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Nostalgic Sunday: Team X – 2005

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The EverythingDrift.comThe EverythingDrift.com staff got the opportunity to do an exclusive interview with “Team X” while out at Irwindale Speedway for the Formula D Finals. We got to get down and dirty with the Team X drivers Tyson Beckford and Tony Brakohiapa.

Tyson Beckford

EverythingDrift.com: What got you interested in drifting?
Tyson Beckford: The whole drifting thing started with me just being a kid, having mom’s Toyota and just goin all out years ago. I didn’t have any idea what I was doing at the time, I just loved it. Then watching some of the stunt driving in movies and commercials, not knowing at the time that Rhys Millen (and several of the other drifters) were the ones actually doing that stuff, I really got into it. I started watching Japanese TV and DVD’s, and saw these guys doing crazy things down city streets, going sideways in their cars, and I thought “hey, I want to do that!” I bought a 350Z and hit up my boys who had video cameras, and they started filming me, but then they got into it too. I ended up hooking up with Dele our team manager and he asked me to be on the team. This was in fall of last year. We went to SEMA with Team X, and checked out everything there. After SEMA, I went to Panos race school, took their classes, graduated pretty top in their class, and we decided to start the drift team. We got on it, and next thing you know, this is it.

ED: When did you first hop in a car on a track with the sole purpose of drifting?
Tyson: It was about around last August or September that we first got on the track to try it out. Before that, we were screwing around in empty parking lots, just trying it out. That’s where a lot of kids in my neighborhood got started with drifting. This year we got into Formula D, and they’ve just been showing us love. We’re getting bigger and bigger with Team X. We picked up Pirelli and McDonalds as sponsors, and we’re going to the next level. We hope that what we’re doing is revolutionizing the sport of drifting, making it ‘cool’ for those kids at home sitting on the couch saying to themselves “man, I want to get into it” to be able to get up off the couch and just do it. You’re only on this mudball once, so just do what you can with it.ED: How did Team X get started?
Tyson: I don’t remember how I got introduced to Dele, but we had been talking about it for awhile. Originally, we were just going to cut up my 350z and use that as the team car. We ended up getting hooked up with Steve at Saleen, and he gave us full on love. He has been backing us, then Pirelli was close behind them. We got into it pretty heavy, getting more sponsorships every day. I’m working on a shoe deal now so we’re rolling as a team. We’re getting our fan base up, and getting our skills up as a team. We want to branch out and make “Team X” a brand name, and have Team X energy drinks, and everything else. Team X is Team Xtreme, meaning dirt bikes, NASCAR or NAStruck, freestyle motorcross, maybe into skateboarding, stuff like that. If there’s kids out there who want to get sponsored by Team X, let us know. We want to do drifting, ALMS, Freestyle Motorcross, anything we can get our hands on. NASTruck, now that’s my thing! I want to get into one of those and drift one of those.

ED: How hard is it to balance the acting and modeling with the driving?
Tyson: It’s been living out of a suitcase. I have scripts with me at all times, reading them when I’m on flights and on the road. I have a hot movie coming out with Paul Walker and Jessica Alba called Into the Blue. I was juggling that and drifting all summer. Right now, I’m shooting a movie called Knuckles, and I have to bulk up for that movie so I’ve been working out in the gym almost every day. Being in a drift car doesn’t help me because I lose weight with the heat and all the driving. The season is over for us here in the US, we may go over to Japan and check that out later this year to really get the essence of what drifting is. We want to go over there and learn from the pros, then come back and bring that same high speed drifting over here. In Japan, they’re coming in harder and faster, so I just want to go over there and learn what I can, and bring that back here. It’s a lot of fun for me right now being in this industry, I’m just a sponge, I’m soaking up everything that I can.

ED: Do you have plans to go over to Japan right now? Or is it just in the works right now?
Tyson: We just have to finalize a few things and we’ll be over there. We just had a McDonalds giveaway in New York at the end of August where we gave away a replica of the Team X Mustang to a lucky guy. The Formula D season went so well for us this year that I think Team X, Saleen, and the rest of sponsors are going to expand and give away more of these cars at events in the future. They’re really fun cars to drive and they’re comfortable, and most importantly they’re affordable.

ED: What would be your dream car to drift in?
Tyson: My dream car would be a Skyline. I was at Sema last year and I got to ride along with Ken Gushi in a Skyline, and me and Ken were having a full on conversation while we were drifting. I was watching his footwork and his hands, and I was amazed. He started out like me, crashing a lot, and he just got up there to the podium level quick. That’s where I want to get to.

ED: Who do you look up to in drifting?
Tyson: Bubba Drift, cuz he’s wild like me! But Rhys, Ken, Taka when he flips the car, I just love guys who get the crowd wound up like that. Oh, and Tarzan. I’ve been watching Tarzan for years. To have Tarzan throw up the “X” for me when I’m drifting and give me love was really cool. A lot of the guys respect me because I might crash, but I go wrench on my car and get right back out there again. In Chicago, I hit the wall, and a lot of people helped me get the car back running and we got back out there. I ended up crashing again, but everybody came over and helped me out, made sure I was ok. It’s like a big family out there in Formula D, I’m hoping that the Japanese guys are just the same.

