Stephanie: Hey, guys.
In this episode of Hot Lap, I'm getting basic drift lessons from Chelsea DeNofa, a Formula
Drift Driver for RTR Motorsports.
All right, guys.
So we're out here with Chelsea DeNofa, Formula Drift Driver for RTR.
And for those of you that may not be as familiar with Chelsea, Cheslea, how about you walk
us through a little bit of what you do?
Chelsea: So what I'm gonna teach you today, I've been doing for about 15 years, pretty
much on the entire, time every season, every year.
Last year, I started driving for the RTR team in a 2017 Mustang.
And we qualified first twice this year.
I beat the boss, Vaughn Gittin Jr., once, and overall, we finished just outside the
top 10, so I'm pretty happy for the first year.
Stephanie: First year in a Mustang, right?
Chelsea: First year, yep.
Stephanie: That's awesome.
Speaking of Mustangs, you're gonna be teaching me today in the 2018 RTR Spec 2.
Can you tell me a little bit about this car?
Chelsea: Yeah, so it's actually like a drift car pretty much out of the box.
It's extremely versatile.
It's got 20-inch wheels from RTR, Nitto tires, an appearance package, pretty much everything
you see here.
It's got an ECU tune, an exhaust, and some suspension and sway bar, pretty much set up
to do everything we need it to do.
Stephanie: So basically, what you're telling me is that you're making my job here easy
today, right?
Chelsea: It should be pretty easy to do some burnouts and spin tires.
Stephanie: All right.
I hope so.
We're obviously working in a little bit less than ideal conditions.
We have a smaller parking lot here.
It's kind of narrow.
There's a lot of salt down right now and it's cold.
What would you say?
Is it like 20 degrees?
Chelsea: It's freezing, absolutely freezing.
Stephanie: Speaking of that, I'm about ready for you to walk me through and show me some
stuff, so let's do it.
Chelsea: Let's check it out.
Stephanie: All right.
So Chelsea, can you just walk me through before we do anything?
Tell me step by step the basics of what you want me to do.
Chelsea: What we're gonna do today is a wide donut that's gonna be countersteered, right?
Most of your concentration is gonna be in the amount of throttle that you're giving
it.
So too much throttle is gonna cause the car to over-rotate and spin out.
Not enough throttle is gonna because the car to grip up and drive straight.
We don't have a ton of room for you to grip up and drive straight, so I'm much rather
you be heavy on the throttle than any other.
Stephanie: Okay.
Chelsea: So you'll start off pretty much turning left, because we're gonna do a left-hand turn,
and you'll rev the car up to about 3,500 or 4,000 RPM, dump the clutch.
I'm sure you've dumped the clutch before.
Stephanie: A few times.
Chelsea: Yeah, so you'll do that.
And as soon as the back tires are broken loose, you'll drop your right hand down because that's
gonna get you to countersteer.
So when you're dropping your right hand down, that's the same amount of time as your car
is rotating itself.
Stephanie: Okay.
So just so I make sure, when you say drop your right hand down, what exactly do you
mean?
Chelsea: So we're steering into the left, right?
And as soon as you start drifting, you're gonna have to start steering the wheels the
other way.
So you're dropping your right hand down to pull the steering wheel down.
Stephanie: Just making sure.
All right, cool.
Are you ready to walk me through it as you're doing it?
Chelsea: Yeah, for sure.
Stephanie: All right, let's go.
Chelsea: All right.
All right.
So what we're gonna do here is we're just gonna literally go around this at like 5,
10 miles an hour.
You're steered left like pretty much one full rotation, right?
Stephanie: Right.
Chelsea: So this is about good speed.
It doesn't have to be anything faster than this.
We'll rev the car up and dump the clutch and drop your right hand.
And now you're just steering on the throttle.
So if I wanna go wider, I give it some more gas.
If I need to go in, I take away a little bit of throttle.
Okay, so first we're just gonna be concentrating on the throttle itself.
More throttle is gonna push you out wider.
Less throttle is gonna bring you in.
Stephanie: Oh, god!
Chelsea: So that's the first step.
Are you dizzy yet?
Stephanie: Yes!
Chelsea: All right.
Stephanie: Damn, dude!
For a second, I was like, okay!
Chelsea: Yeah, so usually we're not going in circles so much, but that's gonna give
you the basics of how to steer and throttle the car.
Stephanie: Okay.
Chelsea: We're more concentrated in the beginning on the actual, you know, throttle itself.
Stephanie: Okay.
Chelsea: So you have to have enough so the tires are spinning, but not too much, so you're
actually over-rotating with that.
There is steering involved as well, but we'll get to that after you figure this one out.
You wanna give it a shot?
Stephanie: All right.
