Driver Spotlight: Adam Swan (@adamswan9)

 Northern California has provided a historical amount of professional drivers in all aspects of motorsports. Perhaps due to the geography of the mountain roads and an abundance of world-renowned race tracks. Whether cruising the backroads of the Bay Area wine country, carving one-lane highways through the redwoods, or hitting tracks like Laguna Seca Raceway, Sonoma Raceway, the list goes on. Northern California is host to a driving paradise for thrill seekers and enthusiasts alike.

  With a major percentage of spirited drivers hitting the turns or tracks in Northern California as weekend warriors, most have forgone the journey beyond just the hobbyist passion, in pursuit of a career. Even fewer have been successful in doing so. In that outlier percentage lives our friend Adam Swan.

   Adam's career began in the early 2000s during the pioneer days of drifting stateside. Having been born and raised in the backroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains, sliding the turns across the often wet and moss-covered roadways beneath the historic redwood trees was nothing more than a fun activity for him and his friends (which included myself and Kanyon @kanyondrift *who we have a blog on coming soon*). The ability to have control during that loss of traction became second nature and provided him an edge over the competition. Beginning in the year 2010 and forward Adam competed in events such as 'Thunder Drift Super Am', 'Golden Gate Drift', 'Sonoma Drift', 'Global Time Attack', 'Gridlife', and more. Adam has had a deep career in drifting, racing, coaching, commercial work, and beyond!

So you have had a few rides, tell us about them!:

  Oh god, which ones? Let me break it down! The first car I got was a 1988 MX6 2.2 Turbo (which had a terrifying amount of torque steer) in my freshman year of high school haha. Then from there, I got a WRX Bugeye which was a great little mountain car, and basically sold it to go on tour (as bassist for 'Arsonists Get All The Girls'). I got back and was "forced" to buy my first 240sx which was a single jingle two-tone coupe for 300$. Attempting to drive the 240sx like a WRX I learned that when the Subaru would push, I could step out and "drift" in the Nissan! Eventually, from there I got a different 240sx with a dual cam, welded diff, k-sport coils, and a seat and really started having fun! After that, it was a plethora of 240sx cars haha!

By plethora, I recall the last count you were in the 30's?:

  Yeah man somewhere in the 30 amount of s-chassis. Also a couple of AE86 cars, a couple of FC RX7s, a Starion that never ran, and a couple more Subies, things were just cheap back then so we could experiment with different chassis!

So You still have an S Chassis competition car, indulge us on some history and specs:

  Yes indeed! So you and I went and picked that car up in 2013, an S13 coupe with an s15 SR20DET and 6-speed gearbox. I have kept the car mainly stock aside from Fortune Auto coils, SPL Arms, 5zeigen Wheels, Hawk pads on Z32 calipers with 5Lug, exhaust, s15 Subframe, and a widebody kit. 

I remember driving it home while you followed me! Loved the S15 SR while cruising in 6th on the freeway. Anyway, You have used that car for competitions, what is that like?:

 That car has been driven as a grip car for the majority of my ownership. Occasionally I would hit Sonoma Drift on Wednesdays during my free time between doing product development with Works (@worksmotorsports) on the FRS / BRZ platform, but drive the mountains regularly. Once I started to transition into grip driving and understanding the fundamentals of that, and how to apply them, I felt almost a slap to the face as to how I should have been doing that sooner! When you are on a mountain you are constantly adjusting for the road conditions, hazards, etc. but on a track, you can really take out those elements and focus on pushing your car.

Speaking of tracks, you have a special relationship with Sonoma Raceway:

 Well, I was a volunteer for Sonoma Drift programs in the beginning (founding). Eventually, the relationship grew and so did the drift scene; in 2016 they were bought out by Speedway Motors and I was put on the payroll as staff! I still run the Sonoma Drift program managing operations along with Faruk (@faruk.Kugay) as the lead.

That's wild! I also understand you do private and group lessons:

  So for instance last weekend I as well as three other instructors provided coaching lessons for a private group of Google employees at Thunder Hill Raceway through Fastsideways. They offer services through multiple clinics (full course, car control/skid pad clinic, etc.). where I coach the fundamentals of performance driving as well as advanced classes. I also offer private coaching services.

So sick man! What does the future look like for your driving career?:

  Definitely Gonna Get out of California more and find some more race series. A huge interest I have is in the NASA programs, they have so much clout in the industry. Definitely limited up here with my current vehicle (The S13) but with my new car I'm working on (Competition CRX) I would love to be in that and the Honda Challenge down in SoCal. I am also gonna be doing some more with Lucky Dog, their Mustang, and Horsepower Ranch. Regardless, I have been having a great time doing private instruction which allows me to not only meet some awesome people and build a relationship, but also drive some amazing vehicles!

Awesome man! Anybody you wanna give a shoutout to before we go?:

  Definitely Karlo at Horsepower Industries (@kbrunlimited / @hrspwr_industries) , Without him I don't know where I would be. Rich at TEM Machine shop (@temperformance) for the continued support even from the start! Also, definitely the support from 9AM, I Love seeing that grow and come to fruition. Patrick at DoItDoper (@doitdoper) for the graphic design and artwork. Masai at Evil Industries (@Evilindistries.co). for the merch, Kanyon for never answering my calls "@ me Kanyon! haha", and yeah all the mountain homies.

 Adam Swan has been an integral part of 9AM and the brand development over the years: from providing us not only our personal S13 over a decade ago, to teaching how to drive and modify it, and so much more. *Fun fact: 9AM was originally the name of our driving crew (9 After Midnight) in which we would race and drift Highway 9 (among 35, 236, Pagemill Rd., and others) over a decade ago! Probably owe some royalties to Adam one day haha!* We are so incredibly grateful for the reciprocated support from Adam and we can't wait to see what the future holds behind the wheel for him!