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Out of the Box: Keep Drifting Fun with Joshua Herron and Will Roegge

2010-09-01T22:05:00.000-07:00

So back in May I made the journey up to so far the most fun drifting events I have been to ever. I mean, just a week before Formula D Wall there was a hand full of drivers out for this only for fun event! I however noticed this van, this sweet ass van I have been seeing on the web for a month or two. It was covered in stickers, and inside was full of camera equipment. I then knew I was lucky enough to meet the two men behind the next greatest drift video to ever be made. The video, Keep Drifting Fun. The 2 guys behind the lens, Will Roegge, Joshua Herron. I waited until the end of the weekend to catch up to the guys and have a chat with them about the movie and the plan. I first hand found out these guys are legit, down to earth dudes with a passion with drifting like myself and the rest of us. Now, why this took so long to get out? Come one people, I drive too, and I have that beat s13 that needs attention like you!

1K: What are you guys doing with this movie?

Will: With this movie we are going across the United States documenting grassroots drifting, were going back and forth twice!

Josh: Does that count as doing double United States...double states...

Will: ...following the Formula Drift scheduleand like in between the month between events were going to city's in between the city's for F.D. shooting all the ametuer grassroots drivers, between those ccity's kind of like events like East Coast Bash where were at right now..

1K: Whats the idea behind the movie?

Josh: Basically, a lot of people loose track of like what makes drifting fun like when they get into competition and stuff like that...I mean theirs a lot of guys that still do it and have fun doing it but its like..the whole “stress” situation that comes along with competing at like a “pro” level...we wanted to show what keeps drifting fun and what keeps people enjoying it basically..

1K: How was Formula D Atlanta?

Will: Formula D Atlanta I think I've been there for the past 3 years now and this was..the best Atlanta event I've seen...I think that 2 of the judges in the judges meeting said that they really wanted to focus on the entry's...really made a difference at how the drivers approached the course..and I think it was alot better from a fan perspective and just drivers had a better time out there when they saw that people were stepping it up in qualifying so...

Tanner Faust and his crazy backwards entry...

Josh: Yeah there were a couple dudes that had some really good entry's too..Gushi...Gushi had a really good entry...pretty much everybody had good entry's...

Will:..and its not the easiest track to do that on cuz its kind of like an off camber corner your going into and its not like you can really setup a car backwards with the speed to be able to do the rest of the course uphill so..

Josh: ..theirs a hairpin you get into..

Will: Yeah definitely Tanners is insane..

1K: Where are you headed after this? (ECB)

Josh:After Formula D New Jersey were gonna head down to Maryland for a few days, then were gonna make our way back up to Maine..check out Main..then work our way back down through like...Buffalo and Pittsburgh, out to Ohio and then out to Chicago for Midwest Bash...Then from there..Seattle, then back to Vegas...

a lot of editing...

Will: Tons of editing, we haven't even started yet so like the main editing..the way were approaching this is WAY different from any of the videos we've done before..usually we shoot for like 2 or 3 days and then we will get all of our footage from that weekend and we'll compile and edit really quickly after that..this is different because this is gonna be feature length so we really haven't been reviewing or editing anything we've shot so far..we just have hundreds of gigs of footage we have to go through this winter and make a feature length narrative out of it...

Josh: Even after the actual road trips over were organizing some stuff, were working with some guys in Texas and some guys in Florida to set up some big events for them since we missed out on each one of there events..their big events so..were gonna get something good goin for sure …

1K: Do you guys have an idea of what your doing with the editing?

Josh: I guess its all gonna kind of come down to when we check out all the footage...

Will: I think ideally we kind of have this concept in our head but its gonna be tough cuz it really depends on what we get in an event..it really comes to the quality of the driving, the quality of the interviews.. like a lot of it is up in the air, that's kind of what makes it interesting..were trying to document everything that happens with us in the van and we really don't know you know? Like we broke down in Atlanta, the van wasn't running had to replace the motor..just like things you see when you go to events...its the same thing when you go to a competition weekend..you don't know..you kind of have to play along with whats given in front of you...there's no way to really tell if you know, your best friends gonna come out and break his transmission on his first run you know..its just the way it is...kind of have to roll with the punches..which is kinda the cool part about it...

1K: How long have you guys been drifting?

Josh: I'vee been into drifting since...im gonna say about 2003 when I first got bent up about it..and then I bought my first car which is still my current car, s14...2006 I got to do my first drift event in it and then...at the end of 2007 Iwasn'tt able to drive any events any it so I took my parents camera, filmed it so its pretty cool because at the same time I started film school so everything just kind of fell into place...

1K: How was East Coast Bash for you guys?

Josh: East Coast Bash was...amazing. As always...

(in-audible due to Mad Mike's RX8 in background)

1K: Where do you guys see drifting going in the up and coming years?

Will: Every year we've been to Formula D it seems like the next season is going to be make or break kind of like there's going to be this big boost in popularity where its going to become so much more mainstream like where it is more accessible and available to everybody. They're going to know about it and be more involved in pop culture kind of like people see in like Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift which kind of soured a lot of peoples outlook and perspective on what drifting is. I mean you have scenes like Texas with guys like this here Russel Walker with a really big scene. With so many good drivers coming out of different areas of the country now..there used to be like a bi-coastal sort of thing where yeah you got these dudes like here in Jersey and eastern PA, then you got like these guys in LA and that's it...but now you these scenes all over the United States like with technology and websites people are able to share like how and what people are doing like in different parts of the country and all over the world and that's just stepping up the popularity and the driving level..I think that it could be really huge but I also think that on a competition scale that cars are getting to a ridiculous level, entry speeds are really high, super angle, super drivers that just aren't making mistakes...I think your going to start seeing like a whole nother level of street legal types of stuff happening like there needs to be a series that fills the gap between the pro series which is out of control and like amazing and it needs to happen and keep going and just like building the most insane car possible, and then like the in between so people can progress up the ranks...

1K: What do you guys see the drifting community as?

Josh: The drifting community is great I mean there really is no other racing form where the comradery Is the same at all...dudes will break cars in..pro competitions and other teams will jump in and help them out. We saw that with the Bergholtz guys jumping in to help Chris out when he bumped into Gushi..I see it all the time, somebody will break a part..somebody will lend out a part...its like a big huge family...

Will: Its more like action sports then it is like other motorsports with the comrodary. There's no way that we could have done this trip if we didn't have friends in drifting and be able to help us out with taking us to the city, taking and showing us the spots like the reason we are able to do this is the network of people that's all over the US that you could call up or meet on a forum or meet on a website and they're going to be in Atlanta and be willing to open up there house and like give you all the good places to eat locally, where to stay what to do..if we didn't have that kind of hospitality and like the family aspect there's no way weed be doing what were doing right now you know? Driftings incredible..its unlike any other thing...its that tight...

Sitting Shotgun: The Brothers Tuerck

2010-07-22T23:20:00.000-07:00

There are in FACT, 3 Tuercks in drifting. They are all brothers, and they all rip like no business. I never did know this until I came across Justin and Evan over the interwebs earlier this year. All 3 brothers own and drift 240's, of course Ryan is blasting around the circuit's in the Gardella Racing/Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice but he stayed true to his roots like many professionals do today. The 3 combined have been tearing the east coast drifting scene up! While at ECB I watched the 3 drive together and it was hands down one of THE most rad things I have seen in this growing sport. I mean, 3 brothers, driving together in cars from grassroots s13's to the Gardella Racing Pontiac Solstice. running tandem at a grassroots event making a crowd go flat out ape shiz! Naturally the brothers were all semi-allocated to each other in the paddock area. As soon as I knew the 3 were there I wanted an interview with them, as a group, as family, as drifters. So get the Redbull out and read along to the words of the Tuerck's...

1K: Names from left to right:

Even Tuerck, Justin Tuerck, Ryan Tuerck

What is it like having all 3 of you brothers drifting?

Evan: I'd say its pretty awesome.

Justin: YEAH!

Evan: We raced motocross together for about 8 years during our childhood...so were kinda back together you know, doin the same sport.

Ryan: Yeah were pretty much a racing family, all we really did was grow up racing so this is just kind of something else we started getting into..

Justin: Workin a natural transition for us...

Ryan: Its makes it easier on all of us if were all into it..Together we can all help each other out with cars and parts and contacts and stuff like that . Know what events to go to, who to talk to...really makes things easier for everybody...

1K: What series are you guys driving in?

Evan: Were doing XDC now, were gonna do two XDC events...Jersey and Summit Point. We started to do the North Carolina Streetwise..just didn't make it in points so...

Justin: Yeah me and Evan are working to get the invite to Cali., get our Formula D license's. Were outta the points now so its not worth goon down there for us anymore...

Evan: Yeah 15 hour drive...

Justin: So yeah were just planning on doing XDC so hopefully we do good enough there to get an invite...

Ryan:I'm competing in the Formula D series still with the Gardella Racing/Mobil 1 team. Were doin pretty decent. Its cool to be able to come to these events and watch my brothers drive and then have them come out and watch me drive in the Formula D series where in hoping they compete in the next year.

1K: Is your family into it now that you guys are all drifting?

Ryan: Our father is a big time help for all of us. He'll just bend over backwards and do anything to try to make it happen for all of us...follow through with the goals, try and do the best that we can....

What cars are you guys running this year?

Evan: I have a 1993 Nissan 240SX hatchback..SR20...

Ryan: Basic top mount t3-t4 setup makin like a normal 350 wheel horse..

Justin: Same thing..may have a little more horse then he does but yeah, basically the same cars..

Ryan: 240's, keep it easy, keep it simple, cheap. You know try to spend your money more on tires and

the general wear and tear then tryin to build something extravagant...super money car that's probably gonna end up breakin anyways..

1K: Hows your car doing? (Ryan)

Ryan: My cars good. The Pontiac Solstice is the best its ever been so far. You know this is my third year driving it and it keeps getting better. I think its now, its at the point where it cant get any better. I still have my personal 240 that I've been workin on, putting in a 1JZ..swappin it right now. Should be done in the next couple of weeks so I can start driving even more at a grassroots level with these guys. So I don't take out the competition car and just pull car lengths on these guys when I'm just trying to help-em out during tandem..

Ryan where do you want to see your brothers in drifting as they move up the ranks?

Ryan: I mean obviously I wanna see them compete in Formula D and making top 32 shows and driving with me you know? Driving head to head, actually me and Evan, came down here 2008, to the NOPI show at Englishtown and ended up qualifying 16^th and I qualified first so we were matched up head to head. So we did a tandem battle in 2008 which is pretty awesome...so I mean Id love to see them just come up and get there recognition and get their place in the Formula D series...

1K: Where do you guys see drifting headed in the up and coming years?

Ryan: I dono, I feel like its headed in a really good direction, its just getting better and better as far as support goes out there..and the grassroots guys especially...I think there's gonna be a lot more programs pop up to make it easier for grassroots guys..make it more affordable for them..

Justin: They definitely stepped up this year for them for sure...

Ryan: There's definitely gonna be more contingencies there....It just needs to be more affordable for the grassroots guys who are you know, killin them selves tryin to make it...I'm hoping that's the direction that its gonna start heading.....

1K: What do you guys think about the drifting community itself?

Evan: Awesome...

Justin: Awesome...

Ryan: There's soo much comrade around the pits I mean everybody is just on the same level..there all here to just do one thing..have a blast and beat the crap outa there cars...

Evan: Everyone wants to help each other out, lend a hand, lend a tool..socket screwdriver, all that. Its really awesome the whole community comes together you know?

Justin: Yeah...

Ryan: And really that's the way its always been in drifting, nothings really changed..the bigger its gets, the more really cool people you meet and relationships you build....

Make sure to follow Ryan throughout his 2010 Formula Drift season in the Gardella Racing/Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice. Ryan is out for blood and shows it each event he's out in. Evan and Justin will continue the quest for a Formula D license and with the driving they put out each time they get behind the wheel, it wont be hard for them at all. Currently Evan and Justin are always welcoming sponsors for this season and beyond so keep an eye on these 2!

Special thanks to Dan Jenkins and Wrecked Magazine for the photos!

