Drifter’s lifestyle exactly Petty’s speed

Sprint is the title sponsor of NASCAR’s top series, but drivers rely on two-way radios — not cell phones — to communicate with crew chiefs from their race cars.

Nationwide Insurance supports NASCAR’s second-tier series, but doesn’t offer collision policies on race cars.

Full Throttle, the performance-enhancing energy drink manufactured by Coca-Cola, makes sense for professional drag racing.

Falken Tire fits perfectly as a major backer of the tire-smoking Formula Drift series that begins a two-night run tonight at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

It’s almost as perfect a match as Collision Masters body shops becoming a major sponsor at the speedway’s Bullring, where crashes are as common as a searing-hot steering wheel in July.

One team competing in the Formula Drift All In event at the speedway’s dragstrip pit area has tried to secure sponsors who fit its personality.

“I had a sponsorship deal with a porn business but when Falken came on as one of my sponsors they didn’t want the porno company on the car,” Ross Petty said. “I’ve been trying to do another deal with a medical marijuana club.”

Falken probably won’t like that one either, but many of Petty’s fans probably would.

For those over age 35, the 15-year old sport of drifting is the high-speed art of power slides in two-car matches in which judges determine a winner based on style and execution, not speed.

It’s a perfect fit for Petty, 27, who will start the fourth event of the Formula Drift season 15th in points while being plagued by mechanical bugs like a swarm of roaches.

“We’re like the (professional wrestling) of motor sports. I had to find something that fit my personality,” he said.

Petty, who grew up in Japan and Hawaii and is not part of the NASCAR Petty clan, lists his favorite music as reggae and his favorite artist as Bob Marley, mon. His highly modified 2001 Nissan Sylvia dubbed “Rossta S15” is painted red, gold and green; the colors of the Jamaica-based Rastafari religion that extols the spiritual use of marijuana.

That could explain why Petty is so adept at sliding a car between concrete guardwalls while the cockpit is full of smoke.

“I have a ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy,” said Petty, who doesn’t have dreadlocks but braids his chest-long beard.

Nicknamed “Boso,” he and noted tuner Frank Siharath own Garage Boso, an engine tuning and metal fabrication shop near Los Angeles that is highly regarded within the high-performance import community.

At GarageBoso.com, the “boso” philosophy is defined:

“Simply put, boso is a lifestyle. It’s pretty basic really, because it doesn’t matter if you drift, skate, fight, build speaker systems, make pornographic movies, or drink 27 beers a day; you can or may already be living the boso lifestyle.

“We advocate doing (stuff), as opposed to being a lazy fat-ass who does nothing. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be fat and maintain the boso lifestyle. On the contrary, fat people always know when to eat, don’t need blankets, and can probably kick your ass.”

What also kicks butt is the annual Las Vegas visit by the drifters, and not the ones who have played in many of the Strip’s smoky lounges.

The elimination field of 32 cars will include domestic Mustangs, a Corvette, a Pontiac Solstice and a Dodge Challenger. The rest are Japanese imports, many of which are not sold in the United States, like the No. 808 Petty will pilot that has right-side drive.

It’s the only form of racing in which you might see a driver drop to his knees and bow to race officials for forgiveness after a crash.

Points leader Darren McNamara and other 2009 winners Ryan Tuerck and Chris Forsberg will be joined by the most experienced “traditional” driver in the field, Rhys Millen.

Rally expert Millen is the guy who starred on the Strip on New Year’s Eve the past two years on national television trying to do a back flip in a desert-racing truck. Millen also gained notoriety for winning the last two Pikes Peak Hill Climbs.

Compared to Millen’s exploits, Petty isn’t so abnormal.

At least when it comes to the drifting community.

Jeff Wolf’s motor sports column is published Friday. He can be reached at 383-0247 or jwolf@reviewjournal.com. Visit Wolf’s motor sports blog at lvrj.com/blogs/heavypedal/ throughout the week.