Drift racer Angerman sliding into success

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Steven Angerman is drifting in the direction of his dreams: an image of blue metal – the color of his new Pontiac Solstice – accompanied by billows of smoke, the smell of burning rubber and the roar of fans chanting “Angerman” from the stands.

But it isn’t a dream – it’s real, and Angerman, a 21-year-old from the Scullville section of Egg Harbor Township, is in for the ride of his life.

After an exceptional drift race last September in the Englishtown D1 Grand Prix at Raceway Park in Englishtown, Monmouth County, where he shocked the crowd by placing third and defeating professional drifters from Japan, the country where the sport originated, Angerman was picked up by Gardella Racing as a pro-amateur drifter.

Angerman said that unlike regular auto racing, drift racing is a judged sport where drivers intentionally oversteer their cars, sliding around the turns but keeping the cars in control. He said many people compare drifting with figure skating, with its smooth turns and daring movements, going from 35 to 100 mph. The drifters, Angerman said, are judged on speed, style and steering angle.

Angerman called drifting “a relatively safe sport,” adding that he occasionally has people ride along with him in the passenger seat – like a roller-coaster ride with a little more trust required.

“I had to tell this one guy to keep his hands down, I actually have to drive,” Angerman said. “He just got excited.”

Angerman said he has never heard of a driver seriously getting hurt – but to be on the safe side, drifters wear fire gear and have a metal cage

within the car.

“It’s really relaxing, actually,” he said. “The only thing that gets to my nerves is the competition aspect.”

Angerman said he was first introduced to the sport at age 13, when he came across a video clip of drifters in the mountains in Japan. But racing was already in his blood.

His father, Mike Angerman Sr., still competes in recreational motocross, and siblings Mike Jr., 24, Steven and Alex, 19, began go-cart racing at age 5. Alex still rides ATVs for fun, but Steven and Mike Jr. turned their tires toward more serious racing. Steven drifts and Mike Angerman Jr. is a professional freestyle motocross racer – “definitely more dangerous,” Steven Angerman said.

Mike Angerman Sr. said he is not surprised by his sons’ love for racing, but he was surprised by the success they had so early in life.

“They always had that daredevil mentality,” he said. “But to get to this level so quickly is amazing.”

Angerman said he has been obsessed with drifting for seven years – spending the last Wednesday of each month at the Englishtown track and putting all his money at age 16 into buying his own Nissan 240 SX, a $4,000 drift-racing car he worked on in his home garage on Schoolhouse Road as soon as he got a provisional driver’s license.

But he said he never thought he’d have the chance to join a team. “No one gets this opportunity, honestly,” he said.

He called his invitation a “Willy Wonka Golden Ticket,” and said he feels like a kid in a candy store.

Angerman is currently traveling with his team on the Formula Drift Series circuit, a professional drifting championship of two-day events from April to October.

This is his first time attending the Formula D series. He is not behind the wheel this year, but is getting acquainted with his Solstice, which has “Angerman” painted across the roof in red, and is supporting teammate Ryan Tuerck, who has been riding with Gardella since 2008. The team is rounded out by leader Gary Gardella, a former drag racer who has a a collision body shop and race shop in Howell, Sussex County, as well as two mechanics and a rig driver.

Angerman is finishing the circuit with the team – their next stop is Sonoma, Calif., Sept. 10-11 and their last is Irwindale, Calif., Oct. 8-9 – and drifting at Englishtown about once a week. He also spends a lot of time at the Gardella shop, where the Solstice stays, and is an employee of his father’s business, Michael Angerman Landscaping.

Angerman said that by next April, he hopes to be ready to drift in the series with the Solstice.

“The Pontiac has so much potential,” he said. “My goal is Formula D.”

Until then, he’ll be drifting right along.

Contact Elisa Lala:

609-272-7201

ELala@pressofac.com

To learn more

To follow Steven Angerman, see www.SteveAngerman.com and www.GardellaRacing.com

Summit Point, West Virginia — At first blush, it appears Steve Angerman doesn’t know the slightest thing about driving.

For starters, he approaches a curve way too fast. Then he sends his Pontiac Solstice into a suicidal slide and the car vanishes in a cloud of smoke, dust, rubber and asphalt.

But before you can punch even the first digit of 911, Angerman seizes control of the car through a deft combination of throttle and brake, shifting and steering and, quite possibly, prayer.

“Dear Lord, Help me in my time of need.”

And his car emerges intact, throttle up, headed for the next turn.

Amen.

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