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August 10, 2025 48 mins

Guest

Brandon Gardner

YouTube -  @brandongardner404 

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brandongardner404/

Website - https://boundlessracing.com/


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Host - Dawson Kula

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Schedule

New Episode every SUNDAY

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
If you're watching this, you're a car guy, you like this stuff,
you're not going to be like, well, maybe, maybe I'll enjoy
it. Now you're going to you're going
to enjoy it. When you have a higher bit
encoder, especially for drifting, it allows the wheel to
process the rotation a lot smoother and more precise.
Brandon Gardner Brandon Gardner Brandon Gardner Brandon Gardner

(00:20):
in his BMW. Brandon Gardner works his way
through a clone of the Ridge Runso far as.
Jim Chassis, but not hampering his style, initiating in a great
large financial investment and it's not a drift car, it's
actually a building. I own a company called Boundless
Racing and we build Turnkey Racing Simulator.

(00:41):
At what point should you consider even moving up to a
wheelbase that expensive? Yeah.
Honestly from the jump superior Dinofa or LZ say you know they
don't like motion because it's not emulating like that sideways
G force. Do you think it'll ever become
its own industry? Kind of, but no, 99% of sports
things fail. Like why aren't we as big as

(01:02):
NASCAR? It's like they've raised 38
weekends out of the year. Do you think we'll ever be able
to get to that point? I don't think it's the same
sport and has the same amount ofrespect as NASCAR in America, at
least a lot of people. Compare drift masters to FD.
I think FD does a way better jobat bringing people out to
events. There are a couple drivers this

(01:22):
year who are going to have only fans cars.
It was denied. I'll I'll, I'll be honest and
open. I've talked to Ryan Sage before.
So I'll I'll let I'll let my opinion RIP.
We just need to find find ways to continue to, yeah.
I've been wanting this year forever.
I've been in the field with whatever they throw at me, brush
it off, pick myself up, moving on a little better.

(01:45):
Hey, yeah. Ain't no errors.
Welcome back. To the circle of drift.
Podcast, thank you again for stopping in every single week
for a brand new episode. This show is of course presented
by SIM HQ, where you can always save 5% off on their website for
your next SIM upgrade. And if you haven't seen already,
they came out with a brand new SIM HQ car pack with not only

(02:06):
Adam's S15, but his chaser and his C4 and plenty of other cars
that they came out with. So check those out as well.
And I want to let you guys know next week I will be in
Connecticut for Grid Life at Lime Rock.
So if you're going to be there, stop by and check out the booth.
We'll be doing some podcasts andstuff like that.
And if you're new here and have absolutely no idea what I'm

(02:27):
talking about, my name is Dawsonand we interview some of the
most interesting personalities within the industry to help you
within drifting. And all I ask is if you find any
enjoyment or learn anything new out of these podcasts that you,
for one, hit the subscribe button so you never miss the
next one. And two, smash the like button
because it's the best way for meto know that I'm providing you

(02:48):
with the best podcast possible. And for that, I will always
listen to every critique that you guys have and do my best to
improve the episodes each and every week.
But in this episode, we are backat Formula Drift in Saint Louis
to talk to Brandon Gardner, a familiar face to the podcast.
And here's some more interestingsides.
Of. The SIM drifting industry.

(03:09):
So without further ado, let's get in the episode.
We have quite a familiar face tothe channel.
Mr. Brandon here. Sorry.
Quite a lot new stuff going on with your own thing now, not
necessarily working for SIM magic and all that.
So tell me a little bit about the shop, What's going on, what
you even do with it? Yeah, for sure.
So my name is Brandon Gardner. I own a company called Boundless

(03:31):
Racing and we sell SIM parts andwe also build simulators.
So professional bespoke turnkey racing simulators is the main
thing I've been doing. Recently got a little shop space
out in metro Atlanta area. It's a little 1100 square foot
shop but it's something better than the the basement of my
house so. Yeah, it's definitely better.

(03:51):
Oh yeah, it's. Probably a little more
presentable too. Yeah, No, yeah.
When I have people like, oh, canI, can I come by your showroom,
check out your Sims? When I'm at events, I'm like you
sure. You sure the dogs may bark at
you? You.
Know. It's like what?
My mom's upstairs, my mom's upstairs.
You know, dad may come down and be like who The Who the fuck are
you, but that's about it. So why'd you branch off then?

(04:14):
Because you were working for SIMMagic last, right?
Or I guess, still kind of. So yeah, I still work with, you
know, I sell parts. Before, I was really just a
creator, like content creator, and I worked with a certain
company who distributes some magic products.
I don't really want to name themfor certain reasons, but I was

(04:36):
working with them as sort of a creator during the time actually
that we were that we had the last podcast, which I want to
say was last June or something like that, like around then.
Damn. Yeah, it was almost right out of
year. That's right.
About a year I was working actually with.
No I wasn't. I was previously working with
Mozart Racing and I worked with them for a year and a half and I
was making the transition over. Yeah, no, I still work with SIM

(05:02):
Magic. I was actually a part of their
creator program recently. I'd test the new Alpha Evo
Sport. So that thing's fucking
phenomenal. For the price of it, it's great.
Yeah, I still work with SIM Magic.
People I work with, you know, I work with your boys over at SIM
HQ. They're all awesome over there.
But yeah, I just work with, you know, multiple different
companies. I'm trying to be, you know, very

(05:25):
as as wide of a range as possible with the SIM racing
like product line, just because,you know, a lot of companies
have different things to offer. But I only work with top quality
stuff. So like SIM Magic's one of them.
They make great stuff, SIM HQ, great people over there.
So yeah, for sure, for sure on that front.
Well, I'm obviously new to the whole SIM magic world myself.

