Behind Chellee Hansen's crash at Formula Drift NJ & Small FD Programs | Circle of Drift #156 - The Circle of Drift

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
We're going to keep on going. If we have to do a few less laps
during the weekend because we don't have money for tires,
that's what we're going to do. Sometimes it's really easy to
always look at what you're doingwrong, and drifting can be a lot
of strikes and gutters. Before it was just me trying to
figure it out and now I have a teammate and the teammate
actually bounce ideas off of each other.
We have we have a game plan going in.
Like even this morning I woke up, I'm like, what do you got

(00:21):
for notes for me? What did you learn?
Like what? What should I do different here?
And I think drift week 1 was really when I got in the car,
literally the first time that was in the Corvette before it
burned down down. Luke Fink ended up giving us or
selling us the G banger for likea great deal.
And I just stepped right into that car.
I found her already had done a 240 that was already done.
That was in the year you could get one with the LS and a dog

(00:41):
box already done wrapped beautiful for 20 grand.
That was only five years ago. Missus Hansen, great to see you
back in the building and behind the wheel dials.
It ends really well in that second outside.
Whoa, we're ready here and Oh mygosh, one of those moments you
kind of wish your wheel would have broke.
All right, we are getting word on the radio she is okay. 2 gets

(01:02):
a little heavy if there was contact and there was contact.
Make some noise for her, if you will.
Shelly Hanson stepping out of her vehicle.
That is a wild. Ride.
So I thought, OK, he hit, he hitme, probably because I wasn't
matted. And then I'm upside down and I'm
like, how? That had to have freaked you the
hell out. Well, we're I was in the
spotters tower and her her headphones came off of her

(01:22):
helmet. So that was a little nerve
wracking if. You would have hit me like the
same angle. I would have just gone in the
trench and just like everybody else, right, And just drove,
drove right out of it. So at that point I just sprinted
out of there to see what's goingdown there.
I was more just, I knew she was Oak K like on a whole, but I was
definitely concerned about her arms getting crushed.
And I was still a little shookenup as much as you know, you

(01:43):
don't you think you're fine, Youstill are a little shaky from
something like that just naturally and.
Sometimes you do stuff and you're watching do it, and they
kind of fail again and fail again and just like, why are we
doing it? How long are they going to want
to do this when you never can win for them or they want to win
too, right? So you're letting them down.
Yeah. I've been wanting this forever.
I've been in the field with wherever they throw out me brush
it. I'll pick myself up moving on a

(02:04):
little better. Welcome back to the Circle
Adrift podcast. I want to say thank you again
for stopping in every single week for a brand new episode.
The show is of course presented by SIM HQ where you can always
say 5% off on your next upgrade with code Circle Adrift.
Or if you're new here and have absolutely no idea what I'm
talking about, my name is Dawson.

(02:25):
And here on the Circle Adrift, we interview some of the most
interesting personalities withinthe industry to give you the
best info and I guess opinions to help you get into drifting
essentially. So all I ask is if you do learn
anything or find any entertainment out of these
episodes, you go ahead and consider subscribing and hitting
the bell notifications so you'realways updated with every single

(02:46):
episode. And of course, hitting the like
button because that is the best way for me to know that you are
enjoying the episodes. But today we are at Formula
Drift back in Saint Louis with Rudy and Shelly Hansen to hear a
lot of their ups and downs through the season, not only
this season, but previous seasons as well and a lot of

(03:06):
what they've learned just running a program, especially on
a budget. So without further ado, let's go
ahead and get into the episode. Here we are.
We got a brand new face to the channel and special 1 coming up
after this too. So Rudy, how are we doing this
weekend? We've got quite an event going
on, a little unlucky weather ish.
It's kind of off and on. I.

(03:26):
Don't know if you call it unlucky, I think it's just
standard weather for a formula drift this season.
It's fair, yeah. It's going to be the year of the
weather. I think this year's, you know,
has had obviously the most weather.
It's kind of, I think it's rightup on par with like the worst
weather too, with like what we had in Jersey with the
Tornadoes. Luckily, I wasn't at that one.
Oh my goodness, you'd have lost everything it was.
Oh, I'd have lost my ass. So it was, it was so bad and it

(03:49):
happened like in such a moment'snotice.
They're like, oh, on the on Discord, we're going to have
weather here in like 2 minutes later.
Like people's like I left immediately and I got there and
every time I had was down to theground I had except for my big
canopy and luckily my crew chieflike left a minute before me and
he's hanging on to it getting lifted up in the air.
So we saved the big canopy that I definitely couldn't afford to

(04:12):
lose, but we lost. We probably lost $3000 in
canopies I think about every. Team lost something.
So it's pretty it was, it was bad.
It was, I think they said it wasthe worst one they've had.
Did the weather just like not expect it to be that bad or
what? Like what?
How did nobody notice it? I mean, they, they put it on.
I think it was just traveling sofast. 70 mile an hour winds is
70 to 130 mile an hour winds, right.
So it just come in. We just looked across the sky

(04:34):
just like across the Interstate.We're like, OK, this looks bad.
And Chris like I'm going back. And before I before I knew it,
like 20 seconds later, it was just like full on.
It came from like little tea droplets to like 70 mile an hour
winds in 10 seconds. So it was like it was it came so
fast. Fastest storm I've ever seen
come. So tornado, I guess what they
call it like 3/4 of a mile a touchdown.

(04:56):
So yeah. Good God, were you one of the
cars that were lined up? I was, and I pulled out
immediately. Like I've had, yeah.
I mean, well, we've had our, I mean, I just can't afford for my
canopy to get tore up, right. And like, we've had enough stuff
that happened in Atlanta and stuff.
I'm like, it's all hands the minute, you know, it's coming.
My wife's even more proactive than I am.
And she's like, let's let's run.And so like we, we all know like

(05:18):
get over to the to the canopy, right.
So like Chris like beat me over there because he was on the
motorcycle. But yeah, I just pulled out of
line. I think I was one of the first
or second cars to leave the line.
It's like ripped over there. And it was, it was, yeah,
everybody's just, it was, it waslike out of a movie.
It really was. It was crazy.
Yeah, So, well, Speaking of having to like look after your
things, obviously this year withthe way economy is and

(05:41):
everything, it's kind of tough to run an FD program.
So what? Like oh boy, how, how stressed
thin are you this year? By far the most like, I mean,
just like construction company, we usually are like we're booked
out like months and this year we're just kind of taking it and
you know, like job by job honestly.
So it's like you get home from the event and it's like work,

(06:02):
work to make enough money to getto the next event.
So that's it's been tight. We're still getting it done
though, like luckily we have, you know, our sponsors that
helped helped us out getting thecar repaired after her rollover
and some of the big wrecks. But ultimately, you know, all,
all of the, all the real cash comes for, for the events, which
you know, is, is the biggest part of it comes from us and our
construction company and our, and our Airbnb's and, and she's

(06:25):
a Fine Arts painter. So we just got to go out there
and hustle, but we're still getting it done.
So we're just going to, you know, we're just going to keep
on going. If we have to do a few less laps
during the weekend because we don't have money for tires,
that's what we're going to do. We just enjoy being here and
it's fun doing it together. Honestly, that's.
Part of hours a week are y'all working?
Well, you're right. I mean, like I work, I just work

(06:45):
full time, 60 hours a week probably.
And then I have AI have three employees to help me out.
Obviously they're great. And so that makes us so we're
doing stuff so like, well, I'm still here.
I still got money getting made, right.
And then she sells, she sells art that helps make us money.
And then we have Airbnb, so, youknow, and then typically we have
merch that we're selling, but like like the last few rounds,

(07:07):
it's just got like the weather'sbeen so crappy.
We haven't made hardly any moneyon merch by a third that we've
made on the merch in the past. So I feel that that's been
really hard. And you know, like, and then
she's driving so she can't run the merch the whole weekend.
So she'll have it set up typically, you know, during the
pro day for a couple of hours inthe afternoon because she's
spotting for me too. So yeah.