Sponsors: Gardella Racing

Mobil 1

Maxxis Tires

240SXMOTORING.COM

Mishimoto

Video Load

2010-07-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

Video Load- With so many events going on around this time we are all antsy to see the footy so here is 4 videos including 2 ProAm events and, All Star Bash and Prodrift Ireland. Enjoi..

Prodrift Ireland Round 3 By Patrick McCullagh

Prodrift Ireland - Round 3 @ CityWest from Patrick McCullagh on Vimeo.

“City West seen the Prodrift Series arrive for the 3rd round of the championship.
Alot of top drivers where there including BDC drivers Paul Cheshire, Danny Eyles and our own Shane Lynch of Boyzone fame.
Also championship regulars such as James Deane, Alan Sinnot, Christy Carpenter, Mike Fitzgerald et al where out in force to to show the BDC how its done.
Notable drives over the weekend came from Jay Rockett, Barry Leonard and a very impressive Chris Brady - who impressed all the Prodrift fans with 4th place overall.
Alan Sinnott took third behind the two Deane brothers with younger brother James showing Mike a clean pair of heals in the finals.

Thanks for reading ;) “

2010 Just Drift "All Star Bash X" With Benson Hsu

2010 Just Drift "All Star Bash X" With Benson Hsu from Brakesislife on Vimeo.

6-30-10 - ThunderDrift Formula D ProAm - Round 3

6-30-10 - ThunderDrift Formula D ProAm - Round 3 from Running:Projects on http://vimeo.com">Vimeo.

“NorCal's finest battle it out in the 3rd Round of the ThunderDrift Formula D ProAm Championship series. “

South East Drift ProAm - Gresham Park – 6/26

South East Drift ProAm - Gresham Park - 6/26 from Joseph Canady on http://vimeo.com">Vimeo.

Sitting Shotgun: Dennis Mertzanis

2010-06-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

Dennis Mertzanis rolled into Englishtown Raceway for East Coast Bash to do one thing, have fun. ECB is no competition, this event is set by the hearts and minds of drifters to put on a show for the fans and an event to remember for the drivers. I caught up with Dennis late Sunday after everything was said and done, the engines were cooling, the track breathing again... this was time for talk and this is what we got!

1K: Dennis how competitive is your car compared to the cars in Formula D?

Dennis: My car at a grassroots level, is really successful. You know I built it in a garage and I love every single square inch of it...but the cars at Formula D are amazing. They have incredible grip and power, lightweight. I mean these are relative to my car...pretty high dollar cars. Its hard to keep up, but I think

with the time were gonna put into the car testing..changing tire pressures, suspension stuff..I think that were gonna get there, at least you know..run mid-pack and try to be competitive there. Were working hard to get the car better every single event.

1K: Have you done Pro-Am events?

Dennis: I did a Pro-Am event, I actually got my license at the VIR (Virginia International Raceway) Pro-Am about 2 years ago. But, under some circumstances I had my license this year. All the Pro-Am series I did was based here on the east coast VIR events..I think it was the GT Live event specifically. At one event..did good, got an invite to GT Live...made top 8..then they gave licenses to the top 8 guys...I did (in-audible background tire screech) series, which I recommend to all the guys coming up through the ranks...like if you can do well at Pro-Am..Its kind of a large leap from Pro-Am to Formula D but still you gotta do well at Pro-Am. It really sets you up nice for Formula D.

1K: What do you think about XDC?

Dennis: I think its great! Anytime you have an opportunity to compete with drivers that are better then you...in a series that's gonna be judged in a similar format to Formula D, that's the best thing you could do...Its totally different then going out to have fun..I mean you have a lot of guys who wanna drift for fun..and then there's guys who drift for fun, but the competition is fun to them as well. So you have two types of drivers..I happen to be one where the competition..I don't know how to explain it..the pressure helps me...and I like that pressure. The practice events.. don't get me wrong, I love drifting, Id drift every single day of the week..but I like the competition side of it.. I recommend any of those series, XDC is a really good start.

1K: What did you think about East Coast Bash this year?

Dennis: Man its crazy..I definitely wish that it was not the weekend before Formula D Wall, NJ, because honestly I'm maybe at like 90 percent because you know I have my team but..were privateer, real low budget and so if anything were to happen to the car..it would be a serious scramble to get ready. We actually have to go back home and I have to work for the next 2 days, Tuesday, Wednesday, then were coming back...but the guys out here are great! The level of driving is a lot higher since I left cuz you remember I used to do the events here? You know...drift out Wednesday and then I think I did some practice events when the track first opened but we would run it a little differently...and I haven't been back in a year in a half.

Its just amazing, the skill level..its like the track gets harder, more technical, and everybody starts steppin up...and they can grow to that level of course you know? You can really see it in the driving, there's really a lot of really good drivers around here..the cars are getting prepped nice, looking good...its really impressive. The format of course, its Matt Petty you know what I mean? Its always entertaining and fun..its all about fun and drivers and everything..you know 6, 7 car tandems is always. A little bit crazy, especially at night...last night, it was unbelievable..I had a blast, I really wanted to keep staying out there but I had to bring the car in on purpose to kind of relax a little bit because like I said..I don't want anything happening..you know, it was real smokey, then your following

3 cars back, then its dark anyway, its hard to see the clipping points, guys are flyin everywhere! Man that's like, the essence of it right there...that fun, that excitement you get...that's why we all do it...

1K: Where do you see drifting going in the coming years?

Dennis: American drifting? We have this talk all the time..where do we want drifting to go...I hope that drifting grows into kind of having another professional series just like Formula D, but more of an affordable, sort of grassroots..more guys like myself..where were pretty competitive amateur events, but when we get to Formula D were kind of running at the bottom of the pack..sort of like a street legal series in Japan..something similar to that where its kind of a stepping stone into Formula D. Formula D is amazing and its just a big jump from one series to the next...financially, the car itself, the schedule, all the guys that follow the schedule are back and forth across the coasts..especially from the east coast, its even harder goin out west a couple of times...that's where id like to see it go, have something sort of in between. I know XDC is a feeder series into Formula D, but there almost needs to be a duplicate Formula D at a slightly lower level...where its cars mostly like S-chassis, mostly like a lot of what you would see out here...

1K: Kind of like the US DRIFT series?

Dennis: Yeah kind of, I guess you could say that..That's where I would hope its going...where its not gonna..grow further apart then it already is between like the Pro-Am driver and Formula D. I mean that jump is already..you know, pretty huge. If it gets any bigger, I would fear that people wouldn't be able to do it anymore..they'd have all the same drivers coming in unless its someone from another country..with money to take a chance like that..

Photography: Dan Jenkins

On Board- Chelsea Denofa

2010-06-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

This video was shot during the XDC Round 3 final run between Chelsea Denofa and Steve Angerman. Chelsea went on to win the battle for third with Angerman proving once again that BMW's do in fact drift well (with a good driver). Just a teaser for what is to come from this round of XDC media!

On Board- Chelsea Denofa from Corey Zinkhan on Vimeo.

Sitting Shotgun: Brad Hettinger

2010-06-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

Brad (B-RAD) Hettinger...I first recognized Brad about a year ago when I saw his insane looking 240SX convertible. It was two-tone blue and silver, had an R33 Skyline front end on it, was fully kitted, chicken installed, MASSIVE exhaust, and to top it off... his helmet was covered in bright blue fur.

From that day on, I always would have to follow his lines when I heard his car run. He then went on to paint the car metallic pink and had a front end change more then once.

Brad was always tearing up the track from start to finish. I have noticed from the first day, that Brad had something in drifting. He later went to Irwindale Speed way aka the "House of Drift", and picked up his Formula Drift license. All while making it there with donations via PayPal from the support of the drifting community and friends!

Brad also does work at his shop, Ground Werks Garage. Ground Werks will do it all for you, and Brads car shows it. Brad totally rebuilt the vert from the ground up for 2010. The capability of this shop is phenomenal once you see over the B-Rad ride in person. I went to East Coast Bash this year wanting to get a few words with Brad about him and his shop, this is what came of the short but long interview...

1K: How was your weekend at East Coast Bash?

Brad: It was all right. The car was doing pretty decent to begin with, having a couple little setup issues but other then that it was pretty good. I ended up tapping the wall, ripping the over fender off on the passenger side. Then going into night driving last night I bottomed out the car really hard. Don't know if it had any correlation to do with the motor having some rod knock, its blown up now. I'm not sure whats going on there, wont know till tomorrow when I tear it down. It was an alright weekend ya know? I was hoping for better, but you know at least I got to drive a little bit.

1K: How is the new setup/rebuild you've done?

Brad: Good! The car has had its bugs definitely. There's been a lot of new stuff I've put on it, things other people haven't done. Stuff like that. Has a 350 (z) trans behind the SR now, so I initially had some issues with that off the bat cuz the gearing is all kinds of different I wasn't used to it, kind of gives you short snappy gears. I wasn't used to having to transition through gears as often. Last year, I pretty much would be in third all the time and just be done with it. This year its a lot of second, third, and fourth gear action goin on.

As far as the power.. I'm making about 50 more horse then I was last year. The v-mount setup made it real responsive. The car in general felt really good. It has tons of power, the biggest problem I'm having is to keep grip. I'm just kinda blowin through tires. The main problems I've been having is the suspension setup lately. The past 3 events I've done have been more suspension setup , tweaks in alignment and all that kind of fun stuff.

1K: How are things coming along with GroundWerks?

Brad: Good! We have a lot of new stuff coming, a lot of stuff were working on... If everything pans out the way were hoping for, we'll have a really cool car for next year. I'm getting rid of the s13..Actually after this weekend I'm not sure whats gonna happen with the S13. I've been entertaining the idea to move into a newer chassis to begin with. I kind of wanted to at the end of last year but, I thought it would be better strategy to stay in this car since I was comfortable with it. Just doing a couple things to it, and a couple things ended up being a lot of things, maybe over built the car a little bit..It seems to work pretty good.

We started doing roll cage work about a month ago, that's going really well. Were really happy with the way that stuff is turning out. Still got the dyno stuff goin on. I've been doing a lot of research and development on the Z trans behind different motors. First thing was the SR, I have people interested in doing it behind the KA now. That's the biggest thing, RB20, SR, and the KA, they have a weak trans. You know, its getting kind of hard to get the Z32 parts to do the Z32 trans. That's why I kind of came up and started doing this. It works out pretty good, I'm happy with it.

Brian Hop's car, the one with the orange Gram Lights...his car has the same trans setup in it, and actually before he hit the wall, he was tearing it up. I've never seen him drive like that before he was doing really good! I was gonna drive his car today to try it out, I wanted to see how much different it felt from mine. We have a little bit different things goin on with our cars and I wanted to see how his felt compared to mine, unfortunately I didn't get to go that route. It made me feel good this morning that I saw him drive.

We always got cool stuff goin on. I'm going to start building a Corolla, probably going to use it more or less as a backup car for a little bit till I figure out whats goin on with my actual car situation. My roommate has a Corolla with a 20 valve in it so I was gonna start puttin that together, were gonna kind of share it, go from there and see what happens.

1K: What kind of plans do you have for Formula D and competing this year?

Brad: This year I'm taking it back a couple steps. I put a lot into driving last year, I drove like 25 or 26 events last year? Was kind of hoping Id get a little bit more backing then I had but when I started opening up GroundWerks and doing everything that was going on with GroundWerks, I kind of decided to put a little more time into the business then into racing. That's kind of where I've been sitting.. I'm gonna probably keep everything off with Formula D this year...and extend my license hopefully until 2011.

I'm going to the new chassis, go into Formula D with a brand new car...and be a rookie in a brand new car and see how it goes. Obviously there's the politics involved with all of it so I'm probably not gonna do too good in a brand new car. Hopefully everything still pans out and I do decent you know? Id be happy just to qualify every one really...My biggest thing every day is like when I wake up or when I'm eating or whatever you know I'm just thinkin about stuff, I'm all ways hoping the economy's gonna turn around so that you know..worst case scenario I can have a business that can flourish, help me get through everything else..that's the biggest thing I think about...

1K: Where do you think drifting is gonna be going in the upcoming years?

Brad: I think its going good places..there's a lot more company's getting involved, stuff like that. We got events like this (East Coast Bash), where its all grassroots guys out with pro drivers. You have events like Road Atlanta and Formula D Wall like they're big events but as far as media wise and the sport blowing up more? I see an event like East Coast Bash being more influential to people then going to Formula D. As a grassroots driver, you go to Formula D your like, “AW I'm never gonna be at this level” like there's no point in ever being able to be that. But you got all kinds of drivers here.