(05:48):
So I'm getting pretty baller SIMtoo.
Bro it's a. Night and day difference, let me
tell you. But that's what we can discuss
that later. Yeah, you mentioned the Alpha,
the new Alpha. So why did you say that that one
is so much better than the recent recent models or say any
other brand? Yeah, so just for like context,

(06:08):
I've tried the Asatech La Prima,the Moza R9, Moza R12, Fantech,
CSLDD Alpha Mini and then obviously the new Evo Sport.
So to have a TLDR before I get like really technical, if you
want to skip over this part, thethe alpha Evo sports hardware is
a lot better and can process things a lot quicker and has

(06:31):
more detail. So essentially what that means
in every single SIM racing direct drive wheel, there's this
thing called an encoder and it has a certain amount of bits per
revolution that processes your wheelbase.
So for example the Alpha Mini had an 18 bit encoder and now
the new Evo Sport has a 21 bit encoder.

(06:51):
So it's a 3 bit difference. But in numbers wise, which is
points per revolution, Alpha Mini was 262,144 thousand, which
is a lot, right? 262 I'm trying to follow.
That's a lot, right? A lot of numbers.
That's a lot of numbers. So 260,000 some odd, right?
And now the new one has a 21 bit.

(07:12):
It's only three bits better, butis over 2,000,000 points per
revolution. Holy shit, so.
Each revolution of the steering wheel, which is really important
for SIM racing when you know thewheel spinning, in order for it
to be smooth, it processes it 2,000,000 times.
So even though you know it may be a three bit difference,
that's 1.8 million times, you know, more like adding 1.8

(07:36):
million times more points per revolution for it to process how
the wheel is turning. That's absurd, yeah.
So to get real technical with it, like everyone says, you
know, the new stuff is better and it's not just a marketing
scheme like a lot of, you know, a lot of any company when the
new stuff comes out, they got topromote it, they got to sell it.
Like that's business guy to business guy.
Everyone understands that. But genuinely from like a point

(08:01):
of just how things work on paperand in real life, like it works
a lot better. So the new Evo sport compared to
the Alpha series, it's just way better, the Evo Alpha Evo series
way better than the E Alpha series just based off of that.
So to dumb it down then just a little bit for the for all of

(08:22):
us, I got you guys, But what is that physically changing in the
feel of the wheel? Because like for one, if anyone
remembers the real that we made about what it was about the
MOSA, wasn't it the the oscillation or whatever, the
wheel, I assume that much. I guess information dilutes that

(08:43):
feeling too, along with some other stuff maybe.
So in layman's terms, I guess wecould say when you have a higher
bit encoder, especially for drifting, it allows the wheel to
process the rotation a lot smoother and more precise.
So you not only get something really smooth, whereas you know
when you rotate the wheel, it's nice and smooth and buttery, but

(09:05):
you also get the feedback through it.
So you get the vibrations or theroad feel or anything you need a
lot smoother and a lot more precise and refine than
something with less bits. So how much more does it cost
then compared to the previous model?
Well, the Evo sport's cheaper than the many these days, yeah.
Yeah, how does that work? Geniuses, I don't know, but

(09:27):
yeah, I'm really, I'm happy withwhat they've been, what they've
what they've done because, you know, working with previous
companies like any, any, you know, any previous company, you
know, marketing is marketing. Usually things are better when
they release something new, but like I can constantly say like
Evo Sport and the Evo series, it's just like if you don't have

(09:49):
an alpha right now and you want to get into like the SIM magic
realm, definitely don't go for the alpha.
If you want to save the extra buck, just go for the for the
for the EVO series, It's definitely, definitely worth it.
Yeah. 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%

(10:11):
off on your tires moving forwardwith 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 Zeck Novas, or you just kind of want to stack up, I
suggest you do that now while you can get them.
Better price, but other than tires, let's get on back into

(10:32):
the podcast. OK, so then at what point in
your SIM career or whatever should you consider even moving
up to a wheelbase that expensiveor that, you know, quality?
Should it be from the jump? I mean, yeah, honestly, from the
jump I would, I would say so like we're all adults here.

(10:54):
And I would say just save up a couple paychecks and get
something nice at first. That's genuinely my best, best
piece of advice. Like don't buy a Logitech at
first. Like if you're watching this,
you're a fucking nerd, all right?
You're a nerd. You're a car guy.
You like this stuff. You're going to enjoy the SIM
stuff. You're not going to be like, oh,
maybe maybe I'll enjoy it. No, you're going to you're going

(11:14):
to enjoy it. So I'd say you know, save up a
couple paychecks, go buy something nice.
You can get OK from like my sitefrom boundless racing, you can
get and it's the same price as MHQ.
Just to put that out there. It's in Evo sport, OK, some
magic Evo sport 9 Newton meter wheelbase, the GTS wheel and

(11:35):
then a set of P500 pedals under 1000 bucks.
It's like 950, yeah. And you know, compare that to
like AG 920, which is, you know,brand new.
It's 3:50. But you know, I think if you
save a couple paychecks and you spend that, you know, slight sub
thousand mark, it's going to last you years.

