RENO, NV (May 15) — Battle Born Motorsports is the creation of Adrian Buyten. He created it after seeing a need for his favorite motorsport, drifting and has been working to develop it to this area.
Asked how he got interested in drifting Buyten said, “I had an 85 Merkur XR4TI, a super rare Europen Ford rear drive with a 2.3 liter turbo motor. It happened in the rain getting sideways and that kicked the rear out a little bit. I’ve been hooked every since.”
That was in 2003 and he started sliding around parking lots, especially after it snowed. That went until 2010 when he bought his first Nissan 240X.
“I bought that and started drifting in parking lots with the intention of getting better,” he said. “I did it in the warehouse district places at night when no one was around.”
Then in 2013 he bought his second 240X as a competition car and got into the Formula Drift Pro/Am series. ESPN carries Formula Drift events and series drivers can earn a pro license although Buyten hasn’t.
What really upset him was the lack of opportunities here in this area and decided to do something about it.
“It was frustrating for me as I wanted to be a better drifter but there was nothing here in Northern Nevada,” he said. “I wanted to do like the pros do.”
So for three years he began to hold drifting event at 95A Fernley Speedway.
“We had events with the SCCA but could only do solo runs and not in tandom. The first year we had one event, two the second year then three the third year before the owner lost the road course in 2014,” he said.
After that he continued competing in Formula Drift events at Thunderhill, Sonoma Raceway and at the Stockton 99 track. He also bought a convertible for competition but when he got married he put his competing on hold for a while.
“In 2016 I heard someone was buying the raceway so got a hold of Dan Simpson and finally got in contact with the new owner. Since then Buyten has been hosting events at the 95A Raceway, the road course.
Last year he promoted several drift events and found that there were lags in the program. After the drifters get their time it would take at least 20 minutes for everyone to change tires. With all the power sliding in drifting the sport eats a lot of tires.
This coming weekend, Memorial Day there will be a two-dry drifting event at the raceway. It will be a combined event for both drift and grip cars as well as a skid pad.
Drift cars compete in pairs with one being the leader while the second is about halfway back on one side or the other and that car switches sides depending on the corner. After a run they switch places so it’s a match the leader thing.
Grip cars are set for road racing and they will be doing hot laps around the designated course. So when the drift cars are changing tires the grip cars are out on the track. This keeps the program rolling along.
The event this weekend is quite different than the previous event.
“Since the virus we’re trying to be a little respectful so it will be by private invitation only. However if someone says they want to go they can get an invitation,” he said. “They’ll have to do it ahead of time and the best place is either the Battle Born or Adrian Buyten’s Face Book page as the new website isn’t up yet.”
Due to the current situation social distancing in the pits is asked and there will be no spectators at the event just drivers and crew.
Looking forward the new owner plans to start repaving the road course in June. This will allow for a surface that’s not as abrasive as the current one so more grip and better tire life.
Buyten explained after the repaving there will be a new schedule and he’s planning either a two- or three-day drifting event on Hot August Nights weekend. After last year HAN took the drifting event at the Livestock Events Center off their schedule so it’s a free weekend.
Asked if he was optimistic about the future of drifting in this area Buyten said, “Oh yea.”
• There was a test and tune session on the oval at 95 Motor Sports Complex this Saturday. On hand were at least 25 cars waiting to test the new altered track including at leat one modified that made the 6-hour town down from Oregon.
For young driver it was a special day as Hayden White, an Outlaw Kart Champion from Fallon, is now stepping up to racing a Toyota Mini Stock truck. After making a steady start the 11-year-old started to reach for the limits of her ride. She now has joined the others in waiting for racing to resume at our local tracks.
The oval has been reshaped so as to try and improve racing and make it a two-groove track. Although the track crew watered several times the wind would soon dry it out so there was dust. Still the drivers were out there testing and checking out the track.
During the afternoon track manager Matt Sherman explained what they were doing and aiming for.
“We took the steep banking out of it, flattened out the bottom groove gave progressive banking in the rest of it to try and promote more passing and better racing,” he said. “Right they’ve switched from running the bottom to the middle line but we don’t have enough cars on the track to see if it has multiple grooves. But it looks very positive.”
The track wanted to have its first race two weeks from now but since the I-80 Challenge will be in Winnemucca there will be another Test and Tune session on that Saturday.
OTHER RACING NEWS:
• Although the traditional Over The Hill Gang national motocross on Memorial Day has been canceled there is a local option for riders.
