Join Alex Lichliter and the team for an in-depth look at the start of the 2024 Formula Drift ProSpec season, in Atlanta GA. Alex is back with a more heavily modified car, more crew members, and more media, all looking to make this their best season to date!

The start of every single FD event is pretty similar. Prep starts about a week before the actual event. Packing the truck, making sure you have every single spare part and tool you can possibly have, along with all of the wheels and tents. It doesn't matter how ready you think you are; you'll always forget something. (Side note: Sure enough, I forgot my toothbrush, so I had to buy one at a gas station when I got down there.)

At 12:30am Tuesday morning, my friend and media person, Sara, arrived at my house so we could start the trip down. Being that it's about a 12-hour trip, we started early so that we could skip past DC traffic and make solid time. I prefer to do long hauls at night just to make my life a bit easier on the road. About 4 hours in, we stopped at a rest stop in Virginia to pick up longtime friend and media person Mike Prez. Mike finally made his way out of the truck parking lot and found us since his girlfriend parked in the wrong spot. He and I used to do a ton of road trips together, mostly doing drift demos around the country. Headed off on the road again, Sara jumps in the back seat and knocks out almost instantly. This left Mike and myself to talk about the car and life in general, all while jamming to some music to keep each other awake. 

We got to the track around noon and started the unloading process. It's pretty funny how fast you can unload what takes about a week to load. We got the car together and hopped right over to tech. Tech was pretty easy and simple. I went right through pretty much. A bunch of guys from the FD crew were happy to see me back with a car since I took last year off, which was a nice feeling. After tech, we got to go back to the pits, close up house, and shoot to the air bnb. 

Wednesday, we got to the track around 8 a.m., continued to set up, and hit the drivers meeting. The drivers meeting was pretty straight forward, with judges telling us what they wanted to see. Most of the drivers were dissatisfied with the little details here and there. It's how every drivers meeting goes. After drivers meeting was a track walk, which was nice seeing that I haven't been here since 2016 Gridlife. I walked the track with one of my crew members, Matt Schulman, and we went over some different parts of the track as well as how we were going to set the car up. After the track walk, we went to the pits to set the car up for a test session across the street at Lanier that Dustin Miles set up for all the drivers. 

Finally, it was time to drive my car at full tilt after about 6 months. We had one test day prior, but it didn't go well, and we had to cut it short, unfortunately. Then, with typical New Jersey weather, we didn't get back to testing, so we had to settle to drive the test day at Lanier. I had never been there before, but it was a fun track. It was a bank track, which I love, and it was somewhere in between Orlando and Irwindale for a size comparison. I got to warm the tires up and sent it hard right off the rip since there was limited time. Matt had the car set up well and fast right off the jump. I was hyped by how good the car felt. Fast but controllable, with plenty of room to go either way, we can make the car exactly what we need. Then I cut a few more laps, found some small issues that we fixed, and it was back across the street to get the pits ready for the next day, which was practice and seeding bracket. 

Woke up on Thursday to the worst thing that can happen when trying to learn a new track with a new car. Rain. And not just steady rain, but patchy rain. The worst of the worst. The first practice session went decent; I got a total of 4 laps in just about 2 hours. I wish we could have had more, but with people breaking down and going into the kitty litter, that's all we got. Just before the second practice session, it started to rain hard. The track was completely wet, so we changed the setup on the car for a full wet track. Then, of course, just as I went into the burnout box, sunlight came out. I made a full wet lap, which was decent. Not what the team wanted, but we got through it as we needed to. The next lap was patchy, and I followed somebody who spun out, so that lap got cut short. Without fail, just as I was about to do my third lap, the car started to act up. It was running rough, and not happy. We headed back to the pits and started to mess with everything and anything. We plugged into the Link and couldn't find anything in the log telling us why the car was acting up. Practice was now over, and we got a total of 6 laps. Four of the six were full laps. Well, onto comp we go. 

My seeding bracket was actually against my good friend Matt Bystrak. As much as it sucks going against a really good friend, it's also fun. We had been talking smack for weeks to each other. So much smack talking that Andy Luk from FD got in on it and made a bet with us that the loser takes a whip cream pie to the face.

