Teams in motorsports are a peculiar thing. More so in those that have a more defined competitive structure, but even in drifting the idea can feel a little strange, especially to folks new to the sport. Drifting is not like other motorsports, though, and drift teams are not like teams in other motorsports. Suffice it to say you aren’t likely to hear about a new Formula 1 team being formed because a few drivers happen to have the same color car.
For Team Smooth Brain, though, it can be that simple. From their start as three guys with red cars in Fort Wayne, Indiana three years ago to podiums in Ohio and Wisconsin this season, TSB and its members have made a name for themselves, establishing them as one of the most consistent teams around.
Speaking of making a name, though, where did that unique name come from?
“It just seemed fitting that we would be Team Smooth Brain. We’re all kind of dumb, and it rolls off the tongue well,” Codie Mumma said.
“I kind of like the name because it sounds like a poorly translated Japanese team name,” Sam Cornewell said.
From left, TSB members Miles Harrelson, Sam Cornewell, Seth St. Myers and Codie Mumma.
The team, now composed of Seth St. Myers, Miles Harrelson, Codie Mumma and brothers Sam and Isaac Cornewell, took some time to sit down with me and talk through that origin story and their progression over the past few seasons:
How did you guys get started as a team?
Sam Cornewell: So basically me and Codie and our friend Phil Cupa started the team at a boogie meets here in town, which is like the breaking like get together. They do like once a month. And we basically we all me, Codie and Phil had red cars and we kind of just like were thinking about, I don't know, make our own team and we all started drifting like right around the same time, like the same summer, basically.
Phil started a little bit before us, but we all had red cars and all started drifting the same time and just were doing the same stuff already. We're going to Drift Indy, we're going to Boogie Meets, we're already all there together. So yeah, I figured it'd be cool to start a team and then it was just us three.
And then a little while later, Miles came along, he'd been there the whole time and were like, “Hey, this guy has a red car also, and he's doing the same stuff we are. We might as well put him on the team.” And then Isaac was in Florida that summer, but he came back up for Halloween Bash and his car was already red and black, so we just threw a banner on his car and boom, he was on the team. And then over that winter, Seth, tell him about how you got on the team.
Seth St. Myers: So I didn't know how to wrap cars, so I kind of tricked Sam and Miles into coming over and helping me wrap my car blue. This is after me and Sam had already been on the podium together at DISL lite and I had also been going to Boogie Meets this whole time and had also started at Drift Indy around the same time. So I knew who these guys were, I just didn't really know them well. Then after that we went to Opening Day together, all of Team Smooth Brain plus me.
We wore some leather jackets, we almost got fucked out of an Airbnb. Anyhow, after that, I crashed my car at Opening Day and I didn't have any blue wrap left, so I was like, “Hey, you guys, why don’t I just buy some red?” So we did.
Sam Cornewell: So we wrapped his car red like three weeks later or something after opening day.
Miles Harrelson: Yeah, so Sam and I, when we went over there to wrap this car, we were kind of like, “What if we did add this guy to the team? We kind of like him.” And then I was like, “Well, I need to go over there and see if I like him.” Seth wooed me, and then I said, “Yeah, this guy is really cool.”
Then that same weekend we drove another hour, 2 hours to another event, drifted with him, tandemed with him. And we're like, “this guy can drive, he’s cool, he already has to rewrap his car and red would look a lot better than blue.”
Sam Cornewell: And then, yeah, so I just got conned into wrapping another car for free.
Codie Mumma: That's basically the origin story.
Sam Cornewell: Yeah, basically what it came down to was dudes were driving a lot and we all drove together anyway, we all live close. There's not a lot of teams nowadays where everybody's within, you know, like only 20 minutes of each other or less. We were lucky enough to have an actual authentic, natural team where it was just things were working out, people were down, people had the right style car, right color car, you know, basically all just a coincidence.
So then when was your first event all together?
Sam Cornewell: So our official “breakout” event was Halloween Jam 2021. I don't think we ever did a team lap up until like a year later, though. Maybe at Vibes. We didn't always drive like a bunch of idiots, it just kind of turned into that.
So after that, when did you guys really start to mesh as a team?
Seth St. Myers: May Day ‘22 is when we stopped being scared, and then No Star Bash ‘22 is when we really started getting crazy.
Codie Mumma: There was lots of running into each other at No Star Bash that year.
Seth St. Myers: First door taps for me and Sam I believe, right?
