Mechanical difficulties cut the weekend short for me when my clutch went out after 5 runs. I tried making a qualifying pass, but could not put any power down to spin the wheels. We made a frantic dash to try and get a replacement, but apparently there are no parts counters open past noon on a Saturday (if open at all) in Pittsburgh. Fail. I did get a chance to sit down with the Speed TV crew for a good interview. I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
I had an amazing weekend up in St. Louis with the Slide America BMW. The car performed beatifully, and the BFGoodrich tires were amazing! Gran Turismo East and Foerst Motorwerks helped set the car up for it’s first professional podium finish! This has been long overdue… and feels especially sweet considering I’m pushing half the horsepower!I won’t even get into how fierce the battles were… otherwise I will write an entire book. Let’s just say this weekend was BEYOND INSANE… and let the pictures do the talking..
After a year in the making – Slide America is finally complete!
I won’t lie… after completing the final author of the DVD, I watched the documentary the whole way through. Once the credits ended… something came over me, and I couldn’t help but cry. This project means the world to me. The fact that I had this crazy idea in my head to begin with… then to see it come to fruition, and transformed into the final product is simply amazing. Words can’t really describe the feeling of accomplishment now that it is complete. I feel like this documentary is really really different… and I think people will be surprised – this isn’t your stereotypical “import racing” DVD. I really feel like I am giving something back to the drift community… and that is a priceless feeling
(photo c/o Antonio Alvendia’s blog)
We had an excellent week out at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas! Joey Redmond and I were out to promote the Slide America project.
I was also teamed up with Batlground to talk with companies about some amazing marketing opportunities we have in the works for the 2007 season. We met a lot of new people, and ran into a lot of old friends. All in all, a very successful week!
Preliminary shooting of Slide America is officially complete. The past 30 days traveling the nation was BEYOND INSANE. Over 16,000 miles exposing the very core of North American drifting. I feel so lucky to have experienced American drifting the way we did. Everyone was so receptive to what we were trying to accomplish. It was simply amazing. Now that we’re back, I have over 120 hours of footage to log and capture… then the editing process begins. Wish me luck.
Atco Raceway was subject to another crazy Batlground drift demo at the 6th round of the Nopi/NDRA Xbox Cup Racing Series! The police wouldn’t let the crowd anywhere near the drifting, and also stepped in to restrict our show with HEAVY limitation. We weren’t allowed to really do burnouts, get near walls, and were prohibited from doing rodeos. In fact… we were barely allowed to tandem. It was weird, considering it was private property, and everything was heavily insured. I felt like we weren’t able to put on the kind of show that I know we can. Despite the interference, I suppose it was still a good demo… I just know it could have been better.
.
.
Joey Redmond and I set forth today on our 19 city/30 day tour of America for preliminary shooting of Slide America. The project’s focus is to document drifting in America on a grassroots level. This project will expose the very core of American drifting.
For more information check out the website:
www.slideamerica.us
or on MySpace:
myspace.com/slideamerica
The drift demo at the 5th round of the Nopi/NDRA Xbox Cup Racing Series was insane! The E46 sustained some damage to the passenger-side rear quarter panel. I guess sometimes the walls kiss back! Luckily, the damage is only cosmetic, and should be fixed in no time! The fans up in Rockingham were really great. I met some awesome people over the course of the weekend. We did more shooting for Speed TV, so I can’t wait to see how that turns out!
Special thanks to Ashley Hawks for the great photos!
Demos > Competition.
Gateway International Raceway, just outside of St. Louis was subject to two days of unabridged MAYHEM, as we unleashed an onslaught of drifting insanity for the 4th round of the Nopi/NDRA Xbox Cup Racing Series.
