Catching the Winter Soulstice competitive Pro-Am drifting on Saturday, March 1st, was a spectacular way to shake the winter blues. Drift Buffett, under the direction of Terry Henderson, promoted this event, inviting pros and amateurs to compete in an earth-shaking Formula Drift format. It all came together on the Utah Motorsports Campus (UMC) East Course. 

Drift Buffet has been around since 2004 as a promoter and producer of drift events, including trackside operations for D1 Grand Prix, throughout the western United States and Asia. Terry transitioned to Utah in 2021. He’s been elevating the sport here via Lateral-G drift schools and Drift Buffet events. Their popular Bros Before Pros meet happens annually after UMC hosts Formula Drift. It allows local drifters to hang out with pro drivers and drift the kart track. 

Other Drift Buffet events are, for 2025, Formula Drift Pro-Am competitions. A conversation between Terry and the Formula Drift tech director set the stage to turn their three rounds—the Winter Soulstice was Round 1—into a scouting series, rather than a points series. So the winner of the scouting recommendation may be able to move up to PROSPEC competition. 

Drift Buffet is the only Utah organization offering drifting on a professionally-designed road course. Taking Utah drifting to the next level is what Terry is all about, so all skill levels were invited to experience competitive drifting. 

The weather was cool and clear while the competition was fierce, loud, and of course really smoky. If you missed it, you should really get out to one of the next rounds to witness some insane levels of car control. 

The Drivers

Drivers ranged from seasoned full-professional formula drifters Rudy Hansen and Rome Charpentier to relatively-inexperienced amateurs wanting to try formula-drift style competition. PROSPEC drivers—a real pro series with additional vehicle restrictions to keep costs down—included Shelly Hansen and “Jerry Drift” Johnson. 

One exciting grassroots (amateur) driver, Krew Fleischer, is too young for a driver’s license. Yet he was sliding the line at amazing car angles, making smooth transitions, and sticking to the lead car like old gum when in the chase position. 

Most competitors were Utah teams. However, talented grassroots drivers Dustin Woodhouse and Nate Hobbs traveled 470 miles from Cheyenne, Wyoming. They represented team WySlide Drift. 

Judging

The lead judge for the event was Joshua Hadlock, backed by Brandon Wicknick and Rob Parson. Joshua took time to explain what an outstanding drift run looks like, which is something most of us mere mortals can only aspire to. 

Essentially, a driver wants to maintain plenty of forward speed and as much car angle as practical. All while getting as close as possible to “clip” points or zones without hitting the cones or leaving the track. (With experience, it’s easy to distinguish between intense tire smoke and dust kicked up when a car edges off track.) When flowing from, say, left-hand to right-hand turns, car-angle transitions should be smooth and forward momentum maintained. So speed and style both matter. 

During practice runs, I could see that cars struggled to stay to the outside edge of the zone in a sweeping turn (road racers would call it a hairpin turn). Most would enter near the track edge but fall toward the middle of the track about halfway through. Joshua explained that there is a lot going on just trying to hold momentum and angle. Only the most talented drivers can also slide that outside line consistently and well. 

Formula Drift Style Competition

During competition, drivers’ workload (funload?) is further complicated depending on whether they are the lead or chase car during tandem battles. The chase car is trying to stick to the lead; maintaining formation and car angle, and possibly even stay closer to clip zones than the lead. Meanwhile, the lead is trying to lay down an ideal run, as described above, while maintaining so much forward progress that chase struggles to stay in formation. 

All battles are tandem and drivers make two runs—one as lead and one in chase—against the same competitor. After seeing both runs, the judges decide which driver performed best. The winner advances to the next round, while the other driver is eliminated. 

Car setup is huge. Drivers are focused on dialing in the suspension, steering alignment, and tire pressures. It also became obvious that having loads of power on tap is necessary to maintain the best line at speed. Raw power also makes it possible to stay in formation as chase, or pull away from the chase car as lead. 

The judges put their heads together as they score each element of the pair of runs, and normally reach consensus. If they can’t clearly distinguish between them—for instance both depart the track and score zero or both have perfect scores—they ask the drivers to repeat the battle. 

The Drift Buffet Winter Soulstice

After a morning of practice passes, each driver made a qualifying run and were seeded into the bracket accordingly. 

Jerry Drift, who took 2nd place last year, did not finish qualifying. His team had just swapped a new 820 HP NASCAR-prepped Mopar engine into his Scion FRS. They were mostly there to wring out the new setup, which still needed some tweaking, before an upcoming competition. 

15-year old Krew Fleisher qualified in 4th place—ahead of two pros—by sticking to the outside of zones 3 and 4 beautifully and otherwise checking all the boxes. Krew is coached by international champion Federico Sceriffo (who drifts a Ferrari 599 GTB). 

During competition, Krew laid down amazing runs, as both lead and chase, the first time out.  His second battle, however, went south. Krew’s BMW E36 M Turbo was clearly not putting out full power. It turned out that a turbocharger intercooler coupler had failed and, after reconnecting it, a different coupler failed on the makeup run. 

So Krew’s day ended early and Tanner Walters, who qualified 5th, advanced. Still, Krew sent a clear message that he’s a force to be reckoned with. With a fully-functioning car under him, he could be the one recommended for a PROSPEC license by year’s end. 

One of the most exciting mid-bracket face-offs was between WySlide teammates Nate Hobbs and Dustin Woodhouse. Both had no mistakes as lead and the same number of minor errors as chase. So the judges could not name a clear winner and asked them to repeat the battle. On the re-run, Dustin’s chase performance was better and he got to advance. 

Results

Utahn and full-pro Rome Charpentier qualified in 1st and swept 1st place overall. His car functioned well and he made consistently blazing passes all day. Wyoming’s Dustin Woodhouse went on to take 2nd place overall. Utah grassroots driver Tanner Walters cemented a well-earned 3rd place after an off-bracket battle with PROSPEC driver Shelley Hansen. If Dustin and Tanner are any indication, the Drift Buffet scouting series is already undercovering some great amateur talent.

Rome had great things to say about the Winter Soulstice, which lived up to its name with below-freezing early-morning temps. He loved the track and said it will be great practice for the August 28th – 30th Formula Drift competition at UMC. Apparently that competition will use the identical course with a slightly longer run-in area. 

Next Up

Again, if you want to see mind-blowing levels of car control, come out to the next Drift Buffet Pro-Am scouting competitions. Round 2 is the July 26th Summer Soulstice and the September Fall Finale will be the third and final round. 

Thanks to Chen Media and Still Gray Productions for outstanding professional imagery.

© RBairett, 2024