(11:56):
You're going to like it. You're not going to regret it.
You know the the G920, it's likeit works, but it's just.
So outdated at this. Point I mean, you know, you had
what did you think of your G 29 compared to like your alpha and
your your SIM magic stuff now? Now that I have SIM magic.
All right, so just to preface, Ibacked in, sucked very badly at

(12:19):
Sims and was kind of standoffishto him.
Didn't really want them. People peer pressured me and to
just get a Logitech just to get into it, drive through the suck.
I get that part. Now that I'm at the SIM magic
level, I will absolutely 100% stand.
Forget the fact of SIM HQ 100% standby.

(12:40):
Go ahead and bite the bullet andjust get the better SIM.
Like it's so, it's so realistic.Genuine like whether it be like
the pedals, the shifter, the shifter is the biggest thing.
The freaking Logitech shifter feels like a hot dog in a
hallway. It feels like nothing.
You can't feel anything, right. And so it's just like having
that, that just like feeling that something's there, like,

(13:02):
sure, you don't get the G forces, but having an accurate
feeling in your hands and your feet is definitely the next step
up. And we'll, you know, level
things up completely and it's just worth it.
Just save a couple paychecks, maybe a few paychecks.
But in my opinion, if you want to better your driving and you
just want to have you know, whether it's better you're
driving or having fun with with your friends, like get something

(13:24):
nice. Don't don't cheap out for sure.
Well, on the other side of that,what is the like in today's era?
The fuck you money SIM? What's the big?
Money SIM OK, so just preface, Ibuild Sims for a living.
So I've been I've been very blessed to be able to build some
pretty big baller stuff. So the biggest baller thing now

(13:47):
like chassis wise, very durable chassis, 160mm advanced SIM
racing, ASR Pro. I think you have that chassis,
right? Yeah, OK that then I work with a
company called Acitec. So Acitec Invicta wheelbase, 27
Newton meter pedals. There's these things called
active pedals. So they'll vibrate at your feet

(14:09):
and it's just like, it's just like, you know, in layman's
terms, kind of like a direct drive force feedback motor, but
in your feet. So you get like ABS feel, you
know, when you push the clutch in, it could feel like your rear
end's exploding. You know, it feels pretty cool.
You know, shifter company calledBDH that we work with out of the
UK. Beautiful piece of machinery.

(14:30):
It's like a long tube. Been able to use that.
It's $1400, but it's freaking ball.
Yeah, it's Baller. What makes it $1400?
It's, it's handcrafted in the UK, so it's like gearing in it.
If you look at it, I'm sure I'llsend you a picture, but it's
like a long tube with individualgears in it and you can change
it from H pattern to sequential.It's really cool, really, really

(14:51):
sick. See you go with like a race
seat, like saw belt, OMP, Recaro, anything like that.
That's the baller way to go and then monitors.
There's 2 routes that my favorite LG Ultra gear 45 inch
OLED monitors and have three of them.
So like the width wise 8 feet wide right?

(15:14):
Oh, what does it cost in monitors?
It depends. So like sometimes like Best Buy
or Amazon will have a good deal and you can get them for like
45, but like if we're going off MSRP at 66 grand and monitor.
Fuck. Dude, and then you got to get a
good PC, you got to get like the5090 or 5080 PC. 5080 can hold
the those monitors, so you couldsave a few bucks on that.

(15:38):
So like a $3500 PC. But if you go with 5090, it's
going to be 6 grand. Then we got to get motion,
right? We got to get motion.
We're working with a company, they're out of Canada called
Vero Motion. They have a six degree of
Freedom Motion kit. So for the motion side of
things, I know some people don'tlike it for drifting.

(15:58):
I don't really like it for drifting unless you have 6° of
motion. So let me.
I was going to say, what does that mean?
What is the average of degrees of motion?
It's called degrees of freedom, which is in short term, it's
called doff, right? And there's six of them.
There's roll, pitch and heave. And that's the normal type.
So in any of you know, if you see a simulator with like 4

(16:22):
black boxes, I guess, and they're on the corners of the
SIM, that is what we call a three degree of freedom system.
So it has roll, pitch and heave when it comes to you know, how
it reacts. And then there are the other
three, there's Yaw, surge and sway and that Yaw, surge and

(16:43):
sway. So surge is like going forward
and backwards. So that like that forward and
backward G forces and then surgeand surge.
What was it? No, got got flustered there.
My bad. Yaw Yaw and the other one.
I'll say that I just brain farted there.

(17:03):
But those is it. Pitch, yawn.
So roll, pitch heave. Oh, OK, sorry, sorry Sway.
Yaw and surge. So sway and Yaw.
My bad. So sway and Yaw.
Yeah, it's a lot. Even I get a little confused.
I see on. Them ends in as so you get a
little you know, the brain cellsneed to brain cell a little

(17:23):
better, but what that gives you to get over that brain fart is
it gives you that side G force feeling like you get in a drift
car. So if you ever hear you know,
Donofa or LZ say, you know, theydon't like motion it's because
they don't get that sensation like that sideways like pitch in
their in their in their simulator because it's not

(17:45):
emulating like that sideways G force.
So company we work with called Vera Motion, they have a six
degree of freedom which has all six and it has 20° of sideways
tilt. So not sideways tilt this way,
but like when it turns. So you could feel that, you
know, that G force that pushoverwhen you're going right.

