Formula Drift Brings The Heat to Miami!

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Paul P.

A huge congrats to two of the hardest working guys in the Formula Drift series- Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Geoff Stoneback! Both took first place wins in their respective class!

Vaughn Gittin Jr. just came back from a win at Road Atlanta a little over two weeks ago. It’s great to see his Monster Energy/Nitto Tire Ford Mustang in top form and getting podiums once again! He certainly knows how to please the crowd!

Our good friend Geoff Stoneback took part in the Pro 2 battle, which is a new addition to the Pro Championship series. Since this is Geoff’s rookie year running with some of these seasoned FD vets, this new Pro 2 series is a great way in showcasing his talents while working towards racing against the Pro Championship guys. And he didn’t disappoint!

Pics sourced from the following links:

Formula Drift Homepage

Vaughn Gittin Jr. Facebook

Geoff Stoneback Drifting Facebook

Geoff Stoneback. A True Competitor

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Paul P.

Once again, we’re glad to have Geoff Stoneback on-board with TEIN as his suspension supplier! Never one to let his sponsors down, Geoff made sure to put in a great effort at the Long Beach event this past April 4-5th.

He’s not with easy company, mind you. This year, Geoff takes his talents against seasoned veterans in the Pro Championship drivers many of us are already familiar with. So, in some ways, the odds are against him since many of these pros are backed heavily with sponsors, and that money goes into their race cars (some builds well into the 6 figures!!). Geoff is doing all his campaigning on a relatively paltry budget. But, he’s doing it well!

We had a chance to run into him in the pits and he gave us a rundown of the event. Unfortunately, he was plagued with clutch slave cylinder issues from the beginning. Even after repairing the damaged seal with a spare seal, the problem persisted, making qualifying difficult for Geoff. Unfortunate to say, but Geoff was knocked out of competition early due to this constant problem with the slave cylinder seal.

He stopped by our booth during his downtime. Since we’ve yet to meet him in person (can you believe that?!?!), it was a great pleasure to hear from him. Seems like car problems during qualifying weren’t the only issues. Geoff told us transportation of his race car was delayed due to the truck breaking down en route, stopping in Sweetwater, TX. Fortunately, Geoff’s TX connection from Dirty Diesels gave the trailer a tow to the nearest Ford dealership, while the truck was being worked on over there. It definitely pays to have connections like that!

However, the headache grew, as the Ford dealer could not repair the truck in time. Geoff had no choice but to hire a contractor to deliver the trailer the rest of the way to sunny California. Talk about being stressed out.

When the car finally arrived to California, there was still plenty of prep work to do to get the car to pass tech inspection. The crew went right to work. This cut well into any practice time for Geoff in a completely new car. So many unknowns were to be revealed to him. Nevertheless, Geoff went right to work. And the rest of the story you read about above.

So, while sad as it all sounded, it was great to see Geoff continue with his pursuit to become a champion. The season is far from over, and the same goes for Geoff’s career as a race car driver! We look forward to Geoff’s updates on the next event!

Get the race recap from the Formula Drift Site

Here are some pics of Geoff’s qualifying and practice runs:

More info found at Geoff Stoneback

and on Facebook

GS Drifting Racking Up Another Championship!

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Paul P.

On top of being involved in US Drift, Geoff has his hands in the Midwest Drift Union (MDU). This past weekend (9/20-21), Geoff and the GS Drifting crew took off to Xenia, OH to participate at the final Midwest Drift Union event of the season at the Kilkare Speedway.

Prior to this event, the last event held on the Streets of Detroit was a fun, albeit disappointing result for Geoff. Not that they didn’t place well, but just that some judging calls weren’t as scrutinized as they should have been. Anyway, not one to let the second place finish from that event put Geoff and the team down, they’ve since won the US Drift championship for 2013, took the win for the Formula Drift Pro-Am series at Texas, and were looking forward to finishing the Midwest Drift Union series.

Here’s Geoff’s feedback of the final round of MDU:

“Streetlife Tour is always a big turnout. Some of the best names on the East coast and Midwest come out to battle for first place, cash and bragging rights. It also happens to be the final round of the Midwest Drift Union series.

In 2012 we went to the finals and faced the 2012 MDU champ “Magic” Mike Pollard. In the final battle during his lead run, mike debeaded a tire which sent him into the wall, spinning out back into the bank and hitting me into a wall. We were both okay, which was great, but we never got to finish the battle because his car couldn’t make it back out. I Did a Bi run and got the win!

