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

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Yet another wet spring day in the Northwest could not stop hundreds of people from all over pulling their cars out of the garage to meet in North Seattle for Golden Gardens 2011. Packs of cars from Canada to Oregon left early in the morning cruised the I-5 corridor and the wet Seattle streets headed to a flat of paved parking lot by the Puget Sound. Cars lined to street for a mile south of the park and packed every available parking spot in the park and Shilshole Marina just south of the park. Cars ranged from projects in their beginning stages, rusted out old Datsun’s, fresh off the assembly line cars, tuners, drifters, and even a few miscellaneous trucks, 4×4’s and SUV’s. Showing off what they’re proud of with their cars, hoods up, rims shined up, washed and waxed and looking nice for everyone to admire and get ideas for their own projects. As the damp day moved on, cars rotated in and out of the show area as people came and went. People didn’t just park and walk through, a constant parade as cars cruised through the middle of the meet. With your average Northwest weather for spring the constant drizzle of rain didn’t hamper anyone’s spirit. More and more people came and went as if it wasn’t raining at all. The only problem I had with the rain was keeping the lens on my camera dry so I could take pictures. Other than that it is hard to beat a good car show on a Sunday.

Pictures to follow soon.

Pictures added.

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This is an event to not be missed as the attendance list is packing a punch. It is sure to be one of the events to have attended this summer. This event is going to showcase some of the most classic cars in the Pacific Northwest. Come hang out and browse this unique gathering of cars, bring your friends, your BBQ, your classic ride, perhaps? And if you can’t make it, NWTuner.com will be there and we will report back with the days festivities.

The show consists of VW’s (MK1, MK2, MK3, Corrado, Scirocco, Passat, B3, B4), Audi’s (Pre 1987), Nostalgic JDM (Pre 1987), BMW (Pre 1992), Datsun (Pre 1987), and Nissan (Pre 1987).

For more information hit up: The Old School Reunion

The people.

I love meeting new people, and the people I have met in the northwest are like no other community on this continent. It’s all about the karma system around here; “what goes around comes around.”

Last night Matt (aka tatmatt on the forums) came up to check out the clip and some other stuff from me, and he got a ride of from his friend Mark, who came with his R32 GT-R. I HAD to take some pictures:

Its been one day after the 370Z was officially released and the dealers have begun gouging Z enthusiasts! For proof, the first two 2009 Nissan 370Zs went up for sale on Ebay today. The first is a Chicane Yellow 370Z Standard, looks like it has no other options and the seller has no information listed. There is no buy-it-now price, but bidding starts at $29,600. The Seller has a -1 feedback score. That should tell you something.

The other 370Z listed is shown here. It’s a black Touring with 6-speed manual, Sport Package, and Navigation Package. The buy-it-now price is $46,995. Based on my rough calculation, if this particular car has every single available dealer-installed accessory on it, it should carry an MSRP of $40,590. That’s a difference of AT LEAST $6,405! That’s quite a bit of mark-up. Sure, it’s all about supply and demand, but, sheesh, that’s a lot! I don’t think I know anyone who’d be crazy enough to pay that price. Even if I had that kind of money to burn, that’s absurd.

What are your thoughts? Would you pay well over 15% more on top of full asking price? Anyone get a chance to check out the new Z here in the Pacific Northwest?

UPDATE: The aforementioned black 370Z Touring Sport has sold on Ebay.  Just three days into their 20-day auction, the dealer was smart enough to accept his highest bid of $40,000.  That’s not too bad at all, considering most dealers are hurting for business nationwide.  And, like I said, if the vehicle had every single available option and accessory (except for the Chicane Yellow paint, obviously), it’s MSRP was just over $40,500.  So, congrats to the lucky buyer.