This is the most affordable way to get behind the wheel on the road course at Sandia Motorsports Park.

We divide the 1.3 mile road course in half to allow drifting and a road course portion simultaneously.

Road Course:
To keep everyone safe we add a few cones on the road course portion.

Drifting:
Being able to drift on a road course for the price we offer is out of this world!!  The entertainment offered for spectators is also amazing.  Spectators can ride along with drifters and experience the fun of sliding sideways at up to 50mph.  Drifting at these events are by far the best bang for the buck offered in central New Mexico.  You can literally drift as much as you want until you have no tires left.  Come out and join in the action with your own car or have an awesome time watching and getting rides with drivers.

2010 Event Schedule
April 10 9am – 3pm
June 12 9am – 3pm
August 14 9am – 3pm
October 24 9am – 3pm

Talk about this event in the forums:
http://racingsouthwest.com/forums/index.php?/forum/93-rsw-drift-cross/

For those that are new to these events, Drift-Cross has something everyone: some time on the road course, an autocross circuit, and a separate area for drifting – ALL at the same time!

Directions to Sandia Motor Speedway

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Pricing

Road/Autocross: $50
Drifting: $60
BOTH: $70

* Helmets REQURED for driver and passenger(s)
* Driver gets one (1) person in FREE

Spectator entry / pit pass: $5
Under 14: Free

Time

Doors open: 8:30 AM
Tech inspection begins at 8:30 AM
Entire event is scheduled from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Road Course & Auto-x:

We have one track that utilizes both types of driving all in one lap. This caters to both types of drivers who are used to driving tight, slower tracks as well drivers who are used to driving wider, faster tracks. We incorporate turns 1-7 on the road course and then use the south side of the oval to then enter back onto the paved open area, where we make a small 3 or 4 turn auto-x course that will test your car on slow, tight, fast, and also sweeping turns. We have timing equipment that allows us to have a start/finish line wherever we please. We have a few different classes for racing. We also have a go kart/shifter kart class. The classes are fairly lax on what is allowed and what is not. We do this to hopefully get each person in the proper class where they can be competitive. Even though these are just for fun, we have a points system and keep track of everyones points over the course of the season. If these are a success, there will be prizes given at the end of the year for different accomplishments for each class. We allow completely stock cars with drivers that have never been on a course before all the way to full race cars and experienced drivers. We will cap the number of drivers allowed to come if we get too many as I want to make sure everyone gets a lot of track time.

Drifting:

For half day half night events we utilize the north course and outer and inner ovals. We have a course layout and this will be a practice and a competition. There will be tandem action allowed but there will be further safety necessities done to the car as well as driver experience before given the go-ahead for tandem drifting. We always have tons of track time.

Spectators:

Each paid driver will be allowed (1) person to enter with them for FREE!!! They will only be FREE if they come at the same time as you, not later to meet you there. All other spectators are $5 and that includes pit passes, being able to walk and spectate pretty much anywhere. All spectators are also allowed to ride along in cars with drivers as long as the vehicle passes tech. for the passenger side and the passenger has a helmet. Passengers are NOT allowed during tandem drifting, no exceptions.

Tech:

Tires must show good tread and cannot be corded, All front seatbelts must be in working order. Harnesses are ok as long as they are mounted correctly, Battery must have a tie down, and positive terminal must be covered. All wheel bearings must be free of play, Steering system must be in good working order and should not be loose, No leaking fluids, All lug nuts must be present, All body panels must be attached securely to the car.

For more information on the event, please check out the official thread which is located here.

Also, check out some past coverage from the 5/24/2009 event that was taken by RSW user “eyehate.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Event results and photos will be updated shortly.

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Event sponsored by:
Motiva Performance

If you have any photos please upload them to the RSW Flickr Feed:
http://flickr.com/groups/racingsouthwest/

Other coverage:
DefStyle

Unlike other teenagers who conform to the generational classifications laid forth through history, I decided not to spend my money in a frivolous fashion on whatever whim I was so inclined to at the time. It’s easy to gather complacency in the promise of making more money next year, and I knew that I wanted to work towards something that was more significant than some misplaced assertion that I was king of the street races. Instead I gathered my pennies together from my meager wage and bought a 1997 Ford Mustang GT, and I knew full well what I intended to do with it.

Mustangs are a fairly new force for the Japanese dominated world of drifting. I knew from the get-go that to have a mildly competitive car I would have to spend money, which not a simple task for a full-time college student. By systematically stripping my life of any other expenditures including electronics, clothes, and gifts for whomever I was dating, I was able to direct my full financial resources to gas and my car.

Obviously there is a trade off for such behavior. I soon started to miss eating lunch, I had to deny the flat screen TV that so desperately wanted a perch on my shelf, and my girlfriend, tired of me never buying her anything, decided to move on. But I kept at it. First it was racing seats, then a roll cage, then a coil over suspension system. With all of this money, one would expect that the car was developing along nicely. I would agree that it was. However, the problem was that I as a driver was not developing.

There are two main steps to becoming a good drifter. One is having a car powered by its rear wheels. The other is seat time. I found myself constantly lacking the latter. Practice came in two forms. The Racing Southwest drift days at Sandia MotorSport Park was, and continues to be, the only legal drifting oriented track time in the Albuquerque area. I was thankful to have any sanctioned driving experience at my doorstep, but at roughly once a month I was questioning the the compromises I was having to make for about 30 hours annually. The exclusivity of the sport may have kept me excited, but being motivated doesn’t translate into a good driver. Unfortunately, the calendar for this year has been further reduced to 5 drift days, making every opportunity count even more.