So fast forward a year, we’ve just won the US DRIFT 2013 series, 2nd at Holley LS fest and a first place finish at Formula Drift Pro am series at Texas Motor Speedway. We had an amazing finish and we knew that coming into the final round of the Midwest drift union there was going to be a lot of pressure. Not only were we second in points (at 107 points), 13 behind the leader Brian Peters (at 120 points), but we also had to try and repeat another first place finish. Mike Skudlerack wasn’t far behind in points with 105 and Andrew Lewis with 102.

The competition was fierce. “Rapper” Dan Savage, Dave Bellemo and James Evans came from the the VA/MD area. I faced them a bunch of times during US drift series. So, with the knowledge of how each driver was this season, I knew this weekend was no joke. All of the Midwest Drift Union dudes were there, as well. Mike Skudlerack, Andrew Lewis, Jake Mautren, and Shane Whalley, just to name a few.

We came to the track Friday afternoon only to see a huge overcast right above the oval track. We went through tech, had a small drivers meeting and got into our groups. Group A hit the track. Within 15 minutes someone in a red FC hit the wall HARD and the track went cold for a while. Then it started to rain. “No big deal” I thought as the rain would stop. A couple minutes later a monsoon came through and you couldn’t even see 3 feet in front of you. The staff called it in for the day and we went back to our hotel to catch up on some much needed sleep.

On Saturday the rain continued to come down until lunch time. The staff decided to break practice sessions up to 20 minutes each. The course was still wet so every run group first runs were on ice. I think we had a total of 4 practice laps until we had another drivers meeting. We were supposed to go into qualifying, but since it rained they gave us an extra practice session.

We were pumped! we only linked the course maybe twice and knew we needed to do more before we felt really comfortable and gave it our all. So we went out for our first practice run before qualifying, entered hard into the bank and halfway through the bank, BOOM, we blow up another differential. That put a quick end to getting another practice run before qualifying!

We tried our best and swapped the diff in about 10 minutes trying to get back out to feel the new differential out, but our time was up. We stressed hard going into qualifying. While going onto grid to qualify Brian Peters came up to me and told me about his car. His trans blew up and he couldn’t compete today. He is a great driver so I was bummed that he couldn’t come out and battle, but it was a little stress reliever and we didn’t have enough already!

On our first run, we gave little angle into the bank and hit it pretty hard, but I was about 5 feet coming off of the inner clip before the infield. I knew what I had to do for the second run! I launched hard and entered higher, but had a bobble on the bank and was still 3 feet off of the same inner clip. Happy we put points on the board, but upset because we knew that was not a top qualifying run. At the meeting we found out we qualified 7th and our first battle was up against Shane Whaley.

I’ve faced Shane before at round 3 The streets of Detroit. We got the win there and Shane is a competitive driver, so we knew he was out for blood. During our follow run, Shane drove off track in the infield giving us the win.

Our next battle was against our good friend “Rapper” Dan Savage. We have faced “Rapper” a bunch of times this season, with the last battle at Holley LS fest. We both made it to the finals where Rapper took the win and I placed second. This knew it would be a tough battle. However, during our lead run, “Rapper” broke an axle near the end of the course and couldn’t get his car fixed in the 5 minute time period.

here it was, the Most anticipated battle of the night and possibly year in the Pro Am series. “Magic” Mike Pollard vs. Geoff Stoneback. We followed first laying down a solid follow run, but a slight bobble in the bank gave mike the advantage. During our lead run mike sucked into us during the bank and was very aggressive . Maybe too aggressive because in the infield he followed real close and dropped 2 front tires in the dirt. I had no idea so when they called for a OMT I thought to myself, “here goes nothing leave it all on the table!”

We followed Pollard again and laid down a pretty sick follow run. On our lead run mike came in to hard and spun on the bank. I had no idea until the end of the course when I already saw him at starting grid! after our battle we hugged as good friends that we are and went to change tires. During that period we hard Mike Skudlerack smacked the wall hard. His car wasn’t as bad as James Evans but he couldn’t fix it in time and we were up against Jake Maturen.