You got guys where its the first time ever driven here today, and you got guys that have been here on the road course however many times its been open, which I think is like 20 times people have been able to drive on it..I've driven on it every time its been open, every time there's been an event out on the road course, I've been on it. You've just got a wide variety of drivers here, and you don't really see that when you go to Formula D as much. East Coast Bash and like Club Loose itself, I really see it opening up the whole potential of what drifting can really be.

1K: How do you feel about the drifting community itself?

Brad: Were all very like, laid back. I've all ways thought everyone's here to help each other out you know? I have people come up to me all the time asking me to borrow tools and stuff like that. I brought my girlfriend with me, its her first time shes ever come to a drifting event with me that was actually like a BIG event. She watched me yesterday morning, I ran around and I think I helped 3-4 people work on there cars before I even got to get into my car. I rolled my car out the trailer, it sat right there on the ramp and I went around and helped people get there stuff ready to go.

I knew my car was ready, and I did what I had to do. Brian was having trouble with his car, couple little engine electrical issues, took care of that. He ended up braking a shift linkage on his car as well I fixed that mid day for him. Were all here to help each other out, I walked over to Garry Gardella's trailer and was like, “Hey I need to use your tig welder” and he was like, “Alright yeah go ahead!”. Everyone's here to help each other out, to have a good time, have fun, its not like cut throat or anything like that. It has all ways been to me, everyone's here to help each other out.. I've never had somebody like, snob me off about being able to use a tool or something like that. That's how I've all ways viewed it...

Special Thanks: Dan Jenkins Photography

http://www.danjenkinsphotography.com/

Dan Jenkins Facebook

Wrecked Magazine
http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/

XDC Summit Point Raceway at Hyper-Fest 2010!

2010-06-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

Its finally here! XDC has reached its place in the east with Hyper-Fest this year which is a little over a week away! This may possibly be the most INSANE gnar Hyper-Fest ever! Check it out! go here for all the infos!
XDC SUMMIT POINT HYPER-FEST 2010

Weekly Drift News 3-4

2010-05-17T00:05:00.000-07:00

So after a hectic couple weeks of prepping cars and driving we got the news complete!

Formula Drift Round 2 Atlanta, GA

Dai Yoshihara wins round 2!

Vaughn Gittin Leads the Formula Drift Points series with his second place in Atlanta! Here is the official press release of this info via Vaugh Gittins website, I love how he has these pieces put together just total gnar!

Vaughn Gittin Press Release HERE

Here's how Joon Maeng prepped befor the ATL event. The Full Tilt Mazda Nitto RX-8 was equipped with a new e-brake handle, aligned, and even some front end damage repaired check it out..

Joon Maeng ATL prep HERE

Matt Waldin posted up his short lived adventure at Formula D with mechanical failures and a first round match with Tanner Faust. Read up on this and watch for Matt at DMCC Round 1!

Matt Waldins ATL Adventure HERE

Tanner Faust Backwards entry, and also an album from Tanner's website.

Tanner Foust Backward Entry from Jersey Streets on Vimeo.

Tanner Faust Album HERE

Ryan Tuerck Gardella Racing Promo Video. This was posted up in Ryan's site, from Deathmachines.net.

Gardella Racing Promo from Death Machines on Vimeo.

JDM Allstars Trafford video full on rad!

Professional Drift Mayhem - JDM Allstars Round 1 @ The Trafford Centre, Manchester from Trackday Films on Vimeo.

In the world of Grassroots drifting....

Evergreen Drift Round 1 Results. (taken from evergreendrift.com)

http://www.evergreendrift.com/

“Results//

Ian Fournier
Mike Phillips
Peter Funatake

Top Qualifier - Ian Fournier

First Place took home -

$300
Longacre tire pressure gauge
$50 product certificate from Mishimoto
Fluids and car service products from Campbell Nelson Nissan

Second place got -

$200
$50 product certificate from Mishimoto
Fluids and car service products from Campbell Nelson Nissan

Third Place scored -

$100
$50 product certificate from Mishimoto
Fluids and car service products from Campbell Nelson Nissan

And the top qualifier received a $25 product certificate from Longacre Racing.

The full results are being tabulated so be sure to check back to see the standings for all the drivers so far.

Pictures and video are rolling in and will be posted shortly!”

Just Drift Night and Day open drift session and drift clinic limited spots sign up now!!

Just Drift Open Drift Session info HERE

Street Wise Drift Pro-Am Round 3 at ATL Results!

http://www.streetwisedrift.com/

Podium Winners at SWD's Round 3 East Coast Formula D Pro AM Road Atlanta!!

1st Dan Willie
2nd Chris Ward
3rd Harrison Ritchie

Evergreen Drift announced another open drift day which will be held on May 23^rd. Original posting (with a nice video from the last open drift day)....

“Are you ready for the May Open Drift event?

We’ll have the 3/8ths open with the both the Competition Course and Hot Lap course on tap for the day.

The 5/8ths will be open for All ProAm drivers. ProAm drivers are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this event to get tech inspected for ProAm and get some seat time on the 5/8ths. Use this opportunity to make sure your car is on the lock down and you are ready to rip for ProAm Round 2 in just a few short weeks.

If you haven’t yet seen the guys Hot Lap the 3/8ths come by and check it out. There is always something crazy happening on track with this course setup.

Details//

Date: Sunday May 23rd, 2010
Location: Evergreen Speedway in Monroe
Time: Gates open @ 10AM, Track goes hot @ 11AM
Driver $80
Pit Pass $20
Grandstands $10 (kids under 12 free!)

For more information see the Event Registration Page

Media// - MUST PRE-REGISTER ONLINE HERE!

Everyone else does not need to register online. Just show up and pay on site like normal!

Take a peek at last months Open Drift edit from Justin Shreeve so get an idea of how much fun this event will be.”

Evergreen Open Drift 4/11/2010 from Sideline Northwest on Vimeo.

Taking a step back into Round one of the 2010 Formula Drift season is a video posted by Scion Racing featuring Tanner Faust and Ken Gushi and there crazy Scion TC drift cars!

Wrecked Magazine issue #15 is out now! Be sure to read this one through from start to end!

http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/issues/issue15/issue15.html

Sitting Shotgun: Hendrik Kuyt Switchback Racing/HK Welding

2010-05-14T18:38:00.000-07:00

Now to finish this up I had an interview for Hendrik. And here is what he had to say about Switch Racing, fabrication, and of course drifting!

Hendrik Kuyt- Switchback Racing

How long have you been fabricating? Well, in one form or another for over 10 years, however only professionally since 2005

How did Switchback racing come to be? The name "Switchback" was derived from a handful of sources ... it's a passing technique in racing, a term for a twisty road or trail, in drifting for transitions, etc... I came up with it several years ago ('01 or '02) with a few friends. The shop part (Switchback Racing) was the long term idea, but we mostly were a crew (Team Switchback) to start with. Years past, we added a bunch of new members over time, and we'd attend different meets and help each other and our friends out with car stuff, but things were pretty casual. In '07 I officially started HK Welding, LLC and registered "Switchback Racing" and "Team Switchback" to it. After a couple years working in industry I started looking more seriously into getting my own facility. Then in April '09 I finally got my own space, and May 2nd was Switchback Racing’s official shop opening!

What is it like sharing shop space with Auto Expectations? Things are pretty sweet . . . we work really well together as a team, and the way things are right now, we all get to focus on what we’re good at.

What are the people you work with like on a daily basis? I really enjoy our shop environment. We’re always messing with each other, and there’s always lots of shit talking. For onlookers things sometimes look and sounds serious, but that’s what makes our odd sense of humor work!

Whats the craziest thing you've fabbed to date? hmm, that’s a hard one . . . I’ve done tons of odd, random, and artistic stuff over the years. But if I were to single one thing out, I’d probably have to go with that 1200rwhp (on 93) Viper I did. That job had so many factors to consider, in order to get it done right. There were tight clearances all over the place, components and systems that had to be moved, eliminated, or have one-off replacements fabricated. All in all, the end result of like a week and a half of hard work with 16 to 18 hour days paid off with huge improvement in every single category! . . . and here’s a bit of a spoiler for ya; that same customers looking for an ’06 SRT 10 Viper coupe, so we can do the same thing ;)

How did you get into fabrication in the first place? Really, I’d have to say it was mostly out of necessity because of the lack of aftermarket support for the hooptie I used to drive . . . then as it turned out it was something I really enjoyed and was good at, so I ended up running with it! =)

What put you into the drift world? I grew up in Australia, where Rally (WRC, etc.) is hugely popular. Me and my goofball buddies used to go around tearing up the neighborhood streets, sliding “rally-style” as we called it, around every sweet corner, roundabout, or whatever we could find. The word “drifting” to me back then was what touring car and F1 drivers did when pushing their cars to the maximum slip angle their tires allowed without spilling out! ;) . . . Then when I moved here in ’99, like most of us, I discovered the Japanese drift scene in magazines like “Option” that I picked up at the Tower Records in Fairfax (R.I.P. Tower, we miss you)

What do you plan on doing as far as business goals and fabricating for the future? I want to keep doing good work, and growing my business so I can get a nice group of people working for me, and expand to a large operation, fielding several top level competition cars, and producing our own extensive line of highly developed top quality parts =D

What’s the future look like for Hendrik in the drift world driving wise, or is there one? Lol, we’ll see how it goes, but right now I’m in the process of building my fly-ass-hooptie (beige ’85 Rx-7) . . . last time she drifted was the US Drift Nationals @ Hyper fest 2, back in 2003. At the time the 68hp the original beat-down 12a was pushing wasn’t exactly cutting it! This time she’ll have a black-top SR, and lots of other new goodies, so things look a little better. I however, I am a little rusty, so I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t go and total my baby, first time out =p

What are your final thoughts on drifting? Drifting’s without a doubt, the best sport I’ve ever been involved in. And it keeps growing and getting even better with every event!

What are your final thoughts on 1k DRIFT? I really appreciate what you’re doing here, helping to promote our scene, and in the process bringing everyone closer. Everyone working together’s the best way to get our scene to really blow up and move to the next level! . . . Thanks Corey, see ya at the track!

Now I must say, this was one of most bad ass of trips I have ever made to any shop. The crew at Auto Expectations and Switchback Racing will surely take care of all your automotive needs!

Out of the Box: Auto Expectations/Switchback Racing

2010-05-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

In 1981 a shop was born. Datsun Dynamics, did it all from street cars to full on race machines. Ran by Brian Downey, Ryan's father, who raced and still races to this day, Nissan's and Datsun's. Ryan always hung around his fathers shop as a kid and got his hands dirty with the rest of the gents. Datsun Dynamics ran for a wondrous 23 years until Brian's partner fell ill. 3 years ago they opened the doors to Auto Expectations.

Auto Expectations is a joint operation in part with Switchback Racing. Right next door to the shop formally was Switchback Racing's facility. The owner Hendrik Kuyt, talked things over with the Downey's and they moved switchback into the shop to help each other move forward.

Together Auto Expectations and Switchback Racing can do whatever your wallet will alloy you to do to a vehicle. From changing your oil to making you legal for Formula Drift. Its all a possibility at “AutoSwitch”. I took a ride down to the shop and talked to Ryan and spent a couple days seeing for myself what they were up to.

I talked with Ryan about his Z31 drift car and what that car is about. Ryan said, “The Z31 has always been a race car and we have had it since 1987.I'm am the second generation driver in the Z. The Z is big and heavy but you need to work with what you have. We made some suspension changes but the motor is still NA. It worked well enough to win the Joes at Drift Nirvana in my first year of drifting.WE are currently building a new car(240SX),the lack of funds makes take longer than we want.”

Ryans new 240SX will be a very interesting car once complete. Even sitting bare with its cage setup makes the mind wonder what is next....

I also asked Ryan about his future with drifting and how he felt about it. Ryan says, “I want to run more PRO AMs with new car to see how far up the drifting ladder I can get. It seems drifting is starting to grow again and I looking forward to this year.”

