HELLO EVERYBODY! We’re back in the basement, but this time we’ve brought a guest! Nick Nengas (norotornick) joins Dave, Gavin, and Mike to discuss why a LS powered RX8 is better than a C6 Corvette, and other stuff:
Formula Drift is going back to Irwindale, but we all saw that coming
Ferrari maybe okayed the rolling back of odometers on some cars?
Your questions for Nick
And your choices for cars that you thought would suck, but didn’t.
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It was a nice day out at Utah Motorsports Campus! Mostly sunny with some intermittent clouds, sport bikes from the Apex Track Days event wailing on the West Track, and tires howling in the West Paddock from the drivers of the final Salt City Drift event of the season. At the end of the day, there would be two winners crowned: the winner of the event, and the overall season champion! Let’s see how that all played out:
In third place in the day’s competition was OP Anderson! Despite organizing and being one of the guys running the event, and despite having a box stock Saturn Sky Redline as his chariot, he managed to go out and slay enough to get on the podium.
In second place was the man, the myth, the Southern Dandy: Blaize Potts! We finally got to see his LS powered FC RX-7 ripping, and rip it did. Put a pin in this, cause we’re gonna get back to him in a minute.
Taking home the win was Trevor Malan! Trevor’s S13 has everything that the internet seems to love: sparkly paint, big Weds wheels, a DMAX kit, JDM nose, it’s dumped, and it’s a ripper. And it has something I love: a dude behind the wheel who’s down to drive. Doesn’t matter how cool your car looks, or what parts you’ve thrown on it: if you can’t/won’t drive it like it’s supposed to, then you’re blowing it.
INTERMISSION
This is John. I like John, cause he’s down to get weird. Here he is in his Wisefab equipped E36, munching a cone. It also has some crazy stiff springs out of the Lyfe Motorsport GTR. It was quite a sight to behold.
This is Devin. His Corolla has Arizona tags, lives in a garage in Michigan, and has a BEAMS 3S-GE under the hood. He drove, in that Corolla, all the way from Michigan just to drive in this event. And it isn’t some well sorted, fully developed Corolla. Very recently it was just a lump of 80’s Toyota, sitting in his garage. He got the car on the ground, got it running, then got it running well enough to drive across the goddamn country to slay some tires. Think about that for a second. Devin is the man.
BACK TO SOME ACTUAL NEWS
In addition to the actual competition, there were two games being played: limbo and table. Not quite sure how limbo worked, but the guy who won got some cash. Good job there, fella! It looked like Blaize was going to take the table win, until Nick Stucky showed up. He was having car troubles, but finally managed to get his car running. He did some tandem with Scott Bradshaw, and then he went for the table. Name of the game was to drift through the last two turns of the course, then slide your car to a stop next to a table. You needed to be parallel, or close enough, to the table to be in the running. Blaize set the bar pretty high, or low, but Nick cleared it in whichever direction was necessary. He slide to a stop mere inches from the table, on his only table run of the day!
Speaking of tables (AWKWARD TRANSITION), here’s the podium for the season championship: in third place, with an E30 325, is Hayden Campbell! He might have taken second if he drove the event, but third isn’t bad!
In second place is the guy who used two cars this season: Blaize Potts! He sold the KA24DE powered S13 coupe, and was handsomely rewarded for doing so. Look at that 2nd place trophy and moderately priced champagne!
And the winner of the 2016 Salt City Drift driver’s championship is: Nick Nengas! Proving many things this year (any seat time is good seat time, the 350Z is a solid platform for damn near anything, looking like a child has its benefits) netted him the top spot. It wasn’t an easy task, there were some guys who could shred, but Nick shredded harder. Now, what do three guys with champagne do with it after they’ve received awards?
There was much rejoicing. And so ends the Salt City Drift season. It was an enjoyable one, a solid one, and hopefully one that has a bigger succeeding season. Congratulations to the winners, the people who tried, everyone who came out to support the events, and especially the folks at Salt City Drift. They’re trying to bolster this community we have by hosting these events, and it’d be killer to see some more folks driving, or even volunteering at these events.
Five cars took the grid for GTS2, not a bad number. We had some familiar faces show up back on track, and another 911. Never a bad thing. Unfortunately my favorite Porsche model didn’t take the top spot, BUT my favorite Boxster did. Adam Heller in the 09 Emotive Boxster took home the win in all three races, and walked away with some shiny hardware.