Jake has always been solid driver and we haven’t faced him all season. We just had to do what we kept doing. Our front tires were loosing grip so on our lead run we e-braked hard into the bank to set the car up properly so we wouldn’t have a bobble like the previous runs. We laid down good lead and we were anxious to follow. We Followed Jake fast aggressive throughout the track.

When we pulled up to the ceremony, I was pumped. Previously Mike Skudlerack Crashed, having him finish in 4th wasn’t enough points to beat us. Brian Peter’s car broke so we were sitting on top of another 2013 Pro Am championship!”

Looks like Geoff did more than finish the MDU 2013 season. He finished the season at the top of the charts!

There has never been a dull moment at any of the events this past year. This final round of MDU wasn’t going to be any different. Qualifying at a low 7th place, Geoff had quite a task ahead of himself, and he achieved a great feat to get the overall win!

Once again, our most sincere congratulations to Geoff and the GS Drifting team on what has been a stellar year. We look forward to seeing Geoff continue to grow in 2014 as we’re sure his schedule will be jam-packed with events! Keep on the lookout for this guy!

Also, here’s a great write-up on Geoff from Wrecked Magazine

http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/blog/2013/10/01/geoff-stoneback-new-fd-driver-and-pro-am-champion/

Geoff Stoneback Takes On The Lone Star State!

Posted on September 20, 2013 by Paul P.

He obviously stands out as one of the youngest and most talented drifters out there right now, and we’re extremely proud to see how he progresses. Geoff has continued to put on a great performance during each event. This time, Geoff and team took their talent to Texas Motor Speedway, which was also hosting the Formula Drift Championship series.

This was truly a great chance for Geoff to shine and show the Midwest what he was capable of.

As mentioned, Texas Motor Speedway was also hosting the Formula Drift Championship, where many teams that have better funding also have some of the better built cars out there. It really reflects on how well this sport has grown in popularity within the last decade. It is great to see drifting recognized as a sport!

Geoff, although not backed up with the same type of sponsorship, and mostly making his way through the drift circuit on his own, still has plenty of support from the manufacturers he represents. It was time to impress.

Geoff has always represented TEIN well ever since his sponsorship, even including the TEIN mascot, Dampachi, as part of his graphics scheme! Then again, who doesn’t love to sport this mascot?!

Here’s Geoff’s experience in his own words-

“We are always trying to better our driving. It doesn’t matter if it’s grassroots events, pro-am series or other miscellaneous competitions. We are there to have fun and improve our skills. When we heard that Formula Drift was going to have a pro am competition at round 6 in Texas, we knew that this was going to be one of our biggest events this year!

We kindly messaged our friend Aaron Losey, runner and founder of Lone Star Drift series and asked if we were able to come down and compete in this event. We did not want to upset anyone coming down and only doing one round of the series and possibly messing up their points brackets, but for us this was a stepping stone to get the experience of being at a Formula Drift event. We got the green light from Aaron and headed down to Texas after getting second place at Holley LS fest.

We arrived at Texas Motor Speedway on Thursday morning, unloaded and headed out to practice. We have driven this course before last year for XDC but we did it reverse, hitting the big sweeper first then going into the long straight power alley. We had a little idea of what to expect going into practice.

The track layout was awesome! There was tons of runway to enter at speeds around 90 MPH. You could really throw the car with tons of angle hitting the first clip, then lift off the throttle the tiniest bit to swing the car around into the second inner clip. After that it was hammer time as you go WOT and clutch kick in 4th gear if you needed to get closer to the rear clipping zone in the power alley. Once you pass the rear clipping zone you stay 100% WOT and stay committed until you transfer to the next rear clipping zone and e brake check and foot brake to scrub the fast speeds and finish off taking the deepest line in the sweeper.

We had a great practice session Thursday, so we decided to sit back and watch the FD drivers tear the track up.

On Friday we took 45 minutes to practice where we just kept doing what he did on Thursday and took really deep, wide lines filling all of the clipping zones. We headed into qualifying and we focused hard on our task and laid down a 92.5 on our second qualifying run, securing the 1st qualifier spot.

We then took some more time to watch FD and watched how their cars were so much faster, the suspension set up that those guys run and the way the car squats and sets itself as they power through the line was insane!

