Formula Drift Englishtown Raceway NJ, June 14

[MomsSol]

Originally Posted by Rusty You under-rate yourself; you're a very popular guy in the important circles. We'll miss you.

I couldn't have said it better!

[dengel]

I'll be there. I guess I'll just wander over to the RMR area when I get, I'm sure I'll run into you guys eventually.

[MomsSol]

Hey .... didn't Reed win tickets to this at MECCA II???

[lil goat]

Glad you are going to make Dengel, I will be easy to find.

[Antonio]

Originally Posted by MomsSol Hey .... didn't Reed win tickets to this at MECCA II???

yes he did. however he couldn't make it because of a previous engagement, so he passed them on to me. I owe him big time. I'll be there on the Rhys Millen guest list, as well as hanging with them and the Gardella Racing team.

[sunnygator]

Originally Posted by lil goat Glad you are going to make Dengel, I will be easy to find.

I'm heading up SAT with my son. Planning to meet up with Rusty somewhere along the way. Should be GGGGRRREEEAAATTTT!

[sunnygator]

See picts here:


Formula Drift Picts Englishtown, NJ

[Antonio]

yup, great event. I'm about to head to Atlantic City for a couple days so i'll post my pictures and videos when I get back.

Ran into Dengel, and also got to meet Lil Goat finally.

[lil goat]

It was great to see everyone, and Rhys took third, and Dai his teammate took forth. I have a lot of pictures to post!

[BadParkingBlock]

Lil Goat, I saw you and Dengel in Rhys's booth. Had I known who you were I would have said "hi." (I was wearing a Tigers hat, btw.)

It was a great time, though I thought the view at Wall was much better. At Englishtown, after the second turn there was so much smoke (and sometimes dirt) it was difficult to see the cars. I also missed the fact that last year not only could you actually see the start of the race (model dropping the flag), but the exit area was right in front of the stands and the drivers would wave or do burnouts as they left.

Still, a great event!

[lil goat]

Wall was a very none typical event, it was not very challenging for the drivers. E-town was really really tough, lots of tires off the track and spin outs. This is more what Formula D wants in a track. They spent many hours setting up the cars. I know almost every team had to swap out the rear ends and redo shocks and brakes. This is only the second Drift event at E-Town, they are still working things out. For the NOPI event they had no bleachers. Atlanta is very similar to E-town. I am downloading the pictures now so I can post them later today. (by the way there are no models this year at the start )

[BadParkingBlock]

It makes sense that this is what they are looking for in an event, but I do miss some aspects of Wall.
The exciting thing last year was that the scores were ridiculously close and so were the drivers (physically). Instead of having 8-4 races like this year because somebody let a tire slip off the track, last year they were 10-9 or 9-8 with a lot of "one more times." Nobody won because of a tire-off fluke. And it was fun watching the guys try to get as close as they could to the railing without actually touching it. If I remember correctly, someone managed to take an advertising banner off without actually hitting the railing.
What disappointed me the most though was the crowd. With so many people packed into such a small place I thought they would be louder and more into it. The crowd at Wall was crazy. Even the announcer could barely get a "one more time" chant going this year.
That said, it was a great event and I will be back next year without a doubt.
Great pics btw!

[lil goat]

They had an issue to deal with at E-town that precluded a lot of one more times, they have a NO NOISE after 8 PM rule, that has a big effect. They had to make sure they were shut down by 8. It seemed very short to me as well. In Atlanta they went until way after dark, and had back to back one more times for 3rd and 4th. They had a hard time with the timing all week a E-Town and even killed the Press ride alongs to get more practice time for the teams. I think they needed to start an hour earlier, maybe next year. Everything even the cars were quieter at E-town.

[lil goat]

For immediate release

June 17, 2008

Formula DRIFT Round 3: The Gauntlet Results;
Tanner Foust Takes the Victory and Becomes the Points Leader


Long Beach, Calif. – June 17, 2008 – Formula DRIFT completed the third stop on the 2008 Championship Tour with Round 3: The Gauntlet at Englishtown Raceway Park. Defending champion Tanner Foust battled through the tough competition to take home the victory and take over the lead for the Castrol SYNTEC Power Cup.

“Due to the turn of events that lead to the closure of Wall Speedway, I commend the FD team, partners, and fans for embracing the quick change to Englishtown Raceway Park,” said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “I’d like to say a big thank you to Englishtown for squeezing us in right before their big NHRA race week.”

Entering Englishtown Raceway Park for the first time the Formula DRIFT Championship returned to the East Coast. The course layout featured a very high entry speed that lead to tight corners and with elevation changes the combination made for one very exciting competition. The track was very demanding and the drivers felt the pressure early on with cars going off-track and others hitting the K-rails.

