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RACING Jim Liaw, co-founder and president of Formula Drift Holdings LLC, is a Taiwanese- American entrepreneur who leveraged his experience and passion for motorsports into a successful career. He has been able to cultivate relationships in Asia that ultimately enabled him to be the first person to take "drifting" outside of Japan and introduce the extreme, always-sideways motorsport to America. His creation of Formula Drift is the first and only sanctioned professional, side-by-side drifting circuit outside of Japan, and is now in its fourth season. Like many boys, Liaw was a car enthusiast well before he was able to drive. After graduating from UCLA in Asian- American Studies, Liaw caught the surge of the import-car racing and tuner scene and turned it into a career. After stints in sport compact/import drag racing, Liaw co-founded Formula Drift, Inc. in 2003. Based in Long Beach, Calif., it is the premier drifting championship in the world with an ESPN2 television package that will reach 91 million homes. We caught up with Liaw recently for a quick interview. ZYLA: Jim, let's start with your happy tire sponsors. Please tell our readers how quickly you use up tires in a drift event and which companies are backing your series? LIAW: Very true, Greg. Depending on the weight of your car, your driving style and the pavement abrasion, you can be out of a set of tires in minutes or you can have them wear for the entire day. Our tire sponsors include BFG, Bridgestone, Cooper, Falken, Hankook, Maxxis, Nitto and Toyo. ZYLA: Has the drifting popularity impacted rear-wheeldrive sales at car dealerships? Which models are most popular to modify? LIAW: We are impacting new and used car dealerships. New cars like the Dodge Charger, Ford Mustang, Pontiac Solstice, Nissan 350Z, Mazda RX8 and MX5 are all viable drift cars. Older models like the Toyota Corolla GTS (1986 and earlier) and Nissan 240sx have all gone up in value. In regions like Southern California, a fivespeed 240sx is a very rare find. ZYLA: Would you agree or disagree that drifting is at a better stage than, say, Monster Truck racing in popularity and growth potential? Monster Trucks pack coliseums nowadays, but there is really no true "consumer identification" with a Monster Truck, whereas in drifting, you have instant consumer identity as they drive home afterward in their Nissan, Mazda, Mustang, Firebird and Toyota? LIAW: Well, Monster Truck (racing) is like WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). The drivers and the teams are all "employees" of the series. The "spirit" of drifting is based on street cars, and thus there is instant consumer identification. And you have great competition between new and old, two doors and four doors, domestic and import cars. ZYLA: Where do you think drifting will be in five years? LIAW: In five years we hope to have a strong, solid 10 to 12 event North American schedule. We would host a world championship event. We will have strong affiliates in various parts of the world, like we already have in Australia and Europe. ZYLA: What do you credit your success to, overall? LIAW: I have to mention my partner, Ryan Sage. I credit our success to the relationships we share with the drivers. This is a business, but Ryan and I were friends from the beginning, it's made learning how to do this job a lot easier, plus it's allowed all of us to become better friends in the end. Write to Greg Zyla in care of King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL32853-6475, or send an e-mail to letters.kfws@hearstsc.com.
(c) 2007 King Features Synd., Inc.
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