Year 25
25 in 2025
What a wild year.
I say this every year, but I truly believe this one was full of self growth and learning. From drifting to friendships and everything in between, I definitely did not give myself enough time to process it all.
The first half of the year was spent on some serious self help as events from the previous year had knocked my mental health all out of whack.
With so much focus on rewiring my brain, other things fell onto the back burner. Family, friends and personal goals all took a hit. Around April and May things finally started clicking back into place.
TRIP TO THE POND V5
Although I had some personal things going on. A bunch of friends, people you have definitely seen on my site or Instagram were invited to join the Atlanta boys for Trip to the Pond. Myself included.
This was a big deal for me. Up until now all of my drifting adventures had been with Geoff. Traveling far from home with a new group of friends felt daunting, but there was no way I would pass up the opportunity. Once we agreed to go and paid for the BNB, there was one last thing that was not necessary but also very necessary: liveries.
This was around the time Yellow Fever was launching as a “team”. I put that in quotes because we would all drive together regardless of having a name. The name just felt like a cherry on top.
Karl, Ethan and Quan all needed designs printed and applied. In true drift fashion this all had to happen a couple days before leaving. I mocked up liveries for each car, made the tweaks everyone wanted and started printing.
Karl’s car came first since it was going to be in the Faction booth at the LZ World Tour a week and a half before Midpond. Midpond is small racetrack in Alabama for anyone who may not know.
With Karl’s car complete, the next two were Quan’s and Ethan’s. The problem was that none of us lived close to each other. And while juggling this whole schedule, I also decided it was a great idea to sign up for a half marathon. The race fell right in the middle of all this chaos, and since I already told friends and family about it, backing out was not an option.
I drove up to Ethan’s next. We spent the entire day printing and cutting stickers, and then applied them late into the night. We finished around three in the morning. Livery number two complete. All I had left was a half marathon and one more car.
I stayed at Ethan’s hoping that three hours of sleep would somehow be enough.
The next morning I woke up late with no running clothes, only shoes. I arrived an hour late and had to park a mile from the start line. By the time I reached the start, staff were already cleaning up. Somehow I managed to catch up to a few runners and stuck with them to the end.
My time was 1:59:19 for anyone who cares.
After the race it was time to refuel and head to Quan’s to start and finish his car. The whole gang was at the shop helping line up stickers, and Andy took product photos. It was all hands on deck. With all three liveries done, it was time to head south.
Yellow Fever
After Midpond we all felt this special aura around YF. What began as a name Ethan and I used for SmileXDeath’s Assetto Corsa competition quickly turned into something much more. We made hoodies, stickers pretty much anything we could get our hands on. It felt like a new kind of unity that I had not experienced before.
We created a good amount of buzz too. I think we have a foundation of core values that show through our character, our driving and our cars.
This year YF also attended two other team events. Twin Drift and the SmileXDeath Challenge. Three team events in one year still feels crazy to think about.
I do want to make a dedicated Yellow Fever page eventually. I just have not figured out how I want it to look yet.
NE AERO
Between drifting and team events I still managed to keep my small side business going. It has been steady and I am thankful for returning customers. I am genuinely honored people trust me with their repairs. Let’s see where things are a year from now. Maybe I will have shop tees or stickers by then.
Personal Vehicles
My personal vehicle situation has been all over the place. The project car is still a project and my beloved Honda is no longer with us.
I was hit on the way home from work and thankfully both the other driver and I were able to go home that night instead of the hospital.
Suddenly I had no car. After some searching and with help from my friends I picked up a 2008 BMW 328xi. Thank you Andy and Randy. I did not expect to check off owning a BMW so soon, but here I am.
And honestly I understand why people like these cars. They feel solid and driver focused right from the factory. But they do not exactly suit my needs or driving preferences. I still have not figured out why. Maybe it is going from turbo to NA. Maybe it is the manual transmission I miss. Maybe it is the weight difference. I keep trying to figure out what I could do to the e92 to recreate what I am missing.
If I could switch cars right now I would choose either a ZN6 or a JZX chassis. A ZN6 would be cool for developing parts for new drivers, but a JZX90 would let me live out my Osaka street dreams here in the States. But I am not made of money. Not yet.
Goals for 2026
I am absolutely carrying this year’s momentum into the next. I want to focus on other areas of my life while still growing YF, NE Aero and my drifting journey.
A major goal is time management. I do a lot of things, but rarely take time to reflect or take care of myself. The older I get, the further I feel from my eighteen year old self. When I fall now it takes a little longer to get back up. It’s only a matter of time before I find myself handicap if I don’t start looking after myself.
To end things off, thank you for taking the time to read this. If this year taught me anything, it’s that anything can happen when you truly want it badly enough.
Until next time 💛
