Tag Archives: Clubloose

Geoff Stoneback Updates from Midwest Drift Union Rd. 2

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Always staying busy, Geoff Stoneback and team set route for the Midwest Drift Union Round 2 at Gateway Motorsports Park in St. Louis, MO.

Prior to this, Geoff picked up his S14 drift machine from R/T Tuning  after they completed a new wheel alignment and check-up on the car, taking a midnight drive into Missouri. Knowing what to expect as the course layout, Geoff was already mentally prepared. He knew this would be a good event.

A full 25 hours later, he and the team unloaded car and equipment at the track, then back out for a short sleep stint before going through tech inspection and driver’s meeting the same morning. Happy with the S14’s settings, Geoff went out for practice.

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With 3 sets of tires already spent getting comfortable with the course, Geoff knew he had to conserve tires. At least he was able to dial in his settings for the best angle and tire smoke. Judging by the other drivers out on track (with crazy entry speeds and tons of smoke), he knew it wouldn’t be an easy set of battles to come.

On his qualifying run, Geoff went in really hot, getting the car into a backwards entry and scrubbing off way too much speed. Eventually, the front tire would knock the clipping point. Disappointed with that run, Geoff was glad to get points for it, which was most important to him.

For his second run, Geoff went in with even more speed and a backwards entry, netting him a 5th place qualifier. Qualifying was tight, with the top 6 drivers being within 1/2 points of each other sequentially.

Knocking out an LS3 powered Nissan 350z in his first round, Geoff advanced to the top 8.

The next heat would be tough- His friend, Andrew Lewis, with an LS powered S13 making 450whp makes more power than Geoff’s S14. So Geoff had to step it up if he wanted a tight tandem run. Nevertheless, Geoff’s consistency got him the nod, advancing him to the Top 4.

As you can guess, it was about to get even tougher for the team. Up next was a battle with another close friend, Mike Skudlarek in his 500whp s13. The first run with Geoff in chase kept him up to the door of Skudlarek, and a quick adjustment with a tug on the e-brake sacrificed a little of his angle. This gave Skudlarek the nod.

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Second run with Geoff up front, he was able to gain some distance as Skudlarek had a slight bobble. It looked like it was going into “One More Time.” However, judges ruled Skudlarek the victor.

Disappointed, but not deflated, Geoff had a chance to claim a 3rd place finish, but his competitor wasn’t able to complete repairs in time, giving Geoff a bye-run. Even with 3rd place secured, Geoff decided to give the crowd a smokey run.

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Although this event ended on a strange judging call, Geoff holds second in the points standing, leaving him a lot of time to rebuild and get focused. We’re still glad to see Geoff on the podium! Great job!

*BONUS*

Here’s a video link recap of the Midwest Drift Union Rd. 2 on Vimeo

http://vimeo.com/70345359

 

Geoff Stoneback Attends East Coast Bash

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Our sponsored driver, Geoff Stoneback decided to take his talent to Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey for the Clubloose East Coast Bash event. With this event bringing a swarm of spectators and drivers alike, it was a great opportunity for Geoff and the crew to put on an amazing show.

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According to Geoff, about 180 drivers were at the Saturday festivities, most all of them being in the tandem class. Unfortunately, a saturation of drivers means very little track time. A few on-track accidents by a some of the drivers hampered driving time some more.

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Unfortunately for Geoff, a minor incident while following a train of other drivers sent him into the tire wall crushing his door, and also losing a headlight, radiator and front bumper. The cause of this incident being another driver with a locked up e-brake. With nowhere to go, this sent Geoff off course.

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Geoff turned to his friends at R/T Tuning in Lansdale, PA to get the S14 back up and running. Geoff used the remainder of the day practicing some new techniques and also some tight tandem runs.

By Sunday, only a quarter of the drivers stuck around, and Geoff was able to get it some more runs. That is, until the weather went damp. After about an hour of waiting pit side, Geoff and many of the drivers decided to do some rain drifting for the spectators that decided to tough out the wet weather.

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All in all, it sounded like Geoff and his crew had a great time, and they were able to put on a great show for the spectators, regardless of the weather conditions.

Geoff Stoneback goes to US Drift Rd. 2/Hyperfest

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2 weeks ago, our sponsored Pro-Am/XDC competitor Geoff Stoneback headed out with his S14 to Hyperfest at Summit Point Motorsports Park in WV.

Prior to this event, Geoff was able to get his S14 tuned to crank out 430whp/420tq (~15% up from the last outing). So, there was no shortage of power for Hyperfest!

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Knowing that the race course was somewhat difficult for himself, Geoff took a paid practice run to get a better feel for the course and make the necessary adjustments to  both the car and mental prep.  This helped Geoff tremendously, as figuring out key pieces of track for shifting and accelerating gave him one of the fastest entry-speeds (80mph). His ability to adapt to the track layout relatively quick was about to pay off!

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But, racing isn’t with its occasional hiccups here and there. For Geoff, it happened to be a vehicle stall on his return to the pits. A quick diagnosis showed a damage o2 sensor wire as cause for the stalling. An easy enough fix for Geoff and his team, but a little bit of a setback in getting out for qualifying early.

Geoff reported that his qualifying run was set to be even faster than his practice run, but on approach to his clipping point, a catastrophic differential failure brought his S14 to a halt.

Back in the pits, the crew got right to work, and with only a welded diff available, got the car back out to get Geoff’s run in. It netted him 5th place qualifier.

By now, two setbacks can be enough of a distraction to anyone, especially the driver, but Geoff shook it off and went right to work, quickly advancing the Top 16, then Top 8, getting himself into the Top 4. Geoff was really turning his luck around!

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In the Top 4, Geoff’s opponent, and a good friend of his, James Evans had his own set of problems- a lower control arm replacement left the car with a slightly off-set alignment, but enough to get him back on the track to compete with Geoff. It happened to be enough for James to get the nod over Geoff. But Geoff still had a chance at 3rd place.

Another close friend/drift mentor of Geoff, Matt Waldin, was up next. With more power (almost 40% more) than his S14, Geoff had his work cut out for him. Matt kept close on the first run with Geoff leading, and on the second run, Geoff spun on the last turn, handing the win to Matt.

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What sounds like a series of unfortunate events turned out to be an exciting one for spectators. Also, all the hard work and efforts by Geoff and his team have kept them 2nd in points (just 3 points behind the leader James Evans).

We know that Geoff will be prepared for the next event and ready to take some more podium finishes. Great work, you guys!

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Bravo Whiskey has a great video recap of this event at the link below

Vimeo