I love when drift videos feel like skate videos. The guys o’er at Jersey Streets definitely channeled that vibe with this edit from East Coast Bash!
East Coast Bash from Jersey Streets on Vimeo.
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of awesome. Here is a brief run-down of the action. This is going to be a long post… so buckle up!
Things started off with Lieze’s graduation from SCAD Atlanta. She has been working her tail off for the past 4 years. While I have my own personal reservations with her school for buying my alma mater, I will say that their curriculum is pretty intense. They know how to put you to work, which I think is good. One thing I noticed when I graduated was that working a real job felt like ‘finals week’ all the time. I think SCAD might better prepare their students for this… because her first week of class always started out like finals week. Either way… I’m super-proud of her for sticking with it and graduating. Her ideas about art are constantly evolving and growing, which is exciting to see!
We literally left her graduation and hit the road to head north. It was a super-last-minute decision to make the trip… but a pilgrimage to Englishtown had to be made for East Coast Bash. The last time I was there was 4 years ago to shoot Slide America, and I didn’t have time to pull my car off the trailer to drive. With Will and Josh in attendance to shoot for Keep Drifting Fun… it seemed all-the-more fitting to get back there for some driving. I’ve been telling Petty I was coming back for 4 years… so it was time to make due on that.
We showed up around noon on Sunday. This track is so amazingly awesome that I was instantly bummed I wasn’t able to get there on Saturday. So many configurations… none-of-which are bad. I instantly felt at home on this track. The more I drove it, the better things felt. I had such a blast… and cannot thank Petty enough for having us up! Towards the end of the day I felt a weird vibration in the car, and decided to call it a day before I blew something up.
The next day we took the car to Roots Factory in Coatesville, PA to give it a once-over. I didn’t feel like cracking open the diff-carrier… but it seemed like something wasn’t quite working with the diff. It had more play than usual, and you could turn the wheels against themselves if you pulled hard enough. Byron noted that my car looked right at home at this shop.
My buddy Brad Hettinger had already basically stripped his down to a shell in less than a day’s time. We decided to take a funny picture for his build-thread.
The next day we saddled up, and drove about an hour and a half from Hater Dan’s house in Pennsylvania to a top-secret locale for an OG underground hoodrat sesh. What went down inside this warehouse was UN. REAL. Rob Fleming met us, as well as a few local rippers, for a crazy closed-door session that lasted several hours. UN. REAL. Will and Josh piloted the KDF van to the location to document things. They wound up with some of the craziest shots I have ever seen in drifting. MASSIVE thanks to Dan for hooking this insanity up. Keep an eye out for the Keep Drifting Fun DVD to peep what went down!
After that madness settled down, we headed back to Pennsylvania, only to re-pack and head back to Jersey for Gardella Racing’s ‘Throttle Thursday’… which brought out a bunch of FD pro-drivers… many of which (including myself for a li’l while) kicked around skateboards and braved the park on BMX bikes. This was my first time inside a skatepark since 1998… and I was REALLY scared! (more on that in a minute…) We all had a good time, including our jump-session in the foam pit (01:35 in).
The advent of the foam pit was definitely after ‘my time’ in skating. I had never been in one, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I will say this much – they aren’t exactly as soft as you think. Whatever you do… DO NOT open your mouth, or else you get tiny bits of gross sweaty foam in it. UGH. Once I got up on that railing to jump… it was a good bit higher than I originally thought. Either way, I had to get in on a front-flip to complete the night.
Next up was Formula Drift New Jersey. The folks at NOS Energy were awesome enough to let us spring an impromptu booth-space in front of their bunker so we could help sell Will and Josh’s tees. Josh looks asleep in this picture.
Tony brought by some of the new DA American Steel Tees that I designed. They turned out SICKKKKK. These are available in the Slide Styleâ„¢ store now!
Alex caught me red-handed in this photo. After my shattered collar-bone in September of 2007… I swore I would never step foot on a skateboard ever again. I was actually banned by friends and family. After nearly three years, I finally caved. I totally understand how people who try to quit smoking feel. For three years I’ve been getting the ‘urge’ to skate like a smoker’s spiral into a nicotine-fit. I have to say… it feels good to ride again – even if I am riding like an old man scared for his life.
