1993 Mazda RX-7 - Straight Swaggering

After spending over two and a half hours fighting bitter Los Angeles traffic-four times the amount of time it should've took according to the 65mph speed limit-I finally pull up to the familiar blue and red sign adorning the new Falken facilities out in Fontana. Forty miles due east of Los Angeles, the desert landscape we Angelinos unfondly refer to as Fontucky is as empty and barren as Neverland Ranch with the exception of the monstrous Falken warehouse-its fresh white paint shimmering defiantly, like a mirage in the setting sun.

My Korean temper flaring, I'm greeted by a white guy who looks strikingly similar to a goateed Mr. Clean, but with a twist of street. As he walks up to shake my hand, his cool, calm demeanor is contagious, immediately extinguishing the two plus hours of gridlock agony.

Reserved and careful with words, once you get to know Nick Fousekis you realize that his reticent nature comes from his innate genuineness and sincerity. Homeboy means what he says and says what he means. More chill than a pack of marching penguins, out of the hundreds of adjectives you'd label a person, he's of the select few you'd scribble down in your mental rolodex under "one cool cat." And unlike the loud and pretentious constantly flaunting their nominal positions of power, Nick practices the philosophy of swaggering softly, but carrying a big stick. Or sticks, plural, in his case.

Being the brand manager at the forward-thinking Falken Tire, Nick has been one of the key influences behind their hugely successful drift program. All the ubiquitous teal and turquoise racecars smoking it up sideways causing late-night chub-rousing dreams of drifting-well, now you know who to thank.

But why haven't you heard of him till now? That's because he's been sitting quietly in the cut, being the guy behind the guy behind the guy.