(07:28):
I'm busy. Yeah, so she wanted to come find
our merch, come during like the pro day in between the top 16,
top 32, She'll be over there selling her stuff.
We have like a ton of cool stuff.
It's just if you don't have somebody that can that you trust
to do it and can set it all up and then, you know, we'll
luckily we didn't have it set upin in or in Atlanta or Jersey.
We'd have lost at all because all of that stuff was across the

(07:51):
way too. So.
So, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that that would have been
a nightmare. I I saw so many people, stuff
just getting torn up. But on the aspect of her joining
FD, what how was that like for you?
Like what? What was going through your head
Whenever she was like, I got to do this now.

(08:11):
You know, honestly, it just camefrom we just, we've done
everything together. So like we've, we just started
like, you know, originally we started mountain biking together
and we just did with downhill mountain bike all over the
country and we enjoyed doing that.
And then I started drifting and then she's like, I want, she's
like, I want to drive. So then she started driving.
We started sharing the car. And then after a while she's,
I'm like, it was like an event that we, I would go, I would

(08:34):
compete. And so she would be like, well,
I, I don't want to really want to go all that bad.
I'm, I'm not driving after a year of it, right?
She wants to be sitting there watching every single event,
right? So eventually, so like she won
the event. She's like, I'm not going, I'm
going mountain biking. So I'm like, all right, that's
time to get her a car. So I found her already had done
a 240 that was already done. That was in the year you could

(08:56):
get one with the LS and a dog box already done wrapped
beautiful for 20 grand right done right.
So like we went I ripped up to Vegas and we picked her that car
up. That was only five years ago.
So we picked her that car up andhad some problems with it the
first few years just because thethe build wasn't just right on
with us the wiring and stuff. So anyway, we we got that dialed

(09:18):
in and she started driving that and started having fun.
We just with tandem and, and eventually she we're competing
and so like, all right, we're both there together.
So let's have her start competing and she started
kicking butt doing that. And then before you know it, I'm
like, we're traveling to different places for her to
compete. And then we're like, and then
I'm like, let's see if you can get your license.
So like then we're going like last year, we would go, we would

(09:38):
do down done with FD and we would drive home and then we
would get home on a Tuesday. We'd have to be loaded up on a
Thursday to leave to go to back to wherever they were, North
Dakota, St. Louis, all the above.
So we're like, we knew we wantedto just get her here, so it
could hopefully be easier. Now these weekends are crazier,
but our other weekends are free.That's good.
Yeah. So we have time to like kind of

(09:59):
have a little bit of a life back.
I guess maybe we can go boating or or camping that we kind of
put off to the side for the lastthree or four years trying to
get her license and and doing everything that we've been
doing. That's good, man.
Yeah, we should get some extra free time to yourselves.
So yeah, I mean, that's it was kind of taking it away.
Like, you know, like some of thelike people who've been in it
for a while, they're like, make sure you're having fun, right?
And like, and ultimately like itit when the fun's not there,

(10:22):
like you're, you know, you're having fun.
But if you don't have the rest of your life back, you kind of
after a few years, you're like, OK, I want some of my life back.
And so like we're now weren't able to go do that and go do
some voting. At what point in your FD career
did you like finally realize that?
More so last year, but but it was also just we're just so
busy. We did, you know, we were doing

(10:43):
40 plus event, 40 drive days a year, right, 40 to 60 depending
on the on the year. And and it was just like so
overwhelming that you're just like, all right, some it was a
job, some weekend, some weekends, you're excited the
next weekend, like I'm done. I don't even want to go
anywhere. And you have to.
So then it changes like the moodof having to do all right,
because you have it on the schedule.
You've got to go to that event for her to get a license or, or

(11:05):
you got to go to that event because whatever, right?
So that's, and you know, within the last two years, it kind of
did that, but and it and it still has those moments where
you're just like, you know, maybe maybe you're just but
don't want to like leave for theweekend.
But then you get there and you're like, all right, this is,
this is where I want to be. And then or you get home and
you're like home for two weeks and you're like, what am I
doing? I want to be back at, I want to

(11:27):
be back at the racetrack, right.So sometimes it's just those
week back-to-back weekends. You're just like, I've had
enough. Where's y'all, man?
Yeah, well, it's got to have helped the program in some
sense, having an extra car involved, right?
Actually it's done. It's I thought this wouldn't be
as hard. Like I did double duty last year
and the double duty I thought would be the same.

(11:48):
It's not, it's definitely it's more work because now we're
working on two cars. But what has helped in the team
is like she pushes me and she brings a different aspect to the
table that I don't have and, andI maybe bring something to her.
And so like she has a coach thatshe's more analytical about the
way she drives. She's she's more, I drive by the
seat of my pants. She drives more methodical, so

(12:09):
she brings something to the table and can't explain it to
me. And then she's also a spotter
and, and up there. So like before it was like,
let's just say maybe you she's ayou don't trust exactly what
you're saying because maybe she doesn't know it.
But when she's driving better than you, maybe for the weekend,
you're like, all right. If the action shows it, man.
Yeah, she, I mean, she's laying down sick laps and she has a

(12:30):
good coach and she's roams her spotter and she has good
information. She's not, she's, I mean, she's
all the boys are half all the boys are scared of her, right?
So like. You're scared to lose against
you. They're taking Ollie all out.
It's. Crazy, right?
So then, then when she's there telling you that, she's telling
you to do it and it's awesome. I mean, we're now teammates
before. Before I didn't have a teammate.
Now, now before it was just me. Try to figure it out and now I

(12:52):
have a teammate and the teammatewe bounce ideas off of each
other. We have we have a game plan
going in like even this morning I woke up I'm like, what do you
got for notes for me? What did you learn?
Like what what should I do different here?
And before I didn't have that before.
I just woke up in the morning. I'm like, all right, Mr. Hanson
in my head, what are we going todo to do this better, right?
And nobody to bounce ideas. And she's got that.
She knows other people and I know other people.

(13:13):
Now we bring it together. Now we have like 10 heads into
it, into the game, whereas before it was just me and maybe
one or two people I knew. So it's been actually a game
changer for the whole team. What information is she
specifically bringing that has helped you with your driving
since you are? She's going on she she drives
the SIM Olaf her her her good friend Olaf teaches her a lot of

(13:35):
stuff on the SIM. And so like they talk about
lying choice and where to go andlike, like, like, I never even
thought about some of the thingsthat they're talking about.
Like as you leave this straight,it's a little bit downhill and
that side is a little lower thanthe other.
So that one's going to gain morespeed and this one's going to
catch you there. And in this, this will happen
when you initiate, you're going to lose speed as you initiate
and then usually come back in, you're going to gain speed.
And I never really thought aboutit that way.