Tony Brakohiapa
ED: How did you get started in drifting?
Tony Brakohiapa: I heard about it through Tyler McQuarrie. I work with him at Jim Russell Racing School. I am an instructor there, I’ve been there for 3 or 4 years now. I knew he was into drifting, and I had heard about drifting, and I was actually talking to our team manager Dele about some road racing, specifically ALMS stuff. Then the drifting topic came up and we said “well, why don’t we get into drifting?” It’s not that expensive to get into drifting, you’ve got the local guys coming to the events and entering with their cars. It’s still a grassroots motorsport where you can still get in as a privateer. We talked about it some more, and Dele has a good relationship with Saleen so he asked Saleen if they wanted to get into it and they were all for it. 8 months later, we had 2 cars in our possession.ED: When did you first start talking to them?
Tony: We started talking to them in December, after SEMA. It had been some conversations back and forth for a few months, but we finally worked out all of the details. Pirelli was interested shortly after that, and McDonalds came on board as well. It’s just been crazy, a lot has happened in 8 months. It’s only because of the power of drifting. Everyone is coming out to watch the sport, It’s all about personalization of their own cars. People identify with the mustang because a lot of people drive that car. When they see their own car out there, they get into it more. It’s crazy.ED: When did you start actually drifting in a car? Was it with Tyler?
Tony: No, actually, it wasn’t, it was at SEMA in 2004. We were there with Yokohama, they had us there as paid drivers. I was drifting an experimental Ford Cobra that had 700 horsepower. We were drifting it there around a course, actually Papadakis was there too!As a race school instructor, you actually learn to drift a car, you just don’t know it. With drifting as a sport, it’s much more extreme. I was used to drifting because of the road racing. But as a driver, you’re taught to keep the car under control. With drifting, you’re getting the car out of control, but still keeping it in control. It’s an adjustment. For a lot of guys, it might even be easier to start as a non-race car driver and go straight into drifting than to be a race car driver and then switch to drifting. I already have a way of driving in my mind and in my body, and now I have to retrain myself to go into drifting.

ED: How hard is it to go back and forth between driving as an instructor and drifting?
Tony: It’s not too bad actually. I think it actually helps my driving other areas. It teaches you to control the car at the limit, and even a little beyond the limit, and bring it back under control. When you’re at high speeds of more than 100 mph, you don’t want to panic. If the car gets out of control, you just counter steer a little bit, and bring it back under control. So I definitely think it helps me a lot.

ED: How did you hook up with Team X?
Tony: Team X started with Dele originally. We couldn’t actually come up with a name originally, the X was just a place holder originally. Then at some point, we said “well why not stay with Team X?” The name kind of stuck from there. As Tyson mentioned, it became Team eXtreme, and it just fits with drifting. It’s extreme, it’s drifting, we’re extreme, we’ve got Tyson and it’s crazy and sexy and it just works.

ED: When did you start with Team X as far as driving?
Tony: It was probably in February, after we got the Mustangs. We started working with the graphics and the car design, and this is what we have. It just works really well, it’s a great chassis. The car is a great car, just look at Ken Gushi and Vaughn Guitten JR. They’re doing really well with the car. We’ve got a little ways to go, but it’s a good place to start.

ED: Where do you see things going in the next couple of years, with yourself and with Team X?
Tony: Personally, this is a way to compete, as a driver we wait a long time to get out and compete. It’s an avenue where I can show my skills, go out there and drive, and do what I know I can do. But also it’s an avenue to showcase my skills so that I can go sports car racing or open wheel racing, or possibly take drifting over seas and drift the Mustang over in Japan. It’s still an open book, we are all excited about it.

There is also a diversity element to it. There’s a lot of diversity in drifting, and not many other sports have that. NASCAR sure doesn’t have that, that’s for sure. They’re trying, but they’re not there yet. We’ve got Casper who’s Hispanic, Rhys who’s a Kiwi, Samuel the crazy Swede, and now you got us, there’s not many African Americans in any motorsport. We want to take this model and put it into open wheel racing or sports car racing, and get some color in there. The whole thing is bigger than us. We’re just the vehicle to get the message out there.

ED: What are your goals in motorsports? Do you just want to drive everything once?
Tony: It’s much more than that. I really love drifting because I can do it any way that I want to. It’s organic, it’s a free form sport, everybody has different techniques to drifting. Some go for the e-brake entry, others go for the feint approach. Whatever you want to do, it’s just an expression of who you are. Hanging it out there, smoking the tires, going all out, it’s just wild and extreme, it’s a lot of fun to watch. I’m a sports car racer at heart, I want to go to 24 hour Le Mans. I definitely want to do open wheel, like A1 GP or IRL. I want to be like Mario Andretti and just learn all these different disciplines of racing and be good at each one.

ED: What’s it like working with Tyson?
Tony: Ah yes, working with Tyson. I play second fiddle when Tyson’s around! It’s funny because we’re both Type A personalities. When Tyson’s not around, I’m the really friendly and boisterous “Hey, what’s up, how are you” kind of guy. When Tyson’s here, I just kind of sit back and chill, because he’s Tyson and I just let him do his thing. Once he gets going, there’s no stopping him, but it’s good. We have a good dynamic because I bring a little more of the professional academic aspect of drifting and the more formal driving experience. We’ve been keeping the team professional, I’ve been giving him some instruction and he really takes it well. Being an instructor at the school has taught me how to pass on the skills to these guys, and make sure we’re staying on our line of objective.

 

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