For Tyler.

[Generz]

When T FOERST drove at a DGtrials event that I was working, FOERST time I met him was the black s13 he bought from Allen.
I said.. 'why do you have all these stickers on your car? are they sponsoring you? if then.. then why you reppin' so hard?'

He was running like 16" Advans up front and then super sunk Rota GT3s in the back.. boi knew nothing bout pants.

LOL u mad.

[Generz]

Y'all remember when T used to mispell Donk all the time.. so DriftDonk was always DriftDink?

Look at all these newbies in here.

[struka]

Y'all remember when T used to mispell Donk all the time.. so DriftDonk was always DriftDink?

When dM autocorrect was ahead of its time before iOS autocorrect

[andysapp]

I am still in the process of digging through some stuff... but I found this in the meantime!!

AND SO IT WAS WRITTEN.

post inspired by generz;

[andysapp]

2015, I was a sophomore in college. Went to the SouthernFresh event with my camera, saw the AE86 at the Koru booth and snapped a photo of the car. Posted the shot to instagram and Chris Melde tagged Tyler. Messaged T if I could stop by the shop to deliver him a print since it turned out good. T told me "yeah dude! come on and grab some lunch with us too!" My love of photography and cars allowed me to befriend T and mutually share the excitement and passion where our hobbies crossed paths. At the time, I was still relatively new to shooting film for photography. I consider some of my early stuff that were of T's cars and the shop some of my best still. That day, T and Eugene gave me a tour around the shop and I grabbed lunch with them. Loved sharing my photos with T and seeing him be excited too. Forever love both of those guys for entertaining a young college goofball with dreams of building a cool car. Gonna greatly miss stopping by the shop and grabbing lunch with him to talk about stuff.

0941622_0941622-R2-008-2A.JPG
0538466-R1-062-29A.JPG
0538466-R1-066-31A.JPG

Welcome, Justin! Thanks so much for sharing that... and those photos!!! I love them!!!

[andysapp]

I only had the chance to sit down and talk to him a couple of times in the short amount of time of knowing this legend.. from talking cars to anime, there was never a dull moment with him! He will be greatly missed.. but he will never be forgotten!

Ne'er a dull moment for sure. Thanks for posting, dude. This rules.

[rcoffel]

FOERST post here, and very glad to finally get to see this place.

I have known Tyler since 2016 and has been a huge inspiration for me since that day. After the news today, I made it a point to come home and find anything related to him that I could. A couple of months ago I actually talked to fellow member Byron about getting some old DM/TR stickers he had laying around, and I’ve been sitting on the whole stack of them not really knowing if I wanted to use them or not.

Today felt right. Long live the style king with a heart of gold.

Welcome, buddy! Happy to have you here. Thanks for sharing that T was an inspiration for you. I love that SO much!! He was most certainly that kind of dude.

Thanks brother man! I also updated my post because I think it uploaded while the site was going back off grid, so pics didn't load.

He was absolutely the bomb, and you're right there too. I remember the FOERST time meeting you at Perimeter mall with Ryan Lopez and I *think* Shawn or Josh to go meet with Tyler and Alex. Alex had just fixed up the FD, T had the 86 ready to go take pictures, and you had of course the E46. That drive from the mall to the shop was the coolest damn experience, and seeing you randomly at different events over the years is always a treat.

If nothing else, losing someone as righteous as T teaches me that you need to express appreciation towards others while you have the chance. T lived every day like that, and everyone can and should learn from that mindset. Thank you again for recreating this forum so I can finally see/hear/feel the experience of what it was like before my time.

[andysapp]

I remember that day as well! Man, those were some good times. I've been talking with Ryan and I think he is going to fly in on Friday!

And you said it man... we MUST let each other know how much we appreciate everyone. Life is too short for anything less.

Glad you're here, my friend.

[andysapp]

(Preface, I am a horrible storyteller, and more than likely you had to be there because I am sure my memory is fuzzy due to how long ago it was and me drinking the brown water)

My favorite story about Tyler does not relate to cars even though I think of the time when he hit the light pole at the Turner event and I about shit my pants when it happened. I have never been so scared in my life. Anyways, my favorite part is when we had the Pool party bash at his house. It was a chill start with talking about cars and drooling about his GC8 that was in the garage. Then all of a sudden, an undercover cop car shows up in the driveway with his lights on. We were all confused and T was a bit concerned initially about why the cop was in the driveway but the typical Tyler, calm AF. Then all of a sudden, Alex steps out of the car as he recently bought the cop car. LOL. The party goes on. I think there is food, if there was, I missed it and went straight for the bourbon. Then we hit the pool. All bros. I think there was a beach ball. Sorry, leading into my favorite part... it is nighttime now and we are hanging out in his room. A badass room that has a ton of memorabilia from art to cars. A wall full of vinyl records (I think) and his DJ deck set. Few people are playing Forza. But not martymartymarty.net and I. We get Tyler to fire up the decks and we will DJ for everyone. Drum and bass is blastin. We are mixing. martymartymarty.net and I are sweaty. Decks are on fire from our mix. Tyler is sitting down watching people play Forza, I yell at Tyler to get his attention so I can ask him how we are doing. I remember his face, he showed pure joy and satisfaction from the tracks we were throwing at him. I think there was even a nod. At that point, my life was complete and here is why. Before I bought my S14, I wanted to be a DJ and almost didn't buy my car because I had money saved up for my decks. In those split seconds, Tyler made me feel like I accomplished something. Made me feel good. Like I was part of the elite DJ crew that could throw down a solid mix at a club. Now looking back, to a great DJ like Tyler was, the music we must have created was total shit. It is like that episode of It's Always Sunny where they think they are great performers but in reality, they were just drunks. That was martymartymarty.net and I. But not in Tyler's eyes because he was a genuine guy that loved everyone. An amazing heart.