(13:56):
I just as like, OK, I need to becloser on their own up to to
make sure I'm I'm not getting gapped, right.
So all of those little details that they like when we walk the
course, OK, the course is off camber here.
So you're going to be you need to be a little, a little, you
need to be paying attention. So because it is off camera, so
little less, more throttle control right there, right.
And this, this corner has this. And and so those are the things

(14:18):
I like. She she's just really like,
let's just call women are investigators, right?
So they're really, they're really, they're really good at
it. And so she's like has all these
little details from me. I'm just like, all right, I keep
going off right there. I guess I'll have a little less
left throttle, right. And where she's like, well, it's
off camber like, and it's a different service.
I mean, I'll notice the surface,but I wasn't even thinking some

(14:40):
of the things that she brings tothe table that her coach is just
he's he's been, he's been a gamechanger too.
And he she talks to him every day with with hers.
And then I kind of get a suck from her, what she's learning
from him. So yeah.
Do you ever just think it'll come to a point where like maybe
you step aside and it's just herpushing it or because like, I

(15:01):
know it doesn't seem like the economy is going to get any
better so. No, I mean, I think the economy
will it'll change. We have we have every like what
is it 8 or 12 years? The stupid economy flips right,
right. It'll be fine, but I think
ultimately, like if we can get, I mean, if she keeps driving
like she is and keeps the progression, like she's going,
we can get a little more money, we can get a little more
sponsors. She can, she can continue to do

(15:22):
it. And like I think she can.
I, I know she can get pro 1 And,and if we get to that point,
like there's always like the beginning of it for me was if I
don't get to be pro 1 driver, I want to be, I want to be a crew
chief, right. So going back to that, I, I have
as much fun helping her on her days because and, and I bring
something different that our team, none of our teammates

(15:43):
have, like my, my crew chief doesn't have, he's not a driver.
So like they don't understand some of the things she's going
through in the car. So it's really brings a lot of
joy to me to like help her out and know these things like what
she's needs in the car, what's going to make her better.
And, and like between me and my crew chief, Chris, like we, we
like our cars have been phenomenal.

(16:03):
We haven't had, we have never had an event where our car
didn't make it to the line, right.
So I know that with us as a team, we can do it and I enjoy
doing it. I mean, at some point, I don't
think I'd mind stepping back andjust doing that for it's, it's
really enjoyable. And like sometimes you do stuff
and you're watching do it and they kind of fail again and fail

(16:24):
again. And it's like, why are we doing
this? And I kind of feel that when I
like last season, I wasn't doingvery good.
And I'm like, I kind of feel like I'm letting everybody down
and maybe like in my head, like hopefully they still want to
help me out, right. But when she's doing.
A fight to come back every time,yeah.
Right. The best part about it?
In my head, though, I'm just like, how long are they going to
want to do this when you never can win for them, right, Because

(16:46):
they're they're there, they wantto win too, right.
So you're letting them down. But when, when she's there doing
as good as she is and the fightsthere and like they're still
growing, it's super fun to just be there watching them succeed
and helping them take it to the top.
Because it's like, it's like, you know, days of Thunder is
like, that's my car. You know what I mean?
Right. And my, I know my crew chief and
my aunt and his brother David feel that way too right now.

(17:07):
Like they're like, those are my cars and like, they're not, you
know, we built these and they are like on track doing their
thing and are, are like, we havesome of the fastest cars in the
series right now. You know, I've had a I've had a
lot of the, the top tier driverscome up to me and like, dude,
your car is fast and that's and that's pretty, that's pretty
cool. You know that I mean, like I've
more than one, like the last event I had four drivers that

(17:28):
were like 12345 in the series. Like, dude, your car is fast.
So like that's really that. I know that makes them feel
good. And I know we got it.
We got a good program. We just got to just keep pushing
and we, we, we got a good method.
We've been driving the SIM a lotand working hard at it and it's
it's, it's, we go to bed it. Seems to be progressing pretty
well this year. So we go to bed thinking about
it and wake, wake up thinking about it.

(17:50):
And it's, it's part of our day every single day, all day long
early. I work a little bit and I come
home and we work on programs or posts or partnerships and then
back to work again. And then she's doing like all of
her stuff during the day too. So it's like it's all day long.
It's there's never 10 minutes that goes by during my day that
it, it's not part of it. I mean, I'll be at work, I'll be
at work with a customer and I'llget stuff on the emails on like

(18:12):
stuff I got to order and I'll. Stop my.
I'll stop my other job and, and answer the question, you know,
and send it back out because we got to keep moving forward.
No pressure. So, yeah, I mean, it's, it's,
it's every, it's everything in our day right now, for sure.
Well, that's, that's cool, man. It's, it's cool to see the heart
that you put in it because like you mentioned last year, you
didn't have the best run of it and car got smashed a couple

(18:34):
times and you just keep fightingback.
And I think realistically that'sall sponsors really want to see
in a sense, because whether it'sa good or bad outcome, you're
still making a presence out of it, right?
So as far as my angle, I, it looks like you're doing pretty
well. So don't hurt you, don't beat

(18:54):
yourself up too much. You know, it's just, it's just
really discouraging. Like the season we had the last
year, it was just, it was reallyhard, you know what I mean?
Like I couldn't, I couldn't get any results.
We just, we're just kind of juststuck in this rut.
Not that we've got some stuff figured out on the car over the
winter and the car works much better.
So I'm really happy for. That.
That's awesome, yeah. What type of game plan do you
have moving forward the rest of the year and seeing what you can

(19:18):
make of it? I'm not going forward.
It's boy, it's every round by every round, right?
I get home and I'm like 2, I'm like work.
And then I'm like, OK, next setup, right?
But ultimately we just have a couple play events.
We're going to go do the whole the tog in Utah and a couple
other play events to kind of hopefully not hopefully to help
like revitalize why we started doing it right, because those

(19:39):
are the that's why we started doing it.
We'd go together, we'd have fun,we'd go to the events and party.
We would like this. This fun portion of drifting was
there and that's why we started drifting.
It was because we were there andand we miss, we miss doing that
to get now we're not driving together anymore.
So now we get it. We want to go to the jam events
and drive like we were like before I would go to the events
and I'm like, I'm not driving with you because when you spin

(20:01):
out or whatever, when she was learning, we wreck each other
and then we have two cars to fix.
How about you just go find a good driver and I go find a good
driver and the option of fixing two cars, it goes to 0.
It's only going to be 1 car at one point, right?
And so now, but now we go to theevents and I look around, I'm
like. I don't want to drive with
anybody else. Everybody else sucks, you know
what I mean? So I just want to go to jam with

(20:22):
her. And so we have so much fun
jamming and and she's, you know,she's so good that like, like
when we know each other now we're now we're not wrecking the
cars, you know what I mean? That before we were, we'd come
away with, we totaled, we smashed the cars pretty heavily,
you know, and I wouldn't say total them, but really bad
wrecks together two or three times.
And now we don't, we just like couple little boobs, couple

(20:42):
little door, door hits, you knowwhat I mean?
So yeah, what? Was going through your mind when
you flipped the car. That had to have freaked you the
hell out. Well, we're I was in the
spotter's tower and her her headphones came off of her
helmet. So that was a little nerve
racking because Rome's Rome's a spotter, but and I don't have a
headset on typically. I just kind of stand there.
Otherwise, I'll kind of in her, I'll, I'll say too much maybe on

(21:03):
the radio. And I want her to just to focus
with Rome. And she, she, she, her and Rome
get along really well. And Rome's more analytical than
I am. So that's why they work together
better, right? And he's like trying to talk to
her and she's not answering. She's not answering, she's not
answering. So at that point, I just
sprinted out of there to see what's going down there.
You know, I was more just, I knew she was OK, like on a

(21:28):
whole, but I was definitely concerned about her arms getting
crushed. I mean, that's the biggest,
that's the biggest thing that people have happened, right, in
such a small accident. I call it small because it
wasn't like a 42 car flip, right?
But the car's on its side and your arm could be out of there,
right? And those the arm restraints
don't work that well. Even when they're set on right,

(21:49):
your arm can go. Out yeah, I I wore them at Drift
Appalachia and like you still have really good movement.
It's not, Yeah. Yeah.
So anyway, yeah. And then and then when I got
down there, you could you could see that they weren't that
panicked. And they're talking to her in
the car when I got halfway across the track.
So I'm like, all right, and thenshe's like, I'm all right, I'm
all right, and then I get out ofthe car and I'm like year.
You could tell she was pretty panic, but she was fine.