This was our second NDRA drift demo. The first demo we did in Valdosta for round 2, was a blast… but we were still figuring things out as we went. This demo in St. Louis came together like VOLTRON. Things developed into more of a “show”, and the crowd went nuts. There were SO many people there. I don’t know where they all came from… but as soon as it was demo time, people were running to get a spot on the wall. The 6pm demo on Saturday was INSANE. There wasn’t an open space to stand around the entire demo area. People were sitting on people’s shoulders to get a glimpse. It was simply amazing. Beyond amazing, it was inspiring. The crowd was so into it, and we fed off that energy to create a show that might be difficult to top.
I learned where the opposing corner of the car was to my position in the driver seat during the demos. I knew the proximity of where contact would occur… but that’s one of those things you can’t truly learn until contact is made. Feeding off the energy of the crowd, I was able to “kiss” the wall at speed, and not sacrifice my line, speed, or angle. It was nuts. I started out with small low-speed… brake-stand style taps… and by the end of the weekend, was grazing the wall at speed. I managed to take a cone out that was a cigarette pack away from the wall’s edge. It was anarchy. Pure anarchy.
Drifting was a new thing to a lot of people at the event. Countless people said “I didn’t even know what drifting was until today… you made a fan out me – this is awesome!”. I few people said “I thought drifting was stupid until today… you guys changed my mind”. Hearing things like that means the world to me. You can’t put a pricetag on things like that. It validates that all the blood, sweat, and tears we put into all of this actually means something. It means EVERYTHING to me… but when it means something to other people as a result… it makes you feel like things are moving in the right direction. I would rather see drifting make it’s mark on the world, than see myself make a mark on drifting.
We did our first drift demo for NOPI/NDRA in Valdosta this weekend. It was a blast. We have a lot to work out to make the whole thing more of a “demo”… so it was a good learning experience. The way the track was set up… spectators weren’t really allowed anywhere near us, so we were pretty isolated to the infield of the circle-track the whole weekend. It gave me a chance to relax between demos, and do a ton of skateboarding.
We all got interviewed be the Speed Channel… so we’ll see how it turns out! Overall, it was a great weekend!
After the Formula Drift Qualifier was wrapped up in Houston… we blazed trails to Lousiana for the Import Face-Off invitational. It was gawt damed AWESOME. It was a road course that was very challenging (for underpowered cars :))… And by mid-day we were killing it. Hot lapping the entire circuit with non-stop drift madness at every corner.
Marty, Dan and I all made top 8. Marty and I both advanced once, to be eliminated. I was taken out by the 1st place finisher (mostly due to fuel cut with gas sloshed to one side), and Marty was taken out by the second place finisher… Also in a Miata.
Marty and I got to battle it out for 3rd/4th… Just like the drift expo!!1 it was AWESOME. From what we were told it was the best tandem of the day. We got SUPER close, and finished it off with some slow manji standing burnouts for the crowd to finish the day.
People at the event were SO stoked about drifting. It was really a cool day, and it totally validated all the stress, sleep deprivation, and personal anguish I put myself through in the two weeks prior to the event. It was an amazing track and an amazing day.
Next competition they run there we HAVE to go back!
Some video from the event:
Better late then never, I suppose… here’s a recap and some photos from the Formula D qualifier at Gulf Greyhound Park in Houston, TX.
Three events… Three days… Summed up: pure mayhem. The FD qualifier was a mess. Everyone was ripping it on the practice day prior to the qualifying event. There was a lot of speculation as to who was going to walk away with a license. It was looking really good for a lot of people.
THEN… it rained, turned all the dirt and sand in the lot to mud… and everyone turned on suck-mode… including myself. If it had rained, and continued raining, circumstances would have been different. But the rain had time to dry… slightly. So the track surface went from mud, to wet, to dry, to wet, to mud again – and if you hit that last patch of mud, you would completely wash off course.
