NWTuner.com » Coverage

Bigger Foot Bash 2011

administrator — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 01:57:25 +0000

This is a guest post by Nico Castronuevo.

This last Saturday around 30 of the Pacific Northwest’s best drift drivers put on a show for the fans at the 2nd annual Bigger Foot Bash/Team Tandem Competition at Pacific Raceways. Bigger Foot Bash marked the last drift event of the year at PGP and was one of the best of the season. From the weather to the people everything was perfect and how every drift event should be.

The day consisted of fast entries, massive angle, and door to door tandems. The drivers really showed what the Pacific Northwest had to offer.

Coming out of Portland, Formula Drift driver Kyle Pollard took the time out of his pro schedule to participate in the event. Unfortunately his differential blew during practice and he was unable to compete.

After a few hours of hot lapping the Team tandem competition started.

The teams were judged on style, angle, and how synchronized they were with each other.

At the end of the day Canadian based team Drift Union showed why they were the reigning champions and won the Team Tandem Competition for the 2nd time in a row.

This event was a great way to end the season and just makes me that much more excited for next season.

Xtreme Drift Circuit Seattle: Round 6

administrator — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:24:48 +0000

This is a guest post. Photos and text by Les Roach.

Xtreme Drift Circuit turned out to be a nice surprise, the thing is I was terribly afraid that XDC was going to be copy cat of Formula Drift… which was not something I was looking forward to. While both events are similar they are two completely different animals. XDC seemed to bring some up and coming fresh talent to PNW that hasn’t been seen before. It was hosted in Pacific Grad Prix track next to Pacific International Raceway in Kent. The guys from Non Stop Tuning are coming all the way up from as far as Florida, man these guys can really tear it up on the track. NST is a shop located in the heart of Texas that not only does their own R&D for products they build, but also sell a number of products that have been successful on their drift cars. KSport set up booth at the PGP track as well, not to mention brought the KSport drift team to back up their products as well.

XDC was pretty simple on how the inner workings came were. Basically all the drivers did runs to qualify for the Top 16, from there they did a tandem style drift and ran eliminations to see who was the TOP driver. Many of the talented drivers of the NW made the top 16, which was to be expected most of them have spent many, many long days out on this tight technical track First place landed in the hands of skilled driver Nate Hamiliton with Walker Wilkerson following up in second place. The rest of the results will follow shortly.

When next year comes around make sure to make it out the XDC for some great vendors, beautiful models, and skilled drivers. XDC will be an event you will NOT want to miss.

Xtreme Drift Circuit visits the Northwest

administrator — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 00:56:47 +0000

If you missed Formula Drift this year, there’s always Xtreme Drift Circuit on August 13th, 2011 at PGP Motorsports Park, where you are guaranteed to see carnage and some of the top Northwest Drift drivers compete head to head. You can find more information at XtremeDriftCircuit.com.

Formula Drift 2011 Round 5 Video

erik — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 06:06:24 +0000

I would like to again, thank Emotive Image for allowing me to borrow some gear and My Life at Speed for allowing me to piggy back on their site for media credentials.

Formula Drift Round 5: Evergreen Speedway

administrator — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 04:47:34 +0000

My day began at 3 a.m. as my alarm went off, ringing, making those wonderful annoying noises that wake us up mid-sleep. I began to gather myself. As I woke, wondering why I set my alarm for 3 a.m., it then hit me; Formula Drift was today! I scrambled to get all of my necessary gear together; cameras, memory cards, lenses, speed-lights, reflectors, tripod and batteries. As I walked outside to put it in my car it was a crisp summer morning, probably 40 degrees, and yes in July.

The journey began as I drove from Moscow, Idaho, to Monroe, Washington. It’s roughly a 5 hour drive, and I had a mandatory safety meeting at 11:30 a.m., which hasn’t changed since I have been shooting Formula Drift, I clearly had plenty of time to arrive. If I counted how many times I have done this drive I have to have some sort of world record, but I digress. My mp3 player was loaded with new music as I hit the early morning road which led through vacant towns and silent fields of wheat, it seemed as I was the only one up this early.

Five hours later, and over the Cascade Mountain Range, I hit the gorgeous outskirts of the Emerald City. The sun was gleaming across the city line, Lake Washington was calm, and your typical volume of cars on the road for a Saturday morning. I start my way north through freeways full of construction; hit the glorious Highway 2 east, out toward Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington I go.

