Tag: formula drift

Auto Enthusiast Day 2017

It’s take five for Nitto Tire’s Auto Enthusiast Day Presented by Driving Line and the event just keeps getting better! This free event returns to Angel’s Stadium where spectators take home the latest issue of Driving Line magazine and get covered in shreds of Nitto Tires from all the driving demos. Off-Road stars like Loren Healy and Cody Currie flexed their beastly machines, while drifters Vaughn Gittin Jr., Alex Heilbrunn and Matt Powers joined the couple of stunt driving, Sam and Stina Hübinette for an epic slideways showdown. The show within the show, where DaYUUM! made ourselves comfortable, was the reorganized vendor area. With the car meet section moved outside of the main area, the show highlighted all of the vendors’ show cars. We opt to go with a pair of “new look, who dis?” wrapped Scions, Tyler Huang’s xB and my Rocket Bunny tC. A new addition to AED 2017, was the AutoCon car show and the famous AutoCon Ave. stage that featured some of the best of the best. Check out our recap of the day’s festivities!

Words: Justin P.

Photos: Michelle I.

@dmaylyn & @reginafrancia

@constance_nunes

Formula Drift – Umbrella Girls

Umbrella Girls have been a tradition in motorsports for some time. F1 regularly has them and D1 Grand Prix in Japan, as well. Formula Drift adapted them with the infamous Falken Girls and soon after, every tire manufacturer had them.

One of the original girls is Randyl Dawn, a Import Tuner cover model

Joining her was Courtney Day, which was also an Import Tuner cover model.

Rocking the orange M for Motegi Racing was Vivian.

Courtney Riggs representing for Nitto Tire.

Hankook Tire, white and orange theme was represented by Erica Juliet and Alexia Cortez.

The dynamic trio at Nexen Tire was Erica Nagashima, Jessica Harbour, and Karina Veléz.

Back with Achilles Tires was Arley Elizabeth and Nicole Reckers.

Godspeed Represent.

Who was your favorite?

Words: Denny H.

Photos: Gilbert C.

Formula Drift Top Livery

Formula Drift opener is always exciting to see the new cars and its liverys. This year, chrome is in. We took the liberty to pick out some of our favorites.

Ken Gushi

Toyota FR-S, GReddy Performance, Nexen Tires

Chelsea DeNofa

Ford Mustang RTR, BC Racing, Nitto Tire

Alex Heilbrunn

BMW E46 M3, Nitto Tire

Alec Hohnadell

Nissan S14, Fix Our Fuel.com, Nexen Tire

Cameron Moore

Toyota FR-S, Nameless Performance, Nexen Tire

Matt Coffman

Nissan S13, Nexen Tire

Justin Pawlak

Ford Mustang, ROUSH Racing, Falken Tire

Who was your favorite?

Words: Denny H.

Photos: Denny H. / Justin P.

Formula Drift – Streets of Long Beach – Rd. 1 – Qualifying – Top 5

Formula Drift kicks off their 14th year at the infamous Street of Long Beach, as what I call the concrete jungle.

Long Beach is the first event where spectators can see their favorite driver and their new livery, which is always good to see!

Qualifying took place Friday afternoon in the breezy 70 degree Southern California weather, so let’s recap the top 5!

1. Vaughn Gittin Jr.

Taking the number one spot is none other than Vaughn Gittin Jr. with a qualifying score of 97 in his Monster Energy Ford Mustang

2. James Deane

James Deane with his S15 with qualifying score of 96

3. Ryan Tuerck

Ryan Tuerck with a 96 in qualfying in his Hankook Tire Gumout FR-S

4. Fredric Aasbo

Fredric Aasbo in his new Nexen Rockstar Toyota Corolla iM with a score of 91

5. Alex Heilbrunn

Alex Heilbrunn rounds out the top 5 with a score of 91 in his Nitto Tire, E46 M3

A look at the bracket and the rest of the qualifying field, courtesy of www.formulad.com

…and the rest of the qualifying field.

Words: Denny H.

Photos: Denny H. / Justin P.

Formula D 2016 – Round 1 Streets of Long Beach

Words and Photos by Gilbert

Another year kicks off with the Formula D 2016 season at the Streets of Long Beach. Things were a bit different this year as due to rainy conditions, the qualifiers from the first day were cancelled and instead drivers were given practice time for the day instead. Following that into the second day competition, they went with a seeded order based on 2015 rankings to start the competitions.

