**** GUEST BLOG – BY Nate Hamilton ****

Photos by: Corey Denomy / Video by: Corey Denomy / Enjuku Racing

Day 1

Driver – Nate Hamilton #144

Event – Season opener of the Premiere Pro1 Class of Formula Drift – Round 1   

Location – Long Beach, California 

– 7am. This is the first day of action, our team finishes breakfast, then meets at our trailer to get things started. Generally, mornings consist of setting up camp, overlooking the car. While the team double checks everything, us drivers get caught up to speed at our morning drivers meetings. 

 – 9am. Once the event is given the green light we will start burning tires. Drivers are allowed one 3 hour practice. The focus for me here is getting comfortable and being consistent. In the 3 hours of practice, we ran 8 laps. 

– 1pm. Qualifying starts now! We have two opportunities to make the show. I ran into a mechanical failure on my first lap, putting all the pressure on my second lap. Having experience with this situation in the past, I knew to take it easy and make a lap happen with a safe run. I received a 75/100 landing me in 22nd position going into our main event.

DAY 2

Qualified: 22nd 

Top 32 Battle: Hamilton vs Field 

– 7am. Back to work! 

– 9am. Open Practice – This is where our team is focused on my line and car setup. Am I driving the correct line? How can I better my runs? How’s the pace vs the other guys in the class? Are we consistent? These are the questions we ask often to elevate our results.

– 11am. TOP32 battle – Hamilton vs Field  

This was my first Pro1 battle after moving up from the Pro2 class, I was set to battle Matt Field as he qualified 11th and I qualified 22nd. 

 With some corrections and mistakes on my end, it was clear Matt had the advantage. This doesn’t mean I was going to take it easy on my lead run.

As Matt was following, I did my best to put on a great show for the fans. Bouncing off the first wall running the line wide caused me to get out of rhythm. 

 Matt Field would take the win. I know I will meet him again and look forward to the learning experience that was, Round 1 of Formula Drift. 

– 2pm. After we battle and get the results, we immediately look forward to the next opportunity to gain points and position in the series. As round one comes to a close I will sit in 22nd position. 

– 7pm. Rigs loaded and we are rolling out of the venue. As I sit in the truck I remember.. I would not be able to make this program happen without a great group of friends, family, and sponsors. Thanks to Enjuku Racing for providing an awesome team to work with. BC Racing / Hankook Tires for stepping up, Vibrant / Konig / Competition Clutch and everyone else pushing to make this opportunity the best it can be!  

Next Formula D event:  Our Round 2 will kick off in my current hometown, Orlando FL. Until next time, Thanks for reading!

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Nate runs 17×9 et 25 Konig Hypergrams in the front and 18×9.5 et 25 Konig Hypergram wheels in the rear on his Turbo LSX swapped 240sx.  Nate is a Konig Wheels sponsored driver and drives under Enjuku Racing competing in Formula Drift.

**** GUEST BLOG – BY KEVIN LAWRENCE ****

Hey Everybody, Dropping in with my Formula Drift Texas Recap.

After an early arrival and setup on Wednesday at the Texas Motor Speedway, the crew and I were able to grab an early dinner and some sleep before our first day of driving.
Thursday morning was awesome the weather was actually very mild for what the temperatures have been in previous years and was immensely cooler than the previous round in Orlando, FL. We arrived at the track early to set up our pits and wait for a few last minute shipments to arrive at the track, tires and a new front bumper for me. Our tires arrived an hour or so before practice so we got them all mounted up and set off to the hot pits on the track.

In the drivers meeting, the Judges went over the new driving line and clipping point locations that they had set up for this round. I knew practice would be crucial to get myself and the car dialed in to fluidly connect the course with speed, angle, and style. After the first practice session I was still struggling with the first turn to get the car setup to enter the power alley, then onto the reach out to the wall. Before second practice we made a gear change in the differential to try and adjust wheel speed some to see if it settle the car more to my liking. This had me running all of the track in 3rd gear instead of 4th. The change helped some but it seemed the change wasn’t enough as I was hitting the top of 3rd gear during the power alley in the acceleration zone holding my speed down. With practice ending soon I decided to shift the car into 4th in that area to get the wheel speed back for the acceleration zone and then would have to later drop back down into 3rd to finish the track out. This at the time felt like the best option for the limited runs I had gotten for practice and decided to go into qualifying with this gear setup.

