Ryan Sage & Jim Liaw, Co-Founders of Formula Drift

"We attribute a lot of our success to great relationships..." Ryan Sage & Jim Liaw, Co-Founders of Formula Drift

Apparently Drifting is a pretty big deal. And I'm not talking about in Japan or even in the US. We already know about that part. I'm talking globally. There should be little to no doubt that the tens of thousands of satisfied customers served annually by the Formula Drift series have helped contribute to the steady growth of the sport beyond just the borders of North America. From National TV coverage on the SPEED channel, to features written in Esquire magazine and every other DVD, Podcast and Web Video in between, Formula Drift and its founders have blazed new trails that have lead to everything from the creation of new products, new jobs along with some remarkable hangovers for those of us who have been on tour with them.

Ryan Sage and Jim Liaw (Co-Founders of Formula Drift LLC), come from humble beginnings that started in a little office in Irvine, California that was about the size of my wife's shoe closet. "We were Slipstream Global Marketing back then" Ryan mentioned. "We were slugging away doing agency work for a couple of clients when we were given the opportunity to work with the D1GP on bringing their first ever event to the US." An event that was held at the now infamous "House of Drift" in Irwindale and that by most standards went off exceptionally well. Heck, it was a sell-out. That might have you asking why then aren’t Jim and Ryan still working with D1 and just doing more of their events across the US? How did FD even come to be?

"Working with D1 was a struggle for us" said Jim. "After that first event that went so well, we were baffled as to why they didn’t want to continue a series here in the US. We had all of these sponsors that loved the experience and saw the potential of drifting in the US and who wanted to do more events but D1 just wouldn't commit" he explained. "We came up with every possible solution that we could think of to make something work, but they said if they were going to do a series in the US, they would just open an office here and maybe use us as contractors, or maybe not." Jim added. "I think the dirty secret here is that if the D1GP were really committed to growing the sport in the US then they would have done something at that time instead of little one off events here and there teasing us with announcements of a series that never came to be." The rest is history as they say, and we all know what happened after that. There was a very juicy carrot left in the garden and no fencing to keep the rabbits out.

Since Formula D's launch as a fledging drifting series in the US, they've grown from holding 4 events annually to 7. "We've seen consistent growth year after year and have been able to re-calibrate based on individual markets to help facilitate that growth" said Ryan. "There are a lot of factors that go into our evaluation of a venue that determine whether or not it's a fit for us, but what's really encouraging is that these days there are actually track's that are modifying their facilities just to accommodate us." Yet there's more to holding successful events like Formula D than just the fans. Sponsors play a big part in whether a promoter can even afford to bring his show to a facility. "We attribute a lot of our success to great relationships with our sponsors" Ryan insisted. "If you look at our major sponsors when we started and our major sponsors now, you won't see any changes. They've grown with us and we think our long term relationship attitudes towards business have played a role in that."

Moving forward Ryan and Jim have some ambitious plans for Formula D that include even further expansion into global segments. "We're looking at doing more events in Asia next year, along with Mexico and maybe even Canada." said Ryan. What separates FD from other motorsport franchises that haven't done as well in other countries? "Much of our good fortune in foreign markets is due to trusting the local promoters there" added Jim. "We don't just march into unfamiliar territory and start telling people how it's going to be and how to do things. We let local promoters do what they do because they know the environment best."