As most drifters do, I found myself street drifting. While the name may invoke images of drifting through intersections at breakneck speed and sucking pedestrians into one’s wheel wells, I can attest that is not so. What it generally encompasses is finding a large empty parking lot to simply learn the basics of car control, away from innocent bystanders and others property.

Unfortunately, the Albuquerque Police Department doesn’t take too kindly to these sorts of improvised track days. Based on the antisocial behavior of parking lot frequenters it’s hardly a surprise that when the police do show up it usually ends with the stipulation to leave, at worst with warnings and citations to show for it. This is the dilemma faced by the average grassroots drifter: a compromise between improving their role as a driver and having an extensive police record.

Preferably something has to change. Politicians seem to be motivated to put an end to street racing, and law enforcement encourages the increased use of drag strips for those who partake in straight line racing. Drifting has yet to take on the popularity of these illegal street races, with those claiming to participate being a tiny fraction of the overall street scene. Subsequently, there seems to be no leniency when discussing the legality of drifting at the grassroots level.

Drifting has grown in leaps and bounds in the last few years, and the highest levels of competition now see the support of major brands of the automotive industry, including tire companies, aftermarket parts companies, and even the manufacturers themselves. This unprecedented level of support has trickled down to the common drifter in small ways, as there is undoubtedly a larger number of hosted events across the nation compared to three or four years ago. All the same, the problem that I experience for myself is the same of many drivers. We want recognition and we want seat time.

Skateboarders have grown to a large enough population that local governments build parks solely for their benefit. With municipalities expending energy and resources to placate these groups, would they not be willing to do this for the drifting community? Just one plot of paved land is enough to learn from, but as of now there is nowhere to do this with impunity from the law. This can be considered a request, a postulation to recognize drifting not as a subversion of traffic law or sanctioning of delinquency, but acceptance of young adults who pacify their restlessness by sliding their cars. My own American dream is to have a little piece of land that I can leave a little rubber and have a good time doing it.

The first step is to clean out your car.  The junk cluttering up the back seat becomes a flying mass of projectiles during a race.  The first time I autocrossed my Focus, I was oblivious to the fact that  CDs become flying saucers of doom when g-forces are in play.  I had a set of ten CDs in a visor mounted case.  By turn three, they became a driving hazard by flying right onto my dash, passenger seat, and floor.

The second important race preparation is checking your tire pressure.  Under normal driving conditions, passenger car tires need about 36 pounds per square inch (PSI) of air pressure.  In a road race, drift, or autocross setting, tires should be inflated above the car manufacturer’s specifications.  This is because when your car takes corners, the weight is shifted to the outermost tire.  This shift in weight can compress the sidewall on your tire.  By filling it up with more air, you are protecting your sidewall from the added stress.  This will make your tires last a lot longer, plus you avoid rubbing your wheels on the pavement.

There are many theories about how much air to put into your tires.  If this is your first time out, look at the sidewall of your tire.  There is small lettering indicating the maximum pressure that the tire will hold.  It can be anywhere between 44 and 55 PSI.  After you have determined the max pressure, fill all four tires up 5 PSI less than the max.  If you cannot locate the max pressure, inflate them to 42 PSI.  This is enough pressure to keep most sidewalls from caving in too much, and a good starting point.  After you get a little bit more comfortable with your car, you can start messing with your tire pressures.

So, you’ve checked your tire pressure, it’s now time to check the tread.  Tread wear is measured in 32nds of an inch (1/32”).  This is because 1/32nd of an inch is the smallest size the human eye can see.  On most tires, there are tread wear indicators built into the tread.  As soon as the tire wears down to 2/32nds (1/16”) of an inch, the tread wear indicators become visible.  They are small strips of hard rubber that run perpendicular to the face of the tire.  If you can see several of the indicators, it’s time for new tires.

You can also purchase a tool called a tread wear indicator.  It looks like a vaccine, but instead of injecting fluid, you push a tiny ruler into the deepest Tire tread indicatorgroove in the tire tread.  When the ruler bottoms out, remove the tool and record the measurement.  Take measurements in a few spots on the tire to determine how worn it is.  There will be a safety inspection before the race, and if your tires are too worn out, you may not get to race.

The safety inspection is very important. The race techs usually inspect wheels, tires, steering, throttle linkage, and battery tie down.  It is a good idea to inspect these items yourself a few days before the race.  Make sure all of your lug nuts are torqued down in the proper order.  Visually inspect your throttle linkage while someone presses the accelerator pedal.  Make sure the spring-loaded lever moves back and forth smoothly.  If your throttle sticks open on the track it can be devastating.  Other major components to check include brakes and suspension, including shocks and struts.

Lastly, check all of your fluids.  It’s difficult to get motivated to change your oil in the cold winter, but now that it’s warming up, get out there and change it.  You will be saving your engine and your wallet.  Also check your brake fluid, coolant, power steering fluid, and transmission fluid if possible.  Most cars don’t have a tranny dipstick, but they do have fill and drain plugs.  It may be time to change that as well.

The last helpful tip I have involves removing your horn, turn signal, and windshield wiper fuses.  This will save you from the embarrassing occurrence of honking or cleaning your windshield mid-turn.

Now you’re ready to race.  Not sure where the next race is?  Check the forums.  The RSW Drift Cross is one of the best venues to start racing.  It gives participants a chance to try out road racing, drifting, and autocross.