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Inside the World of Professional Drifting & High-Speed Racing | Amanda Sorensen DSH #1220
00:45:55
🔥 Amanda Sorensen on Breaking Barriers in Drifting, Racing Extreme E & Making History 🚀 In this high-energy episode, we sit down with Amanda Sorensen, a professional drifter, off-road racer, and motorsports trailblazer, to discuss her...
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- [00:02]
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- [00:30]
Host
Are accidents pretty common in this?
- [00:32]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, we are driving within inches of each other. So, like, typically, we have a brand new, like, paint scheme on the car, like, for the first round. And by not even 10, 20 minutes into your first practice session, you have, like, tire marks on your door. We're driving, like, so close to each other that it's like you're rubbing, like, the tires on, like, the front fenders or like, you're getting your rear bumpers close to the wall. And they call it, like, you know, you ride the wall and you leave the paint mark on the white, like, concrete barrier.
- [01:00]
Host
So saying your heart must be racing.
- [01:02]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, we. We go through a lot of tail lights.
- [01:05]
Host
Oh, my gosh.
- [01:06]
Amanda Sorensen
A lot of bumpers. There's, like, definitely not, like, bumper budget is, like, another thing.
- [01:15]
Host
All right, guys, we got Amanda on today. Professional drifter. Thanks for coming on.
- [01:19]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, thanks for having me.
- [01:20]
Host
Absolutely. I do not know much about drifting, so I'd love to just hear the basics, how you got into this and everything.
- [01:26]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, drifting is actually a very unique sport because it's more of, like, a competition style. It's not like who is the first person across the finish line. With, like, typical racing, there's a lot of, like, mentality training that goes into it because you really just have one shot or you go home. But it's kind of like surfing or similar to, like, ice skating. There's three judges. You have a line angle style, and we're driving on these tracks that are about like, a quarter of a mile. And we're driving on the NASCAR tracks typically, or, like, a road racing track like Atlanta. So these are, like, same tracks that, like, a lot of the IMSA circuit goes on, or nascar. And they'll put out these clipping points, like an outside zone and inside zone. And, like, the goal is you. Basically. We get up to speed, so speeds anywhere from, like, 80 to 120, going in a straight line where you have full traction, and then you break traction and go sideways.
- [02:26]
Host
Holy crap. That sounds scary.
- [02:29]
Amanda Sorensen
You have to fill these zones, so outside zones, getting Your rear bumper as close to the wall as possible, or your front bumper, like, as close to the clipping point as possible while maintaining your line angle and then style, which is broken down into, like, fluidity and commitment. Like, how committed are you? How good does it look? Is it graceful? Is it choppy? Like, every small adjustment is a deduction in points. So there's 100 points that you can get in qualifying. And then from there we go into competition style, and top 16 drivers go into main competition. And typically there's anywhere from 40 to 50 competitors that show up on a weekend.
- [03:09]
Host
Wow, that's a lot. You said you only got one attempt or how does it work?
- [03:14]
Amanda Sorensen
So basically it's a bracket style competition. And in order to determine your bracket, you have a qualifying. With qualifying you have. And it's kind of different in every circuit. Some of them are. They want you to battle it out to where the top 32 drivers battled for those positions. Meaning, like, they did a proper tandem style competition. Tandem, which means you have a lead driver and a follow driver. The lead driver's performing what they would call a perfect qualifying run, Maintaining line angle style. You know, like how we talked about those outside zones, those inside zones.
- [03:51]
Host
Yeah.
- [03:52]
Amanda Sorensen
The follow driver has to be a mirror image of what the lead driver is doing. So, like, it's crazy because everything happens so fast. It's so important that you study your other components, like all of your other competition, and you want to know, okay, how is this person going to initiate? How are they going to adjust? At what speeds do they enter? How do they enter? And as a follow driver, you want to mirror them. So then once they go and do their lead run, you swap, go back to the line, and then the. Then now it's your turn. You do a lead run, and your other person who's following does follow run.
- [04:33]
Host
That's insane.
- [04:34]
Amanda Sorensen
So. And the crazy thing about it all is each run that we do, the reason why it's kind of so short is because we go through a set of tires every two laps.
- [04:46]
Host
Oh, my gosh.
- [04:48]
Amanda Sorensen
So you get your lead run and then you get your follow run on that set of tires because it's.
- [04:53]
Host
The rubber is just burning off, right?
- [04:55]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, exactly.
- [04:56]
Host
That's crazy. Sounds expensive, too.
- [04:58]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah. Tire budgets are only a thing.
- [05:01]
Host
Damn, that's nuts. You much prefer a lead, I'd imagine, right, Than a follower.
- [05:06]
Amanda Sorensen
Honestly, I think in competition it's kind of. It depends. When you lead first, you are more subject to. If you make a mistake in the lead line, obviously your person who's following is going to be affected by your mistake. Right. So if you're leading first, you have the most pressure. Because if I mess up in my run, then I know I really have to push in my follow run to. Whereas if I follow first and the other guy makes a mistake, I know that I don't have to do anything crazy or wow to win. The judge is over in my lead run.
- [05:41]
Host
That makes sense. So it's almost good to go second then.