While I was at the shop I took a gander at the cars around and did some digging. I was shown this gem, a Honda Fit with a JDM Fit conversion. With the JDM front and rear end the car lost a total of around 9 inches. This task was of course no problem for the guys to get done for its debut in the Spocom world.

In front of the shop is the usual load of projects and customer cars just waiting to be moved inside for work.

Once inside the shop there is the big AE on the wall symbolizing you've entered a world desire. Sitting right under this would be a very one-off built Lotus Exige. Just about every piece of this car is carbon, kevlar, or lexan. The body is a one-off made piece, carbon of course. The silver “paint”, is actually a very cleanly laid down vinyl wrap. Seeing this built K-series engine shows you it is no joke. No power adder. Just not needed for this, although things are in the air for its future. We will certainly be re-writing the book on this some day!

Now this shop does it all. Once again proving this is the Camaro. This Camaro was just incredible, and why was it there? To be finished off with a sound system. From head unit to a fiberglass trunk enclosure it was getting the works.

Once again to show the field of play that goes in the shop, this EG Civic hatch time attack car. The EG was getting some modifications to its cage, aero, engine ect. Here is a fine example of the amazing fabrication work Hendrik can put down. This dump tube was ran through a tight space with very nice clearances and spotless welds.

There was also the usual s13 customer car. This car was running terribly. After being through many engines, builds, ect with the SR I knew something was up with this thing. We went over this car for hours rewiring the 02 sensor, and checking the MAF (I volunteered my personal one to drop this off the list). We found out the SAFC had been wired incorrectly. The car then still had problems so we pulled the valve cover, finding 2 rocker arms and all but 2 shims were missing on the intake cam. Nothing AE couldn't fix!

4 AM rolled around and it was time to close up shop. However, Hendrik and the boys were still hard at work with the EG and Camaro!

I knew the moment I left the shop I would be returning to have some mad work done to my S13 (and to eat more dogs from the keg grill!) Thanks for the rad experience guys!

Part 2 will finish this visit up with a gnarly interview!

Sitting Shotgun: Hendrik Kuyt- Owner/Master Fabricator of Switchback Racing/HK Welding ...

Driver Profile # 92 John Davidson

2010-05-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

Name: John Davidson

Age: 21

Location: MoCo

Years Drifting: 1

Vehicle of Choice: s13 240sx

Why: It was found under a tree and got it for cheap

Mods: Gutted Rear, Welded Diff, Tein Springs on KYB Adjustable Struts, TC Sportline Control Arms

Favorite Track to Throw Down:  Summit Point!

Personal Accomplishments in Drifting: Getting this car ready and it actually drifted. Even when it was stock.

Personal Goals for the Future:  Win a Drift Nirvana or Slideways trophy.

Random Fact:  Chipotle FTMFW!!!

Last Comment:  Check out www.randomracing.net

1K DRIFT Shirts and Vinyl For the Saleing, limited!

2010-05-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

Here they are, Drift Drama Fail. And the most recent of the 1K vinyls.

TO ORDER- Email me, Corey at slide.racer@hotmail.com and I will give you the paypal!!

Shirt Quantity as of 5/9/2010-14 (1 S, 1 M, 6 L, 3 XL, 3 XXL)

Price- $15 SHIPPED

Vinyl Quantity as of 5/9/2010- 35 (20 RED. 15 BLUE)

Price- $5 SHIPPED

Driver Profile #91 Josh Lowell

2010-05-04T00:13:00.000-07:00

Name: Josh Lowell

Age: 23

Location: south jersey

Years Drifting: 2 but not with much seat time

Vehicle of Choice: s13 couple

Why: light cheap to repair

Mods: ka-t. welded diff. hks coilovers, seats and a wheel

Favorite Track to Throw Down: summit point

Personal Accomplishments in Drifting: third gear entry wit ka na

Personal Goals for the Future: drive the car even nuttier everything else will fall into play

Random Fact:

Last Comment: enterfasterpussy!

Driver Profile #90 Alex Lopez

2010-05-04T00:09:00.000-07:00

Name: Alex Lopez

Age: 26

Location: Queen Creek, AZ

Years Drifting: <1

Vehicle of Choice: 2004 Infiniti G35 Twin Turbo

Why: I love the elegance and luxuary of the G35. It’s a 350Z with a longer wheel base and they are not everywhere. I love to way the car looks blowin’ smoke from the tires going sideways

Mods: Engine: Greddy Twin Turbo with FMIC, Crawford Plenum, Defi Gauges, Custom 3inch single to dual exhaust, K-Sport Kontrol Pro Coilovers, Stillen Sway bars, KAAZ 1.5 way LSD, MOMO Drifting Steering wheel, NRG hub and QR, DMAX V35 Body Kit (not pictured, car comes out of the shop wed) Only Body Kit ever exported to the US, SPL Solid Front and Rear Diff Bushings.

Favorite Track to Throw Down: I love West Track at Firebird, this would have to be my favorite but not really a track you want to run with a lot of drivers. My next favorite Track will have to be PIR because of the high speeds and awesome infields. Third is Adams MotorSports Park in Riverside, Ca because of the tight turns and one set of tires will last you all day.

Personal Accomplishments in Drifting: I started Drifting July 2009. I have gotten help from all of the best drivers In AZ. My major accomplishments would be that I don’t make the people who have taught me look the other way when they see me drift and are willing to ride now for fun and not to teach all the time. Another accomplishment I would say is that I have gotten to tandem with a lot of great people. I have also gotten the support of many shops to include IntensePower.com

Personal Goals for the Future: Personal goal is to get better to be able to play with the big boys, going all out and getting as close to the wall as possible to give that little tip. I want to have the car caged and gutted this year.

Random Fact: I love sliding left…

Last Comment: watch me…

Driver Profile #89 Andrew Mensah

2010-05-04T00:02:00.000-07:00

Name: Andrew Mensah

Age:21

Location: gainesville, fl

Years Drifting:i guess 6 because i started when i was 16

Vehicle of Choice: BMW E36 M3

Why: because it was what i got for selling my S13's when i came to college

Mods: typical NA mods, M50 obd1 intake manifold, shark injector chip, bilstein sport shocks and springs, eibach 27mm rear sway, x-brace, RTAB limiters, Turbo, Coil-overs, camber/caster plates, and adjustable control arms coming soon.

Favorite Track to Throw Down: CFRC in orlando

Personal Accomplishments in Drifting: not much yet, but impressing the hell out of my friends.

Personal Goals for the Future: in a drift league 3 years from now. and diversify my driving career.

Random Fact: im probly the only black guy ull meet drifting an M3

Last Comment:... BMW, My Ultimate Drifting Machine.

Drift Weekly 2

2010-05-03T06:56:00.000-07:00

For this News slot I threw in last weeks which was not posted. This is also full of media and coming events!

British Drifting Championship Video 1.

MAXXIS Tyres BDC Round 1 - SILVERSTONE from Stephen Brooks on Vimeo.

JDM All Stars Manchester Video 1.

JDM Allstars Rd.1 2010 - Manchester from Floyd Parsons on Vimeo.

JDM All Stars Manchester Photo set! There is a lot of photos here together...

http://www.driftworks.com/forum/media-section/112456-pictures-jdm-allstars-2010-manchester.html

http://doristars.com/v-web/gallery/jdmr12001

British Drift Championship Round 2 Coverage!!

Here are a few sets of albums from this event. Get your background found for work!

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Newtonnn.Photography/BDCRound210#

http://www.flickr.com/photos/philip_mann/sets/72157623976224884/

http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/dancrx19/BDC%20Round%202%20Llandow%20Semi%20Pro%202010/

http://doristars.com/v-web/gallery/rdcspr2

And here is a video to put those photos in motion...

Here is a 2 minute preview of a coming soon drift video dubbed, “Vernal Equinox”. This one looks interesting to say the least. Can't wait for the final edit!

LDC License day 2010 video for fun...

LicenceDay '10 from vidas on Vimeo.

Thunder Drift Round 2 Photo album!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/geoffpp/sets/72157623856937544/

Next weekend will be Formula Drift Round 2 Atlanta! May 7-8^th. Who will bring there A-game up to JR in his new Monster Energy Ford Mustang? Don't forget this will also be a Street Wise Drift Pro-Am event so get that license boys! Follow up next week for the coverage of this one!

Evergreen Drift Pro-Am Round 1 will be held this coming Friday, May 7^th. More Pro-Am events means more future Formula Drift drivers so go support theses events!

More info here...http://www.evergreendrift.com/2010/04/evergreen-drift-northwest-proam-championship-round-1/

Clubfr.net announces the first ever Midwest Allstar Bash registration is now open! June 26-27^th will be the due date of mayhem and pure insane fun. Get ready this will be epic as usual.

More info here....http://clubfr.net/2010/04/30/midwest-zt-allstar-bash-registration-open/

And finally, On Saturday & Sunday, May 8-9 North and South teams with battle it out in Tandem Drift Battles,Paint Ball Wars, and Kart Races. All drifting participants get a free event shirt. Camping is available!

More info...http://www.driftnirvana.com/

Sources: www.driftworks.com

www.doristars.com

www.thunderdrift.com

Drift Weekly 1

2010-04-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

First up for this week we have this video from Vaughn Gittin. JR took the win at this years Formula D Long Beach in his new Monster Energy Ford Mustang. This car sounds like pure insanity and it proved to be on top of the game this day along with Vaughn. Congrats to JR, were excited to see more of this duo of man and machine!

Vaughn Gittin Jr: Monster’s Street Fighting Man from Drift Alliance on Vimeo.

And to follow up with the win JR pulled out, Drift Alliance takes the team drift competition at LBC for the third year! (http://www.formulad.com/blog/2010/behind-the-scenes/drift-alliance-takes-the-team-drift-win-in-long-beach/)

"Team Drift Alliance took home the top honors at today’s Team Drift competition during the Long Beach Grand Prix. They drifted in front of thousands of fans after the IZOD Indycar Series race and entertained them with their consistent and synchronized drifting through the streets of Long Beach. This is the third victory in a row for Team Drift Alliance which consisted of Joon Maeng in Full Tilt Poker / Nitto Tires Mazda RX-8, champion Chris Forsberg in the NOS Energy Drink Nissan 350Z, and Justin Pawlak in the Falken Mazda RX-7."

Next up we have a nicely done video of the Formula D LBC. This was done by Dead pirate Productions, very cleanly.

Formula Drift Long Beach" The New Season begins" from Ross Fairfield on Vimeo.

And one more Formula D LBC 2010 vid for the day, edit done by FourReel Productions.

FormulaD-Streets Of Long Beach from Robert Strohmeyer on Vimeo.

ClubFR posted up the news of Drift Day 30 registration being up. Heres the flyer and the info from them. (http://clubfr.net/2010/04/14/drift-day-30-registration-open/ )

“Finally it.s here. USAIR, here we come!

Registration for our 30th Drift Day is finally open. Registration will remain open until May 15, 2010. That is also the deadline for refunds.

Cost: $130 for driver, $10 spectator
Location: USAIR – Shawano, WI
Date: May 16th, 2010
Hours: 800a-530p
Tech: 800a-915p
Start: 930p-430p
Clean-up: 430p-ASAP.

30 Driver cap.
Registration receives entry of driver plus ONE pit person.”

Now up, Evergreen Drift announced the Northwest Nissan ProAm Sponsorship Contest..

“Applications must be in by April 22!

Click the image for details!

If you have what it takes to compete in the Evergreen Drift Northwest ProAm Championship submit your application ASAP. Make it a good one because NWN will select the most qualified applicants and the members will vote to select the winner of the sponsorship. This is an excellent example of the grassroots community supporting its own.

To become a NWN Club member, follow the link:http://www.northwestnissans.com/board/payments.php”

This video was brought off of Dean Kearney's website, on-board camera, Fredric Aasbo chasing, wall scrapping, good LBC fun!

Dean "Karnage" Kearney taps the wall from IntecRacing on Vimeo.

Intraweb Drift Find: Justin Pawlak Blog

2010-04-17T18:22:00.000-07:00

So as of late I have been super busy finishing things up on my S13 for a coming event. 2 weeks left! Anyway, in my spare time I've been going and collecting up websites worth sharing with the Drifting community! Starting with this one which I just went through and must I say it was a good one. For this Drift Find we have Justin Pawlak's blog. These days everyone has a blog and its hard to get down to the good stuff with so much to go through. JTP has his own shop now which some do and don't know. Located in Gardena, CA, the shop which goes by "Hot Line" is full of obviously gnarly projects.