(18:09):
So again, we're talking about a ball or SIM.
That system itself is nearly $20,000.
And take some, you know, assembly and that sort of thing.
Yeah, it, it, it does. And it, it takes a certain
person to get that. But like having that you know,
the the Yaw and the sway and a SIM will help like that drifting

(18:33):
I guess that disconnect that people have like I, I.
Agree, I'm the same way because I tried it at SIM HQ they're big
motion SIM and honestly made it worse for me because I had like
it seemed like the twitchiness of the motion was so delayed
that it just. It would honestly throw me off
of the wheel, like it would, yeah, twitch me off the wheel

(18:54):
and mess up my line and yeah. And that's so that's AD box SIM
that that three degree of freedom.
And because it feels thrown off,it only goes up, down and then
side to side. It doesn't have that, you know,
that X axis that you need to like, you know, feel the feel
the turning in the in the sideways G force.
I guess that but feeling that people want, you know, so it's

(19:17):
cool that they're developing that.
And you know, I've been able to try that rig and it's it works
like it feels like you're in a car.
It just takes a certain someone in it, you know, drop that type
of dollar onto a SIM. And I'm sure you know how fast
the industry is just developing.510 years from now it'll be a
lot more accessible and maybe they'll just have, you know,

(19:39):
yawn sway Sims, rather than having all six and that sort of
thing. That would be cool.
So that was my next question wasto see if there was actually if
you do think the industry is moving fast enough for it to
come down in price ever. Yeah.
Or if it's just, I mean, it's going to be that.
It's like any industry, like as people you know as it grows and

(20:00):
you know like this F1 movie is helping the SIM industry greatly
like to put it in the like science like get very nitty
gritty like it's a. Compound growth of 13% year over
year like the past five years. So it's growing quickly, right?
I mean, I've noticed it myself just as of a viewer on the
outside of drifting, looking at all the products that just keep

(20:22):
coming out and out and out and just seeing all the capabilities
people are having with all thesedrivers are nuts.
Yeah, and as like more people like get invested in the SIM
racing and more of like these top dogs because like the top
dogs in the industry right now, a couple of them, it's like they
didn't come from SIM racing or cars.
They came from a business background and they're

(20:43):
investors. So they have millions and
millions of dollars they can dump in a SIM racing.
And as that, I mean, it's crazy.But as that starts happening and
we get more investment and more development into things, you
know, I hope 5 to 10 years from now, like, you know, motion will
be cheaper direct. We're seeing it now.
Direct drive wheel bases are cheaper with SIM magic stuff.

(21:06):
And it keeps developing into something where it's even more
accessible. It gets even more realistic.
I mean, now it's realistic, but imagine in like 5-10 years from
now, it's going to be even more,more crazy, yeah.
So what was the I guess the lastsetup that you had to build for
someone like? What was?
What did it consist of? So I actually deliver it when I

(21:29):
get back on Sunday. So I just finished building it.
It's our so we have like a good,better, best model for our
turnkeys, which a turnkey simulator is something that's
complete. So it's fully built, comes with
your monitors, your PC, all thatstuff.
So this was our right in the middle, our fusion model, which
is a fusion between budget and performance.

(21:52):
So it's a triple screen setup, triple 32 inch monitors.
It has that cool BDH shifter, Ithas a XL NRG bucket.
It uses 120mm ASR 4 chassis which is right below like your
chassis. The top line ASR Pro, some ace
tech stuff uses the active pedal.

(22:14):
I know I'm naming a lot of very expensive products, but the
reason being is because this client, he races cars.
So he has an SCCA spec E36 and then his son has a 2017 BRZ and
they take to the track. You got a nice little 2 hauler,
a nice Duramax, they take it around the.
Country. That's an expensive program as
is. They've got the money you spend.
So they, they wanted something where, you know, even if it

(22:35):
rains or for some reason they can't make it out to the track
that weekend, they could have something that feels almost 1 to
1 without, you know, spending the, you know, 5101520 grand on
motion or a crazy monitor setup or whatever to where they can,
you know, get seat time. Understand, you know, they're
breaking points, they're turningpoints, You know, even the setup
of their car. We're building their cars 1 to

(22:57):
one in a Seto, which is pretty cool that we're giving them in
the delivery. Is that a service you offer?
No, just for turnkey stuff. I mean, if people reach out to
me, I don't, I don't build them personally.
I just have you know, I have people that help me out and do
that sort of thing but if anyone's watching and they want
like their car like 1 to one, I have plenty of people like you

(23:19):
could DM me and I can point you in the right direction.
Those guys take hours and hours to build their car.
Like I know some people who spend 100 plus hours on their
virtual like race car which is nuts.
That is just stupid. It's cool to see.
I'm seeing a bunch of the peopletrying to mimic Adam's new car

(23:39):
the the BMW. And get the BBC mobile.
Fucking big block in there and everything, and everybody's just
like slapping AV8IN it and it's not really a big block, I get
it. But yeah, it'll be cool to see
some stuff like that. I mean, yeah, it's, it's cool to
see like, you know, whether people want to like take their
own mind, their own creations, like put in the game or like