- [05:44]
Amanda Sorensen
I know follow first. Some people have different preferences. It really just depends on the track, like who you're battling. Some people, there's a lot of, like, there are some drivers that love to play games. So, you know, they'll hesitate on the takeoff or they'll be doing a certain type of initial like initiation and entry every single time during practice. But then as soon as it gets competition, they'll change it. So, like, you know, there's very. There's a lot of strategies that go on behind.
- [06:15]
Host
I like that because I'm a chess player.
- [06:17]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, exactly. Kind of similar.
- [06:19]
Host
So there's some mental games going on too. It's not just about the race.
- [06:22]
Amanda Sorensen
So you got to really just. You cannot react to your lead driver. You have to anticipate your driver. You know, similar with chess. I'm not a big chess fan, but, like.
- [06:30]
Host
You're not.
- [06:31]
Amanda Sorensen
I've never really played chess, to be honest. Assuming it's the same, it's a good.
- [06:34]
Host
Game because it's all skill based.
- [06:36]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah.
- [06:36]
Host
I'm not a fan of luck.
- [06:38]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, exactly. There's a lot of skill. Back to what I was saying though, with like, you have one chance, you have one chance to rely on your car to also work, you know, so like, it's huge. And it's crucial that the preparation that goes into preparing for the competition is very perfect. My team that I have, I have a team of quite a few people. And you know, we have our engineers, we have our tire changers, we have our fuelers, but even that, like our crew chief, like I could go out and my car could overheat at the line.
- [07:12]
Host
Wow.
- [07:12]
Amanda Sorensen
And I can call a 5 minute timeout and I have 5 minutes to fix the car.
- [07:17]
Host
Does that happen to you?
- [07:18]
Amanda Sorensen
I've definitely had to call 5 before. When you call a 5, it's typically when you're on the spot, like up, ready to go and compete, or possibly you do your lead run, you find a problem with the car, something happens, you want to call 5, you're not allowed to touch the car until the technical Directors are there, and they start the clock at five minutes. If you touch the car, you're automatically disqualified. That's when your time starts. The preparation that goes on behind the scenes with pre season prep is like, say we do get into a crash in my lead run, you know, and my guys have five minutes to fix the shock in the front arm. I have these spare boxes that are full, complete sets of bolt on, bolt off for each corner of the car. So typically, in our trailer, we have my car as well as my brother's car, and we have two full sets to build two completely different cars.
- [08:11]
Host
That's insane. In five minutes.
- [08:13]
Amanda Sorensen
Five minutes. And our crew guys will practice that. Obviously, there is a point in time where you're like, okay, this is unreasonable to do, like, a motor change in five minutes, you know, like, yeah, you just have to call it. But there is that kind of crucial factor. But, like, as much as you can prepare for those moments, the better off you are, because, you know, you don't. There's really no luck. It's more of, like, the preparation and the skill.
- [08:34]
Host
Yeah. That's insane. Our accident's pretty common in this.
- [08:37]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah. We are driving within inches of each other. So, like, typically, we have a brand new, like, paint scheme on the car, like, for the first round. And by not even 10, 20 minutes into your first practice session, you have, like, tire marks on your door. We're driving, like, so close to each other that it's like you're rubbing, like, the tires on, like, the front fenders or like, you're getting your rear bumpers close to the wall. And they call it, like, you know, you ride the wall and you leave the paint mark on the white, like, concrete barrier.
- [09:05]
Host
So saying your heart must be racing.
- [09:08]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, we. We go through a lot of tail lights.
- [09:11]
Host
Gosh.
- [09:11]
Amanda Sorensen
A lot of bumpers. There's like, definitely not, like, bumper budget is, like, another thing.
- [09:16]
Host
Yeah. You gotta have crazy mental resilience for this sport, I'd imagine.
- [09:20]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, it's very. It's very, like, mind challenging, I would say. A lot of other drivers. I personally feel like I've driven in many different forms of motorsports and many different, like, disciplines. So for me, drifting is honestly the hardest when it came to mental preparation. Like, I figure skated for 10 years, and, like, every single time I would practice my routine over and over and over again, at least one of my jumps or spins would not be how I wanted it to be during competition.
- [09:55]
Host
Dang.
- [09:55]
Amanda Sorensen
You know, so it's kind of similar to when I'm drifting It's like you can prepare as much as you possibly can, but when you actually, like, get up to the line, the nerves are applied, the pressure is applied. That's when it really matters. Like.
- [10:08]
Host
Yeah.
- [10:09]
Amanda Sorensen
That's when the mental training can kind of really come into play.
- [10:12]
Host
I'm the same way in basketball with free throws. I'll make 20 in a row, and then the game starts. I'll miss every single free throw.
- [10:18]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah.
- [10:18]
Host
It's crazy how the sport can do that to you, Right?
- [10:21]
Amanda Sorensen
Well, and for me, it's crazy, too, just because, like, I had, like, an. I was able to see how, like, my younger childhood, like, sports that I played in really translated into, like, what I'm doing as a career now. And, like, with figure skating, like, it wasn't up until I was about maybe 14, 15, and I was at a drift competition, and it just clicked on, like, one day, and I was like, it's no different than a practice run. Like, why am I getting so worked up about it? You know, I found ways to actually calm my body down. I love cold plunging. And, like, when I first started cold plunging, I used to be, like, freaking out. You know, like, you get in the water and you're like, this is so hard.