Let's do it.
Chelsea: All right.
Let's do it.
All right.
So basically, again, remember you're gonna steer left.
You're gonna be going around the circle, get the car to a steady speed.
You're gonna clutch kick.
As the car rotates, you're dropping your right hand down.
If you feel like it's gonna over-rotate, you're just gonna throw your hand down and catch
it.
Stephanie: Throw the right hand down?
Chelsea: Right hand down, yep.
Stephanie: Okay.
Chelsea: It's always easier to pull down on the steering wheel instead of pushing up,
you know what I'm saying?
Stephanie: Yep, I hear you.
Chelsea: So when you're driving on the road, normally you're pulling down if you're in
like racing position to drive.
So that's the easiest way to do it.
Stephanie: Okay, so...
Chelsea: All right.
You got any other questions?
Stephanie: Do you have life insurance?
Chelsea: We're not gonna do that today.
We're gonna be fine.
Stephanie: All right.
I'm sorry.
I'm not gonna lie.
I'm a little bit nervous.
I've never done this.
Chelsea: It's gonna be fine.
You'll be good.
You got a good car for it, though, so we're good.
Stephanie: True.
All right.
Chelsea: Let's do it.
All right, so...
Stephanie: Seven, eight miles an hour.
Chelsea: Yeah, it's good, whatever you're comfortable with.
You don't want to get too fast.
Stephanie: All right.
So literally just clutch in, rev it up?
Chelsea: Yep.
Get ready to drop that hand down, so have your hand in a good position ready for that.
Stephanie: A little high, right?
Chelsea: Yeah, that's good.
Stephanie: All right.
[inaudible 00:05:21].
Chelsea: You got one of the cones.
Stephanie: I tried.
Can we put it back up?
Chelsea: So that time, you dumped the clutch, you floored it.
It was too much.
Stephanie: Okay.
Chelsea: So where you dumped the clutch was fine, but you don't have to give it full throttle.
It's too small of a circle and this thing has a lot of top end power on it.
So get it punched up to like 6,000 or so and then kind of back off.
Just be ready.
You're gonna have to throw the wheel pretty hard if you're gonna give it that much throttle
commitment.
It goes hand in hand.
Like as you're drifting the left hander, the more throttle you give it, the more steering
you're gonna have to give it towards the drift.
So, yeah, try it again.
That was a good speed for entry, though.
Chelsea: Woah!
Stephanie: I got it on the cone!
Chelsea: You're a cone killer!
Stephanie: Damn it!
Chelsea: Oh, it's underneath the car!
Stephanie: My car doesn't really do much.
I'm used to having to go ham on the throttle to get the turbos fooled.
Chelsea: Right.
Yeah, this thing's like super responsive.
Like I said, you literally have to just like eggs under the gas pedal.
Stephanie: Okay.
Chelsea: So try to give it a lot less this time and then we'll go from there.
How's that?
Stephanie: All right, all right.
Chelsea: All right, cool.
So just get ready to drop that hand down as it's rotating.
Stephanie: Fast?
Chelsea: Yep, so try that one more time.
Let's do it.
Stephanie: Okay.
All right.
Hold on.
Chelsea: A little more throttle.
Oh, that was good, though.
That was good, though.
Stephanie: Okay.
Chelsea: I would do that same thing again, just a little bit more throttle.
Stephanie: A little more?
Chelsea: Yep.
Stephanie: Okay.
Chelsea: That was good.
Stephanie: All right.
I'm glad you're not nervous.
Chelsea: Oh, I'm fine.
Stephanie: You're making me feel better.
Chelsea: I'm ready.
Stephanie: Why is this so hard?
Chelsea: It's not that hard.
You'll figure it out.
It'll click here.
It's all one motion.
Just think of it more as all doing it at once.
You're letting the clutch out.
You're dropping the wheel down.
Stephanie: Too much, huh?
Chelsea: That was good, that was good.
Stephanie: Too much.
Just do it!
Chelsea: There you go.
That was a drift.
Stephanie: Sort of!
Chelsea: That was it!
So you just got to give it a little bit more throttle to be able to keep it going.
Stephanie: Okay.
Chelsea: That was it.
You just drifted.
You countersteered, and it was good.
Stephanie: Try again?
Chelsea: A little bit more throttle.
Stephanie: More?
Chelsea: Yep, a little bit more in the beginning, but your steering is good now.
You're getting it all into one motion, like you're catching the car, so it's good.
Stephanie: Yeah, I felt that.
I just wish I could have hold it.
Chelsea: It's fine.
You're good.
Stephanie: Doing it...
Chelsea: Little bit more now.
Little bit more now.
Again, little bit less.
A little bit more.
There you go!
That was it!