In second place is Tom Rogers, in his E30 3 Series. The old #160 was dead reliable, as far as I could tell, and finished each race on the podium. Quick side note: I don’t know why I want to, but I have this strong desire to spell Tom’s name with an H. Thom instead of Tom. No reason why, but I just really want to do it. Anywell, Tom ran well all day, and all season.
Getting himself the only medal that is man-made (gold and silver are naturally occurring, mankind had to figure out how to make bronze), was Chris Haunold. I’m pretty sure he keeps chatting me up at the events, but I’m not 100% sure. If it is, you’re a pleasant fellow. If it isn’t, then there’s a pleasant fellow roaming the paddock and making small talk. Neither is a bad thing.
Pro Touring E
The sky is blue, the sun rises in the east, and Todd Green (aka Poppa Smurf, aka the unofficially official corrections department of this fair website) won himself another PTE medal. It wasn’t easy, the blue car was willing to go fast, but it made Todd work for it. The hard work paid off, and Todd got himself some more hardware.
Troy Duffin in his Datsun 510 (still packing an L series engine and drum brakes in the rear) was your second place finisher in the class. It’s good to be shooting photos of Troy again, takes me back to when there was NASA sanctioned open wheel racing at our weekends. Good times.
Rounding out the podium was Team Slap Hands in the #158… car? I shot 4600 photos over two days, and I don’t have a #158, which (according to MyLaps) only took part in the first race. I do have some photos of a #58, which was around the cars that the Team Slap Hands car supposedly did. Who is the #58?
PAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUULLLLLLL MITTTCCCCCCHHHHHHHEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. Speaking of MyLaps, guess who didn’t run the race that produced this photo opportunity? Yeah, so good ole Paul (who had a rotating cast throughout the weekend) either took home third, or fifth. Regardless, Smilin Joe Sims is listed in 4th. UPDATE: Yeah, it was all Paul Mitchell. The 158 and 58 are one and the same. The Timing and Scoring system doesn’t like having the same number with multiple drivers in a class, hence this whole confusion.
Spec Boxster
Spec Boxster is still a thing, and it’s still occupied by one man. One hero: Mark Boschert. He wasn’t all by himself though. His pace on two of the three races kept him close to either the GTS2 cars, or the PTE field. On East he outran the Spec Miatas by a few seconds, but trailed the slowest Spec Z by over four seconds. Boxsters are cheap, people! Come on! Someone else grab one, and get in on some spec racing!
Spec Miata
It was Williamson and Bond vying for the class win. By taking the first two races, and finishing second in the third, Chris Bond earned himself a much deserved martini. It was close though, Matt Williamson kept close in those first two races, just like he did all season. The TresDuro was a microcosm of the entire Spec Miata season, and it was awesome to watch.
Matt Williamson was knocking on the door all season, but he couldn’t get over the hump. I’m telling you, next season he’s going to clear that hump. Spec Miata is an old class, but it always breeds great drivers and good racing. Next season, spend some time watching Matt Williamson fight for the crown.
Craig Shane finished the day in third. He’s a grinder, he was the only Spec Miata driver to start every race this season! That’s sixteen races! Craig is a lot like the Miata he races: dead reliable. Craig deserves some sort of award for his reliability.
Spec Z
You guys remember when Spec Z was just three cars? I do. You know how many cars took to the tarmac for this year’s TresDuro? 16. Man how this ridiculousness has grown.
Topping this ridiculousness was Arthur Golebiowski, one of the OG Spec Z drivers. Doing this for two and a half years gives you some skills and insight, and Arthur has all of those things rolling around his head. His average margin of victory was over six and a half seconds in the TresDuro, which begs another question: what does he think about while he’s all by himself at the front? Is he like Kimi Raikonen, dreaming of his next nap? Kittens? Arthur is a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, strapped into a silver 350Z.
Not an OG, but definitely a long time Spec Z driver, Chad Aalders took home second place! Chad spent most of his day battling another OG, and looking longingly at Arthur’s taillights. Well, I’m not so sure about that last part, but he spent a fair amount of time looking at the back of Arthur’s car.