- [11:01]
Host
Yeah.
- [11:01]
Amanda Sorensen
But you kind of find a way to bring your heart rate down. You know, you focus on one thing. You slow your breath down, you slow your heart rate down. Like, same concept when it comes to, you know, pulling up to the line or going out to skate in the competition.
- [11:12]
Host
Yeah. That's probably important to have that method of kind of decompressing, right?
- [11:16]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, exactly.
- [11:16]
Host
Before a big race, and you've raced in some big ones lately, you just made the podium at Formula Drift, right?
- [11:21]
Amanda Sorensen
Yes. First female to podium in Formula Drift.
- [11:24]
Host
That's incredible.
- [11:25]
Amanda Sorensen
Making history. I've been working at that goal for about 3 years.
- [11:28]
Host
Congrats.
- [11:29]
Amanda Sorensen
So it was very emotional, emotional accomplishment. There's no female in pro, so I'm in pro spec. There's four ranks, similar to nascar. You know how, like, in nascar, you have ARCA trucks, xfinity, and Cup Series. With Formula Drift, or the drifting scene, you have, like, a grassroots level, which is more of, like, lower horsepower cars. You know, you could bring, like, your mom's car up, drift it, and then you have, like, your Pro Am level. And in order to move into the, like, up the ranks, you have to place top three in the championship. So that's for a full season, which means, like, events anywhere between four to eight rounds, winning that championship and placing top three. So there's pro am, pro spec, and then pro.
- [12:15]
Host
Got it.
- [12:16]
Amanda Sorensen
I'm in pro spec and I'm the highest ranking in pro spec for females, but no female has ever made it to pro.
- [12:24]
Host
Wow.
- [12:24]
Amanda Sorensen
Like, in the world. So for me, my goal is to be, you know, that one in, like. I don't know how I ended up in this sport, to be honest. Like, my brother and I just kind of really gravitated towards it. We love the idea of it. We have great support there. We love the atmosphere. And, you know, it's more of like a family, hobby turned career type situation. But my goal is to be the first female in pro.
- [12:49]
Host
That's impressive. I've had Danika on here, I think.
- [12:52]
Amanda Sorensen
Oh, really?
- [12:52]
Host
Was she the first for nascar? For NASCAR female pro?
- [12:55]
Amanda Sorensen
I don't know about, like, first, but she definitely was, like, an icon.
- [12:58]
Host
Yeah. I remember watching her on ESPN as a kid.
- [13:01]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah.
- [13:01]
Host
Yeah. She was a legend. Yeah. It amazes me how people like her and you are like, there's not many female competitors right. In this scene at all.
- [13:09]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, there's. We have one other female in my division internationally. There's about, I would say at a higher level, kind of like, similar to my level. There's only about like five or six females.
- [13:22]
Host
Damn.
- [13:23]
Amanda Sorensen
And I couldn't even put a number on how many males.
- [13:25]
Host
Like, probably thousands.
- [13:27]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, exactly.
- [13:28]
Host
And do you keep them separate? Like, are you friends with them or do you view them as competition?
- [13:32]
Amanda Sorensen
No, we're all friends.
- [13:33]
Host
Oh, you're all friends?
- [13:34]
Amanda Sorensen
Everyone. That's what I love about the drifting community. And like, even when I go to a practice event, like, I'm going to one this Saturday, and like, you pull up to a practice event and it's so accessible to the general public, like the drifting events and just drifting in general, that there is such a large female audience there, really. So a lot of the females support each other. Over on the east coast, they have this, like, club called Drift Kitchen. And it's like, at least 20 females that have drift cars, like, in one state. And so a lot of the girls support each other. Everyone loves to just go out and, like, drive with your friends. Like, that's the concept of drifting.
- [14:09]
Host
That's cool. Is it a new sport? Like, how long has this been around drifting?
- [14:13]
Amanda Sorensen
So formula drift came to the United States in 2003.
- [14:16]
Host
Okay.
- [14:16]
Amanda Sorensen
And I, like, was 1 years old, like, at that time. But it's crazy because I didn't really follow it until about COVID time, like 2019, I would say. But it came to the United States in 2003 and it's the fastest growing motorsport.
- [14:33]
Host
Wow.
- [14:34]
Amanda Sorensen
In the USA right now.
- [14:35]
Host
That's impressive.
- [14:36]
Amanda Sorensen
So for me, I have really just been able to go and travel the world and see the other Drift series other than just Formula Drift here. So there's like Drift masters in Europe. Their last round is in Poland in a stadium that sells out with 60,000 people.
- [14:55]
Host
Damn.
- [14:56]
Amanda Sorensen
So it's crazy because I didn't really understand the potential of this sport until I had gone international with it. I also didn't understand my social media following until I had realized how huge it is. Like internationally in Brazil, in Europe, in Japan. Like the scenes over there are insane.
- [15:15]
Host
So you got a big international following then?
- [15:17]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, exactly. And I didn't understand that, you know, like until I went to like a true like cultured car event overseas.