On Saturday we had another 45 minutes of practice where we took things easy and kept doing our runs like we did the previous two days. We had a Bi run in the top 16 so we moved to the top 8 to face a Texas local- Garret. He had a built V8 s14 and my spotter Dan Popowich said this was going to be the hardest battle of the day. We left the line hard and fast as the car squatted down the line. We entered into the first turn with Garret right on our door. It wasn’t until the power alley where we hammered down the throttle and created a big gap. Upon finishing the sweeper, we dropped a tire the slightest bit in the dirt. I knew it was a small mistake that could end our top 8 battle fast. During our follow run, we kept on his door down the runway and entered with Garrett. We scrub some speed on the first clipping point, since we knew the power alley was our strong point. We caught up through the power alley and entered into the sweeper with decent proximity. Garrett didn’t take a real deep line in the sweeper, so we applied pressure on his door and finished the run. I was nervous because of the dirt drop, but we got the win!

Our next battle was against another local Texan John (A.K.A. “J-FLO”). He drove a Nissan 350 Z with some power adders. On our lead run we gapped John hard on the runway and put down a solid run. On our follow run, it got tricky. We gave John some space and going into the first clip he ran it over, shooting the clip 10 ft in the air and into my bumper/hood/ windshield. I tried the best that I could to drive through it and tried to correct and dodge the clip and still drive through the course. However, I ended up going off track at the worst stop and broke my power steering rack and cracked my header. I thought this was it. We didn’t make it to the final around, but little did I know, when John hit that clip he spun out. We both double zeroed but with my lead run, we had the advantage and got the win.

Going over the car, our header was cracked and sounded like crap, our power steering was sketchy and barely there, but we still had to finish this final battle. We went up against the top guy in the Lone Star drift series, Tim “Big Stick” Koenning. The guy is literally two feet taller than me!! Since we had a weird power steering issue we were a little worried going into this battle but we did the best that we could with no power steering. We left the line hard and entered in 4th gear. With the high speeds, the steering wasn’t as bad as i thought. We rode inner clip 1, but hit inner clip two, riding the rear clipping zone and transferring into the sweeper with tons of speed and tire smoke. We finished the run and Tim wasn’t far behind. On our follow run we left no mercy for Tim. We entered with him and scrubbed a little too much speed and he gaped us a bit, but then got right on his door during the power alley. In the rear sweeper I applied pressure as I was trying to put my front wheel in his rear quarter panel.

We finished our runs and congratulated each other on our respective runs. We were happy that we had a clean run and that the car held up to the abuse. We felt pretty good and wanted to hear the call if we won or not. However, being with Formula Drift, they wanted to keep it suspenseful for the fans and said that they would announce it later on at 7:30 at the FD podium.

We went back to the pits and talked with other drivers and with fans. Some FD drivers came up to us and said how good we were doing and some judges also came up and said some of our runs were top 16 qualifying runs. We were pumped! For us to have people in FD see how well we did and come give us high 5’s and kind words was a win right there. We watched top 32 til it was time to get the results.

At the podium it was announced that we finished first! We hopped up on the number 1 spot, smiled for the camera, enjoyed the rush, and hung out with fans!

All in all it was a great experience for the whole GS drifting crew. We have an idea of what it will be like us for next season and though we had a successful season, it is time to step it up and head into Formula Drift for the 2014 season!!”

We’re absolutely thrilled for Geoff and the GS Drifting team for achieving some great accomplishments this season. Furthermore, putting his talents on the same track as the big boys in the Formula Drift Championship series proved to be a success. We have no doubt that “Geoff Stoneback” will be a name to hear for years to come in the drifting world.

From all of us at TEIN, congratulations Geoff!

Geoff Stoneback Takes Home the 2013 US Drift Championship!

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Paul P.

Geoff had a pretty busy August, to say the least. He had to prepare for two events this month, both on one weekend, giving him very little room for any error. Fortunately, Geoff was prepared.

On the 15th, Geoff and his crew loaded up their S14 at their tuner, R/T Tuning in Lansdale, PA, which they had recently installed a new G-Force GSR 4-speed transmission to replace their T56 gearbox which had been experiencing a few issues in past events.

Leaving later than expected, they stopped over in Columbus, OH to the Kenda Tire warehouse to get stocked up for the events, then made their way to Detroit, MI for Midwest Drift Union on the streets of Detroit.

Upon their arrival, Geoff’s good friend, and fellow drift competitor, Mike Skudlarek, offered his house as accommodation for the crew, taking the team around the greater Detroit area along many of the scenic routes of the Motor City, giving Geoff and the team time to relax before a hectic race weekend.