It was now time for qualifying and as I pulled up to the line I felt good and was ready to make my first pass. I was given the go and left the start line, spinning the tires of the car most the way on the run up I got the car up to 3rd gear and initiated into the first turn. I felt the car float out a bit wider than I had desired which by the time I got the car back on line was after the new first front clip and knew that I was quite a bit off of it so I did my best to just finish out the run as smoothly as possible. Score for this run was a 77 which was high enough to get me on the board but I wanted to better the score.

On my second run I was able to get the car setup better on the first turn and through the power alley but coming into the rear wall section of the track I felt the car coming in a bit faster than normal. I tried to correct this by adding a bit more angle to the car to slow down a bit and to keep from making contact with the wall. I got through the wall section but the amount of angle I put into the car had me leaving that rear zone too early causing an early arrival at the next inner clip. I knew at this point my line was severely off at this time and would have caused me to plow through the front clip and drop my front tires off track. I decided to not risk damaging anything on the car by doing this so I pulled the car straight and shut down for my run giving me a 0 for this pass.

My first pass scored a 77, giving me an 11th place qualifying position. Putting me up against Jeff Jones in the Top 16.

Friday started similar to Thursday we had a late shipment of tires arriving so we got to the track early to receive and mount up, then we wait for our time to drive after the Pro1 qualifying. After watching the pro1 guys kill it in practice and qualifying it was our time to drive. I got a few runs in during practice that felt great but of course when you push to get that one more run in something always goes wrong. I was able to make it to the line for a final pass and was following Dirk Stratton in his C6 corvette. The run started off great but after pushing through the power alley I put too much focus on the front clip just before the transition at the wall. Upon focusing on that I realized that Dirk was slowing down more than I anticipated and by the time I realized this and got on brakes it was too late. We made contact his left rear wheel to my right rear wheel is what took most of the impact. I limped the car back to the hot pits to assess the damage, Luckily it was just a broken toe arm bracket that is made to buckle under impact to save more valuable pieces of the car. After a quick 5min change of parts and alignment adjustment, I was ready for Top 16.

Top 16 I was up against Jeff Jones I knew after my crash in Orlando after our OMT call I had to up the bar a bit to get the win clean and clear. But of course when the adrenaline is pumping and the anxiousness of battle hits its hard to keep 100% focused and react as fast as needed. I entered in behind him aggressively to keep a close proximity with intentions to get closer, I started to gain up closer on him and upon doing so I thought I saw what looked like him about to rotate the car however it was just him making an adjustment to his angle. After my previous run in practice with Dirk, my reaction was he was going to spin and I was going to plow through him, I stomped on the foot brake but at the same time partially lifting off throttle which caused a large bobble and straightening on my end. At that time he was able to pull a gap on me to the finish of the run.

The second run was my turn to lead, Doing my best to not let my nerves get to me from the first run I set off to get that 100pt qualifying run. I entered the first turn where I had set my mark and got on throttle and out to angle through the first turn and upshifting into the power alley. I noticed I had gained quite a bit more speed in this area as I did in qualifying but was ready for it so just before the transition towards the wall I reached to grab a bit of handbrake to slow the car down a bit. Upon doing so I either bumped my shifter or it had not been fully engaged in the gear so when I clutched into handbrake and the transmission unloaded it popped out of gear into neutral causing yet another straighten. After finishing the run the judges awarded the win to Jeff who would go on to the great 8.

All in all, it was a great round I want to thank everyone who is a part of the team for all their help and continued support as we together grow and learn from these events and push to get to that top spot on the podium!

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Kevin runs 17×9 et 25 Konig Hypergrams in the front and 18×9.5 et 25 Konig Hypergram wheels in the rear on his RB powered S-chassis.  Kevin is a Konig Wheels sponsored driver and runs on the Enjuku Racing team competing in Formula Drift.

