COVERAGE> Formula Drift Road Atlanta Main Event
VIDEO> JTP Schools Coomes on Drifting a V8
One of the advantages to building your race car at Portland Speed Industries is their ability to hook you up in ways you wouldn’t think possible – how about getting you a 40 acre parking lot, a pro driver and an entire fabrication/tuning staff on hand to help refine your skills and car set-up? (more…)
VIDEO> Formula D at Wall Speedway New Jersey
This year was Joe’s and my first trip to Formula Drift at Wall Speedway in New Jersey. Super bummed that I couldn’t make it out last season, I was very excited to see this awesome track. I know it may not look like much to most people, but as a videographer, Wall Speedway is what dreams are made of. There is so much texture and color and grit. The trees, asphalt, and guardrail all make it very fun to shoot. (more…)
COVERAGE> Pacific Grand Prix Open Event
In addition to the great American pros in attendance, it was an international affair as well. The Drift Union drift team from Canada came down again to show us how to have fun with style in their textbook tandem sessions.
Large crowds of spectators arrived, filling the stands and lining the fences en masse to catch a view of the great driving presented that day. NOS Energy Drink and (for the first time) Greg Young from Northwest Riders clothing, set up shop to talk to people and to hand out prizes. If you missed it, don't feel too bad - here's the next best thing to being there! Read more...
STOLEN> Justin Pawlak’s Green FC/Truck/Trailer!
ATTENTION! Justin Pawlak’s truck & enclosed trailer that housed his legendary green FC has been STOLEN! We’ve been blasting this all over Facebook and Twitter since this morning, but here’s a photo of the car in case you don’t know which FC3S RX7 we’re talking about! (Highly doubt that, since this is one of the most famous FC3S RX7s in the US drifting scene!) Please help JTP get his car (and truck) back! (more…)
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...
NEWSWORTHY> Formula Drifting on Hollywood Blvd
There were actually several rotary powered vehicles in attendance for the drift demo, but by far, the best looking car (in our opinion) was certainly Justin Pawlak's mean green FC3S RX7. Read more...
NEWSWORTHY> The Mighty FC Returns to FD
Yes, the rumors are true. The green FC3S RX7 that we all know and love is returning to Formula D competition!
A lot of our Facebook friends have been talking about this for a couple days already… but I just figured I should probably post this on the website too, since there are a lot of people out there who read our blog, but aren’t necessarily in the know about the latest news in the world of Formula Drift. Yes again… contrary to popular belief, there are still people out there who aren’t checking Facebook every five seconds. It suddenly dawned on me when I casually mentioned the FC’s return to a friend of mine today, and he was like, “Whaaaaaaat?! No wayyyyy!”
I just got off the phone with Justin Pawlak, the driver of this awesome green rotary monster. Even though he and Bergenholtz Racing have parted ways in the professional drifting world, Justin is quick to dispel any rumors in the mill by saying, “Ron and I are definitely still cool. In fact, I just spoke to him on the phone earlier today. We just have different ideas and figured it would be best to go split the team up.”
While their timing is certainly less than perfect, with the 2010 Formula D season approaching very, very quickly… I’m sure both JTP and Ron B will make it happen for both of their respective drift teams. Justin says, “Ya know what? I just realized I had more qualifying points than anyone else in the 2009 Formula D season.” He’s sure to make a strong statement this year, whether he has solid financial backing or not.
And Ron Bergenholtz? Well, if anyone has any doubts about Bergenholtz Racing’s ability to have a strong presence in Formula D this year, let me just remind you that he (and his brother Ed) didn’t win all those NHRA Wally awards and get inducted into the NHRA Museum for nothing. In professional drag racing, Bergenholtz Racing proved that an underdog actually can compete against (and beat) competitors with big dollar corporate funding. As long as there’s a will, there’s a way.
Bergenholtz Racing will be revealing their official plans for 2010 on Thursday, along with publicly announcing the new driver they’ve signed to pilot their blue Mazdaspeed RX8.
If you’re a fan of JTP and his FC3S, and you want to help him find sponsors for the 2010 season, please visit Justin Pawlak’s Official Blog by clicking this link. Justin says, “Please don’t mind the ghetto GoDaddy banner, cause my webpage was FREE. haha. I might have a ghetto banner on my blog, but at least I got REAL VOLKS on my car.”
Hell yeah, Justin. Word.
:: Antonio Alvendia
COVERAGE> All Star Bash Weekend Pt.3
So here you go... enjoy the photos! Read more...