- [15:24]
Host
Was that the Saudi Arabia trip you took or.
- [15:26]
Amanda Sorensen
That was different. That was like a rally race that I was doing. So I raced in this series called extreme. There's 10 races. We race in five different remote locations in an electric race car.
- [15:39]
Host
That's crazy.
- [15:40]
Amanda Sorensen
Electric race car, all wheel drive, electric race car. I raced for GMC and our car was like a replica of a Hummer ev. I actually dailied a Hummer ev, which I thought was like pretty great. Like, I really wasn't into electric cars until I dailied one and I was like, okay, this is kind of cool. But yeah, I got to work a lot with the team on developing the front to rear power. There's so much you can do with the technology, with having an electric race car that I had no idea about.
- [16:10]
Host
I didn't know they were that advanced.
- [16:11]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, like turning inputs, like if my steering wheel is turned at like 10, 15 degrees, I can distribute the power front and rear to a certain ratio. You know you can't do that with a combustion engine.
- [16:22]
Host
Yeah.
- [16:23]
Amanda Sorensen
So there was a lot of like development that I worked with with the team there.
- [16:27]
Host
Some of them are fast, I think. What is it? The cybertrucks, like 1.8 seconds, 0 to 60 now?
- [16:31]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, they're crazy.
- [16:32]
Host
That's really fast. That must be faster than most like non electric cars, I'd imagine.
- [16:36]
Amanda Sorensen
I definitely think like the electric with convention engine, like the hybrid prototype cars that they're doing are like insane because obviously you have the torque. You know, you can't have that torque without the electric motor.
- [16:51]
Host
Yeah. So how often are you doing rallies?
- [16:54]
Amanda Sorensen
This year I'm actually taking off. The Extreme E series has been put on a pause right now. They're Developing a hydrogen car.
- [17:01]
Host
Damn.
- [17:01]
Amanda Sorensen
It's the first FIA licensed hydrogen racing series called Extreme H. As soon as they come out with the full schedule for Extreme H, Extreme E will more than likely be a tag along series. So I'll get back into that stuff once they launch all the season details.
- [17:20]
Host
My buddy came on the show two years ago and predicted hydrogen cars blowing up. And all the comments were. Yeah, all the comments were like, no way. Like hating on them.
- [17:29]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, it's crazy.
- [17:30]
Host
You don't like them though.
- [17:31]
Amanda Sorensen
I've never tested one, if I'm being honest. Like, yeah, it'll be my first time going and driving a hydrogen car. But also that was like, I never drove an electric car. And then I drove an electric race car for my first time in Saudi Arabia, you know, so it was definitely the craziest thing for me to get used to was we're racing, you know, in Saudi Arabia. We were racing over kind of where the Neon project is actually. And I just couldn't get over the concept of like, no noise. I could hear everything. I could hear the shocks compressing. I could hear the sand hitting the, like the fenders. Like, wow. I was just like, I cannot. Like, is the car breaking? That feels weird happening, you know, like, so there was for me, I was just kind of like, that was the biggest change is just, you know, being used to hearing everything that's happening with the car.
- [18:20]
Host
Yeah. If you go 200 in a gas car, you're hearing everything.
- [18:23]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, well, I mean, you're hearing the motor, right? You're not hearing like, you're not really hearing like the shocks compressing or like a rock hit the side of the car. So like for me, I was just like, okay, we gotta really get used to that.
- [18:34]
Host
Have you heard that race across the.
- [18:35]
Amanda Sorensen
US Is that in like more of a sports car?
- [18:40]
Host
It's like the fastest person to get from Cali to New York or something. I've seen something like, yeah, that one is so interesting to me.
- [18:46]
Amanda Sorensen
I've never actually followed it, but people get arrested everywhere. It's crazy.
- [18:50]
Host
Yeah.
- [18:51]
Amanda Sorensen
Personally, like, I drive like a grandma on the road. Like, really follow the speed limit.
- [18:55]
Host
But wow.
- [18:56]
Amanda Sorensen
Because like, you know, I just like, I don't know. So. So for me, sometimes when I'm driving, like I see someone blow by me, like going 110. I'm like, is that necessary? Like, I just understand the fact that I'm on the road with other drivers who like, you know, you get in the, into the car with like a friend and you passenger Seat and like, they don't really know how to drive. And you're like, you can't put that person in the same environment as someone else doing 150.
- [19:18]
Host
That's so funny to me how you have that mindset.
- [19:20]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah. Professional driver makes me so nervous.
- [19:23]
Host
I got pulled over a few days ago, actually.
- [19:25]
Amanda Sorensen
Oh, really?
- [19:26]
Host
97.
- [19:27]
Amanda Sorensen
Nice. In a 65.
- [19:29]
Host
In a 65, it. To be fair, it just turned from 75 to 65.
- [19:33]
Amanda Sorensen
Okay.
- [19:33]
Host
And they never tell you, like, when that change happens, but, yeah, I deserve that. I pulled away. I pulled off so quick. He was like, oh, thanks for pulling over that fast. Yeah, I saw him. I mean, he got me on the gun.
- [19:45]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah.
- [19:45]
Host
Have you been pulled over?