(24:00):
real life stuff. It's always cool to see like the
innovation and into like 3D modeling using like Blender or
3DS Max or that sort of thing. They put a lot of time into it
and a lot of them don't get likethe dollar amount it would take
to put into it out of it. And it's just, you know, it's
all about the passion. And it's cool to see for sure.
I feel that, yeah. Look, let's take a break from

(24:21):
the podcast really quick becausewe can't always have these nice
comfy chairs at events when we're doing podcasts.
Now I have to think about not only keeping myself but the
guests comfortable as well whilewe're sitting down for such long
episodes. Nothing has kept the guests and
I comfortable enough other than the Viper chairs.
They use an extremely thick cushion so my abs doesn't get

(24:41):
sore after 5 minutes and I don'talways have the best posture so
the placement of the backrest helps me with a lot of my lower
back pain and even we have the XR cables for these microphones
just laying on the ground. I've never had an issue with the
casters rolling over them or tipping me out of the chair.
But if you guys have been considering getting your own
Vipers hooked you guys up with $50 off on your next Viper

(25:03):
chair. So I'll leave the link in the
description for that. And without further ado, let's
just get back into the podcast. But.
What do you think about the competitions and stuff for SIM
like and all that growing and doyou think it'll ever become its
own industry maybe or its own sport?
No, I guess it kind of is. Kind of, but no, I mean we look
at, I know negative from the SIMguy, but it'll always be there

(25:27):
and it'll always be growing. I think to the level it could
get to is how like E sports is now.
So like SIM racing, E sports, they have real life stuff.
They have, you know, different partners that you know, they,
they have big venues and they dolike SIM racing stuff.
It just, you know, there's, there's only a limit we could go
and the real life stuff, unless like the government's like no

(25:50):
more racing ever. Then you know, the SIM racing
stuff could come in. But the real life stuff will
always be there. But they'll always be, you know,
SIM racing leagues, you know, for drifting with VDC, you know,
they got a discord, they got a link tree you could join.
And there's plenty of people there who host like pop up comps
or there's like grassroots styleof cars, like the 300 to 500

(26:13):
horsepower style of things whereyou could just, you know, tame
your nerves, I guess and understand like that competition
aspect in the SIM and that sort of thing.
I think there's an industry for it, but it's never going to be
like gigantic to the level that like, you know, some people try
to portray it as, you know, it'sjust unfortunate, but I'm just

(26:34):
being realistic, so. I appreciate it because most
people are saying, you know, I think it'll be great and it'll
be big and da, da, da, da. It can even be bigger than real
drifting and. I don't, I don't I could.
Possibly see that with just the fact of the way gaming is so
big, like prize pots are so muchbigger for gaming and like maybe

(26:57):
that'll do it, but. It just sucks because in the
gaming space, it's just finding that balance.
Like I've done plenty of research into esports and like
99% of esports things fail like we saw.
Really. Yeah.
I mean, we saw a very drastic example.
We saw a Face Clan. If you know what Face Clan is,

(27:17):
if anyone watching you know whatFace Clan is, they were a
competitive Call of Duty team and content creators.
They got bought by private equity and they went public in
2019. And then by 2023, I want to say,
or maybe it was 2017, it was like 5-7 years, they were a
public company and it just fell on their face because it's like

(27:38):
it takes it takes the right person to grow gaming because
like not any per I mean, it's, it's like that for anyone who
buys a business and tries to grow it.
It's like you can't just buy it in hopes it grows.
You know, it's like it takes a certain someone with a certain
amount of knowledge and understanding the lingo and you
know, the technical aspects and all that for E sports to grow.

(28:02):
I mean, if you look it up, if you just look up Face Clan E
sports public failure, then you'll see it.
I mean they, they literally got listed as a public company.
You could buy shares of face Clan and it literally went to
zero and they reset it and the original owner face clan bought
back Face clan. And then now they're just a

(28:23):
bunch of content creators and a big house and they make cool
content just like how it was 15 years ago.
So I think to get back to the drifting side and the racing
side, I think it will continue to grow.
But so far, everything that's had, you know, millions of
dollars of investments into it have flopped on their face,
which sucks because it takes a certain person can't just throw

(28:45):
money at it and hopes it works. Yeah.
Sorry though, just seeing like you mentioned, the money being
dumped into it, but it actually seems to be more consumable than
all those other games. I mean, just to be real game,
video games are kind of nerdy ina sense to the average person.