Sam Cornewell: I thought it was Street League, but we drove a crazy amount at No Star Bash with Bobby’s crew. Yeah, there was a May Drift Day in ‘22 that me, Miles, Seth and Isaac drove and that was like the first time that we really did anything more cohesive as a team, like really only driving team laps, you know, and just trying to figure out how to actually drive together. Because before that it was kind of just a team of cool style and learning how to drive, so we really never even did our first team lap, or didn’t drive as a full team until Vibes 2022, you know?
But I'd say we actually figured out how to drive, like the up-curve of how we drive now was No Star Bash 2022.
Miles Harrelson: Yeah, because previously we’d do like maybe a group of two to go learn how to tandem together, maybe have a third person be back there trying to keep up and we're all just learning with another person, and then there’d be a different person next lap.
And then we were like, “All right, let's do threes, let's do fours, and then it all started clicking.”
* * *
In the early days, Sam and Isaac were both whipping Miatas, Codie and Miles both had E36s and Seth had a 350Z. They were mostly stock, simple builds that let them turn lap after lap together and learn the ropes. They all drove their asses off in 2022, averaging almost two events a month. By the time DISL Teams came around at Volume 7, they were nearing well-oiled machine territory and snagged the bronze.
They attribute some of their quick progression to the amount they drove with Bobby’s Crew. Chasing faster cars piloted by more experienced drivers translated to more cohesion and proximity within the team. That rapid progression combined with their consistent attendance and impressive DISL performances to earn them 2022’s Best Team Award at the end of the season.
2023 ended up looking a little different for Team Smooth Brain, though. Some internet drama kicked off, misunderstandings ensued and TSB was temporarily banned from Drift Indy events. It was unfortunate, but it’s in the past now.
During their time away from DI, the team tried out other tracks and events.
“You know, some of them you have to drive them to figure out they suck. But we were just trying to progress. As drivers, you can't really progress driving one track for the rest of your life, so we wanted to venture out and learn as much as we could. We drove a lot of tracks that sucked and were hard to drive, but that will really force you to use and learn different techniques,” Sam said.
They kept pushing themselves, kept hyping each other up and kept learning from each lap. Still, Sam and Miles were missing the competition and environment of DISL, so they decided to test the waters and apply for DISL Volume 9. They got accepted, marking the first step in their eventual full return to the Drift Indy community.
The team changed their rides up some in ‘23 and in the offseason ahead of ‘24. Nowadays they’re 60% S-Chassis, with Sam, Seth and Codie all finding their way behind the wheel of one. Isaac’ll make it 80% when he finishes up his coupe. Miles, still a faithful E36 devotee, slapped a turbo on and has been enjoying making more power.
* * *
What was the first event you all drove this season?
Codie Mumma: We had two private days at Jackson before the Showoff. One of them was like a private test day and then the other one was like a media day at Jackson. Then we drove the Showoff.
Sam Cornewell: I think the media day at Jackson was after the Showoff, because I blew up my turbo and then had to have my new turbo for Street League.
Codie Mumma: Yeah, that makes sense. One Jackson private day and then the showoff. Final answer.
Miles Harrelson: I was still building my car, so I couldn’t make the first two events. At the end of the year at BMI I crashed my car into the wall and totaled it, so I had to re-chassis that winter and then I put the turbo motor in it. So, the first two events that those guys did, I was finishing up my car and then Media day at Jackson was the first time I got to test my car out, and that was when we did five cars right off the rip, and it was sick.
We were worried about it, too. Like, “all new cars, are we going to mesh together right away?”
Sam Cornewell: We were smart about it though.
Codie Mumma: Yeah, we all got cars that were similar power levels, similar suspension setups. They all drive really similar and work together well the way we have them set up. I mean, tire size plays a big factor in it, too. We all run similar size tires.
So, talking about the ‘24 season now, you guys have had some success with DISL. It doesn’t have to be DISL-specific, but how do you guys think about the competitive side of drifting?
Codie Mumma: I don't like it probably because I suck mostly.
Miles Harrelson: But what about team comps?
Codie Mumma: I don't like them. I don’t like any competition. Too much stress, too much on the line. I don't like to worry about it. Too much pressure. I just want to have fun and then something dumb will happen and then you get mad and you throw your shoes. I don't like it. I'd rather just do fun events, which kind of sucks because we haven't really done a ton of just fun events this year, but competition’s mostly just not for me. I'll still drive them. They are kinda fun, but I just don't prefer them.
Sam Cornewell: Start off by winning one, though.
Codie Mumma: Yeah, probably if I won I would like it.
Sam Cornewell: How about DISL Teams then, since you were part of a winning team?