Arriving at Evergreen Speedway you are presented with the back of the grand stands which can house roughly 15,000 drift fans, not including those that can fit between the fence and grand stands. You could tell Formula Drift had been there with their signs, tents, and banners all over the venue. I had arrived early with about 2 hours to spare before my meeting, which would eventually allow me to shoot on the track. It was easy to recognize and find people I knew that I could catch up with while waiting for my “orange Formula Drift bracelet” that would let me into the car show area, and to the pits. While the 100 plus cars filled the Slammed Society Showcase, we continued to bullshit and talk about the previous day’s events, of which I was not in attendance. Judging by their sun-kissed faces, some UV rays were in store for me and boy did I get burned.

Post-safety meeting I felt energized and full of know-how on proper ways to conduct myself while on the track. If the track is hot, you may not cross to the other designated photo areas. Only cross if the red shirt official with the mic and headset on says that it’s safe to cross. Got it. I had formulated a plan to shoot the car show and get some lifestyle shots of people at the event, but that went to the back burner after a friend from Emotive Image let me borrow some equipment. I was now in the video shooting-mode (Video will follow this post in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.). By this time the sound of engines revving and tires screaming filled the air as practice runs were in session.

The car show was my first stop for video, and a few still shots here and there. This is where I met up with the Eric Gearhart of NWAutoEvents.com. We discussed the hilarity in him being mistaken for my site, NWTuner.com and me getting credit for his work. So, we connected on that level and throughout the day had miscellaneous shenanigans. Below you can see Aaron Kathman, another great automotive photographer, and Eric (Yes, spelled with a “c,” who does that?!) chimping.

You might have attended the event and are wondering, “What do photographers do with all the downtime when the drivers request 5 minutes to inspect their car, and are waiting on runs?” Well, planking was what some of us did. We also discussed the new thing to do in photos, it’s called, “Owling.” Yep, you make yourself look like an owl.

The crowd poured into the venue and it seemed from the track that there wasn’t a seat left empty in the house. The Pacific Northwest continues to show its support for extreme automotive sports, earlier in the year Global Rally Cross was shocked by the hardcore rally community up here when their event was packed. Formula Drift saw a 10% increase in this year’s attendance with a sold out crowd.

We will let the photos speak for themselves. If you missed out this year, be sure to make it next year as it will be Formula Drift’s 10 year anniversary.

The top three winners at Round 5:
1. Yoshihara, Daijiro Falken Tire / Discount Tire Nissan 240SX Winner
2. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z Second Place
3. Aasbo, Fredric Need for Speed / Hankook Scion TC Third Place

The Old school Reunion

administrator — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 06:16:23 +0000

This morning around the NW the “old school” community started up their engines and cruised out to Marymoor Park in Redmond Washington. Over the course of the day over 300 people showed up to check out the action. Any car newer then 1987 was not allowed to park inside to show and was a nice change of pace! The reunion brings old European and Nostalgic Japanese cars together to hang out and share ideas.

The turn out was impressive for the last minute changes in location. Originally the event was to be help at DirtFish. Unfortunately Dirtfish is battling King County over zoning violations and has been forced to cancel several planned events.

Anyways, a big Shout out to the Old School Crew and Meister Auto Werks
for putting on such a great event!! I know I will be looking forward to next year.

The Rally Dance: Olympus Rally 2011

administrator — Thu, 05 May 2011 22:37:16 +0000

We had the pleasure of networking with My Life at Speed over the recent RallyCar events in the Pacific Northwest, they seem to show up at anything involving speed. You can find their post on how this video came about on their website. We look forward to working with them in the future and seeing them at upcoming events such as Formula Drift, Xtreme Drift Circuit, and possibly the Idaho Rally.

Fast Five @ IMAX in Tukwila: Presented By NOS Energy

administrator — Thu, 05 May 2011 03:47:13 +0000

This is a guest post by Benjamin Graybill.

Anyone driving within a mile of the Southcenter Mall in Tukwila, Washington, would have known something was different than a usual Friday night. Loud music and engines rumbling filled the air on a rather surprisingly nice evening in the Pacific Northwest, as car after car rolled up the parking garage ramp to the show. The event, put on by NWMotiv.com and NOS Energy Drinks was to accompany the premiere of Fast Five as well as a VIP show/meet for local automotive clubs and forums. More than 100 of these VIP cars were on display for all to see including a 700 hp Genaddi Ford GSX1, a RB26DET swapped AE86, NSXs, and Andrew Coomes’ LS240 Formula Drift Car. This was an amazing show with free NOS Energy drinks everywhere, NOS girls, gorgeous cars, and great music. Hopefully, the success of the show this year will lead to many more down the road.

