I can’t even believe it, but Keep Drifting Fun won Speedhunters Video of the Year! What absolutely blows my mind is that it beat out Ken Block’s Gymkhana 5, amidst a long list of equally fantastic videos. Incredible!

I am still super honored to have been a part of this project. Both in front of and behind the camera. I’m so proud of what this simple phrase has matured into, and even more proud of all the people who helped make it what it is today (you know who you are). It is truly amazing.And in case you’ve been living under a rock…

No words. Just watch. Enjoy.
OR ELSE.

The date is fast approaching, and the time has finally come. Keep Drifting Fun. Fed up with watching fame, money, and sponsorship deals destroying friendship and camaraderie, I coined the phrase in 2008 in total frustration at the tail end of my professional drift career in this video. I saw too many people losing sight of why we got into this crazy sport, so as I made my exit from professional drifting, I wanted to leave with a message. Keep Drifting Fun. OR ELSE.

Little did I know at that time what an impact those three simple words would come to have on the sport (five if you include my threat). It is a simple message that has been embraced around the world… thanks hugely in part to none other than Will Roegge and Joshua Herron. After meeting the two of them, and collaborating with them on the Don’t Stop video and the DMGGMASD2 Video… Will and Josh told me they wanted to make a cross-country grassroots documentary in a Volkswagen Bus along the lines of Slide America. They told me they wanted to call it… “Keep Drifting Fun”. I knew if anyone understood the ethos, and could pull it off right, it was these two. And boy have they ever pulled it off. PROPER. I am incredibly proud of these guys, and VERY honored that they chose this message to spearhead the documentary into something invariably larger than the sum of all those involved.With the help of NOS Energy Drink, the world premiere of WR+Co’s Keep Drifting Fun will be right here in Atlanta on May 10th at the Midtown Arts Cinema… the Thursday night before Round 2 of Formula Drift up at Road Atlanta. There will be two screenings, one at 8pm, and another at 9pm. The entire thing will be available to watch FOR FREE online one week after. That’s right. FREE.

I am VERY proud to be a part of this in so many ways… and cannot wait for the premiere!In case you missed the trailer… it deserves a repost

For years now, I’ve always seen photos of the mystically bearded man standing right up against the wall at Long Beach as drift cars blast, smash, and crash right by him. His unflinching courage and never-back-down attitude always had me wondering… “WHO IS THIS MAN?!?” Now, thanks to Will, Skylar, Josh, and Hert… we no longer have to guess. He is indelibly awesome, and has easily solidified himself as a part of American driftlore.

Pure. Drifting. Awesomeness. I don’t even remember saying that.

Also… what Ryan Tuerck says in this trailer is SO right on. I am forever in debt to this crazy sport for all of the experiences and relationships with incredible people it has bestowed upon me. Real talk.

My excitement level went through the roof when Will and Josh sent me a link to the rough cut of this teaser! I could not wait to sink my teeth into some motion graphics for the piece. I was worried, however… that my schedule wasn’t going to free up to allow me the luxury. Lucky for me, it did! I was eager to try some new things, and help give the teaser a deservingly polished style with the graphics treatment. I am very pleased how they turned out, and cannot wait to work more with Will and Josh on the rest of the project! I am enthralled at the idea of expanding on what I did for this teaser and further developing it into something even stronger for the project.Hats off to Will and Josh for the shots/edit. I really cannot wait to see more!

Gran Turismo East – Michelin Spot from Andy Sapp on Vimeo.

HUGE thanks to my buddy Alex for the amazing voiceover, to Will and Josh for hooking me up with some of the incredible footage, and to Cody for letting me borrow his 5DMKII!Biggest thanks of all goes to Kieran at GTE for all his amazing help and unparalleled support over the years – both to myself and to the drifting community as a whole. Atlanta drifting would not be anything close to what it is today without it.If you’re in the Southeast, keep an eye out for this commercial airing on Comcast very soon!

Made a super-last-minute decision to make a pilgrimage to Englishtown for East Coast Bash.