**** GUEST BLOG – BY KEVIN LAWRENCE ****

Photos by: Jessie Ann K.
Whats up everybody!? I finally got a few minutes to sit down and get my Formula Drift Orlando Recap written up for your reading pleasure.

Thursday is Day 1 for us Pro2 Drivers, we have our initial practice and qualifying to get us into the main show on Friday.
Thursday started off great, Orlando is my home track that I have been driving for probably around 8 years. So to say that I’m comfortable there is probably an understatement. First practice started and I sat out the first 20mins to watch everyone take their first few passes to see how the track was reacting to the summer heat. It looked to be a bit loose so I knew to play it safe in practice. First few laps were great got used to the bit slick track and was able to lay down some great consistent runs with some love taps each run on the banks wall.

Second practice I suited up to go out and fine tune a bit of line after the mid section of the track to make sure I had my line down right for the final lower apron turn. again this practice went awesome made some love to the wall again on the bank and got my line dialed in coming into the final sweeper. So needless to say I was ready for Qualifying!

Qualifying! First run out went awesome, again rested the rear bumper of the car up on the wall big angle coming of the bank for front clip one. Fast speed through the center of the track and over the middle bump/ jump and go the car set for the final sweeper a bit later than practiced but was great line and a fluid run none the less. This netted me a score of an 85 putting me in First place qualifier so as you could imagine I was beyond stoked! I held my qualifying position all the way through to my second pass which I went out and pushed a bit hard on the run up for and made just a slight bit of a harder contact on the bank wall than I desired that caused me to have a bit of a bobble mid bank. I finished up the rest of this run with about the same line and angle as my first pass but knew the bobble would hinder my score a bit. Second run I was awarded an 82 score IIRC so I didn’t better my first run but being I was still in 1st I was ok with that. After qualifying was wrapped up I ended up getting knocked down to 2nd place by Marc Landerville who laid down a great run. However I wasn’t upset at all and was stoked on my 2nd place qualifying position!

The Main Event.
Friday started off great being in Orlando means after each day I’m able to go home and sleep in my own bed at my home and not a hotel, so waking up rested at home is awesome before a long day at the track in the terrible Florida Heat. We got a bit of practice to get into the grove before the main comp that went awesome, the car was running perfect and I was feeling good and ready for Battle.
My first battle was up with Luis Lizardi in his E46 BMW. My spotter Rich let me know that Luis was looking pretty comfortable for most the day but sometimes had some issues on the initiation of the bank. like as if his car was down on power or had some lag / power delay issues so I knew to be a bit cautious on the entry. I was up to lead on the first run and ran the best qualifying line I could. I took the high line up on the wall that I had been running all weekend bumping the wall a time or two along the way. I came off the bank with big angle setup for the first clip and got through the center of the track with a fast fluid line and finally out to the final turns long rear clipping zone. After the battle Rich let me know that Luis wasn’t up as high on the wall as I was and had a pretty big correction in the middle of the track so that I would be going into our second battle with the advantage.
Second run I was in the follow position but knew that I had the advantage going into this run. On the run up I gave him a bit too much space and knew this by time I was putting the car in 3rd so I gave it all it had to get up as much speed to catch up on the first turn as I could. I entered up high on the bank and then realized he stayed quite a bit lower line than what I had been running all weekend so I had to walk the car down the bank some to gain proximity and get back on to his line. I got caught up a good bit to him and finished out the last turn by ear only as I was completely blinded in the smoke screen from his tires and luckily enough my hearing was good enough to keep me on a proper line with him and not veer off course. After crossing the line and pulling up next to him the judges had casted their votes and I was awarded the win
Second Battle I was faced up with Jeff Jones. Again it was my turn to lead first so I ran the best qualifying line I could. High on the bank, big angle coming off the bank for the first front clip, a quick transition then out wide on the final turn/ rear zone. At this point Rich comes over the radio letting me know the run was great and I had pretty good gap on Jeff for most of the course and to give him all I had on the follow run. I stayed right up with him on the follow run got the tires spinning in 3rd then gave the car a big flick up at the wall behind him and followed him through the bank. Both of us were on a high line with good proximity. Towards the end of the bank I noticed that Jeff seemed to be going out a bit further than I would have before diving into the first front clip. I let my car float for a second and dove down towards the front clip and threw the big angle I had been all weekend. After passing the first front clip I got anxious he was going to gain traction on me from my big angle so I transitioned a bit earlier than I had been all weekend to make sure he wouldn’t pull away from me. This set me up great behind him in proximity but put me a bit shallow on my line for the second front clip that would I would have to have done a big correction to avoid so instead of taking the points dock for the correction I chose to knik the clip with the front bumper knocking it over as we passed by and setup the cars for the final turn. After passing the finish line and shutting down to line up for the winner to be announced I was pumped! Both runs were an absolute blast and I felt good with my follow run. It took the judges quite a bit of time to make a decision as I assumed our runs were very close in both positions lead/follow. After what felt like 15mins the FD official on track let us know the judges wanted to see us run again I’m guessing my taking out the front clip was just as much of a deduction as the space he gave me on my lead run so the OMT call was just.

