{"id":26274,"date":"2021-09-16T16:39:16","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T23:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000022148"},"modified":"2021-09-16T17:44:41","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T00:44:41","slug":"kelsey-rowlings-formula-drift-prospec-drift-chick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/kelsey-rowlings-formula-drift-prospec-drift-chick","title":{"rendered":"From midnight parking lots to pro race tracks, how Kelsey Rowlings became the &#8216;Drift Chick&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;Drift Chick&quot; Kelsey Rowlings wants every girl to know that &quot;they can do anything they want&quot;\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jlbhsIL4AQo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As the annual Formula Drift Long Beach approaches its weekend of shredding asphalt via fishtails, powerslides and tire-shrieking transitions, we wanted to share a special story about a woman who&#8217;s fairly new to town but is no stranger to drift racing.<\/p>\n<p>An Orlando native and recent Torrance transplant, Kelsey Rowlings, 32, got her start into drifting as a wide-eyed high-schooler, bewitched by high-octane videos of competitions in Japan where the sport is said to have originated before being adopted in the West.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just thought it was the coolest thing. I had to do it,&#8221; Rowlings said.<\/p>\n<p>Four years of late-night practice in secluded parking lots, some of which may or may not have been behind her parents&#8217; back, and Rowlings entered her first Formula Drift competition (Pro AM series) in 2012 with qualifying marks. A year later, she entered again and won third\u2014her first podium finish.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was like, man, I want to do more of this,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Since that fateful competition, Rowlings has been working nearly a decade toward her goal of making it into the Formula Drift Pro Championships (formerly Pro 1). Rowlings currently competes in the ProSpec Championships (formerly Pro 2).<\/p>\n<p>Sure, she&#8217;s had her struggles. Plagued by years of car troubles\u2014the ultimate offender her power steering pumps\u2014her confidence took a few hits.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My greatest hurdle right now is somewhat my headspace and my nerves,&#8221; Rowlings said. &#8220;I still need to work on getting control of that, because I am my biggest competitor.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But now, with her Nissan 240 SX stocked with a 700-plus-horsepower 5.0 Supercharged Ford Aluminator-powered S14\u2014\u2014<a href=\"http:\/\/www.driftchick.com\/\">&#8220;Drift Chick&#8221;<\/a> Rowlings is poised to tear up the drift scene one track at a time.<\/p>\n<p>Though Rowlings will not be competing in this year&#8217;s Formula Drift Championship in Long Beach, the driver will be spectating with the other 25,000 expected to attend.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I definitely want to go watch because it&#8217;s if I&#8217;m not competing, you best believe I still want to see what&#8217;s going on,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Now, the drift racer is helping other girls stake their place in the extreme sport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":262,"featured_media":71711,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[31914],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[8767],"class_list":["post-26274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","tag-formula-drift","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26274"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=26274"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=26274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}