Following JTP's blog shows alot of work thats getting done at Hot Line. The blog is full of great things like event stuff, and a lot of fabrication work! Props to Justin for his Falken deal in the 2010 season and the guys at Hot Line for doing some awesome work!

Link to the goods: http://blog.jtpdrift.com/

Drifting Around The World, March 2010 Edition

2010-04-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

Drifting isn't just a growing phenomenon in the USA; there are plenty
of other places around the world that have rapidly growing drift
scenes. Here's a video sampling of some of these areas.  -pr0craztinazn

Drifting Selection 3 from Fabio Ugolini on Vimeo.

An Italian drift event; rarely do we see coverage of such things.
Notice the fair amount of S197 Mustangs; wouldn't be a vehicle I'd
expect to be popular out there.

More Suzuka Twin from Rob R on Vimeo.
Rob Ritter, of Miata fame, is in Japan at an event in his LHD
S-chassis. Everybody wants what isn't common around them...

A winter DRIFT day. Spanish drifting at Castellolí circuit. from Albert's Art Works on Vimeo.
Drifting in Spain... Albert's Art Works puts out some very well done
event coverage; his other videos are definitely worth watching.

Live for Drifting from unokeva on Vimeo.
Another Spanish drift event; this one is well shot, too.

Weston Super Mare Drift Day from Floyd Parsons on Vimeo.
Here's an event in the southern United Kingdom. A short vid, but sweet.

Philippines Car Porn Productions from Ian King on Vimeo.
An excellently done video of an event in the Philippines. With the
perspective in the early part of the video, it almost looks like RC
drifting...

Session Failure from Mez Productions on Vimeo.
From Australia comes a video from Mez, whom has a great eye for this,
even with a malfunctioning camera.

Drift-Inc March Session at Pembrey Wales from Drift-inc on Vimeo.
Welsh drifting; no jokes about funny accents. Looks as grassroots as
one can get; I like.

Stay tuned for part II of Drifting Around The World!

Out of the Box: DorkiDori Clothing with Lenn Franz

2010-03-31T21:06:00.000-07:00

DorkiDori clothing has been some of the most interesting designed clothing I've seen in a long time. When I started looking for car oriented clothing I could never find anything that sparked my interest. Following Zilvia I started noticing the name float around. Looking into what was on the home site, my mind was blown. Everything was full of color, there was about every car I wanted to see on a shirt, well on a shirt. Offering up tons of different product I knew I hit gold finding this company. I looked into DorkiDori and wanted to know more. So, I contacted the owner and designer, Lenn Franz. Lenn is a pretty down right cool guy. I threw down the questions, he put down the answers. Now check out the coverage.

How did the idea for DorkiDori arise?

DorkiDori Clothing was an idea I had years ago. I think it popped up as a viable idea in 2005. I had been into Japanese cars for about 3-4 years prior, but I had just started getting into fashion a lot more. No one at the time was making anything fashionable as far as car clothing was concerned. You could find a cheesy, poorly made shirt with an S13 on it and some boring font that said "240sx" to accompany it, but nothing about it stood out as fun or exciting. There were a few Initial D shirts you could get off eBay that had various characters on them. But, again, nothing that made you want to wear it when you go out and hang out with your friends or to a car meet. Honestly though, when I look back, the initial designs I started DorkiDori with (not many people have seen the original designs from 2005/2006) I kind of cringe a bit compared to what I can do now lol.

What does the name DorkiDori stand for?

Heh, that has always been a bit of a mystery for people and now Im going to spill the beans. DorkiDori was a nickname a girl I was dating for a while back in 2004 use to call me. When her and I were together, I was a HUGE drift nut. I was nuts about my car and the drifting culture in general. One day she was making fun of me a bit (in good nature) and out popped "dorkidori". I thought of it as a cute term of endearment kind of thing back then. But when I got around to coming up with an idea for a name for my clothing line, DorkiDori instantly stood out in my mind.

Within your design's, in what way has drifting inspired them?

Its not necessarily drifting that inspires what I do. Sure, the drift scene is my favorite car scene. I'vee been nuts about drifting since i got my first S13 back in 2002 (yes, Im kind of old now lol). When I did my initial designs, they weren't really based on drifting so much as they were the actual cars and parts. People were re-doing already existing slogans and such (Dorito - Dorifto) on shirts, but there was only one other company that I knew of that did actual cars on shirts when I started. Ironically, I still think his artwork dwarfs mine. That company would be Import Bible. I took a lot of inspiration from Import Bible. I really wanted to push myself to create artwork that was as clean as his, but at the same time retain my own style. Import Bible, I think, really pushed the envelope for what "Automotive Apparel" should have been and currently is. I hope that people see what I produce in my artwork as something different and fun and not just a "clone" of Import Bible. (By the way, I want to give props to Import Bible, EffectApparel and JimmyUp...all of you contribute more to the pursuit fashion in the automotive scene than any other company out there. ALL OF YOU should be proud of what you do and I am glad that I've gotten the chance to grow along side such great companies and designers over the years)

But a more direction answer to the question could be, drifting isn't what inspires me, its all about the cars. Every car I reproduce on these shirts makes me want to push myself even further and harder to show them in greater and greater detail to pay tribute to how awesome they are in real life. I personally have a HUGE soft spot for the S13 Coupe and Hatch. I love both of those cars more than is legally allowed in some states. lol

How did you get into doing graphic design art such as what you do in your clothing?

Uh oh, that question had to come up. (Laughter!!) My entry into graphic design started in high school actually. I went to a local magnet school here in Vegas for art. I've always been a traditional artist. Basically I've been drawing since i could pick up a pencil. My Freshman year in high school, I thought computer art was cheating. That the computer would automatically do things for you. I couldn't have been more wrong. My sophomore year I decided to take "Commercial Design" as an elective. Well thanks to that class, I have now made a career out of graphic design. I started out using (I am about to show my age) Photoshop 2.5. I had spent a few months working in that when one day I sit down and all of the computers were upgraded to Photoshop 3.0. This was huge...PHOTOSHOP HAD A NEW FEATURE CALLED LAYERS!!!! I was instantly hooked. I the rest of high school LIVING Photoshop. Thru my junior and senior year, I just kept learning more and more about Photoshop. I had my first graphic design job at the age of 16 at a local photo lab here in town called Allen Photo. I learned about output to different RGB and CMYK printers. I worked with a lot of cool stuff. Allen Photo also introduced me to a program I use quite a bit today called Adobe Illustrator. I spend just as much time in Illustrator now as I do Photoshop for creating my designs.

I have always been into learning how things work from A to Z. I am very hands on with everything I do. I've spent my entire working life in the field of graphic design. So when the chance to learn about screen printing walked thru my door at work one day, I jumped on that like crazy. This was in 2007, I was hired as the art director for a vehicle wrap shop here in town. One summer afternoon, our neighbor in the suite next to us walked in and asked if we needed any shirts printed. I asked him if I brought him some shirts and a design if he would print them. He agreed and so DorkiDori Clothing had an official screen printing shop. The rest of the story is history.

But for all of you who want to get into apparel printing and running your own line successfully, I will tell you this. ITS HARD WORK!!! LIKE SUPER HARD WORK!!! LIKE YOU HAVE NO LIFE HARD WORK!!! (Am I getting my point across?) You have to CONSTANTLY be creative with your designs. You have to find a printer to work with who will accommodate your needs and be willing to push their skills as yours develop. You will HAVE TO learn the ENTIRE screen printing process in order to design functional and likeable shirts. Most designers out there don't understand much when it comes from going from the monitor to the finished product. And in some cases, that's OK. But if you're going to be running your own line and making your own shirts, YOU HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO learn as much as you can about screen printing. I have been involved in the entire process for over 2 1/2 years now. I'vee printed a few hundred DorkiDori shirts personally (yes I do print the shirts you guys buy at times heh) andI'mm STILL learning new methods and tricks to push the envelope about what I can and cant do with my designs on shirts.

What other projects are you doing along the lines of clothing and design?

I have a secondary line of shirts I produce called Black Umbrella Clothing. Thru the years of doing DorkiDori stuff, I had come up with random drawings and designs that I thought would be fun to put on shirts, but they didn't fit in the DorkiDori lineup at all. So I decided to split off and make a sister line to DorkiDori. Hence Black Umbrella was born. The Black Umbrella line also serves as a promotional line for a band called "The Dreaming" based in Los Angeles, CA (if you're an old Stabbing Westward fan, singer Christopher Hall and drummer Johnny Haro are the founders and still current members of The Dreaming. Check them out at www.myspace.com/thedreaming if you like kick ass music!!!) Half of the BU designs I've released are based around songs from The Dreaming. The Dreaming currently sells my shirts at their shows to help raise tour money and such. But Black Umbrella is finally turning into the line of ideas I had originally intended it to be. The new Muffins and Kittehball shirts are getting fairly popular. Basically BU is just a fun way for me to mess around with shirt ideas that have nothing to do with cars.

I received your most recent newsletter, it mentioned that you felt, “it was time to grow the image of the company a bit more and mature it a little”, what is going on with the changes and how will it move DorkiDori ahead?

Well what I meant behind that was, it was time to re-brand DorkiDori a bit. The old pink and black color scheme/setup was starting to show its age. Pink and black was fairly popular when I started DorkiDori. It was really big in the Finnish (Finland) goth scene and the Cybergoth culture here in the US. It worked for a while, but I felt it was time to grow the brands image a bit and make it something a bit "cleaner" in appearance. I had been doing a lot of freelance work for people over the last few years and the red/black and red/white combination really started standing out to me.

I am looking forward to the future in a few ways. My better half Julie (shes the one who came up with the Muffins shirt slogan by the way) has given me a few ideas on where to take DorkiDori in the future. One of them is into the motorcycle world (mainly street bikes). That will wind up becoming another sister line to DorkiDori. I plan on releasing small videos covering local drift events soon. I am going to be developing the media section for the website over the next few months. Plan on interviews of amateur level drifters who want exposure, professional level drivers including Takatas own James Elterman and Nathan Brasz, plus, hopefully, some sit down time with The Dreaming for those interested in the musical aspect of what inspires some of the work I do. I've got a lot of stuff I've always wanted to do over the years and I am working to make those ideas a reality.

What type of involvement does DorkiDori hold in drifting? I know Nathan Brasz runs your name on his car!

I personally haven't done much in the drifting scene as far as racing goes since I sold my S13 last August (which I'm still not thrilled about), but I would like to continue to be one of the top and trusted names as far as automotive apparel goes in the car scene. A lot of stores you find in the malls and outlets don't realize what they are missing as far as not carrying products produced for the import enthusiast. I have been pushing for quite a while now to get my shirts into stores like Hot Topic and Zumiez, but unfortunately they don't think the import automotive culture and clothing have much in common. I've had TONS of people in the car scene ask me if they can get my stuff at a local store in the mall where the live. I have to keep telling them to purchase the shirts from my site as stores such as these refuse to carry them. Over the next few years I would really like to push hard to bring the import automotive culture into the lime light as far as fashion goes. The drifting scene has embraced what I've brought to the table for them, and drifting is just as big as skateboarding and snowboarding as far as I'm concerned.

And since you mentioned Nathan, yes he does run my stickers on his car. He has been my only pro-level sponsored car almost since I started DorkiDori. Nathan is an AWESOME driver and I love helping promote him where I can. I made a custom shirt for him in 2008 that he was selling and autographing for people. I had one planned for last year but it never saw production due to financial matters at the time. But him and I still talk to this day. Nathan is a great guy and I only hope we can continue working together as both of our recognition grows in the import world. I might do a shirt for him this summer, however, that's still up in the air as I have some big stuff coming up that I am working on that may heavily effect the style of my shirts. We will see...

In the future, where do you see DorkiDori going with sponsoring people in drifting?

