Chelsea DeNofa is most recently known for his show stealing performance at Formula Drift Miami when his Nitto Racing BMW 3-series karate kicked Tyler McQuarrie’s Camaro and did its best Back to the Future time machine impersonation by leaving behind a trail of fire as he finished a run. Even after all that, he was determined to continue competing until officials deemed his car unsafe to continue. (Back to the Future image by @jimisonracing) For Chelsea DeNofa, that was part of doing what it takes to win. At a young age, he learned the determination and drive to be competitive. From 1992-2004 he toured around the country riding BMX as a factory rider for RoadKill Bicycles. Going from two wheels to four, he learned how to drift in his father’s Alfa Romeo Spyder. He then moved to something more practical for drifting, a Mazda Miata - in which he competed in various regional series with. After a few years in the Miata, he decided to get the complete opposite and purchased his first E36 M3. The M3 started off as a daily driver but when he realized how well it drifted, he slapped a turbo on it and turned it into a full blown competition car a year later. Although he drifts around the world and competes professionally, Chelsea never forgets about his early days of grassroots drifting. The morning after the Miami event, he loaded up his trailer for the 3 hour drive from Miami to Orlando. Before going home he stops by Orlando Speed World for “Aftermath”, a grassroots drift event where locals and Formula Drift drivers share the track for a day of drifting. Today, Chelsea brought his demo car which he had rented to Formula Drift Pro 2 driver Doug Van Den Brink to compete the Pro 2 event the day earlier. Also at the event were Formula Drift drivers, Danny George, Pat Mourdant, Matt Coffman, Pat Goodin and Nitto Racing teammate Odi Bachkis. Fredric Aasbo stopped by as well, but decided against taking his minivan rental onto the track. Chelsea chats with fans and other drivers, taking a lucky few on ride-a-longs. He gets a few runs in before his turbocharged BMW begins to overheat. Unable to get the water temps down he loads the BMW on the trailer and finally heads home for some much needed rest. The following morning Chelsea gets up early to play Tetris with the 5 cars, 3 full-sized trucks with trailers and 1 mini truck to park on his property. Using all the nooks and crannies of his driveway and backyard, in less than an hour he finds space for everything with room to spare including tucking away 3 cars in a large single car garage (he has a lift). The garage is filled with miscellaneous car parts and all kinds of bikes. When he isn't driving, Chelsea says he spends a lot of time on two wheels – BMX, road bikes, and mountain bikes. With the BMW up on the lift, Chelsea gets to survey the damage from FD Miami for the first time. Considering what happened, the damage isn’t as bad as you would imagine. Everything that was bent or burned is replaceable and with only a few weeks between events, he gets to work quickly to figure out what needs to be repaired and what needs to be ordered. Heading off to "work", usually Chelsea would hop in his daily driver, a JDM Daihatsu mini truck, but today he takes his new Ram 1500 EcoDiesel which he uses to tow his Nitto Racing BMW around the country. Before work, he stops to grab lunch at a cheesesteak place he says reminds him of his days growing up in Philly. As a Philadelphia native, Chelsea says their "wizwit" cheesesteaks (Cheese Wiz and grilled onions) are the real deal. Chelsea was born in North Philly and lived in Doylestown and Bensalem before moving to Florida. After high school he took college classes in video production before pursuing a professional driving career. He worked in the industry, shooting everything from weddings to commercial productions and earned certifications for programs such as Final Cut Pro, After Affects and Pro Tools. He also spent a few years in Texas working in the oil industry before returning to Florida where landed a job at BC Racing. Currently he works as a liaison between the sales and engineering teams, managing marketing and BC Racing’s racer support program which currently supports about 60 drivers in various racing series’ across the country. Being out of the office for a few days to compete in FD means a lot of emails and calls have stacked up to respond to. His office is surrounded by pictures of his BMWs - from magazine features to a painting of the E36 that he wrecked in another memorable incident with Tyler McQuarrie at New Jersey back in 2012. If he’s not at his desk, he is probably in the warehouse assembling coilovers. BC Racing can build coilovers with custom spring rates. If you own a set of BC Racing coilovers, there is a chance that Chelsea assembled them. After a long race weekend, Chelsea decides to take a break from his car for tonight. At the end of the work day, Chelsea and some friends hit the local go kart track. On the way important topics are debated such as East Coast vs West Coast rap and how to pronounce equinox (ee-quin-ox or ek-wua-nox - both ways are correct.) Driving isn’t just competition for Chelsea; it’s also how he relaxes. On local streets he is very tame, nothing like how he drives on the track. Behind the wheel of the kart he is all business, hitting apexes and passing people where he sees an opening. He doesn’t get the go kart to slide as much as BMW but he is still entertaining to watch. He takes this time to relax because he knows he has a few busy weeks ahead getting his car ready for the next event. With Formula Drift Round 4 coming up, we can't wait to see Chelsea and his Nitto Racing BMW 3-Series at Wall Speedway in New Jersey! Watch the event live Friday and Saturday, June 20-21, Nitto Racing's Formula Drift Live Stream.
