Sick Powerfest in Detroit – I Was Wrong
I tell my kids all the time: know what you know, and know what you DON’T know. Keep your cup empty and you might learn something every once in a while. Sick Powerfest was one of those learning moments, and I was wrong.
Sick Powerfest – WTF is it?
If you listen to our show here in Detroit, you probably know Scott Taylor from Sick Pizza in Oxford. We got to know Scott after the horrible events in Oxford, helping him raise money selling pizzas from his shop – listeners bringing extra dough and cheese, proofing pans and much more to lend a hand. Then Scott went with us to Winslow, Arizona to take the Glenn Frey Drive sign there (it was his idea to hang it up over the statue btw).
So when Scott would tell me about the Sick Powerfest and his friend Tom Bailey, I’d smile and nod. Drifting. Cool. Bunch of dudes going in circles until their tires popped. Fun. Remember what I wrote about the empty cup? My small brain was full of Detroit muscle cars, quarter mile times and top speeds, dumping the exhaust and the blub blub of a good Hemi. Empty the cup Jim.
Powerfest
Couple of notes about Sick Powerfest and Tom Bailey:
- Tom Bailey was in the studio a couple of days before Powerfest. Again, I knew the name (mainly from Scott) – but I had no idea of the reach of Sick The Magazine and these events. Tom is one of the most interesting people I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing, you could tell right away this was a passion project (isn’t fun talking to creative people like that? Again – empty cup). Tom quickly conveyed to me that Sick Powerfest was so much more than just doing donuts. We talked about the horsepower in some of these rides (well over 1,000) and people bringing rides from all over the world – even Australia (that Holden Ute is my dream car). Tom Bailey made me want to check it out on Friday night…so I did.
- Friday night at M1 Concourse: When you pull into the parking lot it quickly becomes apparent that this is something different. I could hear the echo of the Dodge performance ride alongs tearing up the track (that scat pack sound is easily identified). Then you make your way to the track area, it’s ringed with vendors (most of which I had never seen before – part of the drifting culture….superchargers and anything power related). Made my way over the see Scott (Sick Pizza) and check out the crowd that was building. People milling about taking pictures of the cars – I swear they didn’t seem real. These are giant Matchbox cars brought to life. The creativity is mind boggling. And the fact that they’ve turned these into living, breathing drifting cars is a testament to the passion and knowledge of this group of men and women.
- Drifting: They have an area set aside where the drivers bring their cars in (one at a time, safety is paramount btw – Tom wouldn’t let it start until everything was 100 percent right). The first entrant was a chevy truck that immediately lit up those tires and started snapping donuts, circling in the designated area – getting close to the wall (there’s judging involved in this…$25,000 in prize money) and smoke billowing over the track. It was the noise that got me. Anyone who’s ever been in a car doing something even close to drifting knows what I mean (I’ve done plenty of donuts in a parking lot, but not like this). The sound of that motor running up to the redline, tires grabbing all they can, the torque snapping the car around – it’s intoxicating. I was hooked. This is skill on display. Art meets engineering at the highest levels. And it’s pure fun. People from all ages around me – men and women with their kids (who were high fiving people and having a blast). Yeah, it’s pretty damn cool.
Bottom Line – I was wrong
Last time I’ll mention my kids in this article. I’ve told both boys to never stop learning. Maybe I was guilty of not following that advice when I headed out to the Sick Powerfest. Tom Bailey, Scott and everyone at Sick – you’ve built an amazing culture that I can’t wait to see here again. I learned something new Friday night: drifting and the cars/people behind it are f**king awesome.