As far as sponsorship goes, for 2010 the only car I will be doing a sponsorship with is Nathan Brasz's S13. 2010 is a bit of rebirth year for DorkiDori as 2009 wasn't exactly great in a few personal matters. I put in a lot of time to what I was doing last year and lost a lot from it. But fortunately, all that I lost is now starting to come back to me and is keeping me motivated and upbeat. I will be taking applications for sponsorships come November/December of this year for the 2011 season. I am a bit of a hard ass when it comes to accepting cars for sponsorships that are on an amateur level. I set up a sponsorship program in 2008 with a few people and it back fired on me in terms of business. I'm not going to get into details, but the promotion level I was expecting was not there. The sponsorships for 2011 will have to be met on a professional level that I should have incorporated since day 1.

I would like to give a bit of advice for people looking for sponsorships (and take this from someone who has quite a few sponsorships in his automotive lifetime). When you are applying for sponsorships, you are basically asking a company to invest in you by giving you discounts or free parts. If you are applying for a sponsorship, you need to keep in mind a certain level of professionalism. If you send Greddy an email saying "Hey, I have a 240sx that I want you to sponsor. I don'tt have any parts, but I am determined" and a few pics taken from your iphones camera, they wont look twice at you that'ss just how it is). Now, if you take the same car, do a nice photo shoot with it with your friends Nikon D40 camera and create yourself an actual "Business Presentation", companies will take notice of you much more, even if you have very little done to your car. Its all in how you present yourself to people.

Since you have been dealing with the drifting culture for 3 years now with your company, what do you think of the community and culture of drifting?

The drifting culture in general has changed so much since I started in it back in 2002. There have been a lot of positive and negative things to happen in it. Its sad to see the wrong people in the scene who came in just because it was the popular thing to be in. With those people comes theft, shady parts dealers etc etc. We all have to be careful now. But on a more positive note, its nice to see the culture expand out to the point it has. Information is so much more freely available. There are track days to promote drifting on the track instead of the streets now (I'm a big promoter of this). The amount of tuning knowledge of various popular drift cars has exploded. Though, I think some of the "family" feeling that drifting use to have in its early days of 99-03 in the US has gone away. But its nice to see what has developed over the last 10 years in drifting culture here in the states. I know the popularity of it has calmed down a bit in Japan which is sad to see. Honestly though, with Toyota, Subaru and Hyundai introducing new entry level, RWD sports cars aimed at the younger crowd, drifting may get big again with the introduction of a whole new generation of drift fans.

Where do you see drifting going in the years to come?

I think Toyota, Subaru and Hyundai (and Nissan if it ever got off its ass) will really help bring in a whole new generation of "drifters" with the Genesis and the FT86/Toyobaru. I for one am really looking forward the FT86. Its probably the most aggressive and fun car Toyota has made available to the US since the Supra. The Subaru version is exciting too as that may attract a whole world of Rally people who are curious about drifting as well. But I can bet you when the FT86 does premiere in a years time, it will be EVERYWHERE!!! I think this car will really help people get excited about drifting again since the car as a whole was inspired by a classic drift icon, the AE86 Corolla.

I don't see the sport changing much, just the styles and cars. Aero, JDM/USDM car styling, wheels, music, etc etc is always changing in the drift scene, but the sport itself remains the same (which is nice to see). For a few years when Formula D was big in the mainstream, the sport almost seemed like it was made into a "Ballet of Destruction" which concerned me as the skill of drifting seemed to be overlooked. But it looks like the recognition of the skill has come back quite a bit.

Do you have any final comments?

I want to make this clear to anyone reading this or who has purchased shirts, YOU MAKE DORKIDORI WHAT IT IS!!! If I didn't have the awesome customers I do, DorkiDori wouldn't exist. I think a lot of people have a mixed up idea of DorkiDori in some ways. DorkiDori is owned and run solely by ME. I am the only person you will talk to when you email with a question, call about a concern or see a group buy on a forum with my shirts. I design the shirts, website and any other printed media, I pack and ship all the shirts you guys get in the mail and I do all of my own promotions. So all of you reading this, please know that DorkiDori is a small business that takes itself very seriously when it comes to the product it sells to its customers. I personally wear the shirts I make for all of you. I've beat the crap out of them to make sure what I sell you guys will hold up to whatever you throw at them.

Please feel free to add DorkiDori on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Las-Vegas-NV/DorkiDori-Clothing/345086084528

Lenn Franz
Owner/Artist
DorkiDori Clothingwww.dorkidori.com
lennon@dorkidori.com
702.245.1895

Sitting Shotgun: Lee Alexander

2010-03-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

I've known Lee now for a good year. I remember a few years ago when Lee had his car painted up in blue/orange 2-tone. It was the hands down loudest car I have ever heard at the track! Lee now has his car beautifully set-up. It looks mean as hell and runs like it too! I like Lee's aggressive driving style. Lee is all about having fun and keeping drifting that way. I have a lot of fab work for Lee to do and it started with the simple, diff welding. Took him maybe 20 minutes. Turned out beautiful! While I was there I had some good words with Lee on drifting. Heres what he had to say..

1K: How many years have you been drifting?

Lee: I've been drifting for 3 or 4 years now.

1K: How did you get into drifting?

Lee: I went to a US Drift event at ODS and I just felt and knew that I had to do that.

1K: What did you start drifting?

Lee: A 2005 Lexus IS300, it was awesome. I totalled it. Pretty much immediately after that I got my S14 and a trailer, because I almost got stuck at a Drift Nirvana, it was my daily.

1K: When did you start fabricating?

Lee: About the same time, once I started drifting I realized I needed to do stuff. So I started doing it for myself, then I started doing it for close friends.
Then those friends told friends, and so on and so forth and its just kind of spread from there. It's goin' pretty good now.

1K: Where do you plan on going with drifting and doing fabrication?

Lee: I don't really plan on going anywhere with drifting, unless it's fun. I don't wanna' be a super star. I just wanna' have lots of fun. And I want everybody else
to have a lot of fun. That's one of the reasons I do the fabrication, to involve everyone as much as I can. Get people tandeming, because that's where all the fun is at. And to get people on the track, you shouldn't be drifting unless it's on the track.

1K: What have you seen change in drifting since you started?

Lee: I've seen a lot more people come to it, a lot of more diverse people. A lot more cars, the community's really grown a lot in just that short amount of time. Its gotten a lot better too, there's a lot more friendly faces coming out. Everybody nowadays is just really cool and everybody that has been doin' it for a long time is really cool. I hope drifting doesn't change. I like the way it is.

1K: Where do you think drifting is going in the future?

Lee: I hope the way it stays now, I hope it doesn't get really really commercialised and played out. I just hope it stays grassroots, and I hope it stays fun, and I hope it stays accessible to everybody. Thats one of the important things is, accessibility. I dont want to be a super star, I want everybody to come out and have a good time and be approachable and be willing to approach people. You know, not be scared of people.

Any last comments? Corey Zankam, is my hero. (Lee calls me Zankam instead of Zinkhan, alot.)

Those pictures of the diff are a quick process of the welding. Open. Clean. Bead. Plate. Flip. Repeat. Complete. Down below is Lee's S14 and his spec sheet!

Car: 1997 Nissan 240sx, Black exterior, hammer finish black interior
Engine: Fully built, turbocharged KA24DE
-All machine work and assembly performed by Gunther’s Machine Shop in Woodsboro, MD.
-Bored .030 over
-Supertech pistons and rings
-Eagle connecting rods
-OEM bearings
-ARP bottom end studs
-ARP head studs
-Ported head
-BC valves
-BC valve springs
-BC 264 cams
-MLS .5mm head gasket
-Excessive Engineering intake manifold
-Witch Hunter tuned 740cc top feed fuel injectors
-Billet top feed fuel rail
-Walbro fuel pump
-Full Race top mount twin scroll T3 exhaust manifold
-Garret GT3071R twin scroll turbocharger
-Full Race down pipe
-Tail 44mm wastegate
-Buddy Club Spec II catback
-Mid mounted intercooler with custom 90deg end tank outlets
-Custom intercooler piping from MA-Motorsports
-Tail blow-off valve
-Meziere electric water pump
-Mishimoto aluminum radiator
-Silicone radiator hoses
-Avid Racing Motor and Trans mounts
-ACT unsprung 4-puck clutch
-B&M short throw shifter
-Custom engine and chassis wiring done at MA-Motorsports
-Electromotive TEC3 R engine management

Interior- Custom 6-point NASA/SCCA legal gusseted and double Do-Luck roll cage
-Cage painted florescent pink
-fully gutted interior
-Spray painted Hammer finish black
-Sparco Fighter seats
-Sparco 5-point harnesses
-NRG 2.5 quick release hub
-Sparco Safari steering wheel

Exterior- Chaser Aero Type 4 body kit
-Chaser Aero vented fiberglass hood
-Chaser Aero Carbon Kevlar trunk
-Chaser Aero 30mm rear over fenders
-Chaser Aero 30mm vented front fenders
-Ganador rear view mirror
-Lexan side and rear windows
-LED tail lights
-17 X 9.5 MB Battles
-235/40R17 falken azenis(front)
-235/40R17 Nankang NS-1(rear)

Chassis- Tubbed and tubed front end
-Front and rear crash bars
-PBM Coilovers
-Battle version tension rods
-Orange tree rear arms
-MA-Motorsports Awsomeatron steering knuckles
-SPL outer tie rod ends
-Z32 front brakes
-Goodrich steel braided brake lines
-Solid rear subframe mounts
-Welded S13 Diff
-One piece aluminum driveshaft

Driver Profile # 88Jim Waughe

2010-03-27T23:19:00.000-07:00

Name: Jim Waughen aka "Won Ton"

Age: 14+24 (you do the math) My Mom made me a birthday cake with this on it last year. (See attached pic) This June I will be 14 + 25.

Location: Mechanicsburg PA the 17055

Years Drifting: I don't drift my car. I make movies about cars sometimes. I can't afford to repair my car and I don't know how either. So I have to pay people at Import Intelligence in West Chester to work on my car.

Vehicle of Choice: 1991 Nissan 240SX (The S13 chassis is smoking. A simple, yet beautiful design. I prefer the hatchback. The later 240s are okay looking I guess.)

Why: I bought this car in 1993 slightly used with 17k miles on it. I always loved the 280Z car design. Nissan improved the looks of the early Z's with the S13. The swept back cab and simple lines of the vehicle are quite simply intoxicating to the observer. The stock KA is underpowered, but you can fix that. Either yourself, which I can't do, or with help from others. Kind of funny that a car, a machine, could change someones life. It has definitely influenced me.

Mods: SR20 swap. It's black. Koyo Rad. GReddy FMIC. Walbro fuel pump. Top mount injectors. (Not sure of size or make.) Short shifter. GReddy boost controller. BC Coilovers. External wastegate. Not sure what size. It's probably a Tial. 17x9 FN01R wheels. BC coilovers. Driveshaft shop 1 piece aluminum drive shaft. Sony stereo. Garrett 2871R Turbo. Tomei exhaust manifold. Apex N1 Dual exhaust. Big Supra styled wing. Battery in trunk. No cruise control or AC. Flashed ECU. Big air filter. Heat shield around brake fluid reservoir.

Favorite Track to Throw Down: So far it would be KilKare Speedway in Ohio. Had a great trip there last year. I drank some beers and filmed there. That's pretty fun. Unfortunately I did lose a towel, my favorite blue blanket, a tripod, and swimming trunks on that trip. I did get the tripod back. But everything else is still gone. I think Damien has my blanket. I really don't want it back at this point. So he can keep it. No problem.

Personal Accomplishments in Drifting: I just film cars.

Personal Goals for the Future: Film more cars and have fun. I would like to do a burnout in my car someday.

Random Fact: www.wonton-productions.com

Corey Z- Check this link for Jims nice drift video work!

http://www.wonton-productions.com/#driftcar

Driver Profile #87 Marvin Narciso

2010-03-27T18:01:00.000-07:00

Name: Marvin Narciso

Age: 34

Location: Stationed in Bahrain for a 1 year but trying to make my way back to Japan

Years Drifting: 7 1/2 years

Vehicle of Choice: Nissan S14

Why: I felt the need to upgrade from an S13 to the S14.