With Geoff’s recently repainted S14, they had no vinyl for this event. So at midnight, at a parking lot of a grocery store (which provided them with enough lighting), they went right to work putting their sponsor decals on. Afterwards, it was a short night’s rest before the event.

As mentioned earlier, the event took place on public roads around Detroit, and some portions were recently repaved and transitioned into older surfaces, giving the drivers a mix of grip and slip to deal with. The next morning, Geoff took the car out and gave it a 50% run around the course. After getting a feel for the layout during practice, Geoff was informed that his driving line would make it difficult for slower cars to follow him. So Geoff had to discuss and redo his driving line.

During qualifying, Geoff had a spin on the older section of pavement, where there wasn’t much available grip. After another qualifying run, Geoff was placed at a disappointing 15th grid spot. So it was on to battle.

The first run was against the LS2 powered Pontiac GTO Shane Whalley. During Shane’s lead run, the judges deducted points for braking through the sweeper, giving Geoff the win.

Through the Top 8, Geoff faced Dan Summers, which eventually went into OMT (One More Time), but on Dan’s lead run he crashed, destroying a wheel and some suspension components. Repairs were made in the allotted time for Dan to make another run with Geoff. However, Geoff was quick to strike, making a deep, smooth line giving him the nod once again.

Top 4 was about to get a bit tougher. Geoff faced the lighter, more powerful S13 of Andrew Lewis. Not deterred from the this fact, Geoff kept right up to Andrew’s door. Fortunately for Geoff, Andrew’s car suffered from a broken axle. Unable to repair the car in time, Geoff once again got the win.

For the final battle, Geoff was up against Mike Skudlarek. Both runs weren’t exactly working in either driver’s favor. However, a few mistakes by Mike ( hard braking in the sweeper; not initiating drift on the follow run) went unnoticed by the judges, giving Mike the win.

So, a tough and somewhat disappointing 2nd place finish for Geoff.

Next was a trip to West Virginia for the US Drift Rd. 4 event.

Already late in the day in Detroit, Geoff and crew hit the road just after 11pm, making as few stops as possible to make it to the driver’s meeting at 8:30am the next day.

Knowing that their 2nd place standing in the US Drift championship was a really close one (14 points behind James Evans), Geoff had to really step it up for this event. Making it to the drivers meeting with just a few minutes to spare, Geoff soon made his way out to practice.

The course was super fast, with entry speeds anywhere between 75-90 mph. Also, it was raining. To make practice difficult, Geoff had to bring the car in, make some suspension setup and tire pressure changes, giving him little time during practice to get a feel for the revised setup.

Qualifying went relatively smooth for Geoff, and he placed a 3rd grid spot for himself. US Drift points leader James Evans qualified 7th, so Geoff’s earned points in qualifying were starting to get him towards the top.

With only 12 qualified drivers for this event, things were starting to look up towards Geoff’s championship. The first battle against the 2jz powered S14 of Charlie Tyson was actually easy enough for Geoff to get the nod, even with Charlie running extremely consistent and fast the whole day.

Good news came Geoff’s way when James Evan was knocked out during Top 16, while 3rd place points holder Troy Manners, was put away in the Top 8. This mean an automatic 2013 US Drift championship for Geoff!

Not one to call it a day, Geoff went into the Top 4 against Dave Bellemo in his 1JZ powered S14. Slightly preoccupied with the thought of the US Drift championship on his mind, Geoff had a a somewhat difficult time getting focused. Fortunately the run went into OMT, and Geoff was able to get the nod once again.

For the final run, Geoff faced ex-teammate Dan Savage. Dan, a good friend of Geoff, taught him tandem drifting, so Geoff knew that this run would be good fun. On the first run, with Geoff in tow, Dan spun on the last inner clip, just inches away from Geoff potentially crashing. On the second run with Geoff leading, Dan kept it close up until the second inner clip where Geoff put out a lot of angle, losing Dan who eventually spun off! Geoff took home first place for the event!

So there you have it, a second place finish in Detroit, a first place finish in West Virginia and a 2013 US Drift championship all in one weekend!

We’re certainly proud of Geoff and team and their accomplishment for this season. But it is far from over- the final round of Midwest Drift Union, Clubloose Freedom Moves, Holley LS Fest in KY, and Formula D Pro-Am in TX are a few of the upcoming events that Geoff has lined up for him. We look forward to his updates!

