VIDEO> KP Race LSx14 Debut
To be completely honest, up until earlier this year, I knew next to nothing of KP Race. I knew it was an auto shop located somewhere in Washington (With names like Snoqualmie and Skookumchuck, the towns all seem to blend together in my mind). That was, until I received a call from a guy who goes by the name of “Victor Moore.” Hey, I’d have an alias, too, if I were him. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me, Tiger. Haha! Anyway, the conversation consisted of a request to travel the US with Victor, Chris Jeanneret, and Matt Brandow as they work their way up the Formula Drift Ranks in 2010. How could I resist?! Free rides all over the country and food along the way! Say no more; I’m in!
Traveling with these fine young gentlemen took me back to a simpler time in life. A time when all that mattered was having fun. A time when you jumped in a 1988 Ford Probe and drove all day, just to bomb a hill in San Francisco or skate a new park in Vancouver, BC. From late night In-N-Out runs, to shenanigans at Hooters in Long Beach, drifting was far from the best part of the journey, for me. That’s probably why I love it so much! Just like skateboarding in my younger years, drifting has given me the opportunity to meet literally hundreds of new people who share a common love.
This video documents the adventures of KP Race as they fight for the Formula Drift podium. Despite a privateer budget and terribly timed mechanical failure, these guys are always upbeat and having a good time. Don’t get me wrong, though. These guys are seriously dedicated to the sport and have the drive and motivation necessary to reach the top. Expect to see plenty more of KP Race in the 2010 season!
:: Justin Shreeve
NEWSWORTHY> Dai Wins FD Twice In A Row!
For those who were logged in to the Formula D Driftstream on Saturday, you mostly likely have already heard the news! Daijiro Yoshihara won 1st Place at Formula Drift again... taking home top honors TWICE IN A ROW! Driving his Discount Tire/America's Tire/Falken Tire S13 Silvia, Dai was able to beat all his competitors, thanks to his crew - Scott Dodgion from SPD Metalworks, Mike Kojima from MotoIQ, and Owen Orrego from Falken.
If you were unable to watch the climactic final battle that pitted Dai against his Falken teammate, Vaughn Gittin Jr, then make sure you scroll to the bottom of the page and watch the video of the tandem battle! Read more...
If you were unable to watch the climactic final battle that pitted Dai against his Falken teammate, Vaughn Gittin Jr, then make sure you scroll to the bottom of the page and watch the video of the tandem battle! Read more...
COVERAGE> Drifting at Houston’s Import Reactor
For those of you who aren't familiar with Import Reactor, it is a multi-faceted automotive event that takes place in Houston, TX during Anime Matsuri - one of the biggest anime conventions in the country! It consists of three parts - a special dyno day and tuning session, a drift day, and then a show that spans the entire weekend. The atmosphere is unbelievably unique - it's definitely an experience! I was at the event all weekend covering it for MotorMavens!
One of the great things about this event was that it brought together the drift enthusiasts and the show scene here in Texas. The guys at Import Reactor had the brilliant idea to allow car show teams to sponsor a driver. Each team had a driver whose entry they paid, while the driver ran their sticker on his car. It was great to the drifters bringing their cars to the event, only to be greeted by 20+ members of the team that sponsored them - cheering them on the entire time! Read more...
One of the great things about this event was that it brought together the drift enthusiasts and the show scene here in Texas. The guys at Import Reactor had the brilliant idea to allow car show teams to sponsor a driver. Each team had a driver whose entry they paid, while the driver ran their sticker on his car. It was great to the drifters bringing their cars to the event, only to be greeted by 20+ members of the team that sponsored them - cheering them on the entire time! Read more...
COVERAGE> Xtreme Drift Circuit at Irwindale
Most people that are familiar with drifting in the United States have heard of Irwindale, California. After all, Irwindale's most famous attraction, Irwindale Speedway has been home to many major "firsts" in the drifting community. Irwindale Speedway was the venue for numerous early Drift Day events; the Video Option Ikaten on January 17th, 2003; the first Drift Showoff on March 3rd 2003; the RS-R Drift Festival on April 6, 2003; the first D1 Grand Prix event in the USA on August 31, 2003; and the first Formula D homecoming at Irwindale on August 29, 2004.