The last time I was there was 4 years ago to shoot Slide America, and I didn’t have time to pull my car off the trailer to drive. With Will and Josh in attendance to shoot for Keep Drifting Fun… it seemed all-the-more fitting to get back there for some driving. I’ve been telling Petty I was coming back for 4 years… so it was time to make due on that.

We showed up around noon on Sunday. This track is so amazingly awesome that I was instantly bummed I wasn’t able to get there on Saturday. So many configurations… none-of-which are bad. I instantly felt at home on this track. The more I drove it, the better things felt. I had such a blast… and cannot thank Petty enough for having us up! Towards the end of the day I felt a weird vibration in the car, and decided to call it a day before I blew something up.

The next day we took the car to Roots Factory in Coatesville, PA to give it a once-over. I didn’t feel like cracking open the diff-carrier… but it seemed like something wasn’t quite working with the diff. It had more play than usual, and you could turn the wheels against themselves if you pulled hard enough. Byron noted that my car looked right at home at this shop.

My buddy Brad Hettinger had already basically stripped his down to a shell in less than a day’s time. We decided to take a funny picture for his build-thread..

The next day we saddled up, and drove about an hour and a half from Hater Dan’s house in Pennsylvania to a top-secret locale for an OG underground hoodrat sesh. What went down inside this warehouse was UN. REAL. Rob Fleming met us, as well as a few local rippers, for a crazy closed-door session that lasted several hours. UN. REAL. Will and Josh piloted the KDF van to the location to document things. They wound up with some of the craziest shots I have ever seen in drifting. MASSIVE thanks to Dan for hooking this insanity up. Keep an eye out for the Keep Drifting Fun DVD to peep what went down!

After that madness settled down, we headed back to Pennsylvania, only to re-pack and head back to Jersey for Gardella Racing’s ‘Throttle Thursday’… which brought out a bunch of FD pro-drivers… many of which (including myself for a li’l while) kicked around skateboards and braved the park on BMX bikes. This was my first time inside a skatepark since 1998… and I was REALLY scared! (more on that in a minute…) We all had a good time, including our jump-session in the foam pit (01:35 in).

The advent of the foam pit was definitely after ‘my time’ in skating. I had never been in one, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I will say this much – they aren’t exactly as soft as you think. Whatever you do… DO NOT open your mouth, or else you get tiny bits of gross sweaty foam in it. UGH. Once I got up on that railing to jump… it was a good bit higher than I originally thought. Either way, I had to get in on a front-flip to complete the night.

Next up was Formula Drift New Jersey. The folks at NOS Energy were awesome enough to let us spring an impromptu booth-space in front of their bunker so we could help sell Will and Josh’s tees. Josh looks asleep in this picture.

Tony brought by some of the new DA American Steel Tees that I designed. They turned out SICKKKKK. These are available in the Slide Style™ store now!.

Alex caught me red-handed in this photo. After my shattered collar-bone in September of 2007… I swore I would never step foot on a skateboard ever again. I was actually banned by friends and family. After nearly three years, I finally caved. I totally understand how people who try to quit smoking feel. For three years I’ve been getting the ‘urge’ to skate like a smoker’s spiral into a nicotine-fit. I have to say… it feels good to ride again – even if I am riding like an old man scared for his life..

A couple funny jump-shots that my buddy Larry Chen snapped while I was wearing Lihnberg’s wig. If you haven’t been to Larry’s site, DriftFotos – CHECK. IT. OUT. Dude is a madman behind the lens – an amazing photographer for SURE. Plus he likes jump shots, which is RAD.

After FD, we headed south to Baltimore to meet up with the Drift Alliance crew to go see Hall and Oates in concert.

I never thought I would go see Hall and Oates… but we had a blast. It’s so smooth! SO SMOOTH.

After Baltimore, we made a quick stop in Philadelphia to get some proper cheesesteaks & pretzels with Will, Josh, and Andy Laputka. On the way back to Atlanta we made a minor detour to Manhattan. After an all-night drive back down the East Coast, we made it back home. What an astounding trip, and an incredible few weeks up North.

SUPER HUGE THANKS to my buddy Dan Bailey for letting us crash at his place for so long, and for the amazing hospitality.