OMT! After Jeff and my first battle we were awarded a One More Time call meaning we had to run both our leads and follows again to get the win. I knew how close our battle was previously so after a quick tire change we were back in line to run again. At this point I am beyond pumped! I love driving with Jeff because I know he is there for the same reason as I am, to win, and to have the best time battling for it! So needless to say I knew there wouldn’t be any games from either side and we both wanted clean runs to prove who would be the victor.

I was up to lead first and I was beyond ready! I knew I would have to try and put more of a gap on Jeff if I wanted the win so my plan was to again run the best clean cut qualifying run I could but also do what I could to try and get some more speed through the course while doing so. I launched out of the gate spinning tires through the start chicane and all the way to the initiation point. I hadn’t realized it yet but after reviewing data after the race I found out that on this specific run I picked up 7 to 8mph more than I had been entering all weekend. With this extra speed I should have had the car initiated and set for the turn much earlier than I had all weekend but with the adrenaline pumping I didn’t realize how much speed I picked up on the run up until it was too late. I made initial contact with the wall that unloaded the front of my car that caused the front to start pulling up to the wall. I stayed pinned on the throttle and gave the car every trick I knew to keep the front from coming upward into contacting the wall. I started to slightly regain the car but at this point I was about 65% through the bank and in rough shape, I felt a odd sudden impact in the rear that then just pulled the front of the car the rest of the way up into the wall with no way of recovering at this point. Contact was made with the wall on the front and rear of my car at this point and I did my best to keep my self out of Jeff’s way to keep him from getting tangled in my wreckage. I got the car off the track after Jeff had finished his pass and let my team know that we will have to utilize our 5 minute call to try and fix the car for the second battle. The team started on the rear of the car replacing the 3 rear suspension arms and wheel that I mangled in the wreckage before moving to the front. Upon getting the front we only expected a tie rod to be bent along with possibly a broken wheel from the impact but once we got the wheel off the team then realized the extent of the damage. I broke out the end of my rack and pinion that holds our tie rods into it and unfortunately a rack and pinion is just something that takes more than 5 minutes to swap with having to remove lines and then re-bleed the system so disappointingly at this point it was apparent that I would have to Bow Out of competition and Jeff would be awarded the OMT win and continue on to the Final 4.

I can’t thank everyone from this weekend enough for all their help and efforts from having the car ready for each battle, stitching my rear bumper back together many times from me ripping it off on the wall, helping keep me cool and hydrated in the car, My sponsors for all their support and helping to get me and my crew get out to all the events to have this amazing opportunity to compete, and all my local friends and family as well as friends who traveled from far just to see me compete at my home track. With out all of your support I wouldn’t be able to do this and for that I am truly grateful to have such amazing people working with me and supporting.
Texas is the next round of Pro 2 and as previous rounds will show I will be putting it all out on the track to bring home the carbon trophy for the team. Checkers or Wreckers!

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Kevin runs 17×9 et 25 Konig Hypergrams in the front and 18×9.5 et 25 Konig Hypergram wheels in the rear on his RB powered S-chassis.  Kevin is a Konig Wheels sponsored driver and runs on the Enjuku Racing team competing in Formula Drift.