Ernie Fixmer (born February 19, 1977, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

) is a drifting driver from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Fixmer is one of the most recognizable figures in the early history of drifting in the United States, and became one of the first drivers with a manufacturer backing (with Rotora) in the summer of 2003. Fixmer was the first American driver to compete in a sudden death match against Japan's points leader in the first

D1 Grand Prix The , abbreviated as D1GP and subtitled ''Professional Drift'', is a production car drifting series from Japan. After several years of hosting amateur drifting contests, Daijiro Inada, founder of '' Option'' magazine and Tokyo Auto Salon, and ...

's professional series in the U.S., presented by Slipstream Global, currently known as

Formula D Formula DRIFT (also known as Formula D or FD) is an American drifting series, and was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that introduced D1 Grand Prix to the ...

Career

Fixmer has over 13 years of experience in the drifting scene, after learning the sport in

Okinawa, Japan is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west ...

while enlisted in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

. Fixmer competed in

from 2004 through 2006, and also in the

Formula Drift Formula DRIFT (also known as Formula D or FD) is an American drifting series, and was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that introduced D1 Grand Prix to the ...

series in 2004 as the number 13 driver and 2005. Fixmer continued his career in drifting while driving in exhibition demos, both domestically and internationally. Fixmer judged for NOPI Drift Series in 2007 and continues to judge for the ongoing 2008 drift series in Formula DRIFT.

History

Fixmer was first introduced to drifting in December 1999 in

, while enlisted in the

as a helicopter mechanic. During this era of early pre-American drifting, such names as

Keiichi Tsuchiya is a Japanese professional race car driver. He is known as the for his nontraditional use of drifting in non-drifting racing events and his role in popularizing drifting as a motorsport. In professional racing, he is a two-time 24 Hours of Le ...

("Drift King"),

Ross Petty Ross Petty (born August 29, 1946) is a Canadians, Canadian actor and theatre producer. He is best known for his eponymous production company, which staged what were promoted as "family musical" theatre productions in the British pantomime traditi ...

, Kazuya Bai (Signal Auto) &

Yasuyuki Kazama is a drifting driver from Japan, formerly competing in D1 Grand Prix, well known for using the Nissan Silvia S15. He is also known as Waku Waku and Spin Benz Dokan. Biography Kazama was first introduced to drifting at age 17 when he watched G ...

, were involved in the motorsport in Okinawa. Before his official orders back to the United States came through, Fixmer purchased a

Nissan 240SX The Nissan 240SX is a sports compact car that was introduced to the North American market by Nissan in 1988 for the 1989 model year. It replaced the outgoing 200SX (S12) model. Most of the 240SXs were equipped with the 2.4-liter inline-four e ...

while vacationing in Washington. When his overseas tour with the USMC ended, Fixmer returned to the US to build his personal state-side drift car. Through purchasing parts from a local shop (JSpec.com) to build his vehicle, Fixmer became friends with the owner, Sam Chang. Fixmer borrowed Sam Chang's personal Nissan 240SX coupe to be driven in the

driver's search at

Irwindale Speedway } Irwindale is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California. The population was 1,472 at the 2020 census, 1,422 at the 2010 census. The ZIP Codes serving the area are 91010, which is shared with Duarte, 91702, which i ...

Irwindale, California } Irwindale is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California. The population was 1,472 at the 2020 census, 1,422 at the 2010 census. The ZIP Codes serving the area are 91010, which is shared with Duarte, 91702, which i ...

, on June 15, 2003, which served as the first official appearance of D1 in the US. Fixmer was one of the first American drivers who qualified for the US Series competition. After acquiring a D1 competition license at the event, Sam Chang introduced Fixmer to Loren Ho, President of Rotora. At this time, Rotora chose Fixmer's personal drift car to become the first sponsorship by a motorsports manufacturer in early competition series' of the sport in the United States. After completing the build of Fixmer's 240SX, it was then used to compete in the Inaugural D1 Grand Prix USA event, which was run by Slipstream Global, currently known as

.. At this event, Fixmer became the first American driver to go into a sudden death round with the Japanese series points leader, Youichi Imamura, after all American drivers were knocked out in their first runs. This moment served as the turning point in the motorsport in the US, and quickly attracted the attention of the Japanese drivers. Fixmer continued to compete in the D1 Grand Prix point series in 2004, 2005 & 2006. In 2004 and 2005, Fixmer competed in the Formula D point series, and also was invited to drift in the first exhibition demos provided by Formula D &

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing T ...

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. In 2006, Fixmer drove in the first exhibition demo for the

Indy Racing League IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

, and internationally in an exhibition demo in

Beijing, China Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

with

World Drift Series The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

. In 2007, Fixmer headed the judging panel for the introductory year of Nopi Drift Series. In July 2008, Fixmer was announced as a judgeFormula DRIFT Announces New Judge
/ref> for the Formula DRIFT series, effective immediately to carry his judging responsibilities for at least the rest of the season. Fixmer replaces

Alex Pfeiffer Alexandra Mackenzie Pfeiffer (born November 26, 2007) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She was signed by the Current at age 15 in 2023. She ...

, who has stepped down as a judge to pursue his career as a driver.

References

External links

Official Site - ErnieFixmer.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fixmer, Ernie Drifting drivers D1 Grand Prix drivers Formula D drivers 1977 births Living people Racing drivers from Los Angeles