an S13. Coming from a motocross background, JR easily adapted to drifting as the feel is close. As soon as he tried drifting, he was hooked, the sport first becoming a passion, then a profession. |
Becoming a pro driver was really just a natural progression of my life, I am self-taught and drifting was just a hobby back in 2001. There was really no point where I said: “I want to be a pro driver”. I fell in love with drifting at first sight and wanted to compete and be the best I could at it. My motocross background made me a natural at controlling a car. I know it sounds weird, but if you can become one with a bike you can become one with a car. As time went on the dream got bigger and bigger just as my passion and commitment for drifting did. It was all I thought about, all I wanted to do; I had found my true passion. Right around that time the need for support to continue arose and I decided to chase the dream. At that time there wasn’t too much going on the East Coast, so I maxed out my credit card and went to California for an invitational event in 2003, armed with proposals and a lot of optimism. I did some demos all weekend and that is where I met the (help MotoIQ, click on this!) Falken Tire family. I privateered my S13 with team Falken for the first year of FD and in 2005 I became a Falken “works” driver in a new Mustang. Up until 2007 I was an IT manager at a firm in Virginia flying out on Thursday night and coming home on a redeye Sunday to land back at work on Monday morning. March of 2007 I decided to go all in and fully chase my dream, and since then I have been working my ass off to continue living it!
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| In the beginning, JR campaigned his S13 as a privateer backed by Falken Tire. This home built car launched a champion. |
MK- What is your Pro Drifting background and history?
JR- I started out in an S13 that I built in my garage from forum advice and bolt on’s (including a bolt in cage!), in 2005 jumped in a new Mustang which is when I found the machine to match my style on the track to a “T”. In 2005 I won the D1GP USA vs. Japan, becoming the first American to win a D1GP event and beating most of the D1GP champions up until that time. This blew a lot of peoples minds, including mine. In 2007 I won the D1GP World Championship. I have always been a top 10 competitor in Formula Drift, and in 2008 I won my first Formula Drift event. I am also a founding member of the Drift Alliance (www.driftalliance.com), a band made up of good friends with steering wheels we use as our instruments, blasting the amazingness and rock and roll of drifting all over the world!
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| JR’s first “works” pro ride was this Falken S13. |