(29:07):
So you can't get the average person into it.
But given that it's drifting, that kind of combines, does it
not? And like adds a more realistic
aspect to where it's not just a video game.
Yeah, I mean, we're all nerds asis for being in a drifting.
I mean, we're doing, we're doingthe exact opposite thing that a

(29:28):
car is supposed to do around thecorner.
We're literally like trying to break the physics of how the
cars were designed to do it. I mean, from like a drifting
aspect. Like, yeah, if you're a drifter
and you want to get into SIM drifting like night and day,
like, yeah, you shouldn't save up those paychecks and get into
it. So I'm just talking more of like

(29:49):
growing it like in a huge like ahumongous way, you know, like
the even even like drifting as asport, like you know, right now,
I know some people, you know, there's a whole we get a whole
nother hour to talk about like, you know, drifting as a sport
growing that I have my own opinions on it.
Like, you know, we're an 8 roundseries and we compare ourselves

(30:10):
to like NASCAR in the US. Like why aren't we as big as
NASCAR? It's like they've raced 38
weekends out of the year and we race 8.
You know, the amount of TV time,sponsorship time, everything.
It's like they they're like miles ahead of us, you know.
So I think like as an industry, like SIM racing, SIM drifting

(30:32):
will continue to grow. And I think, you know, with
things like the F1 movie now, the new Sun Kang movie, the
drifting movie that's coming out, that's going to grow it
even more. But I'm thinking, you know, when
you ask that question, I'm thinking like mass adoption,
like everyone like say like going to an F1 race.
Instead they went and filled up like a football arena, like a

(30:54):
American football arena for likeSIM racing, like there's 32
people in the center and that sort of thing.
I don't think that's. Going to happen.
I mean, they do it for like League of Legends, they feel,
you know, whatever arena, like in Texas, the Cowboys arena and
everyone's like Channing and they're playing League of
Legends. Yeah, I just, you know, that
type of gaming is way more accessible than SIM racing just

(31:17):
because all you need is, you know, you can even do it on your
phone, but you need a PC, keyboard, mouse and, you know,
whatever monitor your mom has inthe attic, you know, that's all
you need. Yeah.
Well, damn. OK.
Well then you mentioned FD or I guess, yeah, FD being compared
to NASCAR, Yeah. So obviously we are very small.

(31:39):
We're very new, nowhere near compared to NASCAR, but that is
what a lot of people say. Do you think we'll ever be able
to get to that point as Drifters?
I don't think it's the same sport and has the same amount of
respect as NASCAR in America at least.
Huh. I, I'll, I'll be honest and

(32:01):
open. I've talked to Ryan Sage before,
so I'll, I'll let, I'll let my opinion RIP.
We just need to find, find ways to continue to grow it in unique
ways, right? Like as I mentioned before, you
know, NASCAR, they have billionsand billions of dollars that
move through that sport because they have, you know, tracks that

(32:25):
advertisement like Daytona is known for NASCAR, you know, huge
track, huge venue. They race 3638 * a year.
We race 8 * a year and you know,I think it's just how we can
mainstream the sport. The big thing like I don't hate
people who say this, but it's like we need to keep drifting

(32:49):
like private and it's all it's our own little thing.
Like it going mainstream is lame.
I think that's stupid. Like Dion Dawkins with Justin
Pollock, how he's getting into drifting.
JTP built him a Mustang. Like that's cool.
Joey Logano showing up in Jersey, like popping in the
booth, that's also cool, like bringing Joey Logano fans into

(33:09):
drifting. I think just I think drifting
will continue to grow and you know, as a lover of the sport
and someone who's been in it andlike I liked it and I'm watching
it since I was 10 for like, you know, 11 years, like I've loved
drifting consumed. It's not my favorite motorsport.
It's like we need more money in the sport.

(33:32):
We need to welcome people with money, not push them out, like
bring them in because you know, as much as we want to be like,
you know, money, XYZ, whatever opinion you have on it, it's
like that's what's going to growit.
Like I'd love for drift like FD to be a 12 round series or like
even there's an international series where like we go through

(33:54):
Europe, Japan, the US and it's like we have different cars and
different. Programs that's even possible.
I think that that'd be part likeyears from now, but it it really
just comes down to money and notbeing scared to be creative and
taking risks and growing the sport.
Like the last thing I want and you know, the last thing I want

(34:17):
is for people to be stuck in their ways and for drifting to
become stagnant. Like that's that's what's going
to kill the sport because we sawit, you know, import drag
racing, early 2000s pretty dead now, you know, old track racing,
early 2000s and then the Jimmie Johnson era kind of killed it a
little bit. I think circle track and NASCAR

(34:38):
is coming back more now, but it kind of got dead because it got
stagnant. So if we have find ways to
continue to grow the sport from the marketing aspect, you know,
doing different things and beingwelcoming to new ideas, I think
that's going to be the biggest thing.
Because I'd love for drifting tobe, you know, the same

(35:01):
popularity as even like, you know, NASCAR or IndyCar or like
Supercross or something like that.
Like for I feel like drifting isthere, like you say, drifting.
People understand what that is now.
But for like, you know, for it to be one of the more popular
Motorsports in America, it's just going to take some
innovation and not being afraid to take some risks and, you

(35:26):
know, put some investments into it and not be stagnant.
That's the big thing. What do you think needs to
change in order for that to happen though?
Like what about FD? Is it the tracks or is it just
the amount of events and stuff like that that you mentioned?
So I think FD, like a lot of people, I'll bring this up like

(35:48):
a lot of people compare Drift Masters to FD.
I think FD does a way better jobat bringing people out to
events. Drift Masters does a great job
at showing that like from a production standpoint that F
that. Like Drift Masters seems like a
huge event like Mondello like 8000 or 10,000 people show up

(36:10):
like for the weekend which isn'ta ton for an event but it seems
like there's like 25,000 way. Bigger.
Way bigger No, it's a small event.
There's like not a lot of vendors there or stuff like that
and learning this first hand from people that have been
there. So big thing, a lot of people
say this for FD, like I know RedBull has a lot of push for drift