- [19:47]
Amanda Sorensen
I have about, like, five speeding tickets.
- [19:49]
Host
Okay. I feel like it's so easy to speed, though, honestly.
- [19:53]
Amanda Sorensen
I agree. And for me, my speeding tickets, actually majority of them came from California. Towing a trailer. Towing a trailer in California, you have to do 55. Towing a trailer towards, like, everyone else is driving 80 around. You are like 70. So. Yeah, I've been caught a few times in California.
- [20:11]
Host
My U haul trip from Cali to Vegas felt forever.
- [20:14]
Amanda Sorensen
It's. Yeah. It's very annoying.
- [20:16]
Host
Yeah. They only hit like 65, I think, the U hauls.
- [20:18]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah.
- [20:19]
Host
And everyone else is going 80 to 90 past you.
- [20:21]
Amanda Sorensen
I know. And you're just like, this makes the trip feel ten times longer.
- [20:24]
Host
Turned into a six and a half hour trip from Cali.
- [20:27]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah. It's crazy.
- [20:28]
Host
Yeah. That sucked. How was Scotland? I've always wanted to go to Scotland.
- [20:32]
Amanda Sorensen
Scotland's good. Scotland I've actually been to twice now. Actually three times. So Scotland is where our second stop was for the Extreme E series. We were racing in an abandoned mine. So it was an abandoned coal mine.
- [20:46]
Host
That's cool.
- [20:47]
Amanda Sorensen
It was about like 700ft into the ground. I would say, like, it was pretty insane.
- [20:53]
Host
Wow.
- [20:53]
Amanda Sorensen
We were racing in and out of this mine. So they set up a track in the inside of it. Then they had a nice little like, outside track on the outside of it. And Scotland is crazy because the weather is never reliable. You know, one day on a Saturday, we raced. It was super sunny, super Sunday. We got to the track at like 7am There was so much fog and we couldn't start the race. The live stream had to get pushed back by like, a couple hours because our medevac helicopter wasn't able to get in.
- [21:26]
Host
Wow.
- [21:26]
Amanda Sorensen
So that was unfortunate. Extremely was, like, live aired live. So a lot of the live streaming stuff was very important. But unfortunately, you know, like, we showed up and there was nothing we could do with the weather.
- [21:40]
Host
How many people are on those live streams? Usually good amount.
- [21:43]
Amanda Sorensen
Well, so it's actually aired on tv internationally.
- [21:45]
Host
Oh, wow.
- [21:46]
Amanda Sorensen
So it's on the networks. Don't ask me the channels. The unfortunate part is it doesn't have the largest following here in America. So majority of the time, like my family or friends that were watching it would come on the channels at like 11pm or like 2am, you know, so like 1. One episode for 30 minutes, the other episode for 30 minutes for like a Saturday, Sunday. And. But it was huge in Europe. A lot of the drivers were from Europe. A lot of the drivers were actually like we had Sebastian Loeb, who is like an insane rally car driver. Someone like Tanner Faust, who is also rally cars, you know, off road. So I was racing against like the top level drivers.
- [22:27]
Host
Wow.
- [22:28]
Amanda Sorensen
But a lot of them come from Europe.
- [22:30]
Host
Yeah.
- [22:31]
Amanda Sorensen
So it was huge over in Europe.
- [22:32]
Host
I've noticed that with F1 Vegas, it's not as big here as F1 in Europe, right?
- [22:36]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, exactly. And I think that's just because if you look back like 20, 30 years and it's like NASCAR was what was popular. You know, we're kind of in that phase where I personally think NASCAR is fading out. You still see a lot of like brands spending insane amount of money there. But there is, you know, like I said, the drifting community is growing. And now we have F1 in Miami, F1 in Vegas, F1 in Texas. So like, I think we're starting to get more of like a diverse feel for motorsports other than just NASCAR in America.
- [23:12]
Host
Yeah, I don't hear as much about NASCAR as I used to, I'll say that.
- [23:15]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, for sure. The stands are like not packed. Like I went to a NASCAR race and I watched the truck series and there was like very few people.
- [23:25]
Host
Really?
- [23:25]
Amanda Sorensen
I'm just like, it's crazy to me. Like, wow. And like the money that the brands are spending there, like millions and millions of dollars. Like easily 7 million for like a tier 2 sponsor, NASCAR.
- [23:35]
Host
Just to be on TV, on the.
- [23:37]
Amanda Sorensen
Car, just to on the car. And it's like, you know, like there's other motorsports where they are doing larger numbers. Like drifting is second to nascar and like they're following and so. Or sorry, no, Drifting is second most followed on social media and that's with all American motorsports. So like imsa like sports car racing, that kind of stuff.
- [24:02]
Host
Wow.
- [24:02]
Amanda Sorensen
But like our audience is millennials, Right. Like were on social media watching on live streams towards like NASCAR is more of, like, they're on the network, so, like, the older generation.
- [24:13]
Host
Old school.
- [24:13]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, exactly.
- [24:14]
Host
So more money in that space, basically.
- [24:17]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah. I definitely would say, like, not as much money as like, an IMSA or an F1, but NASCAR is just. I don't know.
