Bubba Drift in the Dec. 2004 HOT ROD magazine

Thanks Hot Rod!

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Daily Drifter - San Antonio, TX  - Dirty Drift!

It never really rained, misted some - but it was so damp out that the track never dried from the rain before the event.  It was a blast, and the temperature was nice.  We found out that the tires worked very well in the rain (and lasted forever), the front tires gripped surprisingly well on the slick track.  Big turnout, cars running all day long.  The tire changer who came to the event had a slow day,  tires wouldn't die. 

The under powered cars had a good time with the rain slickened track.  The higher powered cars found that throttle response was an important factor.  The Magna Charger on the El Camino allowed for very smooth and controllable power output, which was very much needed.  Some turbo cars at the event had a tougher time, especially if their power came on more suddenly.

Derrick & Mike had the course nailed, drifting the entire course in back to back runs.  Derrick drifted the El Camino, my IROC camaro, Bernard's turboed IS300, Ali's 350z, and several other people's cars.  Mike drifted his 240sx (stock suspension, bought it the day before), my IROC Camaro, and many others as well.  People wanted to see how their car would do with one of them behind the wheel.  Thomas, Ali and Wes also looked very good, getting clean drifts of the whole course down.

A lot of fun, happy as a kid jumping in puddles all day :)

More photos & videos in Album (see Grind & Videos folder)

Our sponsors getting hard to see - and this was early in the day,

by afternoon the car was really dirty.

RS*R Drift Festival - Chicago, IL

 Great weather and a well run event.  Lots of nice fans.  During our 2nd run in practice we broke an alternator.  Quick run to the parts store and we were back in business.  Derrick looked great in practice and we had high hopes for the competition.  Right before the competition was set to begin, we broke another alternator.  No problems during testing at home, but go a long way off and something like this happens.

  There is another heavier duty alternator in place.

Photos & Vids HERE

NOPI Nationals - Atlanta, GA

  Well we drove 1700 miles round trip, but due to problems at the event beyond our control, we were not able to run.  We showed up to be told the event was cancelled, and were not told that the event was allowed to restart later the next day.  We were disappointed and upset, but ohh well - there's always the next event.

Well, we now have a supercharged LS1 under the hood.

Formula D Irwindale, CA August 29th, 2004 Results -

    We were not able to make the practice times on Thursday due to a sensor dying on us.  So Sunday morning we got all set up,  made a last second thrash to fix a transmission leak that had appeared, and got ready for practice.  New motor and new rear brakes.  The power from the Magna Charged LS1 (~440 RWHP) was very helpful, and it took Derrick a little bit to get used to it.  The new rear discs were locking up, even with an adjustable proportioning valve.  The motor was running warmer than we would have liked.

  We had somewhat expected that there may be a problem with the brake balance, so we had picked up some cheap not-so-grippy brake pads.  When Derrick would use the brakes he would spin.  After 3 or 4 runs we were about to change the brake pads, but we decided to make one last run.  Sure enough- the rear brakes locked up - and put Derrick into the wall and ending our event.  I had told Derrick that if he was going to wreck, it had to be in front of the crowd and after HotRod magazine got enough photos - but he didn't listen :)

  At least we got it on video - go here to see it.

Formula D Sonoma, CA July 11th, 2004 Results -

    We had fun, but we had some problems (tires & tuning) and did not make the top 16.  We put in a good showing and the crowd seemed to like us.

    We started the trip by washing the El Camino and applying stickers (stickercharged it).  Loaded it on a Derrick's trailer and towed it with my dad's truck.  2000 miles later we were in Elk Grove, CA - where we stayed for free at my mom's house :)

    Due to time concerns the tires and wheels were shipped straight to the track.  Except the tires didn't make it - dohh!  Luckily Justin Fort - our sponsor guy - took care of things and got us some new tires of a different brand, then got them mounted for us.  

   Saturday's practice session- The course was very tough, the first turn was giving everybody fits, with even many of the pros spinning.  Derrick had the rest of the course nailed, with the new tires producing a lot of sideways action and smoke.  But the first turn was giving him problems.  We don't have a clutch, so turns are initiated by feint and throttle.  The front tires could not grip enough to throw the El Camino sideways, and had too soft of a sidewall.  We were running too small of front tires and too large rear tires.  The front tires were getting toasted.  At the end of the first practice session we decided to junk the new front tires (along with the cool shiny rims) and go with the bigger fronts we have used before.

   Sunday's practice session- Derrick went out and was having a better time getting it to turn, but was still having problems.  He was getting too much rear traction (what we thought at the time) so we switched to some old rear tires that had less grip.  He had time to get in two more runs with the different tires.  Into the first turn, and power was cutting out.  ***Problem ended up being loose coil wire, not fuel or carb related, was making the motor cut out and robbing us of much needed horsepower.  We traced it down and fixed it at a Daily Drifter event a few weeks after getting back from California***

   -James

Formula D Photos and videos are here - ALBUM

Derrick Rogers' Formula D write up - HERE

Formula D Houston June 12th, 2004 Results -

   Derrick qualified 7th out of 37, making it in the top 16 qualifiers.  Derrick was pitted against Chris Forsberg in the Motorex 350z for the tandem runs.  Derrick has never done any tandem runs before, but he did pretty good.  If he had not run wide on the end of his leading run he very well may have advanced to the next round.  As it was, the judges let them run again.  While he did very good on following, a spin on the end of his leading run led to Forsberg advancing (Chris Forsberg - who finished 2nd at the Atlanta event - went on to finish 3rd in this event).  Our goal was to make it past qualifying, and we succeeded beyond our expectations by qualifying much better than we had hoped.

Our low budget, non-sponsored entry made it into the big leagues.  We drove it to the event with tools and tires loaded in the back - and the we drove it home.

*It appears that we are tied for 12th (with Rhys Millen) in Formula D points!

Derrick Rogers' Formula D write up - HERE