I mention these particular events because they were all milestone events for the grassroots drifting community. Since then, Irwindale has become a recognized name and a home for grassroots drifting in the West Coast. This past weekend marked the first ever XDC (Xtreme Drift Circuit) event at Irwindale. Whether or not this XDC event (or the series in general) will turn out to be a major milestone in the minds of drifters in the United States remains to be seen. However, I can tell you that I observed some re-invigoration and renewed interest in high level grassroots drifting competition from some of the drivers. Hell, if having high-skill-level grassroots drivers spend the time and effort in making the journey from most major regions of the United States (and Canada too) just to compete in this event doesn't indicate what kind of hype this new series is generating, then I don't know what will. It looks as if XDC is heading towards becoming a major force in the grassroots drifting arena.
I'll be honest - when I first heard about yet another drifting series launching this year, I kind of rolled my eyes, just like everyone else did. "Oh jeez," I thought. "Another drifting series is trying to come up and compete with Formula D again?" Well, if you observed how the whole "Nopi Drift Series" turned out, you might understand where some of the drifting community's skepticism comes from. However, when I found out that this new XDC Series was actually slated as a "feeder series" which would sharpen up the skill levels of grassroots drifters across the country and allow them to graduate into Formula D competition, I thought, "hmmm... I think this might actually work out."
The Motor Mavens Movement is all about supporting grassroots drivers and local street teams and crews from all over the world. Formula D did a good thing by empowering the local drifting organizers in different regions to hold Pro Am "driver search" events (like Vegas Pro Am and Evergreen Pro Am, etc), but what I think really boosts the level of drivers that want to graduate into the Formula D series is having the ability to compete regularly on different tracks, against different drivers from different geographical regions.
This "nationalization" and/or "globalization" of competition between the drifting community's hometown heroes is the only way grassroots drivers can really prove how good they are. However, with the level of drift car builds and big money that's required to actually run an entire Formula D season nowadays, it's nearly impossible for REAL grassroots drivers with REAL grassroots style drift cars to actually compete against the Formula D series' hundred-thousand-dollar engine builds, Nascar V8s and full race cars with silhouettes of their OEM bodies dzus-fastened onto tube frames. It saddens some people to see drifting turning into a major pro motorsport like Nascar, but it's all a natural progression, I suppose. Read more...
I mention these particular events because they were all milestone events for the grassroots drifting community. Since then, Irwindale has become a recognized name and a home for grassroots drifting in the West Coast. This past weekend marked the first ever XDC (Xtreme Drift Circuit) event at Irwindale. Whether or not this XDC event (or the series in general) will turn out to be a major milestone in the minds of drifters in the United States remains to be seen. However, I can tell you that I observed some re-invigoration and renewed interest in high level grassroots drifting competition from some of the drivers. Hell, if having high-skill-level grassroots drivers spend the time and effort in making the journey from most major regions of the United States (and Canada too) just to compete in this event doesn't indicate what kind of hype this new series is generating, then I don't know what will. It looks as if XDC is heading towards becoming a major force in the grassroots drifting arena.
I'll be honest - when I first heard about yet another drifting series launching this year, I kind of rolled my eyes, just like everyone else did. "Oh jeez," I thought. "Another drifting series is trying to come up and compete with Formula D again?" Well, if you observed how the whole "Nopi Drift Series" turned out, you might understand where some of the drifting community's skepticism comes from. However, when I found out that this new XDC Series was actually slated as a "feeder series" which would sharpen up the skill levels of grassroots drifters across the country and allow them to graduate into Formula D competition, I thought, "hmmm... I think this might actually work out."
The Motor Mavens Movement is all about supporting grassroots drivers and local street teams and crews from all over the world. Formula D did a good thing by empowering the local drifting organizers in different regions to hold Pro Am "driver search" events (like Vegas Pro Am and Evergreen Pro Am, etc), but what I think really boosts the level of drivers that want to graduate into the Formula D series is having the ability to compete regularly on different tracks, against different drivers from different geographical regions.