- [24:25]
Host
Hopefully the money gets there and drifting. I know with pickleball, they're still trying to figure out how to make money too.
- [24:29]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah. I actually just competed in a celebrity pickleball tournament.
- [24:33]
Host
Oh, you did?
- [24:33]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, with. I co hosted the first day with Mario Lopez.
- [24:37]
Host
Okay.
- [24:37]
Amanda Sorensen
And on the second day, I actually competed in the pickleball tournament.
- [24:42]
Host
Damn.
- [24:42]
Amanda Sorensen
Let me tell you, like, I played pickleball with my friends just down the street as, like, a fun thing to do. But to see the brands that we were able to bring on board, like doordash, for example, it was just crazy to see, like, how fast this, like, sports growing. I just went to Chicken and Pickle down the street, like here in Vegas, and the things packed, like, to get a bay. It was like I had to book two days in advance.
- [25:05]
Host
I didn't know that was open yet.
- [25:06]
Amanda Sorensen
Yes.
- [25:07]
Host
I need to get out there. I love pickleball. Was that the one with Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi or is that a different pickleball event?
- [25:13]
Amanda Sorensen
I'm not sure. Oh, no, no, no. This was different. So it's called Celebrity pickleball Bash. We had, like, Terrell Owens, Brandy Chastain, so some fun, like, celebrities. And then we had a few, like, professional pickleball players.
- [25:27]
Host
Nice. Was Ben Johns there? He's the number one, I think. I don't know anyone else other than.
- [25:33]
Amanda Sorensen
Honestly, I was co hosting the first day. There was so much going on. It was my first time co hosting. Yeah, I. I've never, like, done anything like that. So I was just following the script. The script was going off. Like, you know, we're trying to get back on center. Like, it was great.
- [25:49]
Host
But yeah, pickleball is fun. It's. It's a hard sport, actually. People think it's easy, but it's not.
- [25:54]
Amanda Sorensen
Like, I think it's so, like, entry level, like, accessible. But then as soon as you start playing with the pros, you feel like there's levels. Oh, yeah, for sure.
- [26:03]
Host
Yeah. And my issue is I'm so tall, so I want to hit everything.
- [26:06]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, you know, like.
- [26:08]
Host
Yeah, because it's going out, but my instinct is to hit it some slams. I used to play tennis.
- [26:13]
Amanda Sorensen
Okay. Okay.
- [26:14]
Host
Yeah. You ever play tennis?
- [26:16]
Amanda Sorensen
No. So, like, this was my first time Playing like. Like I'm not even good at ping pong, you know, So I was like, I'm gonna go on stage and go play pickleball in front of all these people in the theater. And it was like NBA All Star Weekend. So, you know, we were in the theater in San Francisco and I was just like, all right, you know, like, I'll be the laugh of the show. I'm not gonna be the pro, that's for sure. Not embracing it before I go out there.
- [26:39]
Host
How'd you do?
- [26:41]
Amanda Sorensen
My team lost, so, you know, it was fine. I think we were. It was me and Hunter Pence. He's a former basketball. No, former baseball player. Baseball, yeah. And so him and I were teammates. He's very competitive. He definitely held most of the weight for our team.
- [27:03]
Host
But I've seen those videos where the guy's playing with the girl and the guy will just hit all the shots.
- [27:07]
Amanda Sorensen
I was playing with against Brandi Chastain and also Uriah, who was like a former ufc.
- [27:13]
Host
Uriah Hall. Yeah, yeah, he was on the show.
- [27:15]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah. So that's who I was playing as. Like, Brandi just honestly, like, bullied me, like, so bad. Like, she was just like, we're winning this.
- [27:22]
Host
I was like, all right, well, you probably had. You probably have really fast reaction time, right?
- [27:27]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah. But honestly, like, when we were on the stage, there were so many lights, I couldn't see the ball coming.
- [27:31]
Host
Oh.
- [27:31]
Amanda Sorensen
And I was like. I don't know if I'm, like, silly or what it is, but also, everyone played the day prior. Everyone was able. They got loose, you know, like, whatever. So it was fun time, though.
- [27:40]
Host
Yeah.
- [27:40]
Amanda Sorensen
That's what it was about.
- [27:41]
Host
You did some stuff with the Air Force I saw on your YouTube.
- [27:44]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah. So I'm actually sponsored by the Air Force.
- [27:46]
Host
Wow.
- [27:46]
Amanda Sorensen
I've been working with them. This is going to be year four for working with them. So we are actually. We do a lot with their recruiting team. We really like to, you know, highlight the concept of. In the Air Force, there's jets. Right. And with the jets, there's a crew chief, tire changer, fuel or mechanics. And that's very similar to our race team. So it's a very good crossover collab that we always do. Like highlighting the similarities between the racing industry and, like, the Air Force and the military. Like one team, one goal type situation.
- [28:20]
Host
Yeah.
- [28:21]
Amanda Sorensen
So I've been fortunate enough to do insane things with them. I went flown on F16 with them with the Thunderbirds, pulled 9.1 GS.
- [28:29]
Host
That's the fastest jet, right?