We line up with Matt, and my car starts to act up again. He leads first, I chase him down the hill, enter with him, transition back, and the car bogs. It created a bit of a gap, but not a ton. I chased him down a bit. We finished the lap clean. He had a good lead, so I knew I needed a heater.
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It was my turn to lead. Sitting at the line, the lights went off. I went to give the car throttle, and it bogged down. I shut it down and forced a restart. I gave the car some throttle blips; it seemed to have gone away. Okay, let me try again, I said. I was in my head like crazy now, but I shook it off. Lights went off, down the hill I went, chucked it into turn 1, went to get on throttle, the car bogged, catching more grip than I wanted, and pushed me just too far out that I dipped tires off the track. I stayed in it, climbed the hill into oz2 and then 3, got the inner clip, and all the way to the finish, the car felt great. The judges went over the replays a few times, but unfortunately, just me going off track with the rear of the car for just a second was enough to give Matt the win. Just like that, the weekend is over. 

Well, not fully over, as I then had to face the grim reaper, AKA Andy Luk, and take a whip cream pie to the face. Not my finest moment in FD history, but when you make a bet, you have to own it when you lose. All in good fun. 

That wrapped up the weekend pretty quickly from there. I did some fan exposure, talked to a ton of people, and had a great time watching Pro go out and put on a freaking show. 

I got the car back to Jersey in one piece, and my crew chief, Gary, actually found the issue that we couldn't find at the track. The car is all fixed up and ready to kill it in Jersey in a few short weeks! Other than my car bogging, everything else was literally perfect. Every NST part that was brand new performed flawlessly and looked even better than it did. As much as the weekend was a big loss, the car made it home in one piece, and that's more than some people can say. We live to fight another day. See y'all in Jersey!! 

WORDS: Ricky Hofmann
PHOTOS: Caitlin Ting

NST - NonStopTuning
www.NonStopTuning.com

Wednesday – Load in/Tech

My Formula Drift PROSPEC Season has officially begun here at Road Atlanta! We have new teammates, new logo, and new sponsors! During the offseason, we made the car more competitive by increasing power, installing a quickchange rear differential, and complementing the rear with aggressive brakes/suspension arms. I’m so excited for this year!
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We got to the track around 10:00am, and comfortably set up our pit area. As my team are getting our tires getting taken care of, I head to my annual tech appointment at 12:20pm. We passed with no issues, and then had to head over to the drivers meeting at 1:00pm. This drivers meeting was quite long, as it’s the only one scheduled for the entire week! After the mechanics complete their nut/bolt check, we head out to our Airbnb for the night.

Thursday – Practice/Seeding
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We arrive at the track around 8:00am. It had rained pretty aggressively the night before. Our pits were soaked! There’s a chance of rain coming through the area, but I am optimistic, telling myself that it will not rain today. Suddenly, it starts to rain. Practice is about to begin. We have two practice sessions from 9:45am-11:15am & 1:15pm-2:45pm. The rain is inconsistent. One moment, its coming down and we make setup changes to the car for a wet track. Next, its drying out and we have to switch back. There’s 47 drivers in PROSPEC this year, and with practice being only 90mins per session, practice laps are limited! We got a total of 4 laps on the first heat, and only 2 laps on the second because of a lightning delay. Drifting in the rain is not fun for the driver, it’s terrible for spectators, and this track specifically is just not fun in the rain with all of the elevation changes throughout this track. All I wanted was for constant, good weather.

Formula Drift has made a big change this year. They no longer have single qualifying. They now have a tandem battle qualifying called the “Seeding Battle.” Instead of watching a driver go out alone and having the judges give that run a numeric score, now, two drivers have a battle and the winner gets to advance into the competition on the next day. I really like this change, because practice and comp are always ran with two cars. Now that qualifying is with two cars, every run you will ever see in Formula Drift will be two cars running a tandem battle.

Practice was now over, and it was time for the Seeding Battles to begin. The weather took a turn, and it was no longer raining and the track dried up quickly. I did not have a single chance to drive my car on the track in dry conditions, so I feel like all of my practice was for nothing now. We attempt to make our final set up changes to anticipate the new weather conditions, and gear up for battle! I had to battle Clarke Hatton, a 15 yr. old from Ireland in a F22 BMW.  This is his first ever Formula Drift battle. At such a young age, he’s got a whole career in front of him and I’m excited to be his first battle! With the track conditions changing so much from the weather, I was unable to give Clarke my best driving. Unfortunately for Clarke, he was having some mechanicals problems. His car blew a boost line and he had no power. Because his car was not running right, he was unable to drift the car correctly on track, so I got the win. This isn’t how I wanted to win, but now I’m guaranteed in the show tomorrow for the Top 32 competition. My entire team is completely soaked from head to toe, being rained on all day. We decided to get out of there as soon as we could to get cleaned up and get some rest for the big day ahead of us tomorrow.

