“Presidential Drift” At Lime Rock Goes Viral

SALISBURY, CT – Lime Rock Park racetrack may stage car races and, starting this year, have motorcycle track days, but it has never hosted the presidential limousine, much less allowed it to drift around the 1.5-mile track in reverse. That has only happened in a new viral video called “Presidential Drift.”

Filled with tire smoke and screeching rubber, “Presidential Drift” shows a shiny black Cadillac XTS limousine with presidential seals on the rear doors driving backwards around the course and drifting through corners at high speed.

Since Tuesday night, there have been more than 50 million views of various versions of the video, which is based on the popular Xbox game Forza Motorsport 6, and it has been shared nearly one million times. The original three-minute video was created by a clever video game lover in York, England. His name is Joe Leech, and he’s an unemployed, ex-skateboarding Forza Motorsport fan.

Leech melded the Lime Rock Park background with an image of the the limo. He posted it on Facebook using his gaming name of “Don Joewon Song.” “This specific track was chosen purely because its my favorite in the game,” he said in reply to a Facebook message that was sent to him.

In a subsequent email exchange, Leech explained that it only took him 10 minutes to create the video on Tuesday night. He then uploaded it. “It wasn’t till the early hours of the morning Wednesday that it took off and went viral,” he said. “The video was only shared on my official Facebook page – “Don Joewon Song” – and it’s from there others have shared it.”

As of this morning, an abbreviated 37-second version of “Presidential Drift” had been viewed more than 38 million times on the Facebook page “Vomitorium.” Another edited version on a Facebook page in Persian had been viewed more than 12 million times.

Leech is godsmacked by the attention the video has received. “I’m left speechless about the whole thing. Nothing can prepare you for the feeling you get when something you love to do has been seen by this many people,” wrote the 28-year-old, who reported that previous drifting videos of his have only pulled 40,000 to 100,000 views.

Lime Rock Park is certainly getting worldwide attention as its name is prominently displayed throughout. “It’s a neat thing that we’re enjoying. We’re along for the ride like everyone else,” said Rick Roso, PR spokesperson for Lime Rock Park. “We’re enjoying this as much as a mom in Paris, France who sees this.”

At first glance, the video looks real and many Facebook comments have suggested such. However, Roso said a presidential limo has never been at Lime Rock Park, much less driven in reverse on the race course. “We’ve never done that. It’s not real,” he said of the video.

Roso understands how a viewer can think that Leech’s creation depicts real-life action. “If you see what you’re expecting to see, then it’s real,” he said. “The graphics are fantastic these days. Kudos to him. We find it fascinating and we love the way he got the graphics just right.”

The video starts with the limo facing backwards at the start/finish line. The engine revs, the tires spin and throw off smoke, and the limo roars down the Sam Posey Straight before drifting into the first turn. The limo then quickly and loudly navigates the race course as spectators on the surrounding hills look on.

The origin of the racetrack imagery pre-dates Leech. Ryan McIntosh, business development manager for Lime Rock Park, recalled that Forza Motorsport developers came to the track in 2011 and laser scanned the layout for the video game. McIntosh said a crew of 20 people spent two to three days getting every detail just right, which is evident by viewer reaction. He added, “I’ve had two different people in their early 20s call me and ask me, ‘When did this happen? Why didn’t you call me?’”

Forza Motorsport 6, which was developed by the Microsoft division Turn 10 Studios, is one of four video games and online race simulators that feature the Lime Rock Park loop, Macintosh reported. The others are iRacing, RFactor 2 and Simracing. The companies pay a licensing fee and use either laser scanning or GPS tagged photography to recreate the racetrack.

Brian Ekberg, community manager at Turn 10 Studios, explained how Lime Rock Park came to be chosen for the video game. “Forza Motorsport 6 includes a diverse selection of 26 world-famous locales including returning fan favorites and all new entries to the franchise. The track list is a combination of real-world race circuits, laser-scanned to be precise recreations of their real-life counterparts, and fictional tracks based on real-world locations, that have been specifically designed to provide players with amazing racing experiences,” he said.

“Lime Rock Park is a legendary location for motorsport and was one of the most requested tracks our fans wanted to see in the Forza Motorsport series. As one of the oldest continuously operating tracks in North America, Lime Rock has a tremendous legacy of motorsports as well as a challenging layout that tests cars and drivers of every type. Lime Rock is also truly a stunning place and it was a pleasure for our team to research and recreate the sublime natural beauty of New England that frames the track’s many races.”

Image courtesy of Turn 10 Studios

Leech has been creating Forza drifting videos for about six months. “Not really sure how it started. I’ve always been a keen racer, but decided to try something different,” he said.

For “Presidential Drift,” he downloaded an add-on for Forza Motorsport 6 that provided him wth the limousine. “To suit that particular run, all the car’s tire pressure and gears were adjusted specially to make it drift backwards, The idea came from a previous video I made several months back,” he wrote.

Leech said his gaming name of Don Joewon Song is an homage to his favorite professional skateboarder, Daewon Song. “I skated over 14 years and this guy played a huge part in my career. I had to stop skating five years ago due to injury,” he explained.

Leech calls himself a “Forza Motorsport enthusiast. Everything about the game screams passion for me. I unfortunately don’t have a job at the moment and have been off with sick leave for over two years with ongoing kidney-related problems. I’ve had many rounds of surgery to no avail and playing Forza takes my mind off the pain.”

While a limo racing backwards at Lime Rock Park may be eye-catching on a computer screen, Roso said that in actuality “what the limo is doing is impossible” – at least not a two-wheel drive version. The Cadillac XTS is a front-wheel-drive model.

Roso said he tried to determine whether the real presidential limo might be four-wheel-drive, which, if it were and with other modifications, might make such a driving and drifting feat possible. He was unable to get any detailed information. “Specs on the limo are state secrets,” he suggested.

Roso added that a car has been driven backwards in the Lime Rock Park track. Race driver Sam Posey once did it in a station wagon. “He holds the record,” Roso said.