This "nationalization" and/or "globalization" of competition between the drifting community's hometown heroes is the only way grassroots drivers can really prove how good they are. However, with the level of drift car builds and big money that's required to actually run an entire Formula D season nowadays, it's nearly impossible for REAL grassroots drivers with REAL grassroots style drift cars to actually compete against the Formula D series' hundred-thousand-dollar engine builds, Nascar V8s and full race cars with silhouettes of their OEM bodies dzus-fastened onto tube frames. It saddens some people to see drifting turning into a major pro motorsport like Nascar, but it's all a natural progression, I suppose. Read more...
COVERAGE> San Francisco Auto Show 2009
I got a call from the Extreme Autofest folks asking me if I want to show one of my cars again at the annual San Francisco International Auto Show at the Moscone Center this year. The only problem was that my FD3S RX7 was still unavailable because we were still working on getting it back from the Brahma Light Drift Track Opening in the Dominican Republic.
Since the FD wasn't back in San Francisco yet, I figured it would be a good chance to debut my RHD S14 and display it at this week-long show so I could show some love to my sponsors. Read more...
Since the FD wasn't back in San Francisco yet, I figured it would be a good chance to debut my RHD S14 and display it at this week-long show so I could show some love to my sponsors. Read more...
COVERAGE> Irwindale Pro Am, Part 1
It's true. I'm overdue again on posting my event coverage. This time, the coverage is from the Formula D Pro Am that took place at Irwindale Speedway this past weekend. However, I don't think it's a bad thing necessarily.
While all the other media people that attended the event (let's be honest; there weren't that many) rushed home to be the first to post photos on their websites, blogs, Twitters, and whatnot... I decided to spend time hanging out with my friends instead. I love that I was able to do this and not feel bad (this would be absolutely unacceptable behaviour if I was writing for a different website). But everyone in the Motor Mavens Crew understands. Hell, some of them were even there with me for all the non-car related stuff we did that weekend... like rolling 30+ heads deep to Dino's in Covina for some spicy grilled chicken; or taking Yoshi on a wild goose chase to meet up with some import models at a cafe in OC; or using trucks and trailers with drift cars loaded onto them to make parking difficult in the small parking lot of Flappy Jacks on Route 66, just so that Ray from Garage Autohero could get his traditional American style Sunday breakfast and complain that coffee in California sucks compared to Seattle's. LOL. Oh yeah, but somehow in between all the chillin we did with all our out of town friends that came to Pro Am, we did somehow manage to squeeze in a little bit of time to take some photos. Read more...
While all the other media people that attended the event (let's be honest; there weren't that many) rushed home to be the first to post photos on their websites, blogs, Twitters, and whatnot... I decided to spend time hanging out with my friends instead. I love that I was able to do this and not feel bad (this would be absolutely unacceptable behaviour if I was writing for a different website). But everyone in the Motor Mavens Crew understands. Hell, some of them were even there with me for all the non-car related stuff we did that weekend... like rolling 30+ heads deep to Dino's in Covina for some spicy grilled chicken; or taking Yoshi on a wild goose chase to meet up with some import models at a cafe in OC; or using trucks and trailers with drift cars loaded onto them to make parking difficult in the small parking lot of Flappy Jacks on Route 66, just so that Ray from Garage Autohero could get his traditional American style Sunday breakfast and complain that coffee in California sucks compared to Seattle's. LOL. Oh yeah, but somehow in between all the chillin we did with all our out of town friends that came to Pro Am, we did somehow manage to squeeze in a little bit of time to take some photos. Read more...
COVERAGE> Formula D Brings Heat to Vegas, Part 2
Continuing our Motor Mavens Coverage on Formula D Las Vegas... many of the fans and media members seem to have been focused on only the Top 32 tandem competition, but those who braved the Vegas heat earlier in the day were treated to some pretty exciting tsuisou action from the Formula D Pro Am drivers. Props go out to all the Pro Am drivers for coming up through the ranks and doin it big! Read more...