- [28:31]
Amanda Sorensen
Yes. That's crazy. I did some canine training with them. I have worked with them on doing some like, ground training stuff with their team that goes in with the other, like, military when they're going into, like to a place or a base, like, and they're not allowed to bring any guns. They will be the people like, project protecting, like everyone as far as like training, like chokeholds and like, oh, hand to hand stuff. Self defense, like that kind of stuff. So that was fun. I changed a tire on a carrier plane.
- [29:05]
Host
That's impressive. I can't even change a tire on a car.
- [29:08]
Amanda Sorensen
So on a plane, very book to book when it comes to how they do things, which is like, similar to our race team.
- [29:16]
Host
Yeah.
- [29:16]
Amanda Sorensen
My tire changers. Similar concept just to their airplane tire changer. So the most recent thing I've done with them was skydiving. I jumped out of an airplane, which I never thought I was going to do. I honestly, like, so I fly planes.
- [29:32]
Host
Yeah.
- [29:33]
Amanda Sorensen
And I'm not. I don't have my license for my private pilot's license, but I have about like 45 hours. Um, so I just haven't done the ground school. But regardless of that, I am like, I'm never jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, you know? And they're like, hey, do you want to go jump with the wings of Blue in Colorado at the Air Force Academy? And I was like, if I say no, like, I'm turning on a one time. That sounds crazy. We went and jumped with their wings of blue team, which is their demo team that like, jump into a lot of their events with like, the smoke on their feet. So I did a tandem jump and I honestly would love to go again and do skydiving. And I want to go get certified.
- [30:11]
Host
Damn.
- [30:12]
Amanda Sorensen
So much fun. I love, like, adrenaline rushing things. The concept of like, you know, you really could. It could go wrong fast, I think is similar to anything else that we do. And as long as you're prepared, you know, like, you kind of limit that fear of it. But I'm definitely gonna be going and jumping.
- [30:30]
Host
Wow. So you weren't shitting your pants during that?
- [30:32]
Amanda Sorensen
I was. I totally was until I jumped out of the airplane. And I'm stuck terrified of heights. Like, I will not even cliff dive. Like, I don't like jumping off cliffs. I don't jump off the waterfall into the pool. Like, I'm terrified of that.
- [30:44]
Host
Wow.
- [30:45]
Amanda Sorensen
It makes me sick to my stomach. But when I stood on the edge, he was like, okay, like, take another step And I was like, what? But, like, for me, it was more just like the thought of, like, falling out before I was ready, you know what I mean? But, like, there was really no, like, time to be ready. Like, he was ready, so that didn't matter, you know? But once you jumped out of the plane, like, it was so peaceful. I find, like, it was very similar to, like, just like riding Harley or like riding a motorcycle. Like, you know, you have a lot of, like, wind in your face. So it was peaceful, though. Like, it was so cool. Once you, like, deploy the shoe, you're kind of just floating around. We did some tricks. Like, we did a backflip.
- [31:20]
Host
Oh, my God. On your first job, you did it.
- [31:23]
Amanda Sorensen
So, I mean, it was the Wings of Blue team, so, like, full trust in him. They've probably done thousands of those insane amount of jumps. And we were at the Air Force Academy in Colorado, so we actually went up in the plane with quite a few other kids that were taking skydiving as an elective.
- [31:38]
Host
So that's an elective?
- [31:40]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah. In the Air Force, you can choose, like, your electives and.
- [31:44]
Host
Wow.
- [31:44]
Amanda Sorensen
The only rule that I found out about, though, that I was like, there's no way. There was a guy that was in our plane and he was like, I'm jumping out for my first time. But he was by himself, really. So in the Air Force, like, when you take this academy, like the Air Force Academy in Colorado, when you choose this elective, they train you and they do. Like, the training facility is insane. You know, like, there's repels coming out of the roof, like, simulating more of, like, skydiving for your first time.
- [32:10]
Host
Got it.
- [32:11]
Amanda Sorensen
But he trained for a certain amount of weeks, and then he went up in the plane and that was his first time jumping. So the whole idea is to trust your process, trust in yourself. And, like, he packed his own shoe and everything. Like, he jumped out of the plane. I'm like, this is your first time jumping out? Like, there's no way I would jump out. But I mean, I guess with that training, it's like. It's crazy. But yeah, there was, like, a group of students up there, and that was their elective. That is skydiving.
- [32:35]
Host
First time by yourself. Because I think if you do it, like, at a place, you need to jump with, like, someone. Yeah, what, 100 times or something?
- [32:41]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah. Yeah.
- [32:42]
Host
Oh, my gosh. Wow. The Air Force does great training. Shout out to them.
- [32:45]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, it is. Their training facilities are top notch. And like, I. When I toured this Air Force Academy, there's so much that's going on there. They have reaction time training. A lot of the training actually. I was like, wow, I could use this for my own benefit. You know, the facilities are so nice. As far as like the electives. They have so many electives they have. It's so focused around like your physical fitness and like I'm so into that stuff and like, you know, just learning about the body and like that kind of stuff. So they have, you know, pools and sky like high dive jumping and just a lot of cool like features simulators that will simulate like I went into a simulator and simulated hypoxia.
- [33:34]
Host
Really.