Another thing that was different was the car show usually held by Illest and titled Offset Kings has been replaced by a Toyota sponsored auto gallery.

As usual, there are plenty of umbrella girls and models present representing their brands and teams.

Jess Harbour, Erica Nagashima and Kay Vee for Nexen Tire

L’amour Niggle for McLeod Racing

Darlene May for Moto IQ

Charlene Lo for JDM Sport

Arley Elizabeth for Achilles

Nicole Marie Reckers for Achilles

Sarah Top for Hankook Tires

Courtney Riggs and Janey B for Nitto Tires

Caitlyn Nordby and Danielle Lo for Monster Energy

Erica Law for BlackVue

Formula Drift 2014 – Round 7 – Title Fight

Photos: Jae, Gilbert, and Denny

The smell of burning rubber, the taste of tire marbles, the feel of rumbling V8’s with open headers touches your senses of smell, taste, and feel. It’s the experience one would feel at the last event of the year for Formula Drift.

Irwindale, Round 9, Title Fight – was a close one, with Forsberg in the lead and Aasbo just spitting distance away. The battle came down to the final 8 or final… Let’s not spoil it.

While the main event didn’t start till the sun dropped, the spectators had ample time to cruise the pit, meet their favorite drivers, or keep themselves entertained.

The Falken Tire team has always made a huge presence in FD since day one, which rumor has, 2014 will be the last year they are participating at his level.

In the last couple of years they have had HPI Racing team along side with a try me track.

In the pits, we ran into our friends at MotorMavens with Adrian holding down the fort.

Jon from Dstroyr doing his thing also at FD.

Universal Technical Institute made a visit with the lovely Raichelle and Kim.

Spocom brought Krstina Hong from Houston

DaYUUM Hunnie Serena Su was with Extreme Dimensions

Brittani Paige, Big Abe, and Erica Law

Brittani Paige with Ashley Clark

Liz Goodwin, Katie Carnes, and Julie Galindo was representing Falken Tire

Gina Darling, Natalie Paladin, Eva Skye representing Nitto Tire

Angelina Andrada and Alicia Whitten with Super Street

We also caught Breezy Jade and Sandra Wong roaming the pits

The lovely trio of Sadie May, Erica Nagashima, and Jessica Harbor with Hankook Tire.

Jessica Weaver and Exedy

Female drifter Bear Dellinger was with our friends at Rehv Clothing

Olivia Korte x Motegi Wheels

Unto the practice rounds and top 32… The heat was scorching and I was able to sneak up into a skybox to take a few shots, while Gilbert Chen took the liberty to get close track side.

Here are some shots of practice and top 32

Top 16 included…

2nd place qualifier Dai Yoshihara

Dstroyr Mats Baribeau

2013 FD Champion Michael Essa

Scion Racing / GReddy Racing, Ken Gushi

Scion Racing / Hankook Tires, Fredric Aasbo

Dean Kearney

Conrad Grunewald

Number 1 qualifier Forrest Wang

Dstroyr’s Odi Bakchis

Matt Fields

Current points leader Chris Forsberg

Wild man Vaughn Gittin Jr.

Top 16 went rather quick with the limited amount of 5 min calls or “one-more time” battles.

First up was Wang vs. 2013 Michael Essa… Wang would advance to the next round.

Baribeau was no match for Aasbo, as Aasbo skated a way with the win

A tough battle with fellow champions Gittin and current points leader Forsberg. Forsberg would ultimately would take the win.

Gruneswald was no match for Wang, as Wang advances.

No one likes to go up again your teammates, but teammates Saito and Nishida had to. Look how close and in tuned the are to each other. Saito would eventually move on to top 8

Aasbo vs Yoshihara… Aasbo advances.

Fields vs Forsberg, Forsberg advances to top 4

Top 4:

First up in top 4 was Forrest vs. Daigo… Daigo would out horsepower Forrest leaving him in the dust. Daigo would and move ahead.

Next battle was a crucial one. A win for Forsberg would secure him the championship for 2014, but if Aasbo was to win, he would have to beat out Daigo in order to take the championship for 2014.

Despite what these images show you, Aasbo had a commanding lead run in the first few corners. He would advance to the final round against Daigo.

