Tony Angelo (born December 24, 1978) is an American professional drift racer and stunt driver. Tony formerly drove in the Formula Drift series in his 2013 Scion FR-S for Scion Racing and is also the former host for Motor Trend Channel's Hot Rod Garage.
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| Born: | December 24, 1978 | |
| Hometown: | Doylestown, Pennsylvania | |
| Series: | Formula D | |
Career edit
Tony began building and modifying his own cars as a teenager in his hometown of Doylestown, PA. In the late 90s, Tony was inspired to start drifting by Japanese videos and magazines. He and friend and future pro-driver Chris Forsberg soon helped to start East Coast grassroots drifting events which quickly took off.
In 2003, Tony personally gained national exposure in an article in Wired Magazine at the same time that drifting was gaining massive popularity.[1] At this time doors began to open for Tony to race in the pro series.
Tony began racing professionally in 2004 in Formula Drift’s first year. He was quickly seen as a force on the track. In 2005, Tony earned his D1 license by placing first in a national driver’s search.
After years in FD as a serious competitor, Tony took a break from driving professionally in the U.S. in 2009 and became a judge for Formula Drift. Tony is credited with having majorly changed FD judging and scoring format for the better during this time.[2]
Tony returned to the driver’s seat in 2012 for Scion Racing in his 2009 Scion tC.[3]
In 2013, Tony purchased a salvage Scion FR-S that had been damaged during Hurricane Sandy.[4] In just ten weeks, Tony and his TAngelo Racing team transformed the car into his 750 hp racecar.[4]
Tony Angelo also does stunt work, having driven in ads for Audi, Nissan and Chevrolet.
Tony is the founder and president of Drift Alliance, based out of Englishtown, New Jersey.[5] He is also a member of the Blood Masters team. Tony often drifts his Lexus SC 300 missile car at grassroots events alongside amateur drivers at the Englishtown track where his career started.[6]
Tony was a host on the Motor Trend show Hot Rod Garage, which he left after 6 seasons. [7]
Achievements edit
- President of Drift Alliance
- Multiple Formula Drift top 10 and top 8 finished
- 2013 FD Palm Beach Top 16
- 2013 FD Palm Beach Top FR-S qualifier
- 2013 Drift Week Triple Crown at Pikes Peak - 3rd Place[8]
- 2012 FD Palm Beach Top Scion qualifier
- 2012 FD Palm Beach Top 4-cylinder qualifier
- 2012 Top 32 Qualifier all Formula Drift events
- 2010 FX Open Belarus - 5th Place
- 3 Formula Drift Team Drift wins
- 1st place D1 driver’s search
- Fastest qualifier record on fastest FD track, Evergreen Speedway
Sponsors edit
This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (April 2019) |
- Scion Racing
- Hoonigan
- Hankook Tires
- Exedy Clutches
- Alpinestars
- Electric Visual
- Brian Crower
- Recaro
- FTW Fuels
- Mothers
References edit
- ^ "Go, Skid Racer, Go!". Wired – via www.wired.com.
- ^ "Formula DRIFT Announces Tony Angelo as Technical Manager". Mar 4, 2010.
- ^ "Tony Angelo Signs With Scion Racing For 2012". Jan 26, 2012.
- ^ a b "Toyota Scion". www.toyota.com. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
- ^ driftinghub (2018-01-11). "Drift Alliance". Drifting Hub. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ^ "BLOODMASTERS BLOODBATH part 1". Archived from the original on 2021-12-19 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "Tony Angelo Bids Farewell to Hot Rod Garage". 3 March 2022.
- ^ "Wrecked Magazine (Facebook Page)". Facebook. Retrieved 2021-06-06.