- [33:34]
Amanda Sorensen
So for like when the jets obviously begin to lose cabin pressure at a certain altitude, you know, you're, you have a loss of oxygen, your body goes into hypoxia. So Brandon and I simulated hypoxia on the simulator where they like put a mask on us. We're flying a jet on a sim and they're like, okay, like we want you to recognize the symptoms of hypoxia. So this is how they train their, their fighter jet pilots. Like you know, to know what to do when something like that happens or to recognize the symptoms before it happens and it's too late.
- [34:07]
Host
That's actually really cool.
- [34:09]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah.
- [34:09]
Host
So you just got dizzy on the simulator? Basically.
- [34:11]
Amanda Sorensen
Actually my color went first so like everything turned black and white.
- [34:15]
Host
Damn.
- [34:15]
Amanda Sorensen
And for my brother, he, he immediately recognized it. He, he just felt very lightheaded. He said so for me like everything turned black and white and I was like, whoa, like crap. But it's the loss of oxygen to your brain.
- [34:28]
Host
Yeah. That's nuts. Do you ever do those race simulators? Like are those accurate?
- [34:32]
Amanda Sorensen
Um, yeah. I actually, I drive on a sim. Magic racing sim, which is really popular in the drift industry. It's a full E brake, throttle, brake, like steering wheel set up with a seat. So I have a full 3D screen that kind of like. Or sorry, a full 360 screen that goes around so like I can see everything left to right. And that's how we train because like we were talking about like those tire budgets are not cheap.
- [35:01]
Host
Yeah.
- [35:02]
Amanda Sorensen
So it's very, very accurate. It helps with training. Muscle memory. Just getting used to like the visuals. And so that's how I usually typically train for an event that makes sense.
- [35:14]
Host
You said it scored. You start at 100. What's the highest score you've ever gotten on drifting?
- [35:19]
Amanda Sorensen
That's a good question. Like I would say I. St. Louis two years ago. I qualified second, which was like the highest I've ever qualified. Okay. And for me, like I do four events a year for the Formula Drift series. So with that, it's like I've only, you know, done about 16, I would say.
- [35:40]
Host
16 races?
- [35:41]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah. Yeah. With Formula Drift.
- [35:42]
Host
Yeah. That's not that many, right?
- [35:44]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah. So with the pro level you do eight a year. So like I go to almost all of them because I own the team with my brother. And so I'm there like managing everything. I do all the sponsorship side of things, so making sure partners are happy, that kind of stuff. But yeah, outside of those four Formula Drift events, we also drive in like there's like a Grid life event that's like T Pain will like play there and then he'll also go drift his car. So it's like more of a festive.
- [36:10]
Host
Festival style, more casual.
- [36:12]
Amanda Sorensen
But I do compete in events about every like three weeks out of the month, I would say.
- [36:17]
Host
So you're traveling a lot?
- [36:19]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah.
- [36:19]
Host
That's cool. I didn't know you owned the team too.
- [36:21]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, so my brother and I own it together. We have two cars obviously, but we do all the sponsorship funding. Like I do that kind of side and he does the car management side.
- [36:33]
Host
That's impressive. You might be the youngest team owners, right?
- [36:36]
Amanda Sorensen
Yeah, we are.
- [36:37]
Host
That's super cool.
- [36:38]
Amanda Sorensen
And this year we're bringing on. I have a 4 or 13 year old brother. He is now the youngest licensed prospect driver.
- [36:45]
Host
Wow.
- [36:45]
Amanda Sorensen
So in Formula Drift he's the youngest licensed driver, so he'll be joining our team. So I'll have three cars, two semis traveling around and then we're gonna have a pro driver come on the other team. So two semis traveling to eight major like markets across the United States, competing in these Formula Drift events.
- [37:04]
Host
That's cool.
- [37:05]
Amanda Sorensen
And four cars total.
- [37:06]
Host
Did your parents really push this on you guys? Because three of you guys are doing this.
- [37:10]
Amanda Sorensen
Honestly, it's one of those things like the family time that you get driving at the track together. Doing in like motorsports is so addictive, you know, like in motorsports there's more than just driving the car. Like we've talked about, like, you know, managing the budgets, managing partnerships, managing relationships, understanding how to build a personal brand, talking to pr. So it's non stop. Like every single day that I wake up is dedicated to growing like my own personal brand as well as like my career in motorsports, you know, so same with my brothers. And it was just kind of like that hobby, like I said, that took over and turned into a career that's awesome.
- [37:53]
Host
What's next for you and the brother? And where can people find you?
- [37:57]
Amanda Sorensen
As far as what's next, you never really know. Like, going into 2025, I will be driving in Formula Drift and Prospect, possibly dipping my feet into some more off road stuff. I have a huge partnership announcement coming out, so I'm super stoked and I'll be signing with an energy drink, which I think is super awesome.
- [38:18]
Host
Nice.
- [38:19]
Amanda Sorensen
But I. Yeah, just continue like pushing, growing the personal brand, driving in all these different types of motorsports. And they can find me on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Mandasorensen.
- [38:33]
Host
Perfect. Check her out, guys. Thanks for coming on. That was fun. See you guys.
- [38:36]
Amanda Sorensen
Thank you.
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