Southeast Drift’s Triple Threat 3 went down the day after FD Atlanta… which was awesome because it brought out a TON of FD drivers to our local shredding ground.

We towed the injured KDF van down to Turner Field so we could set up a booth and sell some swag.

The booth setup was PROPER.

Josh (left) and Will (right) were shooting the event for the DVD. Josh was looking gangster on my bro’s Dyno flexing the Slide Style™ KD Tee. I see Mr. Alvendia up in the mix as well!.

David Lee of Risky Devil was also rocking the Slide Style™ KD Tee while Shawn made a funny face..

Some drifting was had. Tons of awesome tandem with a slew of FD pros like Dennis Mertzanis, Matt Powers, Tony Angelo, Chris Forsberg, Ryan Tuerck, Tony Brokohiapa, and more. It was rad. It is great to see the pro dudes mix it up with the local-folk.

Afterwards we crept through some plush downtown neighborhoods in search of parking…

So we could all eat at an old staple of mine: La Fonda Latina. Good food, good people, and GOOD TIMES for sure.

One thing I have always loved about motorsports is the paradigm of the sacrifices involved to conquer personal achievements along the way. One achievement that has eluded me for 6 years has been to successfully navigate the drift-course at Road Atlanta… specifically the entry into 10a, and linking the downhill section tracking out of the horseshoe back down to 10b (sans-manji).

Perched at the top of the hill talking to my buddy Joshua Herron… I couldn’t help but ponder all the years of bad luck, broken parts, STUPID limp-mode, ecu problems. I’ve basically been cursed. Seriously.

The duration of practice would unfold in much the same manner as the past… cursed. Even with a fully-functioning hydraulic e-brake – I still wasn’t acclimated to the point of total comfort. I even had another close call with a flat-spin in the narrow patch of grass between the track and the wall. My Yokohamas had SO much grip that they rocketed me right towards the wall. It scared me so bad I threw up in my mouth.When qualifying came around… we cranked the tyre pressures up around 60-65, and with some advice from Eugene, I came flying into 10a without my normal flick to set the car up. To my surprise… IT WORKED.

With the entry checked off my list, all I had to do was get the car back down the hill out of the horseshoe. My buddy Mike Peters had called me a week prior and given me some advice on my line to help me do this. To my surprise… IT ALSO WORKED.

Back down the hill I went, with just enough wheelspeed, momentum, and RPMs to get within reach of 10b. It would take a massive handful of that e-brake… but it would work.

To say that I was excited would be a MASSIVE understatement. Hell… Cloud-9 still doesn’t quite describe it. I had been fighting this track for 6 years… and with the help of all my friends, Matt Foerst, Kieran O’Brien, Eugene Chou and Mike Peters… I was able to finally break my Road Atlanta curse.

I ended up qualifying 8th, and was paired up with Jason Giovanni from Florida for top 16. On my lead-run… Jason straighted out, and on Jason’s lead-run… I straightened out. I think it should have gone OMT, but it didn’t – and Jason moved on. I was still so excited about my qualifying runs… that I didn’t even care that I got knocked out.

I don’t expect everyone to understand what a special moment this was for me. Tons of dudes rip this track every year with little trouble. I never thought this 3300lb car could get it’s 180 horses to push it through the track like this. I had it drilled into my own head that I couldn’t… and with the help of my friends… I did it.

I was able to hang out with all the DriftMechaniks/Team Rowdy dudes and just have a good time. These dudes are the best on the planet, and I dare anyone to attempt to prove otherwise.

This was a day I will NEVER forget.
EVER.

The past three weeks have been a whirlwind of chaos and awesome. Round 2 of Formula Drift has come and gone… and with it came some SERIOUS life memories. At one point I think we had 13 people staying at my house. Every night it seemed like someone new. While I am glad things have returned to normal… I can honestly say it has left me slightly depressed! So many good times, I don’t even know where to begin. Race week started a bit early… when my good friends Will Roegge and Joshua Herron made an S.O.S. call to me. Their 1974 Volkswagen van had broken down a few hours south of Atlanta in LaGrange. The ‘Westy’ is their home-on-the-road during primary photography for their cross-country documentary, “KEEP DRIFTING FUN”.

