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ProAm Round 2 Recap

Round 2 for Formula Drift Pro-AM was AWESOME!! Round 1 where multiple Drivers were bouncing back from a lot of Crashes. A total of 5 cars on the bank I believe… So understandably a few cars were missing from Saturday’s competition.

Still haggard and war torn, Kory Keezer took the title of #1 qualifier. We’re really looking forward to seeing Keezer destroy this hometown track against his rivals in next month’s FormulaD Drift Round.

Heading into main Top 16 Competition it would be the top 4 qualifiers who would take by-runs onto the next round. Keezer , Kyle Pollard, Matt Vankirk, and Ian Fournier all gracefully earning the cakewalk to top 8.

Battles in Top 16 also included the FC vs FC / V8 vs JZ battle with twin charged Scott Pham knocking out Michael Tweak Klingele.

Tyler Grimsley had fallen victim to more mechanical failure giving the pass to Cameron Moore. His car is Super quick on the bank with Nitto Tires now too!

Aaron Day has been a great new addition to the field. He brings a ton of talent and a great looking chassis. Unfortunately getting knocked out by Jim Xiong in top 16 though.

Ket Voang was also having troubles bouncing back from his crash at Round 1 and falls to Hagen.

Top 8 battles! One battle that was A really neat sight to see: Ian Fournier and Kim Xiong go against each other - 4 Door Skyline Vs 2 Door, in a scene straight out of Japan. A Great battle and Fournier would take the win.

Vankirk earned the A By-run to Top 8 with his stellar qualifying run. He was paired up with Cameron Moore and battle both drivers had major mistakes in the first heat, so the judges decided on one more time. Vankirk was a strong contender but went a little too wide going into the infield on his lead; the win then going to Cameron Moore.

Scott Pham’s car comes alive at night; the “Disco Mode” is a great sight on the bank! Pham had trouble keeping up with Keezer though, He did earn himself a one more time after the first set of battles, but Keezer would go on to take the win.

Kyle Pollard in his “Missile” up against Erich Hagen, Pollard had the advantage coming into the infield with Hagen being off track but then Kyle seemed to shut down and coast off while Erich paced behind. On Erich’s Lead Run Kyle took the B-line off and forfeited to mechanical failure.

TOP 4 Was upon us!! First Battle Was Kory Keezer getting chased down by Cameron Moore. Keezer had the advantage at first but his chase run was sloppy in spots which gave the win to Cameron. Keezer sitting tight for his chance to battle for 3^rd place.

Evergreen Oldboys had a great battle here as Erich Hagen chased down Ian Fournier and Stayed on his toes dancing through the infield. Had a good lead run too but was a little low on the bank and had a slight correction on his chase as well. Which meant he would hang back to battle for 3^rd place against Keezer.

3^rd Place Battle Keezer getting the lunge on Hagen off the start but Erich keeping up and staying smooth behind Keezer. On Erich’s lead Run Keezer fell way far behind Erich on the bank, and gave the Win and Podium to Erich Hagen.

Final Battle with Ian Fournier Leading Cameron Moore. Moore doing a great job playing the shadow behind Ian, but his gap was shuffling in the chase. Ian then was Chasing Cameron; who lead an amazing line into the infield. Ian was Right with him the whole time and kept the gap clean and consistent. Earning him the Win and Top Spot on Podium for Pro-Am Round 2!!!

car #	Driver	bracket points	qualifying points	Total Points Earned		Season Standings	pts
9	Ian Fournier	100	6	106	1st	Kory Keezer	179
33	Cameron Moore	88	4	92	2nd	Cameron Moore	174
777	Erich Hagen	78	2	80	3rd	Erich Hagen	174
888	Kory Keezer	69	8	77	4th	Ian Fournier	167
171	Scott Pham	61	3	64	5th	Michael Klingele	145
18	Matt Vankirk	61	5	66	6th	Matt Vankirk	143
70	Kyle Pollard	61	7	68	7th	Kyle Pollard	125
559	Jim Xiong	61	4	65	8th	Ket Voang	120
188	Tyler Grimsley	54	2	56	9th	Scott Pham	120
22	Michael Klingele	54	2	56	10th	Tyler Grimsley	119
29	Ket Voang	54	3	57	11th	Aaron Day	118
24	Aaron Day	54	2	56	12th	Jim Xiong	65
					13th	Dave Nedelcu	59
					14th	Matthew Coffman	58
					15th	Andre Escalante	57
					16th	Donnie Jones	55
					17th	Gleb Antonov	55

A few Drivers camped out from the previous day’s festivities, only to arise early and prepare to compete on the 3/8ths bank. Round two saw many of the same faces as the first, but a larger cap meant more drivers had the opportunity to qualify. Close to 50 drivers showed up to qualify for the top 32 spots.