Did you feel how the throttle makes the difference?
Stephanie: I did, I did!
It's such like a balance there because I had it and then I felt it the second I didn't
have it.
I'm like, nope, don't have any.
Chelsea: And then I'm like a little bit more now, a little bit more.
Like whenever you're in trouble, you just give it a little bit more throttle because
it'll usually fix it.
Stephanie: I killed another cone.
Good thing there's a lot of people.
Chelsea: That was good.
Stephanie: I think that I have the basics.
I think I have a really good understanding.
I can feel everything that's going on.
The little bit of time that we have, just learning the basics.
I'm doing a controlled donut.
I'd like to give it little more props than a donut.
Chelsea: You're actually drifting, though, because you're countersteering.
As long as you're countersteered and you're playing with the throttle, then you're actually
drifting.
Stephanie: How long have you been doing this?
You said...
Chelsea: Fifteen years.
Stephanie: Fifteen years!
I've been doing it for about...
Chelsea: Fifteen minutes.
Stephanie: Two hours, an hour or two maybe.
Chelsea: Yeah, about an hour 15.
Stephanie: I have to say, I'm really impressed with the car, though.
Chelsea: Yeah, it's a really good car.
Like I said, it's been taking your clutch kicks all day, your spin outs, been running
over cones and everything [inaudible 00:09:09].
Stephanie: Yeah, we killed a lot of cones.
One question I have to ask of you, though, I think obviously I need a ton more practice
in a parking lot, a little bit more feel and a little bit more of me trusting myself a
little bit more and knowing what to do when I feel it slipping away.
Chelsea: Yep.
Stephanie: What I would love is for you to do a little bit more than just a donut with
me.
I would love if you could do real drifting and then maybe walk me through it as you're
doing it.
Chelsea: Yeah, I can do that.
Stephanie: And then do you think we can end with an awesome burnout?
Chelsea: We can do that.
Stephanie: Perfect.
Chelsea: I'm good at burnouts.
Stephanie: Let's switch real quick.
You're so patient.
Thank you so much.
Chelsea: Oh yeah, no problem.
Stephanie: I appreciate it.
Chelsea: I'm gonna do a donut to start it off, though.
Stephanie: You are?
Chelsea: Why not?
Stephanie: Because!
All right, fine, now I'm gonna barf.
Chelsea: All right, so here we go!
Eight miles an hour!
Stephanie: Oh, the second gear shift on the e-brake ramp!
Oh, watch out for this [inaudible 00:10:05], guys.
Wait, tell me what you're doing.
Chelsea: All right, so we did a quick hand brake, pick up the throttle, and then clutch
kick to get some extra wheel speed, and we're just kicking it around this tiny parking lot,
little left foot break, get some smoke.
We'll go back into the donut here.
Stephanie: Can we donuts to the right?
Chelsea: To the right?
Stephanie: Yeah, to the right.
Chelsea: All right.
Stephanie: All right, so you are really using all three puddles.
Chelsea: Yeah, all the time.
You wanted a big burnout, right?
Stephanie: Yeah, we got to have it a bit smoky!
Chelsea: It's coming in through the vents.
Stephanie: Oh!
Now we can't see.
Chelsea: How was that?
Stephanie: That was awesome!
Chelsea: That was a lot of smoke.
Well, you'll have to do some practicing.
Stephanie: Of course.
Chelsea: Get out to some local events and then give me a ring and I'll set you guys
up and get you drifting full speed.
Stephanie: Perfect.
Thank you, thank you for bringing the RTR out here.
Thank you for all of your time.
This is a whole completely new experience for me and I really appreciate your patience.
I didn't really kill any tires, but we'll leave all that up to you.
Chelsea: Well, we've finished off a set together.
So you did all right.
We'll say you did most of that.
Stephanie: Perfect.
Thank you, Chelsea.
Chelsea: All right.
Stephanie: All right, so we're gonna call it quits.
It's literally freezing rain right now, so we stopped just in time.
I know it wasn't the best drifting you guys have ever seen, but I can definitely say that
I drifted a little bit, maybe for like half a second.
Chelsea: No, you had a couple of times you were doing pretty well.
All in all, I think you did a great job given the circumstances, tight parking lot, huge
ledge to fall off, so I'm pretty happy with everything.
Stephanie: Well, thank you.
I know I definitely couldn't have done it without you.
I appreciate all of your patience.
You have so much knowledge and to be able to have just a little piece of that with me,
I think I'm very lucky for that.
Thank you for bringing out the RTR Spec 2, but speaking of RTR, guys, if you want to
enter to win a free Spec 3 RTR Mustang, make sure you click on the link below and enter.
And for all things Mustang, keep it right here at americanmuscle.com.