(22:11):
I mean, like ultimately I think she's a little stiff for the
next week, but she's tough. She's been she's that's why I
married her. Like we she's really tough.
She did sled dogs and she been mount downhill mountain bike.
She's one of the first girls to be downhill mountain bike and
kicking butt like hanging with all the boys, like all most of
the girls. You're like, hell, your
girlfriend's coming with us. Oh my gosh, you got to go slow

(22:32):
today, right? No, yeah, she was shredding with
all the boys. Like so it was it was super fun
to have her to have her just we do we do everything together.
That's why we started. That's why that's why we're such
a good team is like, I don't I don't have to leave her home.
She's my best friend to go do itwith so and like she was missed
a couple rounds this year and like I'm like, I'm not having as
much fun without you there. Like you're my you're my you're

(22:53):
my teammate, you're my homie. I want to be, I want to be there
with you doing these competitions because that's why
we started as we were doing it together.
It's not all about me just goingand racing because I'm like, how
long would I want to go do it? She's like, oh, you do it
forever. I'm like, I get that.
But I like it's it's, I love doing it with her.
So yeah. Good man.
So, well, whenever the time comes that she makes it up to

(23:15):
pro and you'll have to battle each other in a championship or
something, who's going to win? Who's going to win?
Well, it depends on. I mean, if I can get, if I can
get some, what's the word I'm looking for here?
If I can just be a little, can'teven think of.
She's going to win, got it. She's going to win.
I'm I'm a little more out of here, so if I can hold it

(23:37):
together, like maybe not as goodas Chelsea, right, but I'm I'm
kind of like the wild card. If I can link it together, it'll
be it'll be fun and she'll be just like she'll but her her lap
will be beautiful. So it's kind of like how we ski.
It's so it's true. She'll come down the hill ski
and just beautiful little Bunny set up and it's just like she
looks so perfect skiing down thehill and I'll just come mob and
buy her out of control. Skis are in the air and a lot,

(24:00):
but I'm down the hill first. So it's kind of funny how how
and it totally relates to how wehow we drive.
I'm if I can link it together. Oh yeah, if I can link it
together, my run is like half out of control.
But but if it if it all ends right, then then then it's
probably a little bit better looking run.
But hers she's right on the she's just she's just very
consistent. That was that's the word I was

(24:20):
looking for. She's very consistent and I just
got to pull my consistency together so.
You just got to adopt some of her analytical brain.
All right, we do. We do it every time.
She's like calm down. But I, it's funny, the same
thing she says to me. I stayed a couple of my buddies
that are out of control through Jerry Johnson and I'm like Jerry
who saw, come on, you got it andthey go and you'll do it.
So yeah. Well, so he's got a big problem

(24:40):
with it, too. He does too.
But but you know. Drives himself.
But the funny story is, is I wasI let's not call a bagging on
him, but I'm like, he hits me every single time, blah, blah,
blah, right? But and then like, but then what
does it do? It all comes together when he
gets the event like he did. So it's like I watched a little
video last night. It's like the you can, the guy
who's crashing, wrecking and driving over his head, he can

(25:01):
dial it in and make and, and geta win.
The guy who's just driving superslow, he can't dial it up.
So hopefully that that'll be thecase so we can we can dial it
down and and and and get some consistency.
Cool, man. Yeah.
Who you got up? Who do I have Forsberg?
Oh. OK, there's no new Easys right
though, who else? Not an easy one.
There's no easy. Ones though you want an easier 1

(25:23):
you want Rome, you want Dimitri like there's not that's fair
yeah, you know there's no there's no easy ones so yeah,
everybody is there want something to get their right or
as a champion from their country.
Everybody's everybody is deserves to be there like you
know, so they just got to top four like everybody like
everybody's there to like to do good and they're and they're all
giving it their all. So it doesn't matter who you

(25:45):
got, you're all going to have tobe on your a game.
We're. All here to fight.
Yeah. So cool, man.
Well, I don't want to hold you up too much longer.
I know you didn't have much time.
So awesome. I really appreciate it.
And good luck out there, man. I hope you do great.
Yeah, me too. It'll be fun.
Excited. Just go drive.
Drive hard, have a good lead andhave a good chase.
It'll be fun. Putting a golf ball in the hole.

(26:05):
Right, right. Easy as that.
Yeah, right. Easy as that.
You only get one of those in your lifetime, but you know.
Yeah, Yeah, There you go. Well, cool, man.
I I really appreciate it and I guess let's get you on here.
Thank you. We got to stop the podcast for a
second because I know we're going through a lot of tires out
there and given you're here supporting the podcast, they
want to help you guys out and give you 20% off on your tires

(26:28):
moving forward with code Circle Adrift 2.
And on top of that, they're actually doing free shipping,
which is just added to your cart.
So if you're going to need tiressoon, or maybe you just never
tried the SEG Novas or you just kind of want to stack up, I
suggest you do that now while you can get them at a better
price. But other than tires, let's get
on back into the podcast. All right, well, again, like I

(26:50):
mentioned, brand new face to thechannel we have Shelley, what's
up you guys have asked for? So yeah, how are you doing this
weekend? I'm doing so good, I feel like I
levelled up. A lot of drifting is just
counting on those small wins andthey just be stacking.
Explain the small wins for anyone that's like doesn't

(27:11):
understand what you mean becauseyou've had some not so wins as
well recently too. Yeah, a little bit.
I mean, what I mean by small wins is sometimes it's really
easy to always look at what you're doing wrong, right?
And sometimes when you do that, it's really discouraging and you
kind of just start snowballing down that whole hill of that.

(27:32):
And drifting can be a lot of strikes and gutters.
Ain't that true? So if you kind of switch the
peripheral on that and you startlooking at what are you doing?
Well, like what did I do well today?
And then you're like, yeah, I, Idid do, I did do that pretty
good. And then you, and then you start
focusing on what you do well. Then you then you kind of build

(27:52):
your confidence up and then you go into the next event more on
like with the mindset of, of what am I going to do today to
get better versus like, oh, whatdid I do wrong?
And then you're, you know, and thinking in that mindset, so
small wins. Like for example, DJ Step said
he was really sad about losing in his top 32 with Chen.
And I'm like, dude, and Chen ended up winning, right?

(28:14):
So you got to say to yourself, like, you had a killer battle,
right? And FD even made a post about it
like that's another small win. Still got win.
You know, like it's so easy to be sad, but it's like it's OK.
Like this is part of the process.
Like you're going to have to, you're going to have moments
where you're you, they look likefailures.
But in the end, it's like it just makes it that much sweeter

(28:35):
when you do well, so. How do you keep such a level
head? I do.
I meditate. I'm a meditator.
I definitely, I don't know, I just always, I guess since I was
a baby, my, my, my family calledme Smiley because I, my brothers
were trying to push my head downand I just pop up smiling.
So I guess that's just, that's just how I was born.