I am looking forward to reading more stories. We will miss him very much.

HONEY, HUSH!! You're a great storyteller. I SEENT IT.

I love this story, Adam. A lot. What a gem of a moment. I don't think I knew the bit about you wanting to be a DJ... which makes that whole night that much more special. Tyler ne'er played up what an incredddddible DJ he was... but he was a big deal in that world. That makes the joy and satisfaction he showed that much sweeter... and the nod? Yo, the nod was everything. This rules, man... thank you for sharing this!!!

[andysapp]

Man am I glad to see this back up. I saw the news yesterday and I'm still in shock, was actually thinking how it would be great to have this back to share old stories and pics and such. I've been digging through my old web server all morning and didn't really have any plan with what to do with what I find but I'll keep sharing as I come across some good ones.

Miss all you dudes and gonna miss Tyler like crazy. Def need to get the old crew back together in person sooner than later for some hugs.

CODYYYYYYYY!!!! I know I just talked to you on the phone... but THANK YOU thank you again for posting these photos. They are everything!!
See you soon, buddy.

[andysapp]

Tyler mentioned so many times how much he missed this place. So happy to see it back up! Love you guys, Love Tyler, BIG HUGS! I'll dig up some photos to post later.

I'm so happy too!!! It's so good to see all of y'all back here. Feels like home again... and it's THE BEST.

[andysapp]

This year has been a rollercoaster - high highs and low lows. Lost a few friends and while I was never as close to Tyler as some of ya’ll - I find a lot of inspiration in that he provided opportunities and encouragement to his friends - myself included. I am forever grateful to Andy Sapp for bringing me out to the FOERST DMGGASD event and getting the chance to know all of you. What you all have is incredibly special and from my outside perspective - Tyler helped to nurtured that community of car enthusiasts, drifters, artists, and collectors. I still remember seeing his s13 in Tennessee during that FOERST event and being like holy shit those are some deep dish wheels and crazy fit. He was way ahead of the curve, the style king and an incredibly kind and genuine human. Thanks DM/Rowdy family for all the memories. Thanks Andy for starting this back up! Miss you all, Tyler forever.

I know this year has been a lot. Feels like too much. You hit the nail on the head. Tyler was such an inspiration. I love what you said on the phone yesterday about how beautiful it is that e'en in the face of adversity... and everything terrible about fighting cancer... that he chose to stay positive and stay true to himself and keep doing what he does best. Which we all know is build the most epicly stylish... wildly tasteful automobiles that the world has ever seen.

So happy to see you on here again... love you dude!!
BIG HUGS.

[andysapp]

Been thinking a lot about this crew in the last 24 hours...even as an outsider to drifting, y'all have always been straight up dudes and Tyler was certainly a shining example of that.

I really can't put it to words, but I fuckin love yall.

No sooner had I kicked the lights back on in here... THE POWER WENT OUT! It took a bit to try and get things back up and running, but it looks like we're good.

Man I was wondering bc I tried for an hour straight to log in when I saw Double G Gregg post it in his story!

PETERRRR!! We fucking love you too dude. Hope to see you soon, man. It has been too long.

And YES. I was freaking OUTTTT tryna get the forum back online. One second it worked fine... the next it didn't! Glad it's back up and good to see you on here, my friend!

[andysapp]

I dug into my external hard drive, because I knew I had pics from back in the day. Most of these pics were taken at Southeast Drift events from 2009. I'm sure they're people on here that remembers those days. Looking back through the old folders had me feeling I just didn't know who all I was photographing. Anyways, my heart goes out to all the people's lives that Tyler touched. To me he was one of the OGs in the ATL drift scene. Being from a rural area seeing his car with the big lip JDM wheels always kinda blew my mind. Thank you @andysapp for reviving the forum...you are one of the OGs as well.

DUUUUDE. These photos are killer!!! What a stamp in time they are. Super special to see... thank you so much for digging 'em up and sharing 'em!! The Gresham ones are tripping me out since that place was so short-lived.

Welcome, dude. Happy you're here... and thank you so much for sharing!!

[andysapp]

When T FOERST drove at a DGtrials event that I was working, FOERST time I met him was the black s13 he bought from Allen.
I said.. 'why do you have all these stickers on your car? are they sponsoring you? if then.. then why you reppin' so hard?'

He was running like 16" Advans up front and then super sunk Rota GT3s in the back.. boi knew nothing bout pants.

LOL u mad.

I was equally as guilty in that department, hahahaha!! Man, we wanted to feel like we were really doing it SO BAD!! There's charm in it looking back now for sure. I love the Cartoon Network sticker on the front back when he was still working for them.

Y'all remember when T used to mispell Donk all the time.. so DriftDonk was always DriftDink?

Look at all these newbies in here.

I'm gonna remember how to do text corrections on here and change DONK to DINK.

I'm psyched on the newbz!! Bring it on, y'all!!