COVERAGE> Formula Drift Las Vegas Highlights
Just like the gypsy camps in the days of old, this year's Las Vegas round of Formula Drift brought thieves out of the woodwork. I was really surprised to find out that former Formula D judge (and current Tanaka Racing Corvette driver) Alex Pfeiffer's helmet was stolen. I suppose someone was a fan of Alex's Hawaiian print helmet, which had the traditional Hawaiian plumeria flowers painted on one side. The only question I have about that is... Okay, thieves. Now that you have Alex's helmet, what the hell are you going to do with it? Read more...
OH SNAP> Tyler McQuarrie Wins Formula D Vegas!

Wow. Formula Drift at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was sooooo HOT. Ridiculously hot. Intensely hot. We just got back to Los Angeles, after an eight hour excursion, creeping at around 10mph in traffic-swamped freeway lanes all the way back to Southern California. This being said, we aren’t posting up our event story just yet… everyone in our group is about to pass out from the heat and exhaustion.
However, we just wanted to take a minute to congratulate Tyler McQuarrie on his First Place victory in Las Vegas! In case you weren’t following the Formula D Driftstream, Team Falken emerged victorious, with an all-Falken podium sweep once again, with Tyler McQuarrie bringing home First Place, Daijiro Yoshihara winning Second Place, and Vaughn Gittin Jr taking home Third Place.
We’d also like to welcome Las Vegas-based photographer Farrel Dee to the Motor Mavens Crew! We’ll let him write up a proper introduction later, but for now, we’d like to invite YOU to upload your Formula D Las Vegas and Vegas Pro Am photos to the MotorMavens Forums! We saw a lot of people shooting photos this weekend, and we’d love to see your photos with links to your website and/or Flickr pages! Post them up so everyone can see!
That’s it for now… sleep calls! However, don’t worry… we’ll be back very soon with our photos and observations from Formula D Las Vegas!
:: Antonio Alvendia
Upload your FD Las Vegas and Vegas Pro Am photos to the MotorMavens Forums by clicking here!
COVERAGE> Big Guns at Formula D New Jersey
Thanks to our friends at YoParts and Belle 1 Communications, we were able to watch Formula D live; the DriftStream live feed was really fun and entertaining! It was like an old school AOL chat room with tons of drifting fans blurting out information and opinions; I was impressed at how many people got involved in the live chat, cheering for (and sometimes clowning) drivers and teams! All in all, it was super fun - and I quite honestly was pretty disappointed that I had to shut down my computer in the middle of the Top 16 so that I could drive to my friend's house for a party/bbq (it was my fault - I should have just driven over there early so I could watch the entire thing at his house).
Wall Speedway is a pretty interesting track. It was originally built for circle track cars, but somehow was able to re-purpose itself for drifting, thanks to a lot of phone calls, legwork, and planning by the Formula Drift staff. Wall Speedway is also the most extreme banking that Formula Drift competition cars run on, with the most extreme sections of the track being 30 degrees - a really big difference in comparison to Irwindale Speedway's 18 degrees of incline. Read more...
COVERAGE> Formula Drift New Jersey Preview!
We're excited to report that some new cars were debuted at Wall Speedway Read more...
COVERAGE> Formula D Fun at Long Beach
This past weekend was certainly an exciting one. I was excited to see all the new cars that were debuting at Long Beach, as well as seeing a lot of good friends from different parts of the world, even if it would be only for a brief moment. Unfortunately, when you're working at the event like I am, you're usually hustling about, going from one spot to the next, and you don't have as much time as you'd like to just chill and spend time with good friends. This event was definitely like that for me.
I was trying to juggle shooting photos for the website while overseeing the Motor Mavens Crew's event promotions efforts. Not an easy task! Also, on the Saturday of the event, I was asked to help out with the filming of The Grid, which is a UK-based motorsports television show that airs in 120 countries around the world! And... on top of all that, we debuted the new MotorMavens X DSTROYR "Follow The Leader" shirt at our booth, which was managed by super designer Jon Chase, the creative genius behind the brands DSTROYR and Famous Stars and Straps. I and the entire Motor Mavens Crew definitely had our hustle mode switched ON this weekend! Read more...
COVERAGE> Remix Car Show and More XDC
Meanwhile, I'm also looking forward to seeing more from Remix. I'll be pretty honest - I didn't spend as much time as I would have liked to in the car show area looking at cars, because I was busy in the Irwindale grid area talking to and hanging out with all the grassroots drifters from miscellaneous regions of the United States while they were visiting Southern Cali. However, from what I've seen thus far at the Remix Show, I like it! The entire event had an intriguing vibe to it... for those of us "experiencing" the show for the first time, it was definitely different and fun. The first thing we noticed is that there were a hell of a lot of girls at this event - everything from high end "name brand" models to no-name "new talent." As I mentioned previously, I decidedly focused most of my attention on the drifters on the track and on the grid, but in all honesty, there were quite a few times I had to double take and say "damnnnnn" when I saw certain pieces of eye candy sweetening up the show. (This was definitely the type of show that our boy Yoshi Shindo would go bananas at, I'm not gonna lie.)
Back to the cars, I have to say that there were a lot of really impressive looking cars at the show. Everyone is stepping up their wheel game, and it's awesome! Read more...
VIDEO> The Chris Forsberg Story
“Chris Forsberg: Where I came From” Presented by NOS Energy Drink from NOS Energy Drink on Vimeo.
I just received a link to this video where Formula D driver Chris Forsberg gives a heartfelt explanation of his roots in drifting and where he came from, not to mention what types of trials and tribulations he and his crew had to endure to become the first successful privateer team in the Formula Drift series.
I love hearing about and reading stories of underdogs who worked hard and persevered through tough times to make it to the top. Chris’s story is one of those… it’s pretty compelling.
Chris is now leading the points in both the Formula D championship and the Tires.com Triple Crown (in case you didn’t know, it’s another points championship with a cash award, which is why people are running those huge stickers on their windshields). If Chris wins at Irwindale, he will be the first driver to do both on his way to his first Formula D title. IF Chris wins, it will also be the first time that a drifter with no other motorsports background become the champion. We will find out soon enough, THIS WEEKEND Oct. 15-16 at Irwindale Speedway for the Formula D Finale!
See you there! Make sure to stop by the Eat Sleep Race booth to get some Motor Mavens stickers and t-shirts!
:: Antonio Alvendia
CENTER STAGE> Z One and Only
The long awaited introduction of the 370Z has many 350Z fans scratching their heads, however, as Nissan took away the flowing lines and sleek styling in lieu of an overly edgy and incoherent design. For many of us here at Motor Mavens, the 07-08 Z still stands as arguably the best looking Z of the past generation and for fellow Maven Mike Maez, he unequivocally agrees.
Mike's take on the Z33 is one that caught our eye for a number of reasons. For one, it isn't too over the top with a flashy body kit or a wild graphics scheme. There is attention to detail with the fitment and the wheel selection, which is always a plus, but furthermore it represents a very specific paint and wheel combo that we've never seen before on the 350Z. Combined with a solid ride height, an Akebono brake setup borrowed from the aforementioned 370, and just the right amount of bolt-ons, we were convinced that this was one Z that easily takes Center Stage. Read more...





