(28:56):
So. Gotcha.
Gotcha. OK.
Well, it's obviously you startedmaking quite a name for yourself
in FD this year. So, but further back, I know we
talked with Rudy a little bit how what was the gateway for you
to drifting and why did you choose to pursue it so heavily?
You know, I, we, it started out with, with more Rudy starting to

(29:20):
drift. I think he drifted for a couple
years before I even got in the car.
I think drift week 1 was really when I got in the car the really
the first time and that and I, and that was in the Corvette
before it burned down. And then, Oh my God.
I forgot about that. Holy shit.
I got to do a little bit of likea little bit of Donuts and
figure eights and stuff like that there at Drift Week.

(29:43):
And then Luke Fink ended up giving us or selling us the G
banger for like a great deal. And I just stepped right into
that car and it's super aggressive.
You have to drive so aggressive those cars.
Everybody knows that you got to you got to really manhandle
those cars and, and really that car taught me quite a bit.
And then I stepped into honey butter.
We would share a car because we only had one car trailer and

(30:05):
like when you know, a truck thatcould really only pull one car
at the time. So either I had to pull my own
car, which I would do if it was like a 3/5 hour drive.
But after that, we would just share our car if it was a
further drive and we're in Idaho.
So everything's a drive, but at least we're like centrally
located. So going east and going West or
north or South is a little easier.
So that's why every we are, that's why we're everywhere

(30:27):
because everyone's like, how areyou everywhere?
And like we're central. So it's, it's not, it's not as
discouraging to drive be in California and go, oh, I'm going
to go to Florida today, you know, for this event, right?
But if you're in Idaho and you're like, OK, I just, we go
to California, it's a day drive.We can do that, you know so.
Well, obviously you're, you're learning and Rudy mentioned
you're very analytical. So when when you are first

(30:51):
trying to drift and learn the basics of it, what what were you
processing in your head going around each lap?
You know, I grew up in the mountains and driving on snow
and dirt roads and she's just used to it.
Yeah, I just. And then actually I was AI used
to much sled dogs. I was.
I was. Tell me a little bit about that

(31:13):
real quick, because I had known nothing about that shit.
So my family like part owned a dog sledding company with a, a
racer who runs the Iditarod, thebear grease Yukon Quest, like
big long distance dog sled racing and called me up and was
like, Hey, we need a musher for Christmas to come down and run
tours because they do tours to pay for racing, right?

(31:35):
So kind of like how we'll do demos to help us pay for our
racing, right. So I came down to help for the
holiday and I just didn't go home.
I just stayed there and I fell in love with dogs letting and
it's all about momentum. So you're have 12 to 14 dogs,
sometimes 16 dogs in front of you.
And it's all about momentum and fluidity and like, and using

(31:56):
that momentum to, you know, not die and go off a Cliff and, you
know, because you're going through the mountains.
So I, I dogs let it in Wyoming, mainly in Idaho.
But yeah, it's a it's, it's quite, a quite a sport that
takes a lot of courage because you're out in in the middle of
nowhere. And that was before I even owned
a cell phone because I'm a little older now.

(32:18):
So like that wasn't in my 20s. And, you know, I didn't have, I
didn't have a cell phone And I was taking people out into the
wilderness and doing like 3 day,three night trips, you know, and
I would take them to a yurt and I'd have to like hack open the
Creek and get, get water and melt snow and make them
breakfast and Pooh, Pooh em and take care of them.
And, and it was a lot of work, man.

(32:39):
And I and then, and I would takepeople and sometimes guys would
come up and be like, well, I'm not going with you.
You're a girl. I'm not going with you.
And I'm like, all right, I'll give, I'll give you to the green
mushroom. I'll give you to someone that
might kill you. But if you don't like come with
me, that's fine. But little did they know, Yeah,
I, I kind of ended up running like all the other mushrooms for
a little bit, but I really enjoyed that part of my life.

(33:02):
But I think that fluidity and taught me a lot about momentum
translated into drifting and growing up in the mountains and
driving on the snow and skiing. It's all really like skiing,
riding a bike. It's all really the same, right?
Like if you're going to go off ajump and you break, you die.
You're going to throw yourself into a wall on a bank.
If you break, you die, same thing.

(33:23):
So it's just like you got to commit, you got to you got to
get that courage and say, I'm either going to go out there and
I'm going to drive as hard as I can and I'm going to not break
or I should just turn my car around and go home.
So that's my theory. That's crazy that dog sledding
has any relation to drifting, but I guess, yeah.
Momentum. Yeah, that's hilarious.

(33:44):
A lot colder though. Well.
Yeah, you don't have to deal with what?
Ice drifting? Same.
Different. I do, yeah, I do.
Yeah. I have a heater though while in
my car. Like warm.
Yeah. Well, as far as your car, what
all did you have to do to prep that car for Formula Drift
specifically? Oh, for after rolling it or

(34:04):
just. No, just in general when you
first came, because it wasn't that elaborate to begin with,
right? No.
So that's Rudy's. I'm driving Rudy's old pro car
and then we built Bad Girlfriendwhich is the new car.
God. And we just finished it.
He drove my car in Long Beach. That's why you see the FDF hood,

(34:25):
because that was me. Because I'm like, that's sick.
I saw that on Tommy Lemaire's car.
And I'm like, I want that. I want that.
So I got that because like, I'm good at getting what I want.
And then, and then so that's theway you guys can tell our cars
apart because I, I, I heard through the Grapevine that Rudy
wants to drive my car at Long Beach again because we are
probably gonna take it apart andmaybe reshell it, which I have a

(34:49):
shell over here that my friend brought my hand so.
Oh, look at that. But with my record, I'm like,
should we? That Long Beach of all.
But it is really twisted. Like it's pretty, the frame's
pretty twisted, so it could use it.
And then so we were kind of discussing if his car's good and
safe and, and he wants to take my car to the new, a new track

(35:11):
with a lot of walls isn't a bad idea.
So, and I'm fine with that. So yeah, he's, he's, he builds
them. I just hand them the tools and
and do all the pretty things on them so.
I deal with the aesthetics. Yeah.
Well, you know, when you're, when you're going as hard as we
are all the time, the best, the best thing to do is to just give
everybody the jobs that they're really good at.

(35:33):
Because if you, if you do that, then shit just gets done, you
know, and that's the most efficient way.
And people typically are really good at, you know, one to five
things really well. And if you just like put them in
their element and they, they'll just get that job done.
And if there's something they don't really like doing and
somebody else likes to do that, give the person who likes to do

(35:53):
that job, that job. And like Chris, they'll always
like start doing my jobs. I'm like, what are you doing?
Doing my jobs? This is my job.
You go do the job. I can't do, you know, like you
go do motor things like I don't know motors, So you do motor
things. I'll do.
Hello, I'll do, I'll do Shelly things, you know, stickers and.
Yeah, all the, all the. Pretty girl stuff.

(36:15):
Stuff like that. So.
Yeah. Well, how do you feel about
that? Like because we got Colette and
a bunch of women in drifting nowor especially formula drifts.
How do you like the balance and how do you think it's being
treated? And you, you seem to be getting
bullied non-stop every event so.Now now I want.
To hear your perspective. I don't think it's, I don't
think I'm getting bullied. I think I just came in and I and

(36:36):
everybody's going to have to step it up a little bit.
And that's what happens when youstart, when you go, you got
somebody hard to go against you,you're like, all right, I got to
be on them from the beginning, like and that caught that.
You know, not everybody's used to driving that hard.
And when you drive that hard, you're going to mess up a little
bit the first few times, and that's just normal.
Do you think it might be somewhat of an advantage though?