A couple funny jump-shots that my buddy Larry Chen snapped while I was wearing Lihnberg’s wig. If you haven’t been to Larry’s site, DriftFotos – CHECK. IT. OUT. Dude is a madman behind the lens – an amazing photographer for SURE. Plus he likes jump shots, which is totally RAD.
After FD, we headed south to Baltimore to meet up with the Drift Alliance crew to go see Hall and Oates in concert.
I never thought I would go see Hall and Oates… but we had a blast. It’s so smooth! SO SMOOTH.
After Baltimore, we made a quick stop in Philadelphia to get some proper cheesesteaks & pretzels with Will, Josh, and Andy Laputka. On the way back to Atlanta we made a minor detour to Manhattan so I could take Lieze to the MoMa. It was my graduation present to her… and let me tell you – it was a GOOD one. We saw so many amazing works.
After an all-night drive back down the East Coast, we made it back home. What an astounding trip, and an incredible few weeks up North. SUPER HUGE THANKS to my buddy Dan Bailey for letting us crash at his place for so long, and for the amazing hospitality.
Southeast Drift’s Triple Threat 3 went down the day after FD Atlanta… which was awesome because it brought out a TON of FD drivers to our local shredding ground.
We towed the injured KDF van down to Turner Field so we could set up a booth and sell some swag.
Lieze set up the booth PROPER. She kicks so much ass it is hard to put into words. She is THE BEST. EVER. <3
Josh (left) and Will (right) were shooting the event for the DVD. Josh was looking gangster on my bro’s Dyno flexing the Slide Styleâ„¢ KD Tee. I see Mr. Alvendia up in the mix as well!
David Lee of Risky Devil was also rocking the Slide Styleâ„¢ KD Tee while Shawn made a funny face.
Some drifting was had. Tons of awesome tandem with a slew of FD pros like Dennis Mertzanis, Matt Powers, Tony Angelo, Chris Forsberg, Ryan Tuerck, Tony Brokohiapa, and more. It was rad. It is great to see the pro dudes mix it up with the local-folk.
Afterwards we crept through some plush downtown neighborhoods in search of parking…
So we could all eat at an old staple of mine: La Fonda Latina. Good food, good people, and GOOD TIMES for sure.
One thing I have always loved about motorsports is the paradigm of the sacrifices involved to conquer personal achievements along the way. One achievement that has eluded me for 6 years has been to successfully navigate the drift-course at Road Atlanta… specifically the entry into 10a, and linking the downhill section tracking out of the horseshoe back down to 10b (sans-manji).
Perched at the top of the hill talking to my buddy Joshua Herron and my girlfriend Lieze Truter… I couldn’t help but ponder all the years of bad luck, broken parts, STUPID limp-mode, ecu problems. I’ve basically been cursed. Seriously.
The duration of practice would unfold in much the same manner as the past… cursed. Even with a fully-functioning hydraulic e-brake – I still wasn’t acclimated to the point of total comfort. I even had another close call with a flat-spin in the narrow patch of grass between the track and the wall. My Yokohamas had SO much grip that they rocketed me right towards the wall. It scared me so bad I threw up in my mouth.
When qualifying came around… we cranked the tyre pressures up around 60-65, and with some advice from Eugene, I came flying into 10a without my normal flick to set the car up. To my surprise… IT WORKED.
With the entry checked off my list, all I had to do was get the car back down the hill out of the horseshoe. My buddy Mike Peters had called me a week prior and given me some advice on my line to help me do this. To my surprise… IT ALSO WORKED.
Back down the hill I went, with just enough wheelspeed, momentum, and RPMs to get within reach of 10b. It would take a massive handful of that e-brake… but it would work.
To say that I was excited would be a MASSIVE understatement. Hell… Cloud-9 still doesn’t quite describe it. I had been fighting this track for 6 years… and with the help of all my friends, Matt Foerst, Kieran O’Brien, Eugene Chou and Mike Peters… I was able to finally break my Road Atlanta curse.
I ended up qualifying 8th, and was paired up with Jason Giovanni from Florida for top 16. On my lead-run… Jason straighted out, and on Jason’s lead-run… I straightened out. I think it should have gone OMT, but it didn’t – and Jason moved on. I was still so excited about my qualifying runs… that I didn’t even care that I got knocked out.
I was able to hang out with all the DriftMechaniks/Team Rowdy dudes and just have a good time. These dudes are the best on the planet, and I dare anyone to attempt to prove otherwise.