Our Top Qualifier for grassroots was Marc Ulin in the 1UZ powered Corolla.

Nikki San Miguel made another appearance. Really getting settled in and comfortable on the bank. She fell victim to a bad wheel bearing and got knocked out in top 32.

Another Driver progressing rather well has been Vince Moore. His older brother is one of our locally Licensed Formula D Pro Drivers, so drifting is apparently in their blood. Vince would get knocked out in the 32 in his battle with Danny Ziegler.

Ronnie Bender also knocked out in top 32 against “Mustang Mike” Goddard. Great looking Nissan S14 is sure to make some strong moves in the future.

Into the Top 16, it was great to see Peter Taylor make the drive up from Oregon again. An alternate car from what he drove last year.

Hachi’s are starting to make a stronger and larger showing. Tanner Mandelin is great in the 86, but he too got knocked out; by John Raymer.

Aaron Mosman was out with a heavy foot to fight for another podium finish. He placed 2^nd at Round 1. Here however he lost going up against now seasoned highrider Chris-Goldie Wells.

Raheel Qureshi is a stellar as a chef and behind the wheel. His delivery/ Competition car got him all the way to Top 8! Don’t forget to try his cooking as USMANIA restaurant!

http://usmaniacuisine.com/

Another Strong showing in the Top 8 was Mike Goddard. His unique Stang now with more angle! But he too would fall short to the bar set by Chris Goldie-Wells.

As we worked our way into the Final Four, a new appreciation was born for lower HP cars making a great stand this round. Round 1 in the wet was understandable the “team LowHP” would be make the podium streak, but even on the dry grounds at round 2 we saw an impressive showing of what are considered “entry level cars.”

It just Goes to show that it doesn’t take much to get out here, and that Driver skill has improved by leaps and bounds here at the track. Fourth Place finisher in the 16valve Toyota; Danny Ziegler!

The 3^rd Place Finisher and returning from Atop the podium at round 1. Tyler Twisty Archuleta!

2^nd Place making waves of style and smoke was Marc Ulin!

And in 1st Place for Round 2 after finishing last year as our grassroots champion; Chris Goldie-Wells!

Points are adding up… here is how the season standing currently look. We’ll see you at Round 3!!

	Driver Name	Qualifying Points Earned	Bracket Points Earned	Total Points Earned		FINAL STANDINGS:	RND 1	RND 2	TOTAL