If Aasbo wins, he obviously would take the 2014 FD Championship, if not, he would fall to second and Forsberg would take the championship.

Check out the proximity of Daigo… On Aasbo’s tail the whole way.

These last sets of pics can easily explain the outcome…

The winners were announced at the top of Irwindale straightaway.

Daigo, Aasbo, and Wang having a little fun before the announcement.

Forrest celebrating his podium finish. The second time for him in Irwindale.

The anticipation before they announce the winner.

Daigo Saito was announced the winner for Irwindale.

Thus, crowning Forsberg the 2014 Formula Drift Champion!

And, a friendly chat between Aasbo and Forsberg.

This concludes our coverage for Formula Drift – Title Fight!

Thank you John for the opportunity to cover another great event!

Until next time…

@DaYUUMDen

Formula Drift / Offset Kings – 2014 – Coverage

Formula Drift’s season opener in Long Beach, California was exciting for drift fans as it was for us. Fatlace’s Offset Kings, which is the combination of their previous HellaFlush and Slammed Society events was part of the attraction at Formula Drift. Formula Drift / Offset Kings was also our debut and the start of our collaboration with Tjin Edition.

In the past, we collaborated together, but never in a fashion that we are branding ourselves together. Offset Kings was our first event of the year utilizing a footprint of 60’x30’ to house our 24’ trailer, tow vehicle, secondary vehicle, and our displays. Not only are we fortunate enough to collaborate with Tjin Edition but we also partnered up with selected companies such as, Universal Technical Institute, Royal Purple, Glow Shift, LED Glow, Baer Brakes, Falken Tire, Escort Radars, AccuAir, Forgestar, IForged, Magnaflow, Meguiars, Paxton Superchargers, Vortech Superchargers, Guppy House, Daley Visual, and Viair. together we formed Tjin Edition x DaYUUM RoadShow. The roadshow will consists of 18-22 events throughout California and Arizona, from San Diego to San Francisco and Phoenix, Arizona. The RoadShow has taken 11 months for it to materialize since the idea first was tossed around. Since then, it’s been non-stop working behind-the-scenes while we continued to attend events throughout 2013.

We are excited for 2014 and years to come. This year we added a few new contributors to the family, John Quidilla, Gilbert Chen, and Patrick Pugeda. In terms of hunnies, Lori and Emmy has joined us for Formula Drift / Offset Kings and is also new to the family.

The morning was a little hectic because we had boxes and boxes of literature and giveaway items which needed to be displayed. With the help of Justin, Michelle, Jae, and Scottie, we managed to get everything set up by 10AM and was ready to go. By 10:30AM the Offset Kings car show was filling up and patrons started to fill the stands. John was capturing the action with video and stills, Justin was at the booth and snapping a few extra shots, while Gilbert and Jae covered the vendor section in the pits. I stuck around the booth until top 16 when I took homage on the track.

In our booth was our slammed F-150 with custom air suspension controlled by AccuAir, fabricated by Unique Fabrication. We also had Christian Coujin’s FR-S customized by Phantasy Kolors in Washington.

In the Offset Kings section there were some standouts.

Courtney Wingfield’s 328i

Slammed Toyota Sienna van.

A static Scion FR-S

This Fiat was pretty fresh.

Mark and Yogi reppin Fatlace, AirREX and Phase 2.

Fresh Z and Subi

Dig this S2K

Arcenal’s Bus

LS Toy

Here is a video recap by John Quidilla (@dayuumjquilla)

In vendor the section, Jae and Gilbert ran into some of our favorites in the scene.

Erica Nagashima with Hankook

Gina Darling and Eva Skye

Gina Darling, Natalie Paladin, and Eva Skye

Olivia Korte

Kallita Daniel with Motor Mavens

Jessica Weaver repping AutoCon Events.

Brittani Paige with R1 Concepts

Corissa Furr

Maureen Chen

Regina

Before top 16 began, I ran into long time friend Randyl Dawn. 2014 is Randyl’s 6 year with Falken Tire. I’m glad to see her continue with such a great company, you can catch her at selected Falken Tire events throughout the United States.

Top 16 introductions began with the National Anthem, xriver introductions and it was time to rock.

Top 16 began with 2013 Forumla Drift champion Michael Essa vs. Mats Baribeau. Baribeau didn’t match up with Essa consistency and clean lines was elminated.