The motocross track at 95 Motor Sports Complex has practice sessions Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. So one doesn’t have to travel over the hill and can get practice time close to home.
• Diamond Mountain Speedway in Susanville, California is going to have test and tune sessions over the next two weekends.
There will be several sessions a day as only six cars with a crew of 4 will be allowed into the pits. This begins Friday and if one is interested go to the track’s Face Book page to register for a spot.
• If one enjoyed seeing NASCAR race Sunday Fox Sports 1 has two more races this week from Darlington, or the Track Too Tough to Tame.
On Tuesday the Xfinity series will race starting at 5 p.m. then on Wednesday the NASCAR Cup racers return for an another race starting at 4:30 p.m.
• JOB OPPORTUNITY: If one is an experienced motorcycle and ATV tech one of our sponsors Moto Source has a full time opening. Please check the poster and send in your resume.
• Tuesday from 2 until 3 p.m. is when Teresa’s Garage Radio Show is on the air again. The subject is all things automotive including trends and trivia.
In the Reno/Sparks area the show can be heard at 1180 AM or on a Podcast at amm.streamon.fm. It can also be seen live on Factbook.
• If you enjoyed this article please “like,” and share it as widely as possible. Comments are welcome.
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We now have seven very appreciated sponsors supporting this site. Please patronize them as they not only support your sport but they help nvracingnews continue.
During this time of shutdown and social distancing please patronize our sponsors. It helps them survive this period our uncertainty and in the case of PJ&Co, when they finally open back up please have some meals there. Food is good and your support will be very appreciated.
Our newest sponsor is G.I.S.L Land Services that, while having a global client base it has a Western U.S.A. Focus. Owner Greg Ekins is a long time off road motorcycle racer competing in the MRANN Series as well as the AMA National Hare and Hound series.
Among the services offers are Surface and Mineral Title Reviews and Cartographic Services. The website is www.gislandservices.com.
Another great sponsor is General Transmission and Power Train Specialists. The shop is located at 2515 Sutro Street in Reno, a few blocks below Hug High School.
Former motorcycle racer Pete Attashian is the owner and they not only service older and newer transmission but now have a section dealing with high performance units including those used for towing.
The phone number is 775-786-5888 and the shop’s website is www.generaltransmissionreno.com.
Last year fantastic race photographer Melissa Coker joined the family of sponsors. If you have raced at Summit in Elko, Battle Mountain, Lovelock, Rattlesnake or Diamond Mountain Speedway she probably has a photograph of your car on the track.
She’s also been at the IMCA Duel in the Desert was well as the Wild West Tour and IMCA Super Nationals in Boone, Iowa. Melissa not only has photos of the cars, and many times drivers, but she can produce hero cards and even a book of from your season.
To see her collections or to place an order please check her website at www.melissasoutonalimb.smugmug.com.
Two of our sponsors are first class motorcycle shops located in Reno.
Our first sponsor is Reno Motorsports (RMS). Not only do they have about anything a rider might want or need and the store also has a full service shop.
Their location is at 964 Terminal Way, by the intersection with Mill Street. Store’s phone number is 775-322-1499 and the site is, www.rms-renomotorsports.com.
The next shop is Moto Source located at 3180 Mill Street. Once again they are a full service shop plus about any thing a rider might need or want.
The phone number is 775-856-3855 and the website is, www.moto-source.com.
The next sponsor is an excellent place if you need collision repair on your car or truck. It’s Concours Body Shop, located at 250 Telegraph Street in Reno and has a long history of first class repairs.
Brian Saul is the owner, a car enthusiast himself and he’s committed to continuing the shop’s reputation of quality work. Phone number is 775-329-4557 and the website is, www.concoursbodyshop.net.
Hungry, want a great place to eat, then try PJ&CO for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and it’s a great place to watch your favorite sports. If you’re a rider, well Wednesday evening is Bike Night, always a great time to see some great looking bikes and meet like-minded people.
The location is 1590 South Wells Avenue, just north of the round about. Phone number is 775-323-6366 and their website is www.pjandco.net.
Good news, as soon as the crew is trained and place restocked PJ&Co should open hopefully this week. A great place for a meal.
Have a business targeted toward motorsports or an off road demographic? We are always looking for more sponsors and will expose your business to the racing and off road community in this area.
You can contact us either through the comment section of this site or on our Face Book page.
