Digital Social Hour
Inside the World of Professional Drifting & High-Speed Racing | Amanda Sorensen DSH #1241
Sun, 16 Mar 2025
🔥 Amanda Sorensen on Breaking Barriers in Drifting, Racing Extreme E & Making History 🚀 In this high-energy episode, we sit down with Amanda Sorensen, a professional drifter, off-road racer, and motorsports trailblazer, to discuss her journey to the top, competing in Formula Drift, Extreme E, and making history as the first female podium finisher in Formula Drift Pro Spec. Topics Covered: ✅ The intense world of professional drifting & what it takes to win ✅ Breaking barriers as a female in motorsports ✅ Competing in Extreme E & racing in Saudi Arabia ✅ How she built her own racing team & manages sponsorships ✅ The future of motorsports – from electric racing to hydrogen cars This episode is packed with adrenaline, strategy, and behind-the-scenes insights into one of the fastest-growing sports in the world! 📲 Follow Amanda Sorensen & Learn More: 🔗 Instagram: @Amanda.Sorensen12 🔗 YouTube: Amanda Sorensen 🔗 Website: AmandaSorensen.com ⏱ CHAPTERS ⏳ 00:00 – What It’s Like to Drift Inches Away from Competitors ⏳ 03:15 – The Mental & Physical Preparation for Drifting ⏳ 07:30 – The High Costs & Risks of Competitive Drifting ⏳ 12:10 – Making History: First Female Podium in Formula Drift Pro Spec ⏳ 17:40 – The Challenges of Competing in a Male-Dominated Sport ⏳ 23:50 – Competing in Extreme E & Racing in Saudi Arabia ⏳ 30:25 – The Future of Motorsports: Hydrogen & Electric Racing ⏳ 36:10 – Running Her Own Racing Team & Managing Sponsorships ⏳ 42:00 – The Rise of Drifting & Its International Popularity ⏳ 50:15 – Skydiving with the Air Force & Other Wild Adventures ⏳ 55:30 – What’s Next for Amanda Sorensen & Her Racing Career 🔥 Apply to Be on the Podcast & Business Inquiries: 🎙 APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application 📩 BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: jenna@digitalsocialhour.com SPONSORS: SPECIALIZED RECRUITING GROUP: https://www.srgpros.com/ LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/
Chapter 1: What is professional drifting and how did Amanda Sorensen get involved?
saying your heart must be racing yeah we uh we go through a lot of taillights um gosh a lot of bumpers there's like definitely not like bumper budget is like another thing all right guys we got amanda on today professional drifter thanks for coming on yeah thanks for having me absolutely um i do not know much about drifting so i'd love to just hear the basics how you got into this and everything
Yeah, drifting is actually a very unique sport because it's more of like a competition style. It's not like who is the first person to cross the finish line with like typical racing. There's a lot of like mentality training that goes into it because you really just have one shot or you go home. But it's kind of like surfing or similar to like ice skating. There's three judges.
Chapter 2: How do drifting competitions work and what are the challenges?
You have line, angle, style. And we're driving on these tracks that are about like...
quarter of a mile and we're driving on the NASCAR tracks typically or like a road racing track like Atlanta so these are like same tracks that like a lot of the IMSA circuit goes on or NASCAR and they'll put out these clipping points so I can outside zone and inside zone and like the goal is you basically we get up to speed so speeds anywhere from like 80 to 120 going a straight line where you have full traction and
And then you break traction and go sideways.
Holy crap. That sounds scary.
You have to fill these zones. So outside zones, getting your rear bumper as close to the wall as possible.
Damn.
Or your front bumper, like, as close to the clipping point as possible while maintaining your line, angle, and then style, which is broken down into, like, fluidity and commitment. Like, how committed are you? How good does it look? Is it graceful? Is it choppy? Like...
every small adjustment um is a deduction in points so there's 100 points that you can get in qualifying and then from there we go into competition style and uh top 16 drivers go into main competition and typically there's anywhere from 40 to 50 competitors that show up on a weekend
Wow. That's a lot. You said you only got one attempt? Or how does it work?