2013 podium winner, Forrest Wang with his clean 2JZ powered S14 matched up against Dennis Mertzanis. Forrest would take the win in that round.

Mohan vs. Moen. Mohan managed to propel his beat up RX8 into top 16 after smashing into the unforgiving Long Beach barriers, then gained some what control then smashed into the tire barrier. He was a bit luckier than Joon who introduced himself with the same tire barrier. The exposed Mohan let Moen slip by for the W.

Scion Racing, Fredric Aasbo vs. Hankook tire Grunewald would kiss each other on turn 9 of the Long Beach Grand Prix course and put both cars in the pits for repairs. Upon the return of the duo, Aasbo would move to the next round

Ex-teammates Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Darren McNamara would match up with each other in top 16. Falken Tire sponsored Darren McNamara would move to the next round.

Forsberg vs. Gooden’s Enjuku LS powered 240SX would get edged out by the 370z of Forsberg.

The battle between Odi Bakchis vs. McQuarrie moved quickly. The close proximity of Odi’s chase run seemed to seal the deal.

To finish off the top 16, Pawlak and Tuerck would battle, Pawak would advance and move on to the next round.

In the great 8, Wang and Essa would match up. In Wang’s chase run, it seemed he was following a little behind, but Essa would be close on his tail in his chase with Wang. Essa would later advance.

Aasbo and Moen’s run would mirror Wang’s and Essas run. Aasbo trailed a little behind in his chase as Moen advances.

McNamara and Forsberg was a close one, but after many minutes of tallying, Forsberg would advance to top 4.

Bakchis and Pawlak getting close in the top 4

When the smoke cleared, Moen and Forsberg would battle it out to see who would be crowned number 1 at streets of Long Beach.

Essa would pull of a great start from his championship run in 2013 with a 3rd.

Moen’s lead run appeared to have less of an angle in turn 10 and would get 2nd and land his first podium since the start of his professional Formula Drift.

Forsberg would get crowned with a first place at the start of the Formula Drift 2014 season.

A little bro hug and that concludes Formula Drift season opener at Long Beach!

Im outs! @dayuumden

Formula Drift 2013 – Irwindale – Title Fight

I want to start of by saying thanks to Formula Drift for giving us the opportunity to cover the season opener in Long Beach and TItle Fight this year in Irwindale. It’s always exciting to be close to the action and hearing the drivers blip their throttle to maintain or keep the proximity close. 2013 was also the first year there was a tire and manufacturer standings.

Leading up to the final round of Formula Drift, Michael Essa was ahead in points by 15.50 points. Essa has laid down consistent runs utilizing every bit of the track and hitting the clipping cones on point. Impressing judges time and time again, Essa gained an extra 12 points by posting an insane run and scored 96.6 to qualify first at Irwindale. 2012 champion Daigo Saito sat in an uncomfortable 5th place 80 points back.

In top 32, Michael was up against 32 qualifier, Luke Pakula. During the lead run, Essa’s motor took a turn for the worse and called 5 minutes. But at the same time, Pakula had also called 5 mins with mechanical issues. The controversy lies with who called it quits first? Essa or Pakula? Who cares right? Second place Forsberg does. If Essa advances, it would push Forsberg further back in the points race. After much delay, Essa advances to the top 16.

Second place Forsberg came out strong and put the heat on Dai Yoshihara. Forsberg would then continue to top 16.

Third place points leader Fedrick Aasbo would battle Conrad Grunewald in top 32.

Other top 32 battles included,

Patrick Mordaunt and Dean Kearny in his Oracal Viper

Crowd favorite Ken Gushi was up against Chelsea DeNofa. Gushi would advance to top 16

Dstroyr sponsored Rookie, Mats Baribeau putting up a nice battle with Ryan Kado

During intermission, I was able to run into a few people. Our friends at Nissan Raceshop, Spocom, HPI Racing, Dstroyer, and Rehv Clothing.

I spotted Marissa Hiroko…

and Brittani Paige.

After intermission, top 16 took place in the dark. Celebrating Formula Drift’s 10 year anniversary called for a explosive opening ceremonies.

During the National Anthem, 3 skydivers jumped from a copter and glided gracefully to land.

