Industry Spotlights Series: OMGDrift’s Ross Fairfield and Drew Fishbein

In our second installment of our Industry Spotlight Series we interview two of the founders of OMGDRIFT.com.

The crew at OMGDRIFT is not your typical drifting news site and you can get that feel as soon as you see how they cover the scene they love.

What is OMGDrift?

Ross - “OMGDrift is a bunch of laid back people, who really have their lives together”

Drew - "OMGDrift is the collaborative effort of a ton of really really amazing people. We're all a bunch of people that instead of asking "Why?" it's always "Why not?". When Ross and I started OMGDrift I can't say either of us knew what we were doing, and, it all sprung from a "Why not" attitude. The worst that could have happened was it totally flopped and we moved on. We only started it because we wanted to have a site to talk about the thing we loved the very most, drifting. It was never a way to make money (No seriously, I still live at home and the Element is falling apart) it was a way to be out at events with our extended family."

What makes it different than other Drift centric sites out there?

Ross - "Our main color is purple, how many other websites out there have awesome color schemes like us?"

Drew - "I think we just hit that certain niche. We're not too serious, we're not too laid back. We don't report news unless it's from one of our drivers. We're purple. We don't make sense, and, have had more failed project cars than other sites. (Yes, the limo still exists and it's coming back eventually). I can't say we have more fun than other sites, but, I know we have a ton of fun at every event."

What are each of your roles at OMGDrift?

Ross - "I am Drews personal assistant. I get his laundry from the dry cleaners, schedule his appointments, and screen his calls. I also sometimes make videos and do other Co-founder things like pretend I know what I am doing"

Drew - "Originally I was one of the main photographers and the Editor in Chief. This year I'm taking on a more managerial role; making sure our team of drivers and photographers are happy, running the booth when I can, and focusing on our social media more."

Who else is involved?

Ross - "Our entire team is comprised of elite photo snipers, all of whom have trained with the Navy seals to become an elite group of crazy photogs, they can get you picking your nose from a mile away"

Drew - "Well we have Jesse Ian, Stew Noble, John-Erick Garcia, Shane Macken, Jesse Cable, Martin Cunningham, Patrick McCullagh, Chris Gray, Justin Garnett, Brandon White, Nick Quigley, Leann McGlasson, Mike Griffith, Ben Chavez, Bryant Rosser, Ross Fairfield, David Sully Sullivan, Brice Burkhardt, Sami Page, Hert Eugene Jr. It's quite the list of amazing people who are absolutely amazing at what they do."

When did you get into drifting?

Ross - "Back in 2004, I started college, found drifting, and ruined my life"

Drew - "I got into drifting after I dropped out of college in 2008, I honestly wasn't doing much. Well, technically I was still enrolled in college I just didn't have the heart to tell my Mom I wasn't there anymore. One day one of our friends Cody Sarem called me to see if I wanted to go to Willow Springs and I've been hooked ever since!"

Craziest drifting story?

Ross - "Either in 2010 when Roland Gallagher nearly killed me, or 2009 when Kyle Mohan tried to kill me. Roland came out of the smoke behind Dean Kearney's Dodge Viper, and directly toward the wall I was behind. I panicked, and fell backwards clutching my camera.Had he been going any faster, that krail probably would have crushed me.

:36 second mark

Kyle made me get in his car at Long Beach, and decided to throw the car as hard as he could toward concrete with me inside. Long Beach is terrifying to look at. Its even more terrifying being in the car going 88 mph and expecting to go back to the future, and realizing you're heading toward certain death instead.

Drew - "This one isn't my craziest, but, the one I hold closest to my heart haha. I was at Willow Springs while Joon Maeng was testing his LS S13 at Horse Thief Mile. I had been there most of the day and was watching Joon in this 4 car train with everyone, I came up to talk to Joon to catch up and he threw me a helmet and told me to get in. At this point I had still never been in the car with someone who was that fast on Horse Thief Mile, as Joon would go to initiate he would try to fist bump me. We managed to rip off almost body panel from the car as we dirt dropped on almost ever corner. Joon is a driving machine and one of my favorite people I know."

The craziest one is my first round of Long Beach, I was shooting Turn 10 (I think it's Turn 10, I always forget, I just know it as "That one") and during practice Tommy Suell spun and the other driver didn't notice and T-Boned him. This was my first time seeing drifting at this level and I totally forgot Tommy was RHD so I thought he was dead. That was probably the worst I'd seen.

Where do you see Drifting going in the next 10 years?

Ross - "In 10 years, I see OMGDrift being the biggest organization in the world, and I see drifting being on the big boy channels, like ABC."

Drew - "I see it getting better and better and better; higher driver payouts, broader coverage, and eventually some sort of live format. I don't think now with a driver field of 50+ it would work but something like Super Drift could very easily be brought to us live. I hope in 10 years I'm still out here with my extended family, just not living at home! Haha."

Thanks Guys!

Be sure to check out these guys out:
http://twitter.com/omgdrift
http://omgdrift.com
https://www.facebook.com/OMGDrift