Friday – Top 32 Competition

Weather is gorgeous! Beautiful sunny skies, temps in the mid 70’s, it’s a beautiful day here in Georgia. We get to the track around 11:00am and begin setting up our merch stand. Autograph session is at 1:00pm, which I truly love to engage and meet all the fans. Immediately after the autographing, it’s time for practice before the main event. We are given one hour of practice prior to competing, from 2:30-3:30pm. I’m so excited to get some dry practice in, because I know I’m going to do great in the competition! In that hour session, I only got 2 laps in. One of those laps was stolen from me because the lead driver went off track and we had to stop drifting. So I only truly got ONE lap of dry practice. To be fair, I think I did a great job on that practice run, so I feel confident about moving on to my battle. But obviously, I wanted more than one practice lap to ensure that the car and my driving was perfect.

I have to battle Cody Buchanan in his 350Z. He is the higher qualifier, so he leads first. During our battle, I followed his line pretty good, but I just can’t get on his door. I’m miles away! This is not good for drifting. I want to be on my opponent’s door at all times. This weighed on me as we are driving back to the start line for us to switch. It’s now my time to lead. But I’m winded and my emotions are not ideal for this battle. Maybe I should call a 5-minute time out? No time, track worker signals to me it’s time to battle! The lights are off, and we are racing off the start line. I completely messed up my run, right from the initiation. I did fill Outer Zone 1, but as soon as I completed it, I went off track. This was a no brainer; I had given Cody the win. I’m so disappointed that I did that! It was the only time I went off track the entire week! I was so focused on doing well in OZ1, that I came in too hot and went off track.

We spend the rest of the day engaging with fans, walking around the pits, and enjoying rutting for my friends the rest of the comp!

Saturday – PRO Competition
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All day Saturday was building content, talking to fans, selling merch, and just enjoying the beautiful day here in Atlanta. Our title sponsor, NonStopTuning had a vender booth at this round, so I brought the car over for the raffle giveaway that they did towards the end of the event.

Overall, even though we didn’t get the outcome I wanted, it’s a huge improvement over last year. This year, we did good in our Seeding – guaranteeing us in the comp. We were able to compete in the Top 32 show, which is fantastic. The team is SOO great! Everyone is working so well together and making the correct changes to the car as needed. The car performed flawlessly – no mechanical errors this round. My media team is fire, and we are going to own the internet. I don’t have much experience here at Road Atlanta, but I do have lots of experience at every round moving forth. I CAN NOT WAIT to show the world my abilities. See you in 6 weeks at New Jersey =]

WORDS: Alex Lichliter
PHOTOS: @ignition_source_tv, @nickelbag_media, @formulad

NST - NonStopTuning
www.NonStopTuning.com

Alex Lichliter joins The Circle of Drift Podcast for a full episode, discussing his beginnings and his journey all the way to becoming a driver in Formula Drift. 

Alex Lichliter  - www.jacmotorsports.com
YouTube - alexlichliter  
Instagram - alexdrifts  

NST - NonStopTuning
​www.NonStopTuning.com

Larry Chen recently got together with Zandara Kennedy, to chat about life, Hollywood stunts, and the world of drifting.  Check out the video to see Zandara in action and to watch her talk about all the experiences leading up to her rookie year in Formula Drift! 
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NST - NonStopTuning
​www.NonStopTuning.com

"Irwindale is always a wild round and this year was no exception.  We fought the car through practice trying to get the right line down on the bank while the car did not want to cooperate, feeling very unsettled through the track and our setup changes did not seem to be helping.  Right before qualifying we ended up breaking a wheel hub, which mangled a bunch of parts together on the left rear hub.  The team had to scramble to get the whole left rear suspension and axle replaced to get us out for qualifying.  We ended up having to forfeit our first qualifying run because the guys were thrashing to get things back together but ended up making it for our second run. I put down a safe run that got us in the show into competition the following day. 

Kline wants to know! Does NonStopTuning Really Offer Free Shipping?!
​Even There?! Of course, Zee knows!

NST - NonStopTuning
www.NonStopTuning.com

​Final round of the 2023 Formula Drift ProSpec Championship! Join Alex Lichliter as he takes you through his FD Utah journey, recapping the event, the season, and sharing his feelings about the future!

NST - NonStopTuning
www.NonStopTuning.com