I felt like I was actually running decent considering the situation… then qualifying started. I NEVER have issues with understeer. NEVER. NEVER EVER. I hadn’t understeered the entire weekend. Then by some stroke of magic (or lack thereof), I understeered three out of four runs… IN A ROW. I didn’t feel good about it at all. I knew I wouldn’t be getting a license. The thought of not getting a license didn’t bother me at all… but not quite understanding where my understeer issues came from did. I’ve since deduced that it was a combination of factors, such as tyres from Irwindale on the front (Dunlop left me high and dry on tyres) – and they moved the course in to help avoid the muddy-puddled area… which played a significant role in changing the track surface.
They only gave one FD license… To Quoc Luy in his satin black 13 hatch. A provisional license was given for the first three events to Wes Hamachi the green Garage 112 hachi. Two invites were given to the qualifier in San Diego. One to “Hachi Bill” Sherman from No Ants… And the other invite to me.
After the announcement was made we all went back out for an amazing session filled with tandem madness. It was sooo much fun. Once the pressure was taken out of the equation, and it dried up a little… People were ripping it. It was an AWESOME session!
http://www.driftday.com/fdtxqualifier_results.htm
This trip set forth with me, my iPod, and the open roads of this nation… towing the e46 solo-style across America’s interstate highways from right coast to left and back again. Three twelve-hour days of blaring heavy metal across the continent, sketched out truck stops, drive-thru windows, and rest stops, and 2400 miles later… I came to rest in Burbank, CA – about 10 hours before the Formula D Media day.
Irwindale Speedway was the one track I was scared of all season. I think just about everyone I know has wrecked there – so that was always in the back of my mind. Right off the bat, I realized my car wasn’t prepared to handle the track layout. Beyond underpowered, and still lacking the right suspension setup… I couldn’t link the track right all day. I scored another flat tyre… this time after six runs (versus two in Chicago). My torque wrench accidentally went home with Dan after Chicago… so I was stranded for a little while without a way to change my wheels – everyone was down on track… so there was nobody to ask. :/ Towards the end of the day, I started to make sense of things… although I wanted to hold my angle too long coming out of the bank which would cause me to kickback and spin. I just couldn’t manage to link the section from the bank to the infeild. I’ve never initiated so fast. It definitely took some getting use to.
Qualifying the following day went well. The caliber of driving put on by everyone there was about two steps above top-notch. You could really tell that it was the home track to many of them. It was impressive to watch, and inspiring to be driving with these madmen. I knew my chance of making the main event was slim-to-none… so as long as I rocked that BMW as hard as I could and have the time of my life in the process, I would be happy. Those goals I hit head on. I gave that li’l car as much hell as she could handle, and walked away very pleased with my runs… so no complaints.
Post qualifying, at the end of the day… I just sorta stood track-side staring at the infamous “House of Drift”. I was just plain awestruck at what I had just done. I dove head-first into the American professional drift series… and pulled it off. How I pulled it off, I still don’t really know.
I once had this dream, and standing there trackside at dusk… I realized that it wasn’t a dream anymore. It was right in front of me… all around me… encompassing everything I do. That dream was right in the palm of my hand… and it never felt better.
Severely underpowered, unprepared, and unrested… Round four proved to be a bit of a challenge… and a small wake-up call. I somehow managed to qualify Top 32 in both Atlanta and Houston… but was definitely not the case in Sonoma.
Aside from the general unprepped aspects of the car as far as weight reduction, chassis rigidity, etc… ol’ grrrl just didn’t have enough steam to connect the huge sweeper coming out of the first clipping point towards the second. Something didn’t feel right with the car all day. It was like she was running on half the cylinders… because it definitely felt like half the power. For some time after the event, I was convinced the motor was going… but after I got back to Atlanta… she ran just fine. Altitude is the only thing I can accredit it to… and even that’s a stretch.
I struggled immensely during practice with massive amounts of understeer… but managed to lay down qualifying runs that I was pleased with considering the circumstances. The first of the two runs I played it safe… second gear the entire time. The final qualifying run I came barrelling in third, but scrubbed too much speed heading towards the second clipping point. A functioning e-brake would have been great. I knew I wasn’t going qualified for the main event. Getting to Sonoma four hours before I had to be on track after a week of towing the e46 across the nation didn’t help. Regardless… it was a blast!!! It was absolutely beautiful up there… albiet a bit windy at sunset.