(36:33):
masters, but if we get that production level up in FD for
the live stream, my goodness, like that's, that's where things
will be great, right? I think that will take things to
a new level. You know, I think I, I, I don't
know where they're at or what, you know, Ryan Sage will say

(36:54):
because he surprisingly, he watches everything about FD.
Like the dude, the dude loves it.
And that's like, I could tip my hat to him.
Like he is always like taking inthings from FD.
But you know, like if we had like what the like, what Adams
team does for like the world tour, like that highlight video,
if we'd have like a sick highlight video because I see,

(37:16):
you know, camera guys out. If we had like a small team
who'd like film important stuff or talk to people throughout the
weekend, I think that'd be cool to have like a high production
video just for more people to see at the end of the day, to
like grow anything. It's just marketing.
Marketing is all that matters, marketing and money.
That's it. So it's just like we can level

(37:36):
that up and like, you know, tracks, there's the whole thing,
you know, I get it now, like building bleachers and, you
know, tracks being OK with you driving on that track.
There's not many tracks in America that could do that.
And you know, we just lost one in Irwindale.
There's the the track, the Houseof Drift in America.

(37:59):
It is now gone. So yeah, I don't like, like
everyone shits on Saint Louis. I think a lot of people just
bitch to bitch about Saint Louis.
Like, I don't hate this track. I think it's hot and I'm sticky
and miserable right now. Now, that one's true.
Yeah. But it's like if you ask the
drivers, though, they they enjoythis track.

(38:20):
Oh, for the most. Part.
Well, I think. They enjoy the technical aspect
of it. Some of them do.
A lot of them hate the track with a burning passion and would
like throw it out. Yeah, but like I think, you
know, not everything can be perfect and if we need to come
here to come here, then we come here.
But you know, you know, I would say the simple thing, build the

(38:42):
series to like a 10 or 12 round series, but that takes, you
know, millions and millions moredollars from like the drivers
and, you know, finding venues and etcetera, etcetera.
And that's just difficult. You know, some, you know, I
think I think 60% of the pro teams, like their budgets are
stretched this year for sure. And it's just like, it's tough.

(39:04):
It's tough out here. And at the end of the day,
again, I don't mean to beat beatit with a dead horse, but like
money will push things forward and make things better.
And that's like, I wish there was a better answer, but it's
just finding people who are moreopen to that is all it comes
down to Who? Do you think the next one is the
next big company to invest? I don't know.

(39:25):
Well, I could tell Red Bull's. Dipping their toe.
I hope so, dude. Red Bull's back in NASCAR.
Come on down FD. You.
Know. Come on down.
FD. No, I mean you know, like a big
company, like a data company or something like that, like an NTT
DATA, like an IndyCar or something like that would be big
or I don't know, sell out to an oil company or something like

(39:48):
any. We just need if if we get an
injection of if, you know, millions of dollars to make
things, you know, production level up, you know, run a
production up, marketing up to do more pushing of things,
having more influencers out, that sort of thing.
That'll just grow the sport more.
Like I, you know, I 90% of people don't like big

(40:08):
influencers out at their, you know, whatever, because a lot of
them are pretentious. But you know, if we could have
the big guys, like whatever, biginfluencer.
Who likes cars is the important thing out at events and
promoting what's going on. Then their audience gets
interesting. They can get hooked too.
So there's that as well. There's a lot of ways, you know,

(40:32):
and we'll just see. It of course, has to be a, you
know, a ethically good company. There's talks of only fans
coming into FD with a couple drivers.
No, there are a couple drivers this year who are going to have
only fans cars and never and never, never came to fruition.
It was denied, I mean. Oh my God that's funny ass shit

(40:57):
to. Play devil's advocate, I mean
Only Fans is trying to pull awaylike from a marketing
perspective of the naughty stuffand they're trying to have a
more safe for work stuff. They have like cooking shows now
and stuff like that. I was even approached in
January. I'll let this out there.
Like to have a virtual like onlyfans car and like make content

(41:18):
and have an only fans not do anything weird, but to have like
drifting tips and stuff like that, yeah.
It's crazy. It's.
Weird. It's not weird, but it's just,
you know, a company who has a bad rap, trying to not have a
bad rap anymore. But yeah.
They're trying to back pedal. Them out, but you know, they
were they were denied from FD because of, you know, the you

(41:38):
don't want people looking at that stuff and like getting into
that. And it's the the the ship has
far sailed for that company. Unfortunately.
Yeah, have to do completely new everything in order to bounce
back from that. But that's that's that was one
it was going to be like a coupledrivers.
They were looking to put some money into it and it could have

(42:01):
been more money into the sport. Some drivers, you know, could
have had better programs, but itwas denied and it is what it is.
But I'm sure there's a reason tothat.
I'm a big proponent of, you know, everything happens for a
reason and there will be other companies and as, you know, time
goes on as drifting becomes moreaccepted in the Motorsports

(42:21):
world, like it's an actual sport.
It's an actual thing you can do.Then they'll be the big
companies who jump in, you know,So we'll see.
Well, I hope to see it. Not from them.
That's crazy. I didn't even know that was a
thing. Yeah, crazy.
I want to know who the drivers were.
Tell you off camera. I'll let you know.
Oh, that's awesome. Well, as far as you go, other

(42:44):
than the FD things, is there anything new coming from you or
the business or anything you need to announce?
I mean, if anyone wants a turnkey simulator hit me up, I'm
always open. Oh, what are the package prices
on that, by the way? Yeah, so.
It's going to just. The prefix is going to seem like
a lot because it is. Because it's a quality yeah

(43:06):
setup. It's for someone that actually
wants to learn and like keep it going and driving.
It's like built by myself and myteam and, you know, we're
assembling it, we're testing it,making sure everything works,
like if anything's broken and weget it and it's broken, we'll
fix it. And then it comes with APC and
monitor. So our bottom setup.