Congratulations, Geoff, on your 2013 US Drift championship!

https://www.facebook.com/GeoffStoneback484drift

http://www.usdrift.com/

http://mdudrift.com/

Fontana Nissan 5th Annual Meet

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Omar A.

What’s up guys?!! Next month will be attending Fontana Nissan’s annual meet on Sunday, September 8th, at Auto Club Speedway. This will be their 5th year hosting this NISMO meet. Of course, TEIN will be attending this event. I myself drive an Altima Coupe (dropped on TEIN Basic coilovers), so I’m excited to see what people have done to their coupes. I also look forward to seeing Infiniti’s and other Nissans present. I’m sure there will be slammed 350z, 370z, g35, g37, 240sx, 200sx, 300zx, GT-R, etc. The list can go on.

Make sure to stop by our booth and pick up some shirts and TEIN goods that we’ll have for sale. Also, feel free to ask any technical questions or product inquiries you may have. On display, we will have our EDFC Active control units for customers to play with and see how it works.

Make sure to check back with us next month to get an update on this event. Please visit the links provided below to get more information on this event.

https://www.facebook.com/FontanaNissan

http://www.nissanraceshop.com/page/69-69/meet-info

[vsw id=”lAV7A6JchLw” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”yes”]

Geoff Stoneback at the U.S. Drift Round 3 Event

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Paul P.

Our friend Geoff Stoneback and his team took off to New Jersey Motorsports Park at the end of July and gave us a full report. Here’s what he had to say:

” On Friday July 26th we loaded up the Kenda tire / TEIN s14 and headed to Clubloose’s friday night drift party to hang out with all of our buddies and see some awesome local drifting. We wanted to drive really bad but didn’t want to put any damage to the car, so we borrowed a couple of our friends missile cars. After doing a couple runs and changing some tires we parted ways and headed to New jersey motor sports park for US Drift round 3.

I have never drifted this course and we heard that it is a fun, fast track. We were lucky enough to get a suite on track so we could be up early for practice.

On Friday at 7am we headed to the pit area and went to the drivers meeting. There were 16 solid drivers ready to tear the track up. After our meeting, we headed out on course. We got used to the track instantly and had fun laying down some solid lines. With the course set up, our gearing was a little weird. 3rd gear was too short and 4th gear was a bit long. We made some changes to tire pressures and sway bar settings to try and compensate for the gearing issue.

We were sharing the course with ARCA, which is a road race series so we had a huge time gap in between practice and qualifying. On our first qualifying run we headed down the track, with a hard flick and clutch kick we entered into 3rd and up shifted into fourth. We laid down a decent run and put points on the board. On our second qualifying run, we pushed it even harder and entered in 4th gear. We flicked really hard and had an aggressive entry and we were really tight on all of the clips. With that run it secured us into qualifying 2nd.

On Sunday we geared up and had an hour practice session and track went cold for us until a couple hours later. Around 3:30 we headed into competition. Our first battle was against Ben Sarli in his BMW 540. We put down a solid lead run which gave us the advantage. In our follow run we kept it conservative and at the last clipping point, Ben spun. We got the win!

In our top 8 battle we went up against a very good friend, Reese Marin. Reese and I have been friends for years and go back to the street drifting days in Philadelphia. Our battles are always neck-and-neck and very intense. On our lead run we laid down a good fast line with Reese not far behind. On our follow run we left the line hard, but missed second gear and Reese took off and we had to play catch up. We closed the gap a bit, but during that period we dropped one tire into the dirt and he got the win.

We were bummed that we didn’t make it to the podium, however we finished the day in 6th place and are still second in the series trailing James Evans by 18 points.

So after Round 3, we brought the car to a buddy’s shop to get a little restoration, looks-wise. After the paint booth, we took the car to R/T tuning going over some alignment specs and doing some upgrades so we no longer will have any shifting or gearing issues.

Our next rounds are a double header and a tough weekend! We have a 10 hour drive to Midwest Drift Union Round 3 in the streets of Detroit! We are really excited and eager to get back on the podium. Right after Midwest drift union round 3 is over, we immediately have to pack up and drive another 10 hours to round 4 of US drift, the final round in the 2013 series. Thank you to TEIN suspension for helping getting the car dialed in as amazing as it is and their outstanding support this season! Thank you to all my other sponsors, as well! “

We’re always glad to hear of Geoff’s enthusiasm as he heads off against some stiff competition at each event. With the few hiccups he’s had along the way, he has seemed to take them in stride, and we know that he’ll do a great job for the remainder of the season! Thanks, Geoff!

