Tandem drifting has always interested freshman Adit Swami, and now he can help out a local drift team.
Tandem drifting is a type of race where a lead car does multiple tricks to impress the judges. The follower car must try to match all the movements of the lead car. The judges then award points based on how closely the follower followed the lead. After that, the leader and the follower switch roles and come back.
Swami was able to get into the team thanks to his brother’s karate coach.
“My brother got a free karate trial. His karate teacher was actually the owner of the drift team and he connected me with his team. So I got an internship with them. I just help them change the engines and do any kind of maintenance or upgrades to their car. I’m training from them. They have a connection with Formula Drift. So I could even get to a higher level with the RTR Mustangs and all that stuff,” he said. said Swami.
Tire smoke is known to cause cancer as it has components similar to cigarettes and vapors. Despite the risk, Swami still enjoyed the experience and was able to learn a lot from the opportunities. He has attended a couple of events so far.
“The guys there were nice and if you ask a few questions, they show you the car and everything. So they are open to questions is very unusual in other places,” Swami said.
The event he went to on March 24th was just a practice run, so he got to see a lot of cars with engines like swap V8s, 350z, turbo E36s, and M3s.
“At the April event, there were a lot more cars as the real competition was just around the corner. There were a few more colleges participating in the drag racing event behind the drift,” he said.
This event was Swami’s favorite because he got to see drift cars and lots of modified cars.
“There was not much to do because we have already fixed the car. i just looked [the competition] that day.” Swami said.
Swami looks forward to continuing to help the team and learn more about drifting. He currently only helps with maintenance tasks and is not yet able to drive due to his age.
“I might. I’ll just do it for fun. I probably won’t become a driver. I like doing the mods, the engine and all that, not necessarily the driving. It’s too late to start driving anyway. If you want to be a professional driver, you have to do professional karting at the age of 6. Plus you have to be like a millionaire because the races cost $250,000 every time you race,” said Swami.