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Chapter 3: What does it take to prepare mentally and physically for drifting?
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I know. Follow first. Some people have different preferences. It really just depends on the track, like who you're battling. Some people, there's a lot of like... There are some drivers that love to play games. So, you know, they'll hesitate on the takeoff or they'll be doing a certain type of initiation and entry every single time during practice.
But then as soon as it gets to competition, they'll change it. So like... You know, there's very, there's a lot of strategies that go on behind.
I like that because I'm a chess player.
Yeah, exactly. Kind of similar.
So there's some mental games going on too. It's not just about the race.
So you got to really just, you cannot react to your lead driver. You have to anticipate your lead driver. You know, similar with chess. I'm not a big chess fan, but like, I've never really played chess to be honest. Assuming it's the same.
It's a good game because it's all skill based.
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Chapter 4: How did Amanda Sorensen make history in Formula Drift?
Was she the first for NASCAR female?
I don't know about, like, first, but she definitely was, like, an icon.
Yeah, I remember watching her on ESPN as a kid.
Yeah.
Yeah, she was a legend. Yeah, it amazes me how people like her and you are, like... There's not many female competitors, right, in this scene at all.
Yeah, there's... We have one other female in my division. Internationally, there's about... I would say at a higher level, kind of like similar to my level, there's only about like five or six females. Damn. And I couldn't even put a number on how many males.
Probably thousands.
Yeah, exactly.
And do you keep them separate? Like, are you friends with them or do you view them as competition?
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Chapter 5: What is Amanda Sorensen's experience with Extreme E and electric racing?
I didn't know that was open yet.
Yes.
I need to get out there. I love Pickleball.
Yeah.
Was that the one with Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi, or was that a different Pickleball event?
I'm not sure. Oh, no, no, no. This was different. It's called Celebrity Pickleball Bash. We had like Terrell Owens, Brandi Chastain. So some fun like celebrities. And then we had a few like professional pickleball players.
Nice. Was Ben Johns there? He's the number one, I think. I don't know anyone else.
Honestly, I was co-hosting the first day. There was so much going on. It was my first time co-hosting. I've never done anything like that. So I was just following the script. The script was going off. We were trying to get back on center. It was great.
yeah pickleball is fun it's um it's a hard sport actually people think it's easy but it's not like i think it's so like entry level like accessible but then as soon as you start playing with the pros you feel like there's levels oh yeah for sure yeah and my issue is i'm so tall so i want to hit everything yeah yeah yeah like you know yeah because it's going out but my instinct is to hit it some slams yeah i used to play tennis oh okay okay yeah you ever play tennis
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Chapter 6: How is the future of motorsports evolving with hydrogen and electric cars?
I was. i totally was until i jumped out of the airplane and i'm terrified of heights like i will not even cliff dive like i don't like jumping off cliffs i don't jump off the waterfall into the pool like i'm terrified of that wow um it makes me sick to my stomach but when i stood on the edge he was like okay like take another step and i was like what
But, like, for me, it was more just, like, the thought of, like, falling out before I was ready. You know what I mean? But, like, there was really no, like, time to be ready. Like, he was ready, so that didn't matter, you know? But once you jumped out of the plane, like, it was so peaceful. I find, like, it was very similar to, like, just, like, riding a Harley or, like, riding a motorcycle. Hmm.
You know, you have a lot of, like, wind in your face. So it was peaceful, though. Like, it was so cool. Once you, like, deploy the chute, you're kind of just floating around. We did some tricks. Like, we did a backflip.
Oh, my God. On your first jump, you did a backflip?
So, I mean, it was the Wings of Blue team. So, like, full trust in him.
They've probably done thousands of those.
Insane amount of jumps. And we were at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. So we actually went up in the plane with quite a few other kids that were taking skydiving as an elective.
That's an elective?
Yeah. In the Air Force, you can choose your electives. Wow. The only rule that I found out about, though, that I was like, there's no way. There was a guy that was in our plane and he was like, I'm jumping out for my first time. But he was by himself.
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