	Qualifying order				1st	Tyler "Twisty" Archuleta	107	85	192
1st	Marc Ulin	8	88	96	2nd	Danny Ziegler	86	70	156
2nd	Tyler Archuleta	7	78	85	3rd	Aaron Mosman	93	54.5	147.5
3rd	Chris Goldie-Wells	6	100	106	4th	John Raymer	75	64	139
4th	Raheel Qureshi	5	61	66	5th	Mike Goddard*	56	65	121
5th	Thomas Skarshaug	4	54	58	6th	Thomas Skarshaug*	55	58	113
6th	Mike Goddard	4	61	65	7th	Chris Goldie-Wells	0	106	106
7th	Johnathan Raymer	3	61	64	8th	Marc Ulin	0	96	96
8th	Thomas Micich	3	61	64	9th	Chris Johnson*	65	22	87
9th	Cody Kelson	2	20	22	10th	Thomas Micich	23	64	87
10th	Aaron Leavitt	2	20	22	11th	Raheel Qureshi*	20.25	66	86.25
11th	Chris Johnson	2	20	22	12th	Dio Ortiz*	65	20.25	85.25
12th	Rachael Smith	2	54	56	13th	Aaron Leavitt*	54.5	22	76.5
13th	Danny Ziegler	1	69	70	14th	Nathan Snyder*	20.5	55	75.5
14th	Alan Nguyen	1	20	21	15th	Stephen Edwards*	55	20.25	75.25
15th	Nate Snyder	1	54	55	16th	Trais Taylor*	54.5	20.5	75
16th	Peter Taylor	1	54	55	17th	Peter Kim*	20.5	54.5	75
17th	Trais Taylor	0.5	20	20.5	18th	Dillon Duong	64	0	64
18th	Alex Ramrod	0.5	20	20.5	19th	Rainero Macapinlac	63	0	63
19th	Aaron Mosman	0.5	54	54.5	20th	Jesse Hayes*	56	0	56
20th	Nikki San Miguel	0.5	20	20.5	21st	Rachael Smith	0	56	56
21st	Vince Moore	0.5	20	20.5	22nd	Peter Taylor	0	55	55
22nd	Jayce Habich	0.5	54	54.5	23rd	DJ Wilson*	54.5	0	54.5
23rd	Tanner Mandelin	0.5	54	54.5	24th	Jayce Habich	0	54.5	54.5
24th	Peter Kim	0.5	54	54.5	25th	Tanner Mandelin	0	54.5	54.5
25th	Stephen Edwards	0.25	20	20.25	26th	Braydon Batungbacal	54.25	0	54.25
26th	Cameron Caldwell	0.25	20	20.25	27th	Cody Kelson*	20.5	22	42.5
27th	Ronnie Bender	0.25	20	20.25	28th	Alan Nguyen*	20.25	21	41.25
28th	Dio Ortiz	0.25	20	20.25	29th	Cameron Caldwell*	20.5	20.25	40.75
29th	Jay Planedin	0.25	20	20.25	30th	Nikki San Miguel*	20.25	20.5	40.75
30th	Andrew Priest	0.25	20	20.25	31st	Jordan Peterson	22	0	22
					32nd	Gaelen Norman*	21	0	21
					33rd	John Danyal*	21	0	21
					34th	Brian George*	20.5	0	20.5
					35th	Alex Ramrod	0	20.5	20.5
					36th	Vince Moore	0	20.5	20.5
					37th	Forrest Vertz*	20.25	0	20.25
					38th	Tommy Bennys*	20.25	0	20.25
					39th	Chase Lorfeld*	20.25	0	20.25
					40th	David Savidia*	20.25	0	20.25
					41st	Ronnie Bender	0	20.25	20.25
					42nd	Jay Planedin	0	20.25	20.25
					43rd	Andrew Priest	0	20.25	20.25

Round 1 Pro-Am Recap. (pictures coming soon)

Look how far we’ve come. When we first decided to throw locals out on the 5/8ths, we could barely gaggle together half a dozen drivers. Fast forward a few years, and we have a full fledged progam with more than 20 5/8ths competitors for round 1, and its looking to be closer to 25+ cars for round 2.

These drivers will be competing for points throughout the season in hopes of earning a Formula D Pro licence. We do have some licenced drivers competing alongside, they too are in the running for the championship but will not effect the chances of other drivers getting FD liceneces. The top 4 UNSEATED drivers at the end of the year will recive the title for FD pro Driver, and go on to represent us in 2014.

Practice time we saw drivers in shakedown mode, some making their first drives on the 5/8ths in months. Unfortunately we saw a few drivers shake things a bit too loose, falling victim to mechanical failure before qualifying. Roland Gallagher was primed and ready for his return to Pro-Am Ranks, however fell victim to a broken Rocker Arm.

One driver that we were all very excited and anxious to see return to evergreen was Trent Stromkins. He’s been supporting evergreen for a long time and has had his car under the knife for what seemed like forever. Trent Finally got the 1UZ corolla finished, but met an unfortate ending when he crashed into the wall during practice on Saturday.

To the other drivers that met the wall round 1 as well, we wish you good luck on repairs and recovery; Ket Voang. Erich Hagen, Matt Vankirk, Mike Phillips, and Jim Xiong all took a bite of big ol’ white and blue.

I’ve been with evergreen drift since the start and I personally have seen pretty much every single drift crash; I can honestly say this one was the worst. Trent is an extremely talented and capeable driver. We have nothing but upmost respect and the highest wishes and hopes of recovery for you Trent.

Top 16 was set and we saw some new drivers in the field here as well. We’d like to welcome to the EVD family Matthew Coffman , Scott Pham, and Aaron Day!

And how’s this for a blast from the past. Gleb Antonov bringing back the Baby blue Dolphin (circa 2009’)

Donnie Jones has some new colors this season! Goin from gold to a nice vibrant energetic yellow!

Another driver we hav’nt seen since FD last year, Dave Nedelcu, the lone ranger in the mustang, ran very strong on Saturday as well, already super comfortable with the wall. Had an AMAZING chase on the bank creeping up on Aaron Day, but over rotated coming into the infield giving the win to Day.