Shortly after the top 16 drivers introductions, fireworks lit the sky! Sad on my portion in trying to capture it, but I did capture a few umbrella girls

Randyl Dawn from Falken

Arley Elizabeth with Achilles Radial

and unknown from Monster / Nitto of Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s stable

Top 16 was quickly on its way.

Forsberg would edge out Bakchis and advance to top 8

Vaughn Gittin Jr. verse Ryan Kado

The battle of the S14’s was Wang and Fields – Wang advances to the top 8

Aasbo and Tuerck, after a couple hard fought battles, Aasbo in his Scion Racing / Hankook Tire tC advances. Aasbo was recently voted Fan Favorite of 2013

A close watch was with the battle of Chris Forsberg and Daigo Saito. If Forsberg was to lose this match, Essa would become 2013 Formula Drift Champion.

All eyes were on Essa as he waits for the judges to render their decision. Essa is crowned FD 2103 Champion.

Rookie Forrest Wang had an impressive round, advancing on to top 4 knocking out Gittin.

The Aasbo and Grunewald was also a close one.

Top 4 was an interesting match up. 3 of 4 drivers were on Achilles Radials while McQuarrie was on Hankook.

First tandom to stage was Daigo Saito and team mate Robbie Nishida. Daigo advances and would face the winner of Forrest Wang and Tyler McQuarrie. Robbie would face the loser.

I’ve observed Wang as he would launch hard off the light, usually leading the lead car and fall back to a comfortable spot. He did that time and time again, but the 2JZ powered S14 sounded so fresh.

McQuarrie as a lead car

Forrest take the lead. Tyler would eventually move on to tandom againast Daigo Saito

Forrest battles with Nishida. In a one-more-time battle, Nishida would hit the wall and ultimately finishing fourth thus putting Forrest on the podium for the first time in his pro debut.

Here is your top 3.

Tyler and Daigo heating things up.

During Daigo’s lead run, Tyler would hit the wall putting Daigo in the first spot on the podium.

Daigo accepting his 1st, Tyler 2nd, and rookie Forrest in 3rd.

I was surprised on how well the umbrella girls were composed while spray of champaign was flying around, until Tyler doused his girl. Forrest had trouble popping bottles so his girl stayed relatively dry. Ha.

It’s always exciting when championships are determined at the last round and FD brought that. What a great way to end 10 years of American Drifting. We wish FD future successes and hope to cover them for you.

Until next time… DaYUUMDen

Scion Racing Drift Teams Media Preview 2013

You know something is coming when Scion Racing starts throwing epic parties like this for the media. FormulaDRIFT officially kicks off their 2013 season today, but before that we were able to attend a couple media previews to get some early insight on the drivers and their new drift cars.

Last week we were trackside for Drift Day at Irwindale Speedway and got some laps in with Ken Gushi and Fredric Aasbo. And a few days ago we were bar-side at Smog Shoppe in the Arts District of Los Angeles, CA partying it up with the Scion Racing Drift Teams!

As you enter the half indoor, half outdoor venue, your eyes can’t help but focus on the main attraction: the three Scion Racing cars from each team.

With spotlights on each one, first up is Ken’s GReddy Performance X Scion Racing Drift FR-S with a fresh new Rocket Bunny aero kit and livery designed by JONSIBAL DESIGNWORKS.

In the middle, with a little bit of wall rash from the track is Fredric’s Hankook USA Drift Scion tC build by Papadakis Racing with the front end facelift of the 2014 Scion tC.

And last but not least, Tony Angelo‘s brand spanking new TAngelo Racing Scion FR-S, also with a Rocket Bunny aero kit.

There are the obvious visual upgrades done to Ken’s FR-S, but GReddy Racing has also went in and added about 50-hp more to it. More power and being a seasoned veteran, Ken is looking to improve on his top 10 finish in the standings from last years FormulaDRIFT.

Visual changes primarily for Fredric and his 2nd Generation Scion tC as well, which is now dominantly branded by Hankook USA. Fredric has been moving up in the standings every year since his Rookie of the Year season, and that trend doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

Much like Ken the year before, Tony will now step into a Scion FR-S after previously competing in a 1st Generation Scion tC. Tony’s FR-S is styling a camo pattern livery as well as showing his support to the U.S. Air Force. On the inside, the FR-S has been turbochanged by R/T Tuning. Tony is poised to take his new toy and finish near the top along with his fellow driftmates this upcoming season.

