Before I even begin to talk about how great of an event SWD's Autopalooza was, I have to thank everyone who made this race possible, Mark from GT Spec, Tex and Dave from BRE Motorsports, Dan from Assaultech Performance, Todd from Street Wise Drift, Tony from Motordyne and everyone at Computech! Wiithout you guys I wouldnt have such a good car to go race with, thank you all for everything.
Now for the recap of this awesome event. Street Wise Drift always knows how to put on a great show, and Autopalooza 2010 at ZMax Motorsports Park was no exception! The race weekend started late Thursday afternoon when I received the new parts from Mark at GT Spec, after taking the chassis braces out of the box and seeing that beautiful blue powdercoat I immediately called up Tex at BRE Motorsports to see if they had an open lift I could use and I went down there and put them on with some help from Dirty Dave. And wow, BRE has an amazing shop with fully built drag cars and drift cars all over, it was a beautiful sight and they all made me feel at home, thanks guys! After checking out all their new projects I went out and test drove the car and wow, the car felt amazing and I couldn't wait to test in race mode. Friday I gathered all of the new decals thanks to Computech and did final prep for the race in the am. Saturday morning was a quick excited drive from uptown Charlotte to ZMax in Concord. Once we got there the drifters were in there drivers meeting and we got teched in and began to walk the huge course that SWD set up, and boy was it big and fast! The drifters started practice on the course directly next to the time attack course and they were tearing it up with awesome 100+ mph sideways entries! If that doesn't pump you up to go fast, I don't know what does. Once all of the drivers got there, I realized this event would be a good measuring stick for the setup of the G and my driving skill, there was a fully prepped G35 with rollcage and coilovers and 370Z and a bunch of other cars with similar modifications to me. We started the time attack with a parade lap around the course noting all the decreasing radius turns and the double up, we were all ready to race and we knew it would be fast. We would get two runs in the morning and three in the afternoon. My first run surprised me by how fast and smooth the track really was, SWD set it up to allow for 3rd gear 8 grand turns after huge straightaways, it was an awesome course that kept the driver and car on the edge the entire time and with the new setup on the G I could drive it harder than ever, sticking to the line like glue way above redline in 3rd gear, those GT Spec braces were gonna pay off for this race! My morning runs were pretty consistent with two 74's which put me right next to the fully prepped G and Z. With 100+ degree temperatures we took a lunch break and got out of the boiling sun for about an hour and then went back to racing, with everyone eager to drop there times. Coming out on the 3rd run I knew I could drive the car harder in a couple spots and had to hold the throttle in the perfect spot slightly below 8 grand being aware of the engine but knowing there was room to go fast, my third and fourth runs began to drop time with a 74.0 and then a 73.5. Approaching our final run I was confident with my times in the Street Touring class with my 4th run but was still behind the completely prepped G35 and his mid 73 sec lap. I knew on the final run I couldn't hold anything back and had to push the car to the limit on every spot of the track, after hazing the tires around every turn and braking as late as possible I knew it felt like a much faster run and when I pulled into timing and I came through with a 72.3! No official results have been posted yet but once they are I will update this with official times and results. After having a successful raceday thanks to everyone who helped out and mentioned earlier I would have to say that the GT Spec braces were truly put to the test and they passed with flying colors, the car felt amazing and remained consistent and composed in every situation I put it in, thanks again GT Spec! Done racing, we got to check out the awesome Pro Am Drifting that SWD is all about, and boy was it impressive, amazing cars and amazing drivers on a very fast course! SWD you put on yet another great event and I cant wait for the next one. Here are some photos and videos of me racing and later I will update with some coverage of the rest of the event.
Thanks to JP Sarton for the great photos!