I successfully gave the nation a black eye after towing from right coast and back… stabbing the nation’s highways with a knife made of anarchy and mayhem. I got myself into a heap of trouble in Vegas after my Ferrari Drift Demo on the strip. I’ll post more later once I get clearance from my lawyer on it. Things got ugly… and I can’t even post to video until things cool down.
“Can someone please find an air-conditioned parking lot for next year???”
The first drift event I entered: Drift Showoff/D1 Driver Search – Miami, still reigns in my book as the hottest (in temperature) event I’ve driven in to date. It was so hot, that I physically passed out in my car overwhelmed by the heat. While the Formula D: Houston was cooler on a thermometer… add Texas humidity and a triple-layered Nomex race-suit, and the mercury just shot through the glass.
Weather aside… this event was RAD! We more-or-less slid at the Astrodome… which was kinda cool. We were not on a track this time… but in a giant parking lot rumored to have laid dormant for the past two years – so it was drrrty drrrty durrrrty. The first car ran off with a rooster tail following resembling that of a WRC car rallying across the desert.
There were a lot of cars damaged at this event. An R33 Skyline hit a wall head-on at about 65 mph… totalling it. It was awful. Five eight-sixes (Taka’s twice) were snagged by the wall. Taka, tipped his on it’s side Friday during practice. I was soo glad he was alright. They spent all Friday night fixing the car, for Taka to come back and qualify SECOND on Saturday!!! Words can’t even describe how awesome it was to see him kick ass out there and qualify so well. That man is a machine!!! Fellow Drift Day competitor, Yoshie qualified Top 32, making her the first female to do so!
The course surface was concrete, and my normal tyre pressures didn’t want to work well. After struggling through practice with a clean run here, and a shite run there… I managed to lay it all down during qualifying with two clean-ass runs, landing me the 10th position out of 40… advancing me to the main event.
Saturday felt hotter than Friday. There was a moment… like Miami – where I physically passed out in the truck because of the heat. I had decent sleep the night before – but my body just felt exhausted. I ran decent all day during practice… but couldn’t quite get the car to do what I wanted to entering the first corner. All weekend long I was barrelling down in third, clutch kicking, and letting the momentum carry me where I needed to be for the first clipping point (heavily judged corner… entry speed being critical). For some reason… the clutch kicks weren’t snapping the car loose right. My final qualifying run it finally snapped… HARD, throwing me waaay more angle than I was expecting. I hit the first clipping point right on… but I think that hard snap threw my mindset off, and right after that apex… post kick-back: I spun.
Either way… I went out there, kicked some ass… had an effing BLAST, so I have no complaints. I got to meet the rest of Dunlop drivers. Tanner helped me solve my tyre pressure woes, and the general consensus from everyone is: I NEED MORE POWER!!! We’ll see. :) Between clutches, transmissions, and replacing $8000 worth of damaged suspension components… I think my turbo fund is severely lacking. But who knows. ;)
I pulled the e46 on a trailer following Dan & Tracy pulling the Batlground s14. Besides occasional trailer sway… that wasn’t as bad as I thought. JOEYREDMOND.com rode all the way out there and back with me… making sure I didn’t pass out trying to drive there on 40 minutes of sleep. That kool kat is going to tackle the country with me as we make the trek to Round 4 in Sonoma the first week of July. THAT is going to be an insane road trip!
This thumbs up means: I just lost five pounds sweating away in this heat!
Sponsor roll call!!!
Chris caught up to me FAST!
Please turn the A/C on outside… PLEASE!
Driverrrrz meeting..
The only two Andys running in the series. :)
Taka tipped on Friday, fixed overnight & qualified 2nd!!!
Taka hitting again on Saturday. :(
Last butt not least…
The Slide to Side Homicide Tour continues…