As we worked our way through the Pro-Am Procession, the sun was dropping which meant the cars really coming alive at night. Completely distracting here J Scott Pham throws out Disco mode for his top 16 battle against Cameron Moore.

Kyle Pollard was out in show debuting his “other” car, a missle turned 5/8ths competitor, deemed the “black knight”. Kyle fell victim to a bad water pump/ blown head gasket.

Working our way towards the finals. The battles get closer and closer, Great runs in top 8 by Aaron Day and Erich Hagen! Day washes a bit too far off line giving the advance to Erich.

Ket Voang was staged up against Kory Keezer in top 8. Charged hard to get some clean air but too much speed sent him into the wall, giving the win to Keezer. Ket also hadn’t driven since FD last year, but was looking strong on his test day the previous wedensday. Props to the guys at Passing Lane Performance for getting it together in time for competition, we know Ket will bounce back from this one as well.

With the night almost over we had worked our way into Final Four. Immedietly following Kets run-in with the wall, Erich Hagen took a hit in his battle against Michael. Erich still seems excited and happy with his new setup, switching from the CA18 and going with JZ power this season with the help of NissanParts. Again, just like with the other drivers, we know he’s gonna bouce back and make a strong showing at round 2.

The Battle for 3^rd paired Kory Keezer up with Cameron Moore. The loser automatically getting 3^rd with Hagen being crashed out, and the winner going on to battle Michael for 1^st. Cameron has been spending a lot of time in the seat during the offseason, and that time has payed off, looking really stong in the 3^rd place battle here.

Cameron with JZ power and a stellar new Livery, was riding nice and high on his lead run with Keezer. Straightened out on the infield as Keezer stayed on his toes. Cameron held his own on the Chase as well but could not close the gap on Keezer, and Kory progressed onto the Final Battle. Still a Podium Finish and Great start of the Season for Cameron Moore and Gang

Final Battle. Nissan VS Mazda! Both LS powered and dancing on Falken Tires. Keezer the Seated Pro and Michael the Seasoned Athlete as well. With one winking headlight Keezer mimicked Michaels line on the first run, it seemed that Tweak had an advantage with keezer not being able to close the gap.

But on the final Run. Tweak having the setup for success but drops the ball and straightnes out on the infield behind Keezer. Securing his spot in second and bringing an end to a long amazing night.

Results:

1st. Kory Keezer

2nd. Michael Tweak Klingele & Erich Hagen (please read info here http://evergreendrift.com/blog/please-read-announcement-regarding-round-1-mistakes)

3rd. Cameron Moore

4th. Matt Vankirk

Overall A Success! Round one had insane weather, gnarly Crashes, and lots of other factors working against us. We finished in time and overall felt that the event was a BLAST!!!

We look forward to seeing you all at round 2!

-Mat Risher.

Grassroots Round 1 Recap! (Pictures Coming Soon)

Grassroots Round One was quite the spectacular event! Evergreen Drift’s Grassroots Series was off to an amazing start with a Great turnout of Drivers. We had a mix of new faces and some familiar names from last year. All to get their foot in the door for points; chasing down bragging rights and the title of Grassroots Drifting Champion.

Practice in the Morning Started off smooth. This was the time for Drivers to lock down lines and setups for qualifying. A lot of faces to the sky during practice, as Washington weather was giving us unpredictable indications.

Qualifying! The pressure was on! Grassroots drivers would have only 3 runs to get good impressions on the judges. We saw a few unfortunate 0’s, it’s a gamble for a few drivers that don’t make it into the big show, but we hope they try again next round!

32 Grassroots Drivers locked in position. Game On!

Weather certainly played a factor. At one point the inconsistency above was over and we had a clean sheet of water on the track. All The Lower horsepower drivers got a evil smile on their faces and proceeded to destroy.

John Raymer got a good shoe-in of points as well. The returning heavy hitter from last year. He finished with a fourth place finish for this round.

At the end of the Night, we had an all underpowered podium. Tyler “Twisty” Archuleta, the evergreen old boy, took top spot in his dual cam killer.

“Team Team” driver Aaron Mosman also sporting a dual cam coupe, took second place.

And Danny Z, one of the “Little corollas that could”, saw his first podium as well at 3^rd place.

Results.

1st. Tyler Twisty Archuleta

2nd. Aaron Mosman

3rd. Danny Ziegler

see points standings here >>> http://evergreendrift.com/2013-grassroots-round-1

Hello Evergreen Drift Drivers And Fans!

