The Art of Drifting: A Lesson in Perseverance and Luck

As I stood behind the wheel of my car, ready to take on the competition, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and nervousness. The track was set, the cars were tuned, and it was time to put it all on the line. Or so I thought.

I took off like a shot, feeling confident in my driving skills and the car's performance. But as I rounded the first turn, disaster struck. The shifter broke, leaving me with no choice but to coast to the next turn. It was a frustrating moment, one that left me feeling defeated and wondering if it was all worth it.

I didn't realize at the time just how much my mistake would affect the outcome of the competition. I thought I'd miss-shifted the car, losing control and spinning out. But in hindsight, it was something far more subtle. The shifter had simply broken, leaving me with no way to downshift and lose speed. It was a rookie mistake, one that any seasoned driver would have avoided.

Despite my best efforts, I couldn't shake the feeling of disappointment. I'd come so close, only to be undone by a mechanical failure. It was a tough pill to swallow, especially when I thought about all the times I'd joked about being able to "mulligan" my way out of a bad lap.

As I watched the footage from the competition, I couldn't help but laugh at my own misfortune. The car had performed beautifully, and my driving had been solid. But in the end, it was just one mistake that cost me the win. It was a harsh reminder that even with the best preparation and skill, things can still go awry.

But as I reflected on the experience, I realized that it wasn't just about the car or my driving skills. It was about luck, timing, and a healthy dose of humility. If only I'd remembered to borrow someone's shifter last night, I might have avoided the whole ordeal. But life doesn't always work out that way.

As I left the track, I couldn't help but feel grateful for the experience. Despite the disappointment, I knew that it was an opportunity to learn and grow. And besides, as my mom would say, "It's not about being a winner or loser, it's about having fun and giving it your all."

And speaking of fun, I had the chance to hang out with some great people after the competition, including Kevin and Shulman. We swapped stories and jokes, laughing about the highs and lows of the day. It was a reminder that even in defeat, there's always something to be learned from.

But as we chatted, I couldn't help but think about the bigger picture. The Clutch Kickers series was doing something special, bringing together drivers from all over to compete for prizes and bragging rights. It was a testament to the power of community and support in the world of drifting.

So as I bid farewell to my friends and headed home, I felt grateful not just for the experience itself, but for the opportunity to be a part of something special. And who knows? Maybe next time, I'll be back on top, shifter intact and ready to take on the competition once again.

In the meantime, I figured it was only fair to give a shoutout to Clutch Kickers, the series that made all this possible. They're doing amazing work, bringing together some of the best drivers in the sport for a chance to win prizes and crown themselves champions. And if you're a fan of drifting, I highly recommend checking them out.