Codie Mumma: It was pretty good. Yeah, it was pretty good. Yeah. I guess I just don't like things that I'm not good at, so that’s why I don’t play Call of Duty. It seems really cool, but I'm not good at it, so I don't like it.
Isaac Cornewell: I'll go next. I don't like the cost of comp drifting because I'm trying to buy a house and would like not to cash out my 401k like a loser. They're expensive, and I also suck, so that probably doesn’t help either. I'll just like to drive with the team.
Codie Mumma: They're less expensive if you win money right?
Seth St. Myers: Not if you blow a motor.
Sam Cornewell: Yeah. Winnings don't help engine rebuilds much.
Codie Mumma: They lessen the blow.
Seth St. Myers: I like competitions, I just wish I could do a little better at them. Not the hot dog eating stuff, that’s easy. But on the drifting side of things, I think I think about it a little too much and it f***s me up. I’m a good enough driver to go far in them, but I always f**k myself up, so I gotta stop doing that.
I’d really like to get on the podium again. That’d be really cool. I’d like to win some money. All you gotta do is spend $40,000 on building a car, and then you might win $500.
Miles Harrelson: I like competitions. I think for me it really puts me into like a zone where I need to be on my s**t and I need to try to do the best I can. And I don't know, every lap I do, whether it's competition or not, I'm always trying to better myself as a driver and make this lap better than the last.
And I think competitions kind of just force that. And then in competitions, you get to drive with some of the best drivers. So it really helps you to drive better, to do better. You learn techniques off them. And I don't know, I just think it's weird for me and I get a weird, weird feeling from it that just makes me want to do better.
And I don't know, it's fun. It's fun for me at least.
Sam Cornewell: I like drifting competitions. They're fun, they're not scary. Dude’s are tripping that go in thinking they’re gonna win the whole thing every single time. It just makes you do worse.
Somebody asked me one time, “You know how you win $1,000,000 in racing? You start with $10,000,000.”
Obviously, if you go in thinking like “I’m going to do this because I need this money,” or, “I’m going to drive this comp because I have something to prove,” obviously you’re going to go in tripping. You’ve gotta just go chill out, be relaxed and drive like any other time you would.
I mean, when I’m driving Street League or anything else, I’m planning on banging doors as if I’m driving with Seth or Miles or Codie or Isaac. So, when it comes down to it, I’m making the same adjustments I would driving behind them to pack your door in theirs and then pack them in the trailer, and normally it turns out alright. And if it doesn’t, then you throw your shoes and you go home.
So is that how you’re thinking about it going into Round 3?
Sam Cornewell: Well, no, actually.
Seth St. Myers: He wants to win the whole thing is what he’s thinking.
Isaac Cornewell: Show him the checks above his bed. You know he looks at them when he’s sleeping.
Sam Cornewell: I mean really, the idea hasn’t changed at all. I mean, mainly I'm just more worried about the car breaking. I mean, going into this round I know I need to get the car through a three day event before the round because of No Star Bash. So as long as the car is the same come Sunday, it’s going to be the same gig.
I’m just going to go out and chill and drive hard and drive smart and obviously don’t wad your car making a dumb mistake, but obviously when it comes to Sunday it’s the same deal as always. Some of these dudes have just gotta chill out and remember that it isn’t that serious. If you win that $1,500, it isn’t going to do that much for you, realistically. I mean, it helps and it makes it exciting, but in the grand scheme of things, I mean, I built a whole ‘nother engine to drive round two and I wasn't thinking, “I need this money so I can cover this.”
Especially with Street League, it’s never been about being the best or getting a license to go and be a pro or whatever. It’s purely bragging rights and just hanging out and banging doors. Mainly I just wanna rub it in Josh Estey’s face. I’ve already got the points on him on lock, so I’ll be chirping him in the pits.
* * *
Team Smooth Brain and their small fleet of red cars have managed to keep drifting simple and fun. They’re able to build off of, and learn from, each other and the other shredders they drive with. They’re no slouches when it comes to competition, as evidenced by their individual and team success in DISL, but don’t stress over it.
Turns out drifting really can be as simple as having a killer time banging doors with your boys. Who knew?
It’s a safe bet that they’ll be shredding together at No Star Bash, contributing their skills to some of those signature 15-car-trains. Sam Cornewell has his sights firmly set on the podium at the end of the weekend, too. With just one point separating him and Cash Staub at the top of the rankings, it’s going to come down to some pretty fine margins.
“I hope that we get matched up in the finals and make it a sick show, and at that point, it’s may the best man win. I mean, you’re pushing your whole stack into the pot at that point, and I’ll go all in,” Sam said.
