Here is an old car from the Ft.Wayne area that ended up in the hands of a Opposite Grip member out of the South Dakota area.  Thanks for the amazing photos by Jason Myers.  To see more about this car log on to the Midwest Drift Union forum and check it out along with other builds.

Photo Credits:
Andrew Anderson @ NOS Energy Drink
Rhino @ Step Into The Dark Photography

I have to say that sleep is probably one of the most important things an event organizer or anyone in  general should consider before a long day at any racetrack, especially if it’s going to be about a million degrees outside.

This past weekend I totally ran on about 30 minutes of sleep before helping run the NOS Midwest Drift Union Round 4 event at Gateway International Raceway. Myself along with TR, Jorge, Jon, and Mark Lenardon arrived at the track about an hour before all the drivers were “suppose” to show up to start getting everything set up. The city of St. Louis for some reason decided that they needed to start construction this weekend on a bridge, so there was a huge delay on some drivers showing up on time because of a detour no one could seem to figure out. Besides that we got everyone to pass tech with the help of Adam and TJ from Zerolift. Both of them along with the rest of the staff were super awesome making everything run super smooth and fast.

Right on schedule we were able to get our first drivers meeting out of the way and get the tracking going hot for our morning practice sessions. Usually, at all of our events we run the track hot all day. I don’t believe in none of that “lunch break” stuff. Drivers pay to drive, which also explains when I am telling people to “hurry” up. The more seat time the better.

Steve Angerman came out to visit and hangout all the way from New Jersey. One of the coolest dudes ever!

This Gateway event was part of our Formula-D Pro-Am Series which meant we did have to take care of some business and run a qualification and a top 8 bracket. All of the drivers were doing amazing, and judging was not that easy. It was exciting seeing all the guys drive super hard during tandem. This was probably one of the funnest times I have had running an event and hanging out with my friends and family.

The “American Dream” Mike Skudlarek of Michigan was among the top 8 drivers hammering down on the roadcourse.

Bill “Highlife” Cook was also like always being aggressive and having fun once again.

My buddy Kris Hackenson killing it with the LS V8 powered S14.

Lets not forget the winner of the series and event Mike “T2″ Feiock. He simply had all  of the ingredients this year to earn the win and receive a Formula-D license for 2011. We all love you and wish you the best of luck buddy.

I would like to thank all of the DriftSTL staff, Koopa and all of my Control Freak bros for making me feel so welcomed while visiting your fun city.

Next Event: Street Life Tour 2010

After a previous night of extreme fist pumping that was capped off the next day with more beverages, a huge pizza, and fried oreos.  The last thing I thought I would be doing at 4am was trying to stay awake for the battle of Ronnie James Diao vs  Twayne The Rock McQuarrie in the finals of FD Vegas Round 5.

I started watching during the round of 32.  Assbro ruled as always, other then that, pretty much typical fd status driving. I must admit, as much as my heart tells me to dislike Bro Foust, he’s driving like a man and his level of skill really isn’t a question. That leads to the first battle of the top 16 that I can remember. The Stupid Swede and Bro Foust.  Swediot enters in his abortion mobile like a bitch and Bro taps him, instead of continuing like a man, lubinette pretty much quits after knowing he’d get the advantage. Second run doesn’t matter because the advantage was to much to overcome.

This is where things start to get hazy for me.

Keep in mind Driftindy/MDU was hosting a FD chat party on our forum. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, we’re that awesome…You can be apart of the action too!

During this whole thing I’m continuously going in and out of consciousness. I wake up right before the final 4. AMERICA beats TB in regular Bald Eagle fashion to finish out in 3rd. Excited for the final, I get a burst of energy. Then the feed dies for a good 30 minutes. Come to find out there was a brawl. The drifting crowd is getting very NASCAR and I’m a fan. During this lapse of airtime, I passout on the keyboard and type a sting of about 300 letter “f’s”. I awake again to the sound of highly distorted car sounds coming out of my laptop speakers. Final battle time, sweet action! Rainbow in the Dark vs The Smackdown hotel. 5 minute rule graphic awesome…ending in a rad DNF for DIAO’s potato machine. Ok, it’s 4 am, fuck this I’m sleeping.

Uncategorized things and stuff:

Tony calls matly crew biters and then continues to call Scene Glasses out for not being able to party. Random cursing on camera. PBR still likes mustangs. 40 neat-0 tires commercials. A fist fight. Jarod talking about rotory pistons. People booing. FD only has photo’s of about 10 drivers. The weed corvette is still ugly. Close up of the 3 actual women in the stands.

-Trrrrrrrr

Here is a shot of Kris Hackenson at an Indianapolis Speedrome funday earlier this year in his LS powered S14. He will be getting down this upcoming weekend at the NOS Midwest Drift Union Round 4 at Gateway International Raceway. Cant wait to hangout this upcoming weekend buddy. Check Kris out by clicking here.

So a lot has happened in the last year, both Derek King and Bill Cook participated in the Chicago D1GP event and did well. Derek King took on a voyage to go out to California for Formula D Pro-Am Nationals and received a license while finishing in a literally burning to the ground car. And some of the other guys have simply gone on their own way with grown up job and other daily grinds. Besides that this 2010 we have all been focusing on having fun at our Pro-Am event ran by Midwest Drift Union and keep traveling around the Midwest having fun and meeting new drivers around our region. We always remember that Drift Indy is a big family that will simply always be around. Here are some pictures from after a Indianapolis Speedrome event of most of us hanging around the two red and pink s-chassis of both Derek and Bill.  TR is not in the picture because once again he was dealing with a broken car. Everyone is wearing a Drift Indy letter shirts that can be found by clicking on our merchandise link.

Good times!!!!

You always hear people talk about how they have had the best barbeque in the World, but in this case I think myself and other Enthusiast and Drift Indy guys can really agree that Big Hoffa’s in Westfield, Indiana is pretty hard to beat.  We try to support the local joint every other week if possible.

“I get the Buccaneer, because it has everything I need in life” shares Jorge Vega.  You can tell the ribs tell are made with much care, the meat actually falls right off the bone.  All of the side items taste homemade and not just served out of some can from the local grocery store.

The staff and owner always greet you as you walk in and make sure you had a great dining experience on your visit.  The ribs are to die for so make sure you try them.

You also want to make sure to try the homemade ice tea that is right next to the soda machine, it’s seriously super mondo rad.  Next time you’re in the Indianapolis area ask someone to point you the right way to Hoffas, or simply check out their website by clicking here.

The Midwest Drift Union Round Four is weeks away with one of the original Drift Indy drivers on top there’s a lot to think about looking into the future.  Mike Feiock, a top contender in the Pro-AM Series and a native of Indianapolis, humbly waits for the next round at Gateway International Raceway.  With a road racing background, and a spectacular reputation with local Midwest drivers, Feiock still stays very concentrated going into the next round knowing his teammate Bill “Highlife” Cook could still catch him and have a shot at winning the Formula D license that is at stake.

“Drifting is very fun for me, but very expensive, and if I can save some money on not having to make the trip out for nationals, then I will” explained Mike.  “My FC feels amazing but I could use some more horsepower.”

After I asked Mike where he thought he would be next year and what his plans were, he simply answered by saying “having fun at drift events, hanging out with my lovely wife and daughter, and driving every chance possible.  I’m really happy to see where drifting is at now in the Midwest, and all the new faces and drivers that are attending events.”

He also added that competition is fun, but driving close and fast on different tracks is better and moving to the next level in drifting can help accomplish that.