Enjoy this video while you’re at it.

http://vimeo.com/71604405

Chris Jeanneret and CNC Autosport Take on Formula Drift

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Paul P.

We’ve been quite fortunate being able to sponsor some of the most talented drivers looking to get their way into the drifting world. This year, we also sponsored Chris Jeanneret of CNC Autosports who is campaigning in his STR Racing S14, using our Flex dampers.

As it is, the Formula Drift series is quite a challenge. Many of the newer competitors face some seasoned drift veterans. Many of which are heavily funded to keep them at the upper tier of competitors.

Chris, although not new to drifting, is fairly new to the Formula Drift series. We were glad to support him on his voyage into the big leagues.

Here’s what Chris has to say about his experience so far:

“Formula drift round 5 (Monroe, WA) was a victory for us in many ways. Although we didn’t finish where we wanted, we made it farther than we thought with how many odds that were against us. The Sunday before FD was the first time to drive the car and we only got 3 solid runs in the car, since we were spending so much time just checking it over after every run and making huge changes right out of the hole to get the car competitive. Those 3 runs put a huge smile on my face, but at the same time concerned me- it was the first time I have driven in 2 years and now I have to get me and the car ready to qualify in 4 days.

Thursday practice at FD was not looking good for us. We broke 4 left side axles on initiation in a row. We spent the rest of the day trying to figure out what is going on and why. We only managed another 2 runs for practice that day.

Friday was the day my team and I had to get things together and start working on our qualifying line. We went out for practice after the drivers meeting and had a great game plan and thought we had everything on the car figured out, but as luck would have it we broke another axle. This time, however, it was the opposite side! We scrambled to get another one in the car and back out to practice. As we got back to grid to do our burn out, I tried to do a rolling burn out, and as soon as I lifted the same axle broke again! Ok, so now we are on our last axle and we have to go out for qualifying and it’s all or nothing. So I did the lightest burn out and aired up the tires more than I wanted to be as easy on the car as possible and hoped for the best. As I left the line the car felt really loose, so I initiated as light as possible and set the car into drift and after that I said to myself “well let’s hope she holds together!”, and it did. I pushed the car as hard as I could out to the wall clip and the touch and go area then into power alley. I never lifted from 4th gear leaving a whole set of Falken 615k tires up in smoke in one run. After I cleared the middle of the track I came through the final hairpin feeling the tires were done and tried my hardest not to hit the wall with my foot flat on the gas pedal and finished my run. As I got back to the pits my spotter messaged me we got a 75 on our first run and I was smiling ear to ear and was hoping that would secure us as spot in the top 32, which it was. We were 29th, and now is the time to get the car ready for tandem.

Saturday morning the fans were pouring in, and all I can say was the pressure was on. Our first battle of the day was with, none other than Vaughn Gittin Jr., who is a driver I have always loved watching from the side lines and know is a straight up and aggressive driver that would be hard to keep up with. On our first run, we followed and I tried my hardest in the STR Racing S14 to just keep up with his crazy fast mustang, but once he initiated his car, he instantly put 4 car lengths on me and I just tried my best to stay on line and close the gap in the infield with running a shallower line. Next we would follow and all I could think is that Jr. is going to be right on me so I need not to lift at all. This time I tried a different approach to my initiation and it backfired- the transmission popped out of 4th gear and I went straight. At that moment, I knew my day was done and pulled to the inside lane and let Jr. go around me.

Although we didn’t make it passed top 32 we qualified with very little practice and learned a lot about the car and we were the only Northwest team to qualify. I think that says something about our program. We certainly look forward to improvements for the next round, and bridging the gap closer to the podium!”

We wish Chris and the team great success this year. It’s great to know that he will keep on fighting to prove his mettle out on the track, and we know that he do well. Keep up with Chris and please be sure to give him your support.

https://www.facebook.com/chrisjeanneret

Geoff Stoneback Updates from Midwest Drift Union Rd. 2

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Paul P.

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.

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.

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.

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

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Paul P.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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