“I like learning new tracks but this one certainly benefited the ultra horsepower cars on the long first corner,” said Tanner Foust, 2007 Formula DRIFT Champion and Round 3 event winner. “In the Finals, leading Tyler we topped 80 mph on the entry but he was only able to reel me in on the last turn giving me the advantage. Following the Porsche I focused on getting the best acceleration possible off the line so he couldn’t get out of reach.”

The Consolation Round pitted teammates Daijiro Yoshihara and his Bridgestone / RMR Pontiac GTO against Round 2 event winner Rhys Millen and his Red Bull / Pontiac Solstice GXP with Millen edging out Yoshihara for the 3rd spot on the podium. This was the 2nd time this season that the teammates faced each other in the TOP 16 competition and Millen has taken the advantage each time. The Final Round pitted a very determined Tyler McQuarrie and his Hankook / JIC-Magic Porsche 993 GT2 against defending Formula DRIFT champion Tanner Foust piloting the Rockstar / AEM Nissan 350Z with Foust taking the victory and the lead in the Castrol SYNTEC Power CUP Point Standings. This marks the first time that McQuarrie and the Hankook / JIC-Magic Porsche has stood on the podium.

The chase for the Castrol SYNTEC Power Cup heats up with 2007 Formula DRIFT Champion Tanner Foust leading the way. Following close behind are 2004 & 2006 Formula DRIFT Champion Samuel Hubinette and his BF Goodrich / Mopar Dodge Viper SRT10 and 2007 Tires.com Triple Crown Champion Chris Forsberg piloting the NOS Energy Drink Nissan 350Z with only 2 points separating the two drivers. The action continues on July 11 & 12 for Round 4: High Stakes at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.


Castrol SYNTEC Power Cup 2008 Point Standings

1. Foust
2. Hubinette
3. Forsberg
4. Yoshihara
5. Takatori
6. Tuerck
7. Millen
8. Gittin, Jr.
9. Grunewald
10. McNamara
11. Miki
12. Verdier
13. Yamanaka
14. McQuarrie
15. Mohan
16. Haruguchi

Rockstar / AEM Nissan 350Z
Nuformz Racing Mopar Dodge Viper SRT10
NOS Energy Drink Nissan 350Z
Bridgestone / RMR Pontiac GTO
Super Autobacs Nissan Skyline R34
Gardella Racing / Mobil1 Pontiac Solstice
Red Bull Pontiac Solstice GXP
Falken / Ford Racing Mustang
Nitto / Tanaka Racing Chevrolet Corvette
Falken / Sears Auto Center Saturn Sky
APEXi / Nitto Mazda RX7
Cooper / Crawford Performance Subaru STI
Signal / Maziora Nissan S14
Hankook / JIC-Magic Porsche 993 GT2
Kyle Mohan Racing / Cooper / Mazdatrix Mazda RX-7
Driftspeed / Behrman 326 Power Nissan S15

259 Points
228 Points
226 Points
217 Points
206 Points
199 Points
187 Points
182 Points
173 Points
172 Points
119.25 Points
113.25 Points
110 Points
92.50 Points
70.25 Points
64.00 Points


Tires.com Triple Crown 2008 Point Standings

1. Millen
2. Takatori
3. Tuerck

Red Bull Pontiac Solstice GXP
Super Autobacs Nissan Skyline R34
Gardella Racing / Mobil1 Pontiac Solstice

103 Points
92 Points
80 Points



Formula DRIFT Round 3: The Gauntlet Event Results

1. Foust
2. McQuarrie
3. Millen

Rockstar / AEM Nissan 350Z
Hankook / JIC-Magic Porsche 993 GT2
Red Bull Pontiac Solstice GXP

103 Points
92 Points
80 Points

[dengel]

Originally Posted by BadParkingBlock What disappointed me the most though was the crowd. With so many people packed into such a small place I thought they would be louder and more into it. The crowd at Wall was crazy. Even the announcer could barely get a "one more time" chant going this year. That said, it was a great event and I will be back next year without a doubt. Great pics btw!

Well, I think I know what one contributing factor was to the lack of crowd response. Speaker issues. They had the speakers along the front wall in front of the bleachers, where the "standing only" area was. So all those "standers" were walking all over the speaker cables and the speakers kept cutting out, at least for in the section where I was sitting.

Probably 2/3rds of the race I couldn't hear the announcer at all. I imagine it would be hard for him to get a "one more time" chant going when half the crowd can't hear him.

I hope if they come back to Englishtown next year they have a better set-up for the sound.