Okay enough about the cars, we will see them all season long. Now about the party and man, does Scion Racing know how to throw a party!

Open bar and a variety of gourmet appetizers. There was no need to be shy at this event, waiters and waitresses constantly walking around bringing plates straight to you to try everything. There were steak skewers, mini fish tacos, mini beef sliders, mac & cheese, and carne asada fries! Yum!

It seemed like all areas of the media and the industry were in attendance partying it up. The FRS86 crew were there, as Ken’s guests of course.

Even fellow DaYUUM contributor DJ Skitz was on the 1’s n 2’s providing a kickback, audio and visually appealing atmosphere for the night.

Well I mainly covered the cars and the general happenings of the event before heading out a little early. Nilo (@dayuumnilo13) on the other hand arrived later on and worked the crowd. I will leave it to him to share his thoughts:

Through the years I’ve been lucky enough to have been invited to Scion Corporate gatherings year after year. I’ve meet so many great people at Scion which have become good friends. This year’s Scion Racing media preview was held at the Smog Shoppe in Los Angeles a very unique, cool and eclectic venue to show everyone the 2013 Scion drift cars for the Formula Drift series. The atmosphere at these events are always so chill and relaxing, nothing stuffy and over corporate. It’s very comfortable and welcoming, like going to an old friend’s party. Great place, dope music, awesome food and always the hospitality the always come to expect from Scion.

The styling and designs of the cars looked great and we had a chance to get first hand experience of their performance on the track a few days before this night and man what a rush. I look forward to seeing how they do this year in the series especially the FR-S. We wish the best of luck to Scion Racing during the season. Thanks again and much appreciated. “What Moves You” Peace

Nilo

Thank you again Scion Racing, and good luck this up coming season!

-This JustIn (@justdayuum)

2012 Formula Drift Long Beach RD1 – On Track

The season opener of Formula Drift (FD) was insane – bigger and badder. Round 1 of FD kicks off at the unforgiving course of Long Beach, lined with concrete walls, its known to gather victims.

Such as Matt Field during his tandem run with 2011 champ, Dai Yoshihara.

Matt can be seen here assessing the damage, after calling 5 minutes, he ultimately could not continue.

Here is a video of the crash. you can see us in the green at the end of the tire barrier. via. GTChannel

Long Beach is also the home of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach for the IndyCar series which is held a week after FD. FD, however didn’t disappoint, as the sold out crowd cheered for their favorite driver(s) while squished like sardines, the fans didn’t mind and filled the grandstands and any available standing space – even pinned up to the fencing.

There were a lot of big things going on this year: Tony Angelo going from FD judge back to drifting with the Scion Racing Team,

Ken Gushi debuts the GReddy Scion FR-S,

and 19 Rookies took the pavement of Long Beach in their quest to become the next big name in drift. A couple highlighted rookies were Jhonnatha Castro, a Dominican Republic Champion, and the hyped Diago Saito, a 2010 Japanese D1 Grand Prix champion.

But for us, we were rooting for the Fontana Nissan / Nissan RaceShop S14 of Mauricio Ornelas Jr., a privateer rookie from the Inland Empire. (here is our interview with Mo)

Mauricio’s story leading up to Formula Drift was compelling and described the hard work it took just to get the S14 to tech inspection – then competition. You can read his story here. Mauricio’s busted axle took him out of the top 32, but we know he will be back in round 2 even stronger.

Mauricio is being seen here having a few laughs with fans in Fontana Nissan’s booth.

Top qualifier was Ryan Tuerck in his S13,

The Scion Racing team qualified all 3 cars and 2 was able to reach the top 16. (Here is the media event for SR)

Fredric Aasbo finished 12th,

while teammate Ken Gushi drifted his new FR-S into 9th place. A impressive accomplishment for the GReddy Performance and Scion Racing team.

Here is Chris Forsberg during opening ceremonies.

Chris drifting his NOS / Hankook Tires 370z

Here is Vaughn Gittin Jr. losing his tail end.

In the end, Justin Pawlak took the top podium spot,

while Dai took 2nd. I think he had a little motivation with Randyl Dawn in the passenger seat during the opening ceremonies.

Rookie Diago Saito in the Achilles Tires SC pushed out Matt Powers for the 3rd spot.

With the little break from the track, there was a little time to snap some shots. We will have more later on the paddock and the Slammed Society show, but here are a few preview snaps.