(36:58):
Because I feel like there are some guys in the field that are
just so stubborn and don't want to lose against a girl.
I think for sure, I think that is a benefit because they
probably get a little more nervous than they would and
maybe it changes it up, right. Like for me personally, when I
have when I go against a girl, Iget more competitive.
So sometimes I'm like, I got to think of this guy as a girl

(37:21):
sometimes. Like mentally I'm like because
I'll drive harder, which is weird because I'm not really
like I'm not a super competitiveperson, but I guess I am at
sometimes some points it comes out.
But I think with drifting, honestly, it's like a balance of
really just like keeping your head straight and really like

(37:41):
focusing on, on what the next task is.
So when I pull up, I usually just do some breath work that I,
that I enjoy, that gets me, I, that just gets me calmed down
because sometimes I find myself just holding my breath a lot.
So if I just breathe a little bit and try not to breathe in
too much of fumes from other cars, that will mess with me a

(38:03):
little bit. But if I just focus on the task
at hand. So what's the first task?
The first task is the initiation, and if you can nail
the initiation then the rest of the track just comes naturally.
I've heard a lot of drivers say that.
So is that has you, have you found that to be the most
helpful, especially going into the drastic tracks that we have

(38:24):
with all the walls and stuff like is that, is that the key to
it? Like as long as you can get past
initiation. Walls are great because you can
see where the track is, you know, it's the flipping cones
that I can't see. I'm like, you know, I'm like,
put a wall up. I'd rather a wall than than
cones because especially at night, like I don't, I can't see
very like depth perception isn'tas good at night.

(38:46):
But sometimes I, I, it's all about finding your visuals too.
So for me, I always have like some little marker out there
that I, you know, I start talking to and I'm like, oh,
there you are. OK, you know, I'm going to come
get you. So, so, so it's all about like,
look, you know, you, where you go, where you're looking.
So it's just if you have your markers and your visuals set and

(39:08):
you do your, I visualize a lot before I drive and I just go
through the run in my head of how I want to do it and it ends
up. Maybe that's why I'm really
consistent. Yeah.
What are you doing for initiation here?
Because they obviously took awaythat K rail wall on initiation,
I assume because I add them. Yeah, you know.

(39:30):
Grind a lot of things. Yeah.
Kelsey, Yeah. That was scary.
Would you have? Preferred that to still be.
There not K rail but you know the proper wall like a a nice
flat one would have been fine with me.
Yeah, absolutely. I, I, I think it will probably
come back next year. Probably a flat wall taking for
what we did to their track this weekend with I mean, you saw how

(39:51):
IDB did last night and just barely, barely rolled off the
curb and kissed the dirt and just ripped my tire off and I
had that sucker. I had them.
Is that dirt drop as like harsh as it feels in the SIM?
Because as soon as like I drive in the SIM, as soon as I dirt
drop, I my car's gone. Like there's no way to get back
on track. It's really actually pretty
similar. I mean, I don't let off.

(40:13):
So I in the SIM, you don't feel you don't you in the same if you
dirt drop like you probably haveto, you probably don't feel the
rollover kiss, but you you know,you feel the dirt drop and then
you're off right. Same thing here, Like I didn't I
didn't go off so much that it I really well, I didn't chase one
time, but I just kept it pinned and I got right back on.

(40:33):
That was at the beginning, but it seems like the end is middle
to the end is really where it's eating people.
So if you go off there like that's what I'm really going to
to communicate with Rudy today is to really be cautious in that
zone because it we had a couple hold your breath moments last
night with whom whom in and and Cole and Cole Richards.
So that so that's a dangerous spot.
So you guys all don't go off there.

(40:55):
That's that's a no go zone. That's a no fall zone right
there. You don't think it'd be a little
more dangerous being a wall there though?
No, not at all, not at all. I'd rather just bounce off that
thing than than get flipped. Oh well, yeah.
I guess that's fair. Yeah, well, Speaking of the
flip, tell me your perspective. How did what went through your
head? Going through that All in all it

(41:16):
was like super confusing. So I was just I was coming
around that I was on heaters, I was ready to win seating.
I don't know if y'all saw, but my practice was on point and I
was just driving like like I wasjust meant to be there.
And what happened was is Carson,I think he just had a little
miscommunication with his team on his setup.

(41:38):
And unfortunately Carson and I are good friends.
There's no bad blood with any ofthese boys.
Everybody, you go back to the whole girl thing I have, I feel
like we're all mommies, we're family.
Like there's nothing that there's never been a day ever in
FD or in drifting where I haven't felt anything but
support and kindness and love from all the guys here.

(42:01):
So that's being said. But going back to the rollover,
he just came in, I thought he hit me at the same angle
typically would be the situation, right?
Because I came through there right on that white line.
So I was just, I was just doing a little bit of this because I
had to get, I had to really likeget stay on that track.
And then just in that moment. So I thought, OK, he hit, he hit

(42:23):
me probably because I wasn't matted And then but I thought he
hit me like this. So I floored it cuz I'm like,
I'll just get back on on the drag strip and just finish her
out right? And then I'm upside down and I'm
like, how am I upside down? Like this is wild.
And then the thoughts of my car,you know, I'm like, oh, like

(42:46):
this is not good situation to bein, right?
Now, so is you. Flooring it is what gave the car
enough momentum to flip. So the way he hit me pothole,
because he instead of hit, if hewould have hit me like the same
angle, I would have just gone inthe trench and just like
everybody else, right, And just drove right out of it.
But because he like straightenedand punted and he hit me pretty

(43:07):
good. Like it was like it was a
forceful hit. He.
Hit me, something really shoved the rear of my car into the
trench sideways and then I was, I was, I was flooring it.
So then it dug in even more and but it but instead of hitting
the trench like everybody else, I hit it sideways.
And so it just caught in that hole and then it dug more and
then flipped me. Snag your wheel.

(43:29):
But but my mirror ended up folding in and turning my car
off, which was really cool because like I right after I I
came to, I just turned my car off and it was already off and I
was like. What the fuck?
God, do you love me today, so you're almost.
Killing me but save me at the same.
Time. What is this lesson?
But no, you know, it's just stuff like that happens, I mean.

(43:54):
You. You, we all know you, we've all
done it. We've all pulled handbrake on
low angle and straightened and hit the wall.
You know what I mean? It just, it's just part of
growing as a driver. And there's, there was no
militia in it at all. And he was trying to do his best
with the setup that his car was having that day.
And I was trying to do my best. And then we just had a oopsies.

(44:15):
And you know, it's not about thinking about what happened.
It's thinking about, OK, what are we going to do to be in the
to drive next? And darn, Kevin wouldn't let me
compete anymore in seating, which I could have, but he was,
you know, he he's probably right.
Kevin's pretty smart dude. And I was still a little shooken
up as much as you know, you don't you think you're fine?