After procuring Tyler’s trailer at midnight, Wes and Lieze and I rocketed southbound for a rescue mission. Halfway there we got a call that the van started… so we met up with them on the highway just to be safe.

The Westy wasn’t running well at all… so with cue from Eugene, we took it to Barry Palmer Auto for a diagnostic eval from an air-cooled guru. The van’s motor had no compression, and was in need of a transplant.

I picked up a new roof spoiler from paint at Jeff’s Auto Restoration to replace the one that flew off in-tow last year.

My tow-hooks came back from KILLIN’ EM. Fresh hit of satin black to hide the ol’ red. Thanks Scott!!!

Picked up a few miscellaneous parts for the car. Water temp sensor adapter from TRM and a new cabin AC filter. I also snagged a new OE radiator, spark plugs, and wiper blades (not pictured).

I re-worked the wiring for the back of my gauges… including some quick-disconnects for easier maintenance.

I got frisky with The Destroyer™ and pulled the front end apart.

So I could bake the lower light housings and hit the reflectors yellow. While the grill was off, I had Jeff hit the chrome bits with paint to match the body color… and I re-wrapped the Chevy emblem with black vinyl. I also installed a 3000K HID kit from DDM Tuning.

We adopted an awesome (outside) cat. Lieze named him Meow Meow.

I had Pho for the first time.

I gave the e46 a much-needed wash before taking her to the track…

and the next thing I knew I was being bombarded with water balloons by kids in the neighborhood.

Luckily my friends Drew Fishbein and Ross Fairfield were there to catch the action for their site OMGDRIFT!

Then Formula Drift came crashing back into my life full-force for FD Pro Am. I put my game face beard on for an amazing weekend… which I will leave for another post.

The day after FD was a Southeast Drift event at Turner (more on this later). Tons of FD dudes came out to shred with us local-folk.

Then the new 2.0L motor for the Westy arrived via freight.

We took the van back to Palmer Auto where Barry and Mikey took the reigns from there to get the van back running in tip-top shape. The larger motor with mechanical lifters will make the rest of Will and Josh’s voyage on the high-seas of FUN much better.

Slowly… all my house guests began departing to their corners of the globe… leaving behind some amazing memories and awesome times. Will and Josh were the last to return to the road in the Westy… headed north to Jersey by way of Charlotte, Richmond, Baltimore and Philly. With everyone gone, and my house back it’s quiet state, I’m left to reflect on how lucky I am. Not only has this crazy motorsport taken me places I never thought possible… it has also introduced me to some of the most creative, talented, and overall BADASS DUDES on the planet. And for that… I am truly honored and extremely grateful.

<3

I’ve been sick… so I’m late posting this. PRETTY. WILD

Now… someone from BBC fly all of us over for a show cameo.TopGear.com

If you didn’t know… this Hobo ain’t your average hobo. He ith a cultivator of fine beards, exquisite cinematography, and wondrous colour grades. Joshua “Hobo” Herron just dropped his ’09 demo reel on the world… and no, he didn’t upload it from a freeway off-ramp holding a sign that says “Why lie? I need a beer”.Bask in the omnipresent talent exuded in this three-minute sampling of work. Then, when you are done… hire this man so I can enjoy more visuals of this caliber.

Sit back, crank your speakers, and prepare your life to become the equivalent of a Maxell commercial, as the automotive-filmmaker’s dream team that is Will Roegge and Joshua Herron announce “Keep Drifting Fun.” This will be their first feature-length production about grassroots drifting in America. Over the course of this year, the duo will be taking to the streets of the U.S.A., living out of a van, eating mostly peanut butter. For obvious reasons (cough Slide America), I am insanely excited to see this come to fruition. It has been nearly four years since we shot Slide America, and as far as I’m concerned… it’s about damn time we get another dose of where grassroots drifting in America is REALLY at, in a current timeframe.In the meantime, enjoy this section of the video, from our members-only drift event in Nashville.

And remember… KEEP DRIFTING FUN.
OR ELSE.