Our headquarters for the weekend was UTI‘s booth where Gene Tjin‘s Lysholm Camaro sat with the newly painted Forgestar F14‘s.

Mark and company was having a good time, but who wouldn’t when you have the lovely Ms. Jessica in the booth.

Our other HQ was Fontana Nissan, where Mauricio‘s S13 and Scott’s Project Shart Racing was repping, along with the beautiful Marissa Hiroko. If anyone is in town the weekend of May 6th, be sure to stop by the Fontana Nissan’s Cuatro Meeto.

While Fontana Nissan‘s Kerryann De La Cruz chatted up with the armed forces in the Whiteline booth.

DaYUUM’s Paul Dabao was hanging around HPI Racing‘s booth all day, offering some good advice about HPI cars.

We also spotted Mikey Dang from PVR Motorsports doing what he does best with the videos.

Having lived in Long Beach for the past 12 years, this building is my favorite by far. It’s on the corner of Ocean Blvd, and Shoreline Drive.

Here is Track Santa holding down turn 10.

Here is an awesome video put together by Mikey Dang of PVR Motorsports

Stay tuned for part two of our coverage with the Slammed Society and paddock. Also be sure to check out ShopFD.com and get your Formula Drift swag!

Scion Racing Drift Teams Media Preview 2012

Last week, we were lucky enough to attend Scion’s 2012 Drift Teams Media Preview, its an event to announce Scion’s 2012 drift team and drivers. The gala was held at the tasty Far East Cafe in Downtown LA’s Little Tokyo district.

In previous years, Scion supported 2 teams, this year, Scion Racing has increased their numbers to 3 teams/drivers: Ken Gushi with the FR-S, Fredric Aasbo with the tC2 and Tony Angelo piloting a tC1.

The FR-S is Ken’s new ride for the 2012 season and is also Scion’s newest model that was be released this Spring. Some of you may remember, but RS*R had backed Ken’s tC for the last 2 or so years, but this year, Ken has headed to GReddy. Ken’s FR-S is said to have a 2.5l Flat 4 Turbo outputting close to 600HP.

Again this year Fredric Aasbo will be piloting Scion’s 2nd Gen tC. It seemed relatively untouched on the exterior department with the possibly of a few tweaks such as the rear spoiler. He will still be running strong with Team Need for Speed.

New to the Scion Racing team is Tony Angelo. In recent year’s, Tony’s voice could be heard through the loudspeaker at drift events as a judge. This year, he had the opportunity to take over Ken’s Gen1 tC for the season. Drifting under the Drift Alliance flag, Tony will be an exciting driver to watch.

All 3 drivers will be running the smokey Hankook tires. We are pretty excited to see how Scion’s team can do this year. Ken’s been plagued with mechanical failures that kept him out of competition, as Fredric was still learning the car, but did manage a podium finish.

Even with the popularity of LS motors in the Formula D circuit, all three Scion’s will be running high-powered 4-cylinders. It’s going to be an exciting season and we hope to share Ken’s 2012 goal of taking the championship.

As always, Scion knows how to throw a party. We were warmly welcomed with an open bar, yummy appetizers, and great friends.

Our own DaYUUM contributor, DJ Skitz was spinning the tunes.

There were tons of raffle prizes being given out, mostly booze, and a few cool items from HPI Racing, as well as, Alpinestars. While Hankook’s Danielle and Vivian put smiles on people’s faces.

Merry and Mike of MV Designz was in attendance as well, taking pics with our own Nilo and Paul.

Antonio from MotorMavens always being sociable.

Drifter Dai Yoshihara took the time to snap pictures with Aasbo and Gushi.

In the end it was a awesome evening catching up with great friends and checking out the 2012 Scion drift team.

Thank you Scion for a great event, good luck in the 2012 season, and see you in Long Beach!

Here is a video put together by our great friends at PVR Motorsports.

Tag: formula drift

Auto Enthusiast Day 2017

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Formula Drift – Umbrella Girls

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Formula Drift Top Livery

Ken Gushi

Chelsea DeNofa

Alex Heilbrunn

Alec Hohnadell

Cameron Moore

Matt Coffman

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Justin Pawlak

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1. Vaughn Gittin Jr.

2. James Deane

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5. Alex Heilbrunn

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