And finally, as a little treat, I decided to bust out my trusty burnout cam and show off some skills. It's always fun to get creative and push the limits, even when I'm not competing. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat's up guys in this competition day our first thing we're doing is going over the car just bull checking everything another thing that mean no one are doing right now is making spares so it keeps look at a 5-minute call my tie rods on my 13 are cut so we're just pre-cutting tie rods and having them ready because if we have a 5-minute call from an impact or something we need to change them quick trying to do the best we can to be prepared so I'm excited a lot of battles today if I make it through the ranks are probably gonna be up against friends or other drivers from FD and stuff and I'm excited to drive that's our team we had some really really legitimate cars it comes in fun our first battle today I don't recall the name but it's a pretty sick Alex FD that's really pretty so it's gonna be it's gonna be a boy Mike's been like googling goggling over the scar probably drink his wine last night I still from my first lap out today I'm gonna try something a little different and I'm gonna see if I can do third gear on my lead runs I think it'll give me a little bit more wheel speed and it'll get rid of a potential place of error when I have to do the handbrake downshift so I'm gonna give that a shot all right so this next run we're going against someone who goes by the name of Magic Mike he's a phenomenal driver he qualified first yesterday his cars very fast he's very consistent so I'm not gonna push it too hard but I'm gonna try to see how I stack up against one of the best drivers here and see if the cream sr20 can hang I'm gonna try pulling it down in a second for my chase I'm a bit more comfortable doing that rather than leaving in third and possibly getting choked out you'll have a lot of data on this car that I'm following so I'm gonna do my best to just hang back a little bit rather than getting too greedy cars feeling real good I'm happy with it I've been experimenting with 3rd and 2nd on that first entry and I think just leaving in seconds the answer all right so leading up in a competition the first battle is against the v8 FD that's really pretty how do I feel I experimented a lot in practice I think that there's definitely room for improvement on both my follows and my leads but I think I know what I need to do I think regardless of how the competition plays out I'm just happy to be driving this car again it's been a ball and getting the drive in tandem with these guys with like their FD cars all these crazy build with my little s 13 that he's like somewhat wild but also the car that I started drifting on has been really really cool for me it's great to see this thing moving again dude it's like what's wow just like it everything this car man like other donut through this car I did my first hand brake entries and she's still digging he's a good car our first battle will be leading against a blue v8 rx-7 I'm just going to do a nice conservative lead not try to do anything crazy and then just a good chase nothing crazy just do my thing showmen you copy turn so give me uh I like to okay I definitely messed up my little bit my front tires were way too cold I should have warmed them up longer yo and make note I'm getting a light squeak for my engine I think we'll be fine definitely not the best driving but I did the competitive tactic and I didn't go crazy in my lead I didn't go crazy in my chase and I think we should have the win on this one it's really tough for me though not to just be on everyone's door all the time because that's what I want to do but it's so risky and in competition it's a stupid thing to do thank you that was nice nor they just pointing you thank you nobody I just get the point I thought that was a handshake and was a good heartfelt went out of food water so our last belt was pretty old and started to crack so here we're gonna risk going out there blowing a belt so much room right here has a current stock I start borrowing it belt thanks to him replace real quick to be extra safe out there on track we're good to go in the s13 atom LZ all right we're going against Kevin Lawrence from an Jukka racing and is our 32 skyline I'm excited go against Kevin that was a really good driver I like the thing I move is a friend I don't know if he thinks of me as a friend I would hope so it was very helpful building my skyline and our 32 and all our B stuff is good dude whoo-hoo Karla's didn't like that right there oh my god I can't believe I forgot to downshift I'm so stupid I guess I just gotta hope I do well I forgot to downshift hi I knew that shifting would be my biggest issue with this car but oh my God my shifter broke I need a call of five yeah hey I need a call of five my shifts are actually broke I need you to come over here with like I think it's a six or an email Allen ASAP oh no God dang it this shifter thing I knew it's a 6 or an 8 I can't drive the car right now hey do you have a knife on you do you have a knife on you I got one God dang it nope my shifter broke yeah it's a quick fix oh that's so stupid hey the car won't drive the shifter popped out right here no no it's all good oh I just need them I can't get this no here it just take this trim it's loosen that is it gonna do it I'm just gonna run no trim yeah that sucks bro I know I didn't realize the shifter broke I thought I'd miss shifted cars all good such a bummer I guess all I can do now is my best possible lead hope for the best sad sad such a sad ending stupid car I wish there was like a mulligan like a one more try when there's a mechanical failure great job and brother he's moving on I still got to drive the car and have a good time but I really like thought that I'd be able to do well well I call the guys I knew that I was either gonna spin or my shifter was gonna give me issues but it wasn't what I anticipated in be what happened in be happy what you do the ship the shifter broke you break your hand your hands not broken in me in be how old are you see it's not broken you could use it I'm not gonna know till I watch back the footage you guys already know I think I just got it kind of got in my own head and I think I forgot to downshift and then I think that's when the shifter broke I think the shifter pulled out when I was like oh I forgot to put it in second and then I put it in second and then I think it popped out I'll know when I watch the footage the car is great I felt like my driving was really really decent me I felt like I'm driving good this weekend all right and it's just stupid I hate losing I guess that was me if the shifter broke after either way it sucks to lose to something stupid like that like I I like to get out driven and not make dumb mistakes it's a bummer I'm happy that I lost to Kevin and not someone else like if I lost to Schulman Thanks seriously we're talking about this cuz Shulman wants to come to the next level originally the plan was get the e36 here I think it's better that I drove this because this car is more sorted and the e36 just needs a couple more shakedown like if I lost to Schulman like I don't ride home is that the deal in a race and their arrays and folio sounds pretty good see that tall I just reviewed the footage and believe it or not it's actually Shulman's fault it's a very very long and complicated story but let's just say you needed to borrow my shifter last night I don't know why yeah so it looks like I didn't forget to downshift like I thought I did it looks like I went to downshift and the shifter must have already been acting up didn't go in and then I somehow got it in and then did you yeah bro yeah you saw my lap apparently you need to think I straightened bro no you're straight but like I couldn't tell it was complete you know what sucks though I told Schulman if I podium we'd get texas roadhouse but we didn't podium so trash can that resembles subway woman don't talk about your friend like that geez I'm so funny when I'm sad mama said no matter what I'm a winner good shape I don't want to shake it this thing's been sitting in our cooler since what was the last trick competition I don't know to give this to him nope be a micro gonna Wine and Dine the night I don't want this you brought it ito welcome to what again I don't know what sort of outro we recorded for this video but I just want to give a massive thank you to clutch kickers I think what they're doing for the sport of drifting is awesome they're really no series that gave out this kind of money and you can see by all the cars that it drew out here and all the great drivers that drew out here that that's a very big incentive for these drivers to come out here with a chance to actually win some cash I know comparing it to FD there's more seat time it was more laid-back it was more fun it was easier to be competitive in cars that are like vastly different because of the track and layout and it was just a very good time so I know Taylor had a lot of kind of words to say about the series but I am in definite mutual agreements I'm gonna do my best to make it out to the next rounds I don't know if I have any sort of scheduling conflicts so I don't know if I'm going to be able to but it was really fantastic and I'm very appreciative that people are doing something like this for the sport of drifting so we will see you soon okay bye so to end this video I'm gonna do some burnouts for you guys I just got to make sure that you guys massive thumbs up slap like now alright when you say\n"