First and Foremost thanks to everyone again who came out and supported us during round 1 and NissanFest Weekend. On Saturday we worked our way through more than 50 cars and understandably had a few hiccups along the way. We at Evergreen Drift would like to Apologize for the mistakes that happened during this opening round of competition.

In case you were not aware, we’ve had some major changes in staff and personnel this year, and we have had some growing pains along with the transition. However despite the pains, we’ve got a lot more opportunities for success and we still believe that 2013 is going to be our biggest year yet. We hope you’ll continue to support us.

We’d like to recognize and let everyone know exactly what mistakes were made. That way we can assure everyone that these won’t happen in future rounds of competition. We are always open to suggestions and improvement. Please don’t hesitate to speak up about a concern during an event.

1. Communication.

a. it had come to our attention only after the event that Pro-Am drivers were unaware that the first two runs during qualifying were practice runs.

b. some drivers and pit crew were given wrong times to suit up and bring their cars to staging.

c. some drivers and pit crew were not notified of second drivers meeting.

d. drivers and pit crew were not notified specifics on judging criteria, specifically the ruling on one or two tires off.

A lot of simple fixes to take place with communication. A Less congested day with only Pro-Am cars will help with the juggling as well.

2. Brackets.

a. Both grassroots and Pro-Am fell victim to right side brackets being setup backwards, making the lower qualifying go first.

**** 3. Judging and Event Procession.****

During the Top 8 Battle: Michael Klingele VS Matt Vankirk, judges ended up basing their decision on the drivers leading runs. On Michaels Chase run he spun out and on Matts chase run he shut down and stopped drifting (both 0 runs); So based on just the lead runs the Judges did award MATT VANKIRK the win, however; since his car was broken, WE made the mistake of defaulting to the only running car (Michael) on to top 4.

This was a HUGE MISTAKE on our part. Matt Vankirk should have been progressed into top 4, with him out to technicalities; it would have meant a By-Run for Erich Hagen into 2^nd place. Since this was completely our fault we have decided to leave no driver at penalty.

Erich Hagen will now also be awarded 2^nd place in a “tie” with Michael Klingele, and both will receive 88 points.
Matt Vankirk is moved up to 4^th place and will receive 69 points.
Michael Tweak Klingele will keep his 2^nd place position and points.

Evergreen Drift recognizes our errors and that none of the drivers or pit crew are at fault in any way. These mistakes are purely on Evergreen Drift and we apologize to the drivers, pit crews, and fans for any issues this may have caused.

We are working on immediate changes to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us at lupe@evergreenspeedway.com. afrodrift@evergreenspeedway.com

We are 2 days away from the Start of the Formula Drift Weekend. Round 1 in Long Beach California has long been a ceremonious occasion; as the Opening Formula Drift event –it’s the debut round where drivers from around the world showoff their new cars, stellar setups, and unique looks.

All winter long the Pro-Drivers have been buried away in random shops and garages. Awaiting parts and continuing the fabrication into what will become their chariots for the 2013 season.

Evergreen Drift has a Proud Handful of Drivers that earned their licensed through our program, and are staged up to compete this upcoming weekend. Lets take a look at a few of our hometown heroes, and see what they’ll be piloting this year in Formula Drift.

Victor Moore - With the help of Drift office, will be piloting this JZ powered S13 Silvia.

Chris Jeanneret – After a year in hibernation, returns to the grid in the STR Racing S14 Silvia

Kory Keezer – A Skyline R32 Facelift on Keezers MaxwellPower S13. Ready to Rage.

Rob Primo – A highly anticipated debut is set for Factory 83 and Rob Primo in his Garage Autohero JZ powered S14.

Walker Wilkerson – Former Snohomish resident turned Californian, this is Walkers 3rd year in the pro ranks but the First Year he has swapped out of his familiar purple s13. An Twin Turbo S14 is in the works, we look forward to seeing the final result.

Be sure to watch the event online live! Follow the links on qualifying and Race day from www. FormulaD.com. Good luck to all the Drivers!

splash image by larry chen.

-Mat Risher

ProAm Round 2 Recap

Grassroots Round 2 Recap

ProAm Round 1 Recap

Grassroots Round 1 Recap

PLEASE READ- Announcement Regarding Round 1 Mistakes.

Hometown Heroes: Local Drivers Competing in FormulaDrift Round 1