Olympus Rally 2011: A humbling day.

administrator — Thu, 05 May 2011 03:29:57 +0000

Rally racing is an extreme sport with many obstacles ranging from mechanical failure, driver mistakes, weather conditions, stage conditions, all the way to intoxicated spectators. One thing that really hit home after the Olympus Rally was realizing how close knit the community surrounding it is; the drivers, their families, the communities where these events take place, the fans who drive for hundreds of miles. The drivers who compete come from all over the United States, and Canada with one thing in common; to compete against the conditions for the best time. With this determination and adrenaline we can sometimes forget about the danger involved. The Olympus Rally takes place on the Washington coast in the hills, mountains and valleys that line it. It is such a gorgeous place to experience. However, these roads are filled with large gravel and rock, mud, and stumps, and even creeks and are extremely treacherous. During the event on Smith Creek Road (Stage 6), Matthew Marker “#65″ of Elk Rapids, MI and his co-driver went off the course. Matthew was taken from the rally community during that stage. This is the first fatality in rally in the United States since 2003 when a driver and co-driver died. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Matthew’s family and friends and those who were close to him. NWTuner.com has made a donation to his family and we encourage you to purchase a bracelet and/or vinyl decal in his remembrance. Amanda Skelly is organizing this and you can see the event and contact her through Facebook or via email.

Matthew Marker coming down Smith Creek Road into the sun.

Saturday was a full house at the Parc Expose which was located at the Ocean Shores Convention Center for the Olympus Rally, with over 50 cars entered, drivers and fans gathered. David Higgins and Dave Mirra seemed to be of the most crowded around drivers (Who finished first and fourth overall at the conclusion of the rally at Stage 6).

Stage 6 uphill/downhill was full of 3-4 inch gravel. Leaving the few spectators in these areas ducking for cover after cars sprayed them.

Antoine L’Estage has no fear down the mountain and into the sun.

Fans at the Parc Expose.

Dave and Richard Hintz and their 1999 BMW M3.

Global RallyCross: Twin Peaks Day 2

administrator — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 21:08:21 +0000

The second day of the Global RallyCross: Twin Peaks event sponsored by BestBuy was wet, the clouds squeezed out their last drop before mid-day as the weather turned for the better. The track was wet and muddy for the heats to start running as spectators filled the stands and lined the fences of the entire facility. The fans proved the Northwest has a passion for motorsports no matter the weather or venue. The stands had over 1000 fans not including however many were walking around the pits or inside the Old Mill watching cars fly through the only dry part of the track.

You can see the starting conditions of the corner out of the Old Mill on Day 2 at Twin Peaks.

The Dirt Fish guys took their car for a fun run on the track with the media, they took a couple of laps before more practice commenced.

Dave Mirra signs some posters for young fans.

Tanner Foust signs some posters at the autograph session in the Cooper Tires trailer.

Inside view of the Old Mill, they told us this building was close to or over 100 years old.

Stephan Verdier washes the dirt off of his Subaru.

We had the chance to catch Dave Mirra skipping out on the autograph session and walked the corner out of the Old Mill with him. He was worried that it was extremely slick because of the weather but after closer inspection felt that he could really take the corner sideways and take off out of the corner, which later that day left him with another damaged car as he had to be towed back to the pits.

While walking the track with Mirra he had some comments on Foust’s words after he overshot the jump the previous day while jumping over the blue Ford Fiesta, from Mirra’s own experience he says that you never blame the builder of the jump if you take the jump too fast and launch your own car 120 feet instead of 70 feet, the problem isn’t with the jump he said. Mirra felt very confident on the part of the course that we walked with him.

Richard Burton takes the joker with a car approaching underneath him.

Michael Jernberg takes the corner hard in his Skoda Fabia in “The Link” as 2 cars trail him.

Andi Mancin loses boost as he attempts to go over the joker and flips his car.

Andi Mancin appears from the rubble unharmed and waves to the crowd as they cheer him on.

Ultimately, Tanner Foust came away with the first place win on Day 2. We hope to see this event continue to come back to the Northwest for years to come and we have a feeling this track will be a hit with the folks in the Pacific Northwest. Until next time.