(44:36):
You still are a little shaky from something like that just
naturally. And and so it's probably better
that I didn't drive till the next day, But I it wasn't scary
or anything to me at all. The only thing was, is my head,
my Halo pinched in because the side of the track is like kind
of a ramp. And so it was pinched.
It was in this carbon fiber. So it's kind of, you know, it's
not like super stiff. So it was kind of pinching my

(44:58):
helmet. So I'm, they, I'm upside down
and they undo my belt and then Ijust fall into my helmet more
and I'm like, I can't get my head out.
And I have a lot of hair, you know, so, so I didn't get quite
a bit. And so that's why it took me a
minute to get out of there. But I also was OK.
And I just was kind of collecting myself before getting
in front of a crowd. Because it is really hard to

(45:20):
know that you're driving might be over for the weekend,
especially when you are really feeling good and, and in that
moment of, you know, being the first battle of the weekend and
everything is just collecting yourself and knowing that your
weekend might be over is probably the hardest part.
And then to get out and be a, you know, wave and be nice and

(45:41):
show that you're happy when you're really just really crying
inside I. Will say from a spectator
perspective, it was nice to see something that you actually got
out, acknowledged the crowd did all that.
You didn't throw a helmet or be childish.
Like. No names, but some people do.
And yeah, like it. It was really cool and I'm I'm
glad that we got to see that instantly.

(46:03):
You were OK. It it made the show feel better
for one with such a traumatic incident.
But so the whole time you were just kind of numb to the
situation of what was happening or like, did no freak out ever
set in that day? Well, like Rudy was telling you
earlier, they were trying to geta hold of me on the radio.
So I'm like down here trying to use my long fake nails, trying

(46:26):
to grab the cord again to get the radio plugged back in.
But my head was stuck. So I was trying to get that
done. And then by the time Rudy got
there, I ended up getting it in and I'm like, I'm OK, I'm OK.
So that's so crazy. I was just, I was fine.
I just needed a moment. I wasn't in a hurry to get out,
You know, nothing was on fire. And there was no reason to get
out. I mean, I can hang out upside
down for a little bit, you know,it's OK.

(46:47):
But I just want to say thank youto Kevin and the fire crew and
the FD crew for taking such goodcare of my car.
They could have just rolled thatthing right over and broke $5000
worth more worth of damage. And I do not have the in my
budget after my first wreck already in Atlanta to really

(47:08):
have that. And so shout out to FD because
they he took exceptional care ofmy car when turning it back over
and when I was in the ambulance and I wasn't there to make sure
everything was going good. So I appreciate that.
There's I've seen videos of him trying to load a car up and he
will, he'll yell at people for say, hold on, no, we're not

(47:31):
damaging this car anymore. They need to get back out da da
da da or I don't want to be the reason they can't.
So that's that's I wish they would show more of that on the
live stream. Yeah, well, that's why I wanted
to say something because, you know, that's the part of FD you
don't might be, maybe don't see.And the guys behind it, like
Logan and Max, like all those, all those guys that are you're
they're my fist bump before I goout.

(47:52):
There are those guys that are like, you know, the last one you
see before you go out there. And it's just like you build
this relationship with these guys and and they're all awesome
and you learn things about them and a lot of them are they're
not even getting paid. So it's like they're here.
They don't even get to see a battle.
They're just like breathing fumes and doing it.
You know, we're like we are. We're here because passion or

(48:15):
addiction, I don't know or one of.
The one of both? Both yeah well you did mention
obviously the heartbreak starting to set in of maybe you
couldn't the car wouldn't be OK.So what have you explained?
What all damage would did actually happen from that one
crash? Yeah, sure.
I mean, I feel like I had more damage in Atlanta, but this one,

(48:37):
this one was still pretty expensive All in all.
Like my throttle body was munched pretty good.
Everything is scratched and not pretty, but I do run KBD, which
you know not a lot of pro drivers were want to run it
because it's a little heavier, but honestly I'd run the front
and the rear and it's just like so worth it.

(48:58):
It is so worth it because my caralways looks dope.
I know I'm always having a bumper on.
I could run over a dead body andthat thing would look just like
it did before I ran over the dead body.
So it's like you know, you can run over time, somebody can deep
eat in front of you and they'll just spit it out.
So shout out to KBD for that andsaving me a lot of time on
repairing a bumper and money like I would be so it with

(49:20):
bumper budget if it wasn't for them.
And then also. Yeah, it'll last your whole
season. Unlike all these guys with
fiberglass, they got stacks of bumpers in their their garage
is. Stupid.
So wasteful. How dare you?
Should start recycling so yeah throttle body munched.
I broke a lower a arm in the rear wise fab, which is like you

(49:41):
never break. So that was funny, which I had a
spare because you never break it.
And then let's see, my intake pipe was pretty damaged.
And actually that's kind of a funny story.
So we were at we were in East Town.
So Chris Knapp is awesome. He lets us use his shop and he

(50:01):
had a silicone. Nobody had like a 90 that I
needed to get to make sure everything would fit right.
So but he did have a silicone 1 and I was like, OK, sweet.
I really want to run my hood, you know, because it just looks
better. Like drifting is all about
really like style and looking good.
So and for me it's really important to have all my body
panels on. So I really was trying to do

(50:21):
that. But then I went out for warm up
and like I would have power and then I had no power right after
the entry. And I'm like, what's going on?
And then I had George from Link ECU come over and diagnose
things and he did a little bit. Of this.
And then I'm on the phone with Rome.
So between Rome and George, we figured out the the issue that

(50:43):
it was collapsing, which I feel like, yeah, duh, right.
But you're like, so you're a warm up and I'm like second
battle, right? So I'm like, I got to I got to,
you know, you're not thinking super straight.
So it's really good to have people who are like chill and
calm and can figure that out foryou.
And then second we swap that Trevor roots comes up to me,

(51:05):
goes his spotter goes, well, you're struggling and we didn't
think you were going to get out there.
And then you just lay down a total heater.
And I'm like, right, because they thank you to all the guys
in prospect too, because they let me cut the line.
I got that heater in and like one lap in to really like feel
good about my car, make sure I'mgoing to be safe going out there

(51:25):
against the walls and stuff. So that was really cool.
They let me cut online and, and get that lap by myself And, and
so that was fun. I kind of threw off the boys a
little bit and they're like, Oh no, she's back.
And that was just the hiccup. I mean, my team's awesome, dude.
My husband is totally like, he'smade for like crew chief
greatness. I swear.
He's like it's like his destiny to be like a crew.

(51:48):
You know, he's just so good at it.
He can do, he can think fast. He can fix anything with
nothing. And then we got Chris who's just
like he keeps the cars just maintained so well.
Like they just RIP and RIP and RIP.
Every time I get in there, the car, I'm just I go in the
burnout box and I'm like, what? I'm like, gosh, it's just so
perfect because I didn't, you know, this is the first time
I've driven this car this fast. Like I won my pro am in my car

(52:11):
that makes 440 and you know, it's really not super reliable,
but it's it's becoming more reliable as I drive it, as I fix
it. But but yeah, like it's it's
Atlanta was my first time, second time really driving it.
So I mean, but first time on a on a track.
The only drove it in Utah at Burt's Motorsports Park, just,

(52:34):
you know, in a paddock just to test a little bit before Atlanta
and get a feel for the car. But honestly, this I did like 2
the second lap in that car and Iwas like, oh, it was almost like
Avatar where they take like the tail and they like connect it to
their hair or whatever it is. And I'm like, Yep, OK, Yep.
When to become one? So are they you?