I don’t expect everyone to understand what a special moment this was for me. Tons of dudes rip this track every year with little trouble. I never thought this 3300lb car could get it’s 180 horses to push it through the track like this. I had it drilled into my own head that I couldn’t… and with the help of my friends… I did it.
It is a moment I will NEVER forget.
EVER.
This project started out as a way to help the Forza community in their painting efforts. I have received many requests for high-res graphics to use as reference in the painting process. I then used that as an excuse to get better acclimated with Adobe Illustrator, and create a comprehensive guide to the vehicle’s 2007 livery. I have always enjoyed technical drawings in their precise structure and perfection. One thing led to another, and the next thing I know… I spent an insane amount of countless hours creating this. I learned a lot about Illustrator in the process, and it is my hope that this will help any aspiring Forza painters re-create the car’s likeness.
I have a ton of respect for everyone painting Forza replicas. I (still) don’t have a 360 to be familiar with the process, but as far as I know… the tools available are very crude and difficult to use. This painter’s pack took me FOREVER, and I already had most of the graphics on file! I cannot fathom how long it takes to create some of these replicas. Hats off to all you Forza painters for your hard work and attention to detail!
Click here to download the Painter’s Pack. (7.4mb – 5400x3600px)
Got down and dirty with the foglight reflectors as well.
Cracked these things open.
Hit’m with the ol’ 1-2.
Picked up a restoration kit from 3M.
This is what I started with…
This is what I ended up with. It ain’t perfect… but it is a lot better. I think I could have repeated some of the steps and got better results. I can always save that for a rainy day.
Snapped’m back together and got’m back on the car.
The sun went down so I didn’t get a good photo of the car with the fogs on. I’ll post up a full frontal shot of the car once I can source the shattered foglight bezel for the driver side.
FINALLY. A project that doesn’t turn into some kinda of vehicular-disabling, distastrous headache.
Popped the ol’ yeller lenses off… removed the trim, and masked errythang off.
This stuff is AWESOME.
Hit ‘em, left and right.
The color is hella vibrant… even with one coat. I did two coats for added ocular punch.
I decided to hit the back of the angel eyes that surround the high beam for good measure.
But I didn’t like how the face of the angel eyes stood out against the yellow.
So I hit them from every angle.
MUCH better.
Popped the new clear lenses back into place, along with the corner lenses and lower trim.
Headlights and high-beams on.
It looks INSANELY sick in person. I’m amazed at what a difference this makes on the car. Getting those crusty ol’ beat up yellow lenses off there probably made the biggest difference. I’m super-stoked how this turned out… even if I did just find a thread filled with e46 folks doing the same thing. This paint from Vans definitely made a huge difference, and was worth every cent!
It is that time of year again. Where I get the urge to ‘spring clean’ the car and freshen her up with some new parts. Where last year’s parts bonanza was focused on function… this year’s fiesta is looking more towards form.
I picked up a fresh set of headlight lenses. 5+ years of running the yellow lamin-x film… and it is time for a change. My ‘old yellers’ are pretty haggard. They have taken beatings from cones and cars alike… have been epoxied back together several times, and the yellow film is looking more like a muddy brown these days. It will be nice to get a clean set on there.
New bulbs for the Xenons from DDM Tuning. The old set were dying, shifting the light output to a brownish green color.
In lieu of going with clear lenses… I want to hit the highbeam reflectors with clear yellow. A popular method is to use Krylon Stained Glass spray paint… but I couldn’t find it ANYWHERE. After reading some positive reviews… I decided to order some Vans paint instead. I felt better about this product… since it is designed for this very purpose.
Used set of fogs so I can finally replace the one I shattered in ’06. I need to polish the lenses up on these, and I may try and hit the reflectors with yellow as well. I still need to find a driver-side foglight bezel.
Picked up a Hamann knockoff window spoiler for an amazing price. I think it is going to look sick once it is all painted. It has way more contact with the car… so I don’t think this one will fly off the car like the last one.
photo c/o Sir Shawn the Smith
The private DM test-session on the road course at Atlanta Motor Speedway was SICK. Insane high-speed entries, and equally as fast course-exits. I remember looking down as I was apexing the last clip and the speedo was at 85mph. GNAR.
Stay tuned for more details.