Rounding out the top three is Tom Kaminski. He spent plenty of time in his retro liveried Z battling Chad, and chasing down Arthur. Tom and Arthur having been battling it out with each other since 2014, and I hope they keep it up for years to come.
Speaking of blasts from the past, we had a Thunder Roadster field! JD Stull came out swinging, and took the win in all three races. Normally I’d stop the Thunder Roadster writing at that, BUT THERE WAS ANOTHER THUNDER ROADSTER!
Yes, there was another! Jihn Han, coming out of nowhere, took home some hardware.
And there it is, the round up of the Lightning group. Looking for the Thunder and/or Time Trial write ups? I’ve got separate posts for them.
*Article and Photos are copyright of CAMautoMag.Com and their respective owners.
Not sure if you guys know this, but it got chilly just in time for this past weekend’s Salt City Drift event. And I’m not sure if you know about Tooele County, but it tends to be a bit windier out there. Despite the wind, and the cold there were some brave individuals doing some skids! Brandon Wicknick came out with the D-Spare hauler, unloaded some cars (including his IS300), then took a nap. Listen, it’s hard work being America’s Favorite Drifting Ginger. He deserves a nap every now and again!
Derrick Lopez was out in his simple S13 hatchback, ripping up the course in his own, quiet way.
Nick Nengas let his inner street ripper out, and laid down some solid runs in front of the Metro Security SUV.
That’s a ripper Trevor, that is indeed a ripper.
There was a contest, but I have no idea what happened. So in lieu of results, here’s a big ass gallery!
It was another hot one in Utah, but despite the heat, and traffic, and a massive fire that billowed smoke into the area, round four of the Salt City Drift season carried on.
There was, of course, a competition. I’m not sure how tandem turned out, but I can say that it did pull some of the drag racing spectators over to the bowl. That was pretty cool to see. On the solo side, we had Blaize Potts and his Scoundrel mobile in third.
Crowd pleaser Hayden Campbell in second.
And Nick Nengas & Teddy took home another win. Next event is back at RMR on August 5th. Come spend an evening in the oval with us! Here’s a big ass gallery to tide you over
Saturday saw the Scoundrels, nerds, and various other parties interested in drifting converge on Utah Motorsports Campus for Round 3 of the Salt City Drift season. I was one of those nerds/interested parties who made it out, to bring you some photos! And maybe a video! But just photos for right now. And a little bit of news. Nick Nengas, I’m assuming in his 350Z, won the competition.
Blaize Potts, all the way up from St. George (what’s your excuse for not coming out?), took second in his twin cam KA powered S13 coupe. That’s all I got for now. I left at lunch, but I still got some shots for you. FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS GALLERY!
Drifting is a very colorful thing, undertaken by very colorful people. This is not going to be colorful, because I did some black and white edits of the photos I shot after sundown. I call it…
Yes! It actually happened! There was an organized, legal drift event that went off without fear of rain! And it was a solid six-ish hours (drivers meetings, loading and unloading of cars, and so forth) of driving! Of course local hero Brandon Wicknick was there! And so was Nick Stucky! Although his banana mobile decided it wanted to plantain. And Derrick Lopez came out, in an SR20 powered S13 hatchback, that was a lot like Brandon’s. Just more pedestrian in the looks department.
Scott Bradshaw and Dane Seering were out in LS powered S13 coupes. Scott went with a bass boat theme, while Dane went with a general death and destruction vibe.
We had some friends come up from Southern Utah, and they taught us some valuable lessons: You can link the whole track if you have a twin cam KA in your 240 and have enough lights, and a stock E46 M3 is ready to party as soon as you pull the right fuses. It wasn’t just a drift event, it was a learning experience.
Speaking of learning, there were a lot of new faces out there! It was good to see some guys who weren’t afraid to go out, suck out loud, and seek out answers as to why they suck, from people who don’t. That’s how you learn kiddies: go, do, suck,, figure out why you sucked, go again, do again, suck a little less. I hope we see these guys out again, because by the end of the night they made some progress in the right direction!
We also had our first contest! Blaize Potts, in his KA24DE powered S13 coupe, finished in first. Nick Nengas in a virtually stock 350Z finished in second. Third place was occupied by Hayden Campbell in his E30 BMW. This wasn’t just a contest for the sake of having a contest. There are season long stakes on the line! Whoever has the most points at the end of the season wins a roll cage, or possibly a set of wheels. Not bad for coming out and sliding with your buddies!
