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.

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.

123►

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.

12►

Formula Drift seems to get bigger every year in the Northwest and it certainly showed this past weekend. Not only were the grand stands packed at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe but, there were people piled up along the fence to get every last taste of tire, every last whiff of race fuel, and to witness each adrenaline packed crash into the wall.

There was plenty of hot weather, free NOS Energy Drinks, and action on the track but don’t forget about the other happenings at this event. The pits were also a very popular spot especially during the 2 hour intermission of drifting. Spectators were able to see their favorite drift car up close and personal and check out cars who got a little too friendly with the wall. You could also take home as many drifted tires as you could load into your car. The sponsors had plenty to do for fans. Scion Racing had a booth giving away free merchandise for your measly contact information, they were also selling a variety of shirts and hats. The ladies of Falken Tire were autographing posters for a long line of drooling fans with anticipation to hang these in their garages.

NOS Energy Drink had a “Bunker Lounge” and booth with plenty of umbrella girls handing out energy drinks, lanyards, and vuvuzelas, which got extremely annoying into the later hours of the evening. But, this gave fans a place to chill out, get out of the scorching sun and refuel with some free “Human Energy.” And of course you could see some unique whips out at the One of One Hellaflush show, which will be covered in a later post.

Your Formula Drift Throwdown champion for this year is Tanner Foust in the Rockstar Scion TC. Followed by Ryan Tuerck in the Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice, and Darren McNamara in the Saturn Sky. Here is Tanner going for the win as Ryan Tuerck slams the Pontiac Solstice into the wall.

Once again the Northwest has proven its deep enthusiasm for the sport of drifting with the packed stands and huge attendance numbers. For additional photos from members of the forum check the original Formula Drift event thread. Look for our Hellaflush One of One showcase in the coming days.

“Breaking Point” Formula Drift Rd. 5 Seattle from shreeveco on Vimeo.