Mods: Greddy TDO6-25G, HKS 256IN/256EX camshafts, HKS F-con Pro V, URAS Tension Rods, Cusco RUCA, G-Master Basis Coilovers, CST Zero-1 17x9.5 front 18x9.5 rear

Favorite Track to Throw Down: Nago and the Bullring on Okinawa are fun but I like Motorland SP in Northern Japan but I'm sure that will change when I hit up other tracks. Here is MSP http://msp.kozzy.net/msp/displayPage.do

Personal Accomplishments in Drifting: First American to be in the top 16 for Northern Japan

Personal Goals for the Future: As far a drifting goes, I plan to continue having fun doing it.

Random Fact: I spent the last 10 years in Japan

Last Comment: People tend to forget how fun drifting really is when they try to be the best. You also learn more when you are having fun.

Driver Profile #86 Paul Otlewski

2010-03-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

Name: Paul Otlewski  
 
Age:
 
Location:
 
Years Drifting:
 
 
Vehicle of Choice: 1998 BMW 328is
 
Why:I've always wanted one ever since I was in highschool
 
Mods: Its a big list
 
Favorite Track to Throw Down: Myrtle beach speedway
 
Personal Accomplishments in Drifting: getting third place at
Streetwise tow Saturdays ago.
 
Personal Goals for the Future: Win a Amateur comp and grow as a
driver, get faster
 
Random Fact: Im hungry right now
 
Last Comment: Hold my dragon!

Sitting Shotgun: Jens Scott and Summit Point Raceway

2010-03-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

I have been going to Summit Point Raceway for a little over a year now.Settled down near Winchester, VA, Summit Point Raceway is a melting pot of motorsports. I found my way there for the first time a few years back when I attended Hyper-Fest. Hyper-Fest was this crazy day of pure motor sport fun.

Being around a lot of small town car show type stuff and wanting more drifting in my life, I knew this was the place to go. US Drift was holding their Nationals event there where people like Nathan Brasz, Brian Wilkerson, James Evans and many other east-coast drifting staples were throwing down hard competition
and crowd pleasing smoke screens.

(Hyper-Fest '09, Zach Catlin-Kiely Macky)

Jump ahead a couple years, and I found myself at my first Drift Nirvana. Drift Nirvana was the closest event series to me (about an hour), and was directed at the grassroots guy like myself after following it a bit on Slideways. Every time I needed a question answered being my first event I was always guided to Mr. Jens Scott. Jens was to be the man in charge, with all the information. Jens headed the drivers meetings, award ceremony's, and was all over the place non-stop doing work. I figured Jens would be a man of power and arrogance, not having time to talk to the little guy. Was I ever wrong. He is hands down one of the nicest people I've encountered at the track to date. Jens knows what we as drifters want, and when he doesn't, he asks. We as drifters know that Jens and Summit Point Raceway are two big parts in what keeps us grassroots drivers, and all around beginners, on track. I wanted to know what the man behind the scenes had to say, and how he felt about drifting. So I asked....

1K: Give me some history on you and Summit Point..

Jens:

My dad bought Summit Point in 1980 and he's ran it since then. He passed away this past December, and now I'm running the motor sports side of it. That's sort of the broader history of it. In 1980, I was 8 years old so I'd come up and ride my motorcycle up here. Like where we are right now, is the middle of the woods, you know back then. This was woods and we called it a hair scramble course. There was a motorcycle course and ran on and I used to ride my motorcycle back there. That cave right over there, I used to go spelunking in that cave. It was totally un-cool cause I coulda got killed but you know, oh well. Summit Point is normally considered the motor sport part of it. Then you have BSR which is now become more of the training arm of Summit Point. BSR does all the driver training for EVERYBODY you can think of. All of the military organizations everywhere. So, that's kind of Summit Point, and BSR.

1K: How did drifting become a part of Summit Point?

Jens:

Drifting started off I think with Hyper-Fest. Hyper-Fest and Formula Drift and US Drift and various other places rented the track to do drifting. But years before Drift Nirvana existed. But then Alex came up to me and said that we should probably do a drifting event of our own. He felt that the drifting organizations were coming out of touch with the baseline enthusiast. You know the guy who was trying to get started and something like that. You know you had to spend so much money, you had to have sponsors, you had to have a flashy car, and mostly the cheap guys couldn't get in the game. So Drift Nirvana was designed around people bringing up pieces of junk and drift. It seems now its expanding into the more expensive cars but I don't want to lose that jalopy background.

1K: What was it like running the first Drift Nirvana?

Jens:

The first Drift Nirvana was on some bastard weekend with Greg Cobb. And him and I ran the first Drift Nirvana, like anything we do, we researched how to run it and see how to control the flow of people and stuff like that. And I think Greg kind of set the tone, for what Drift Nirvana was to become. He really set the tone of people being responsible for them rather than us always being around. There's no way of having a gestapo type of environment that forces people to behave in a certain way. As opposed to bringing everybody to the floor and saying this is how we'll run this event, try and play by these rules.

1K: So it's kind of like a collective effort between the track officials and drifters as a community to keep it straight forward?

Jens:

Totally. I mean they're totally interlinked. If the drifters did not behave as well as they do, there would be no Drift Nirvana. Because there would be no other reason to do it. And I don't know how people realize we have to make money, well yeah we do have to make money. But on the other hand, it would be so difficult to make money on Drift Nirvana if we had to..you know put out security guards, police, kick people out

and do all this stuff. Which just wouldn't make any sense. So yeah, without that there wouldn't be any Drift Nirvana.

1K: Where do you see Drift Nirvana going this season as far as growing and doing things differently?

Jens:

Well, the hundred drifters of December event sort of put a bug in my mind about doing things differently. We had 10 Drift Nirvana's, pretty much a Sunday drift event/practice you know type stuff. This year were doing a lot of weekend events. I call them signature events as opposed to just normal practices. Were going to have an alternating schedule of signature events and practice events. Signature events are going to have something, some particular theme involved. I think the next one's the Civil War, they will span over a night. And there'ss going to be alock-downwn principal in these multi day things, where once you come in on Saturdaythere'ses a certain time on Saturday that once you leave you cant get back in. There's another time that you can't leave at all, you're stuck here.

I haven't decided this yet, but I think we're gonna have a no alcohol policy for the whole weekend. But I think Drift Nirvana is gonna remain a drug free, alcohol free environment. So therefore, it keeps the cost down bottom line. It keeps the cost of security and all the headache of vandalism, I can't tell you how many vandalism's we've had at Hyper-Fest. You know people just go and find a Jeep and crashes it up or plows a fence, we don't have that at Drift Nirvana. Fights, everything.. You ever see a fight at Drift Nirvana? You know? It just doesn't happen..So I think were going to try and keep that and try and span a whole weekend...

1K: How do you see Hyper-Fest going this year with XDC joining in?

Jens:

I think it'll be fun. Michael Muer called me up and we worked something out. I think that will bring a higher end twist to Hyper-Fest. Again, Hyper-Fest isn't Drift Nirvana. You know they're almost two parts of the whole. Drift Nirvana is zero to sixty percent, and XDC is from sixty percent to 100 percent where they really bring in the top honor. So it will just be an interesting event. I think were working with them to get

the practice time they need on Friday so they can have a good event on Saturday. I think they will add a little variety to Hyper-Fest too.

1K: How has drifting effected Summit Point as far as growth and promotion, things like that....

Jens:

In a round about way, drifting has uh, how do you say? Drifting..the format, the structure, the template, of drifting that we've created is un-like any other event we've ever done. Other events here are, you know, essentially like a school of some kind, or some organization rents the track and just do the event however they want. Drifting is one of those events where we kind of designed it and its not necessarily a

school. Its a motor sports event, it has also gotten the idea of advertising and promotion into my mind, and after its gotten in my mind now i thinking about how I can advertise and promote everything else. We never thought of advertising really anything in the company. Drift Nirvana is the first thing we ever had you know, promotional models come to. This was unheard of before then, so now we have

promotional models for all sorts of things.

1K: What is your take on drifting as a motor sport and the culture/community that it is?

Jens:

Well it certainly has changed. I thought, forgive me my first impression of drifting was that it was a ballet, you know like figure skating or something like that, that was arbitrary, BS, something like that. Then I thought the culture was a bunch of asshole kids you know, running around causing trouble setting things on fire. But pretty much every one of those opinions have flipped 180 degrees. First, I deal with guys who drift cars and I look at myself, and say to myself, I can't do that. They're better then I am. You know they're driving a car in a way I could probably never do. So, that gains a lot of my respect right there. Second, it isn't as arbitrary as I used to think. It's much more calculated. When some guy wins, he's winning truly because hes the best drifter out there. Not because he's got the fanciest car. I've heard of that happening at other drifting

events, where the guy who has the most sponsorships or the most blah blah blah wins the thing. I don't think that here. I think the people who are the best drifters, win. That's the way I see it.

And about the people, weirdly, strangely, they're the easier people to deal with. The Culture and all that stuff, is a self sustaining, self supporting culture. Whereas other groups have a more needy mentality. It's a much more, much better community than anybody might ever initially imagine. You know the whole tattoo's, mohawks, the weird ear ring piercings and so forth..That harkens back to the older gen, like my generation. Things like Hells Angels,

and riff raff you know other groups. It's just a misplaced notion that drifters are riff raff.

1K: Where do you see drifting going as a growing motor sport?

Jens:

I dunno, I mean, I'm gonna roll with it. Wherever it goes. You know I've tried to influence motor sports in the past with my formula series and so-forth. But you know what? Me and the track are not enough leverage or force in these sorts of environments to effect the outcome of a particular thing. All I can do is provide a petri dish type of environment, if something is going to grow, it will grow in this environment. If its not going to grow, I can feed and give it all the food in the world but it's gonna die all on its own. I think drift still has years left in it. I think the fundamental notion of burning out, horsepower and that machismo has always been there. There will always be some form of it. Drifting may change its form, may change in the way its definition. What drifting is today was you know, drag races of 30 years ago. People coming out doing the street races at night, burnouts, chicks...It has just morphed to drifting. It may morph to something else, but, I'll go with that.

I'm not gonna hang on to anything artificial.

Jens took this interview extremely well. This is the word on Drifting, from a track owner. One with much experience in many fields of motor sports. I remember back in the day someone smashed a tree in a 350z and kind of messed up a venue. And I remember a track also in Cali., that didn't want drifting anymore because it was believed we were bringing noise, gangs, violence, drugs, etc. into the area. We all know this is un-true. And in fact is the complete opposite of what we really do. If places such as tracks, property owners/managers knew what drifting was all about, and gave us a chance like Jens has at Summit Point. We could get more venues and a few more events a year. If you want to bring up an event to a new venue, include this interview and it should help. Drifting is fun, and so are we. Let's keep it that way and keep it safe!

Article: Corey Zinkhan

Jon Combs

Important Links: http://www.summitpoint-raceway.com/

http://old.driftnirvana.com/

1kdrift.com almost complete!!!

2010-03-18T21:59:00.000-07:00

We now have the base site up and running. In the coming days we will be filling in the blanks and making the people happy. Expect alot of big features in the coming months!!

1K DRIFT T-shirt Winner from Drift Nirvana

2010-03-15T23:51:00.000-07:00

Untitled from Sam Durham on Vimeo.

Congrats Bobby! Bobby gets a MOAR GNAR shirt for throwing down the 3 bucks for a Virginia is for Drifters bumper sticker at Drift Nirvana and being ever so lucky to be drawn from a Thos Kids hat!! 1K DRIFT also welcomes Sam Durham to the crew! Keep an eye out for the 1K DRIFT exclusive with the man behind the track, of Summit Point Raceway. Jens Scott. And some nice media even on a severely rainy day, we still pulled out 67 drivers!! I got behind the wheel of an Evo on the skidpad, why? Because it was fun. Now keep drifting that way!

Also coming soon, Dorki Dori clothing exclusive, words with Forsberg, and much more!

Driver Profile #84 Ross Petty

2010-03-11T19:35:00.000-08:00

Name: Ross Petty

Age: 28

Location: Okinawa/Hawaii/USA

Years Drifting: 13

Vehicle of Choice: Garage BOSO Rasta S15

Why: that is what we run for Formula Drift.

Mods:

Favorite Track to Throw Down: Irwindale CA, Wall NJ, Evergreen WA, Geogia ATL.