The next event is June 18th, out at Utah Motorsports Campus. This is a daytime event, running from 9am until 5pm. There’s a mandatory lunch break, so you won’t miss out on any driving because you want a burger. We hope to see all of these (mostly) smiling faces, along with yours out there!
YOU THINK YOU WOULDN’T GET SOME BONUSES?
*Article and Photos are copyright of CAMautoMag.Com and their respective owners.
Not everything was run in the rain. A good chunk of the TT sessions were run in the dry, cool air which allowed the drivers to set some good lap times. Good times like the 1:39.675 James Pasquier laid down to take the win in the largest TT class of the day, TT3. He was the only TT3 driver to set a time in the 1:30’s.
TT1 saw the return of David Gilliland. Unfortunately I didn’t see that triumphant return, but I did see him in the Lightning race. He threw down a 1:38.821 in the first session of the day.
Shawn didn’t blown anything up, or set fire to anything! Hooray! He did rip a coupler on his intercooler piping, but that didn’t stop him from lapping the West Track in 1:36.742 and taking the win in TT2. By the way, he still calls his Subaru a “street car” because it has a full interior. It has a full rollcage that makes a lot of that interior useless ballast, but he seems to enjoy it.
David Bradshaw went out in the first session and threw down a 1:45.668, which held up all day and got him the TTB win. Again, missed that session but caught the Lightning race. Here ya go Dave.
TTD was a one man show. That man being Trevor Pope. He ran a 1:49.481 in the second session.
PAUL MITCHELL was atop the TTE ladder, with a 1:46.946 and Todd or Matt or Alex or whoever behind the wheel. The official results sheet says Todd Green, but in case that was wrong I have officially covered my bases!
And finally, in TTU, Brendon Stewart graduated to the Huracan and put down a very respectable 1:30.142! He was the highest placing Makes & Models driver on the day, but all of the Makes & Models drivers finished on the podium in their respective classes.
And there you have it for TT. Tomorrow we return with our final group: Thunder! Prepare for Thunderdome puns, clouds, and rain photos.
*Article and Photos are copyright of CAMautoMag.Com and their respective owners.
The forecast called for rain, and it did not disappoint. At times on Saturday the West Track seemed more fit for a regatta then sports car racing, but the brave and/or foolish drivers in the Lightning race group were prepared for the conditions! Some held it together better than others, while others just tried to hold it together.
At the top of the field and his class was Arthur Golebiowski. I’m not 100% sure how he does it, but when the rains fall Arthur seems to wind up atop the Spec Z podium. He also won himself a hat for being the overall race group winner:
See? Fancy stuff!
In the other Spec class, Spec Miata, Chris Bond got himself out of the wet race and into a dry win! See, in my head I had “got himself out of the wet race and into a dry martini” because James Bond drinks martinis… And Chris’s last name is Bond… And his car number is 007… There’s a little peak behind the curtain for you. Anyway, Chris took the class win by 15.580 seconds.
STUNNING NEWS IN PTE!!! Todd Green didn’t win! I’ll give you a minute to fix your face
…
That’s better. Randy Cummings, also in a Miata, beat out Todd by 9.313 seconds.
Mid-engined Porsches seem to be the chassis of choice in GTS3, and black seems to be the “in” color. Jeff Burton, in his Porsche with the engine in a far more sensible place, brought home a win.
And finally, in GTS2 we had a battle between Chris Haunold in his trusty 911 and Tom Rogers and his E30 3 series. Porsche vs. BMW! Bavaria vs. Not Bavaria! Yuppie wounder vs. Yuppie wounder! WHO WOULD WIN?!? Who would emerge victorious in this titanic battle of 1980’s opulence?!? If you had your money on the man in the Porsche…
…
TAKE YOUR WINNING TICKETS TO THE WINDOW! Tom finished on the lead lap, but the margin of victory for Chris was the largest in the entire group: 19.034 seconds.
Where’s the rest of the coverage?!? It’s coming over the next couple of days.
*Article and Photos are copyright of CAMautoMag.Com and their respective owners.