(52:57):
Well, you hear a lot of people say that FD cars are not as easy
as they look to drive. So is.
That Oh no, this thing's freaking.
It drives itself. I'm just hanging on.
I'm like, it's like getting on awild Mustang and you're just
hanging on the tail. Damn.
OK, yeah, I've always wondered because like you'll hear like
Danofa say that or James Dean orwhoever it is, all those RTR

(53:22):
cars look a. Little tougher to.
Drive I was about to say RTR. I get it.
I totally get it. Those cars are different animal,
but like the majority of that, do you feel like it's, yeah,
just a higher horsepower drift car?
I don't see what the complication.
Honestly, I get it because I think when you get to the pro
level, there's maybe when you get to the top 10 is really when

(53:44):
you're gonna, you need to start taking risks and tweaking your
car to maybe be a little like ifyou're, you're James Dean, dude,
you're going to be you can driveanything.
That guy is an animal. Like he, he can tweak his car so
that he is an advantage, right. But somebody like me, I can
drive a car like that. I'd be terrified, right?

(54:04):
I just don't have that skill level yet yet.
But for me going into pro spec was let's make the car easy to
drive. Let's fill the zones, let's do
what the judges wanted us want us to do.
And then we'll start, we'll start modifying things as I get
progressed and get better. And I'm, I'm capable of driving

(54:24):
because, you know #1 rules look good.
Number 12 is, you know, be safe.You know, so you want your car
working good so that you're safeand you're not.
You're not taking flipping cars over taking people.
To do that one again. So, yeah, I mean, that's really
important. I, I, you know, it's my
responsibility to go out there and, and not totally wreck

(54:45):
somebody too. So like it's, you know, there's
a, there's a fine line of like knowing what driving within your
means of, you know, you know, maybe you have the loss.
So you just try within your means and learn how to get
better. And, but you don't, you know,
it's not worth going and really hitting, hitting somebody and
taking them out of the show, youknow, over just because you're

(55:06):
trying to catch up to them or something.
You know, it's like it's, it's just, it's just part of respect
on the track and respect for other drivers because we all
know how much time and money it takes to fix these cars.
And we're all just doing our best and, you know, just to
survive. Absolutely.
So yeah. Well Speaking of that, you've
obviously been in the FD realm and now doing it your own self

(55:31):
driving. What would you say to someone
that is looking to get into FD and go down this entire Rd.
Because it's more of a headache than people expect and like
there's obviously more variablesthat you need to look out for.
Right. Oh, absolutely.
Number I have a few things I would say which I have said to
people is you need to get load up your drift car and if you

(55:57):
live in California, you need to drive all the way to Florida or
even not even that far. You go maybe go to Colorado.
Like start doing trips that are at least 15 hour plus trips away
and where you drive for a day and get a feel for that because
that's FD and you're going to bedriving sometimes 2 days.
And it will test your trailer inthe car that pulls your trailer

(56:19):
and you can get all those wiggles out before you get here.
The first thing I would do be even before that though, or
during the same time, is try to get on a team working for free
and just try to get as many events with a team that you can.
On that real quick, what is the easiest job to get a hold of
here at FD? The easiest job?
Yeah, probably with race treads.I would agree with.

(56:42):
That yes, so if you can change some tires or if you even if you
can't, it's super easy to learn.Hop on with race treads.
You're just here. You're you're figuring out the
schedule. You know, like you can.
It's a lot to absorb coming intoFT.
But even if you even if you can't get on a team and you just
come spectate and come early, come the day before and walk

(57:03):
around and talk to drivers and see how everybody's doing stuff.
But you know, a lot of it is figuring out where to be and
when and how to do this and whatday to come in and where to stay
and how to feed your team. And you know, there's a lot of
logistics that goes into it. And props to these guys that do
it all themselves, you know, like that don't have wives to

(57:26):
help them. And it's a lot of work.
I mean, the managing and being adriver is well, it takes takes a
lot of time and out of your day,every day leading up to it.
And it's a full time job. Really it is.
It is a full time job. Would you suggest it?
Oh, yeah, if, if you, I mean if you know in your heart you're
meant to be here, then you then it's going to work out for you.

(57:48):
It's just literally waking up early and work and getting to
work right away and asking a lotof questions and putting
yourself in the space and it will come naturally at that
point. I love that.
Well, cool. Well, the last question I want

(58:09):
to ask you, you seem like the right person for it.
I don't ask you all the time, nomore.
But if you had the opportunity to speak to the entire world,
what would your one message be? Oh, so the whole world, man.
Don't say stuff online that you wouldn't say to somebody in the
right that they're sitting rightin front of you.
I'm right there with that. I love that.

(58:29):
Yeah, and try not to talk shit because I'm bad at it too.
But I just every day I'm like, OK, put those thoughts inside.
If you get angry at somebody andjust, you know, just just focus
on yourself, focus on what you and do your thing.
Let people be them, do their thing.
We're all doing our best, we're all going to suck sometimes, and

(58:50):
we all just have to forgive and love and forget, right?
Absolutely. Yeah, that's awesome.
Well, cool. You want to shout yourself out
on any sponsors, anything like. That I'm Shirley Hansen.
That's about it. It's.
Got past Rudy too so you maybe cover his.
He's Rudy Hansen, 119 on Instagram.
We're pretty old, so we don't doall the things, but a little
bit. I'm trying and I got what face

(59:12):
we got Facebook, we have a YouTube.
It's just Rudy, Rudy Hansen, butwe're not.
I need to post more on there, but like I said, we'll get there
because he is quite entertaining, especially at
home. I feel like it's just the time
of editing and getting it done right.
But at the same time, I also really like our privacy.
So being here and and FD and seeing everybody's very social.

(59:36):
And when I go home, I really like to just be by myself.
I like to go on hikes and I liketo ride my bike and I like to
have a lot of alone time becauseI actually enjoy hanging out
with myself and with my husband.So we are kind of private
people. So in the way it kind of works
that way. So there's not a lot on our
YouTube, but yeah, follow us on Instagram and Facebook and
TikTok if it exists anymore. And we're just team hands and

(59:56):
drifting. Google us, we're there.
But yeah, we have a lot of cool merch.
I really enjoy making merch for for kind of the, we kind of have
like the underground merch scene.
So so check us out. I have a website and everything.
It has our schedule. We keep up to date on that and
we work with a lot of really great sponsors that offer you

(01:00:16):
guys a lot of discounts and it'sall on our website.
So take advantage of that. Yeah, don't miss out on
discounted parts. Ain't no reason to pay full pay
full price. Jesus, I can't.
No reason to pay full price, youknow we got racer discounts to
help you guys out so take advantage of those.
Absolutely. Well, I will let you get back to
it. I really appreciate your time.

(01:00:37):
Thank you for coming over and just chatting it up.
But yeah, go go help him get a win.
Oh, I forgot to do that part. I ain't done that forever.
Holy shit, what another great episode this week.
Then obviously if you made it this far, you're one of the Ogs
of the podcast, or maybe you're a new one.
So thank you for sticking aroundthis long.

(01:00:58):
If you did enjoy or learn anything new out of the episode,
I just ask that you consider subscribing and turning on the
bell notifications. But other than that, don't
forget we do have merch on the site.
Circle adrift.co to the ceiling.Trust no bitch can't catch no
feelings. I've been taking long flights
from the Bay with bezel K home run.
I'm a ball like Jeeta. I just want 444 then I'll leave.
I'm a young pop star called a boy Justin Bieber got a little

(01:01:20):
money. If you want a teacher whole life
a movie. You gonna watch it in theater?

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Behind Chellee Hansen's crash at Formula Drift NJ & Small FD Programs | Circle of Drift #156

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Behind Chellee Hansen's crash at Formula Drift NJ & Small FD Programs | Circle of Drift #156