Personal Accomplishments in Drifting:

Personal Goals for the Future:

Random Fact:

Last Comment:

Design a poster contest

2010-03-10T23:11:00.000-08:00

So here at 1K we want to have the drifting community fully involved in everything we do. So with that said I proudly introduce to you, the 1K DRIFT design a poster contest. We will post up a base image with actual print size to draw off of. We want a good background of a car drifting first and foremost. From there its all up to you. Keep it badass and flashy. Thats all we ask.
When you look at it. Ask yourself, would a drifter want that? Then send that shiz in and we will pick a winner after 1 week. Winning design will be credited in print to the designer and that person will receive a first print 1K DRIFT shirt and vinyl after they are produced very shortly by the way!!!! Base photo will be posted up this week so keep an eye out because you have ONE week from that day to get it gnar!

Driver Profile # 83 Ven Shenoy

2010-03-09T15:47:00.000-08:00

Name: Ven Shenoy

Age: 24

Location: Austin, TX and Houston, TX

Years Drifting: Less than 1 year = n00b status

Vehicle of Choice: 1993 BMW E36

Why: I sold a set of wheels to Chelsea Denofa from my F-Prepared BMW on bimmerforums.com and he invited me out to a drift event to check out his car - got hooked and decided to build one myself with the spare motor and suspension I had - spent a whole bunch more time on a shell and here I am - n00bage status FTW, but we all started somewhere. I've been autocrossing for about 5 years now - 3 years in prepared. I've had 2 E36s in F-prepared in SCCA Autocross, and a BMW seemed to be the logical car to build for me. Also, Chelsea was doing really well in one on the US drift circuit, and I had a spare motor and suspension sitting around.

Mods: Gutted, Ground Control Advanced Design D/A Suspension with Eibach springs, Motorforce custom camber plates, '95 M3GT clone British Racing Green paint, M3GT Wing, M52 motor, S52 cams, OBD-1 converted, M50 intake manifold, Southbend 6 puck ceramic clutch, The Racer's Market tune, soon to have a SMAK steering kit from Chelsea.

Favorite Track to Throw Down: GGP, Houston - nothing for me to run into and total my car (that's what I did with my gold E36 FP car)

Personal Accomplishments in Drifting: Can finally keep the car sideways and make transitions cleanly - hope to go crazier soon. I'm used to keeping the car in control and with traction to go faster in autocross, but learning to control it when it's out of control is actually making me faster too.

Personal Goals for the Future: Have fun, burn up a lot of tires, make more events, and oh yes, have more fun.

Random Fact: Both my street cars make more than 2.5 times the power of my drift car.

Last Comment: I'm the undisputed king of the parking lot, I'm sitting sideways.

Driver Profile # 82 Connor Weston

2010-03-09T13:40:00.000-08:00

Name: Connor Weston

Age: 19

Location: Haymarket, VA

Years Drifting: 2

Vehicle of Choice: 1993 240sx Hatchback

Why: Parts are everywhere, hatchbacks are sexy, and it loves to slide.

Mods:

Rebuilt KA24DE

3" Isis Exhaust

Intake

Megan Track Coilovers

VLSD

Tien Tie Rods

Miscellaneous Bushings

Sparco Sprint 5 Bucket Seat

Nagisa Rail

Stitch Wheels - Front 17x8 +8, Rear 17x9 +12

S14 SE Wheels (Drift Spares)

300zx Front Brakes

PBM RUCA’s

Favorite Track to Throw Down: Summit Point.

Personal Accomplishments in Drifting: Drifting the bank at ODS.

Personal Goals for the Future: Continue to improve and keep drifting fun!

Random Fact: When Chuck Norris talks, everybody listens. And dies.

Last Comment: KA-T on the way :)

Version 1 of thes 2 shirts up for pre-order and limited few available now

2010-03-09T07:50:00.000-08:00

We finished version 1 of thes 2 designs last night. Just because we want some done. There will be alot more. We have MOAR GNAR, DREAM 1, and DREAM 2. Dream 2 is fort he guys who wanted a drifting ruined my life one. Were making that one special so its still in design. Thes will be in medium and large for the first couple going out. Email me immediately if you want one especially if you want to pick up at Drift Nirvana this weekend! slide.racer@hotmail.com

MOAR GNAR Front

MOAR GNAR Back

DREAM v1 front

DREAM v1.5

Driver Profile # 81 John Jimison

2010-03-08T21:45:00.000-08:00

Name: John Jimison, aka "oilcover".

Age: 26

Location: Huntington Beach, Ca & Himeji, Japan.

Years drifting: 8

Vehicle of choice: Mazda RX7 FC3S.

Why: to an experienced driver...the FC rules. agility and response!

Mods: Streetported, bigass injectors, PowerFC, cusco coilovers, Tomei trax 2-way,
HotLine knuckles, HotLine Coilover mod, HotLine full cage, DTSS elim's, URAS rack spacers,
GP Sports exhaust. Uras N+ aero and paint that I haven't put on yet (lazy.) T04S on the way.

Favorite track to throw down: Horse Thief Mile at Willowsprings raceway in California, and Nakayama Circuit in Japan.

Personal accomplishments in drifting: not giving up. being guided and encouraged within some of the
really good crews in Japan - Out-Side, Yamada Family, Mind Control; and learning and absorbing all of the advice from them!

Personal goals in the future: win stuff. And never stop having fun.

Random fact: A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate.

Last comment: you know how to make a small fortune racing? Start with a big one and work your way down...

Pre Flight: Drift Nirvana 2010 Season Opener

2010-03-08T20:13:00.000-08:00

We are exactly one week away from the first Drift Nirvana meet of 2010. Everyone is running around trying to get their cars back together and tuned after one long and hellish winter. Who's ready to get back outside and smell some burning tires?!! Winter has been rough for us all on the East Coast and it's slowly coming to an end. This is going to be the first taste of Spring for all of us! It's time to get out of the house and cause a rawkus!!

I myself am tired of sitting in my drafty apartment watching drift videos on the intraweb. This is the time of year I live for! When I start to feel restless and anxious because all I can think about is warm weather and drifting! Even if your car isn't finished, come out and support your friends or help out the new guys. I hope to see the usual's tearing up the track this weekend, as well as some new faces! I think we are all excited to get back down to Summit Point this Sunday and get a taste of things to come- an action packed and unpredictable 2010 drift season!

-Dan Jenkins

Driver Profile #80 Jon Combs

2010-03-07T00:47:00.000-08:00

(Corey Z: This last picture is of mine and Jons s14's in the tech line at Drift Nirvana earlie '09. My kouki, his zenki. NOICE!)

Name: Jon Combs

Age: 20

Location: Gainesville, VA

Years Drifting: 2

Vehicle of Choice: 240sx S14

Why: Vast supply of parts, they drive like they were made to drift, and they're just plain sexy

Mods:
-s13 sr20det redtop,CX Racing FMIC, 3 row aluminum rad, ebay electric fan, Nismo thermostat, CS ras, Apexi N1 dual exhaust, 3" downpipe/tespipe, DIF turbo lines, Walbro 255lph fuel pump
-Rebuilt: OEM pistons, ACL bearings, OEM gasket kit, Supertech valve stem seals, ARP head studs, main studs, and rod bolts, Cosworth metal head gasket (1.1mm)
-Exedy 6 puck un-sprung clutch, Welded Diff, Stance GR+ Pro Coilovers, and all the interior crap....

Favorite Track to Throw Down:
Shenandoah Circuit at Summit Point, WV

Personal Accomplishments in Drifting:
Havin' more fun than ever
1st Place in Slideways Beginner's Championship- 2008
3rd Place in some Drift Nirvana event

Personal Goals for the Future:
Hit 2010 hard at Drift Nirvana, and several out of state events... tryin to get around more

Random Fact:
"People spend about two weeks of their lives at traffic lights"... well, most people I guess.

Last Comment:
FRESH ROOTS SON!

Corey Z: Be on the loOkout for some video footage thansk to Jon in the future on 1K!!

Driver Profile #79 Chelsea DeNofa

2010-03-07T00:38:00.000-08:00

Corey Z.: Ok so I like seeing Bmw drift cars. This one is one of my personal faves. So I put up a couple more, including the gnar bike rack photo!

Name: Chelsea "ienjoydrifting" DeNofa

Age: 21

Location: Seabrook, tx and Philadelphia, PA

Years Drifting: Coming up on 7 years in April

Vehicle of Choice: BMW M3 (E36)

Why: Great 3 liter motor that takes an absolute beating. Cheap and easy to find parts. Wheelbase is 9 inches longer then an S-Chassis, but the same overall length bumper to bumper, unbeatable dollar for dollar, and everything in the driveline is good for four digit horsepower.

Mods:Engine
All engine work done at The Racers Market

-200,000 mile S50
-Stock bottom end
-VAC .140 Head Gasket
-ARP 2000 Head studs
-Southbend Clutch
-High Flow Water Pump
-160 Tstat

Turbo System

-SPA mainfold
-Precision 6262 ball-bearing Billet wheel
-SPA Compact Wastegate (now recirculated)
-Level7TUNE Ultimate Cooling System
-TRM Oil Distribution Block
-VAC Aluminum Motor Mounts
-S-max Intercooler with C02 "chill" core
-S-max Fuel pressure regulator
-S-max Blow off Valve
-S-max Vacuum distribution block
-TRM Oil Lines
-TRM 60lb injectors
-TRM Intake kit
-TRM TUNING
-TRM 3.5 inch MAF KIT
-TRM motor mount
-Secret Service Auto 3 inch Aluminum turbo back
-Secret Service Auto Catch Can
-Secret Service Auto Coolant Tank
-Secret Service Auto Engine Dress
-Secret Service Auto Maintenance
-Secret Service Auto AM (Air Manipulator)
-Secret Service Auto Intercooler piping

Chassis
BC racing BR-TYPE Coilovers. 10K Front and 12K Rear
Level7TUNE Drift Angle Knuckles
Level7TUNE Tie Rods
E46 Front lower control arms
Powerflex Control arm bushings
Stock Brakes with Cobalt pads

Interior

Cobra Suzuka Seat
Schroth 5pt harness
Sparco Evo2 passenger seat
Firecharger 10lb 3 nozzle suppression system
Peyton Steering wheel
Level7TUNE Cage
TRM Weight Reduction
TRM 7 inch shift knob
Level7TUNE ebrake extension
S-Max 10lb C02 bottle
K's Boost Gauge
AEM Wideband

Wheels/Tires

Front: OEM 5 series 17x8.5 +13. Wrapped in 235-40-17 Dunlop Z1 star-spec
Rear: SSR Type-C 18x10.5 +20, ASA 18x9.5 +20, MAE 18x10.5 +20. Wrapped in 275-35-18 Nexen N3000 Drift Tires.

Exterior

Hood and trunk skinned
JDM BMW Bumper Pole
Level7TUNE rear flares
Rolled fenders

Favorite Track to Throw Down: Really can't choose just one. I really had a blast a Tsukuba, but Road Atlanta and IRL St. Petersburg are at the top as well.

Personal Accomplishments in Drifting: Licensed in every major drifting series.

Personal Goals for the Future: This year I really hope to do well in Japan's D1 Series. But really the goal is to just make it to every event on my 30 event schedule!

Random Fact: It's against the law to slam your car door in Switzerland.

Last Comment: Just like to thank my current sponsors for everything

TRM (The Racers Market)
S-Max Intercoolers
Secret Service Auto
BC Racing Suspension
Nexen Tires

Out of the Box: Slide Asylum with Slappy

2010-03-06T16:53:00.000-08:00

Ive been hearing and seeing Slide Asylum stuff for a long time now and I know have the short but sweet story. On what actually is, Slide Asylum. Legit group keeping drifting fun!

Why i started Slide Asylum

I basically started Slide Asylum or "Team SA" as a way to attract local drivers / friends that are looking to be a part of a fun group while at the same time being involved in their own chosen motorsport, whether it be Auto X, Lapping Days & or Drifting, hence the subtitle, "Drift & Grip Club". Members must be down to have fun & do goofy shit & not take shit seriously.

Be sure to check out our blog!

http://slideasylum.blogspot.com/

Team SA members....(With links to there Driver Profiles if available)

Slappy Slappy's Driver Profile

Kareem Elkadi

Jason Johnston

Nick D'Alessio

Matt Taylor

Russ Captain Caveman Barcomb Russ Driver Profile

JDMWill Ortega Wills Driver Profile

Greg Valinoti