(43:29):
Hi Carson. Our bottom setup starts at but
so our bottom setup starts at about 5.
Like that's where it starts. It's like the entry level SIM
magic equipment with a like a 49inch widescreen good PC.
It's built and that's like delivered and shipped to your

(43:51):
house and I'll teach you how to use it and that sort of thing.
You could add stuff on take awaystuff if you want to go triple
screens, that sort of thing. Our middle of the ground starts
at about 12 and that's like standard 32 inch triple screen,
50 series graphics card mid range products.
So like an Alpha Evo Sport from SIM Magic or an ASA Tech Forte

(44:14):
and then you know, good pedals, good shifter, good handbrake,
good seat, that sort of thing. And then our top line, which is
our legacy package. This is for like the serious
people, the Ballers, you know, the people with private
collections looking for things. It starts at 30 and that comes
with motion. So it starts at a three degree

(44:34):
of freedom, 45 inch triple, the OLED monitors, 5080 graphics
card, top quality, everything. And then we have a package above
that, which starts at about 50, 55.
Yeah, we're getting up there. But that's the 6th degree of
freedom unit with all the top line stuff.
We go up and monitor size if youwant it.

(44:57):
And if you could fit it to a 55 inch 4K, you don't need that.
No one needs that. But some people want it and
we're like, OK, we'll do it. 5090 graphics card.
Yeah, our best sellers, honestly, it's been the Fusion
and Legacy. Those have been the best.
But you obviously don't got to do that.
You don't even got to, you don'tgot to go turnkey.

(45:18):
But if you want to just have thewhole package like set in stone
built for you, we'll do that. We've been working, you know,
people have hit us up if we could just get them the whole
package and they build it themselves and we could do that
and you know, source you the monitors and PC and that sort of
thing. We're just here to help and
point people in the right direction with good educated

(45:39):
information, you know, because as I said before, we work with
different companies, but I've been around the block and it's
with companies that I believe inand that I trust.
So I'm a big proponent of that. And just try not to give people,
you know, try not to sell out ina way, you know, selling out.
It's not good. Done it before, learn from that

(46:00):
and never do it again. So that's where I'm at with
that. I get that man.
Well, by the way, how does the shipping of an entire unit?
Work like if someone gets a turnkey.
Yeah, So what I do is I build itat the shop and then we ship it
in either 1 or 260 by 60 by 60 crates.
We package it real nice. We Saran it, make sure

(46:21):
everything doesn't move in the packaging, and then we even wrap
around the outside to make sure nothing gets damaged in
shipping. And then we either send you like
about 30 minutes worth of videoson how to unpack it and set
everything up or, you know, for a little more and for like,
Legacy and above, it's included.But we'll fly out or, you know,

(46:41):
drive out to your location, set it up for you, teach you how to
use it, that sort of thing. That's why.
Yeah. So oh, man, it's been fun doing
it. Like, I really love, like,
giving people the full experience.
Like not just, you know, here's some settings, etcetera,
etcetera, but putting everythingtogether and having a full
package and like using the science I've learned and all
that to have something good and you know, as one to one as

(47:05):
possible. It's been, it's been a blast to
definitely to share that with people.
Blow that, man. Yeah.
Well, cool. It seems to be going good for
you. And I'm sure we'll get another
podcast in with an update and everything.
So yeah, we'll see. Probably a year from now, we'll
probably be right out of the year again.
So. Well, cool, man.
I don't want to hold you up no more.
Thanks for taking the time. Yeah.
Of course, thanks for having me on.

(47:26):
Go enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Rest of the year as well. Hell yeah.
Hell yeah. What another great episode this
week from Brandon Gardner, learning a lot, thought about
some SIM stuff. And 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 around
this long. If you did enjoy or learn
anything new out of the episode,I just ask that you consider

(47:47):
subscribing and turning on the bell notifications.
Maybe you are considering upgrading your SIM or getting
your first one and you want to just bite the bullet and get
something of good quality And a lot of the stuff that we talked
about, of course, jump over to SIM HQ.
You can always say 5 percent offwith my code, Circle Adrift.
It may not seem like a lot, but a little goes a long way,

(48:08):
especially when you're investingin something so important and
can develop your skill level so rapidly.
But other than that, don't forget we do have merch on the
site, Circle adrift.co. And if you're in Connecticut,
don't forget to stop by Grid Lifeline.
No bitch can't catch no feelings.
I've been taking long flights from the I just want 444 then I

(48:30):
leave. I'm a young pop star called a
boy. Justin Bieber got a little
money. If you want a teacher whole life
a movie, you can watch it in theater.
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