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Posted
Jan 04 2012, 10:00 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 6 comment(s)
When it comes to the S14, there are dozens defining examples out there. The original white Kei Office S14 and the Exceed Moat Time Attack car both crossed my mind, but when it comes down to it, I knew Matt Powers' S14 was the choice for me.
The photo above is one I snapped at a grassroots event at Buttonwillow back in the summer of 2007. It's really hard to believe that was nearly five years ago.
Matt's journey with his S14 has been long and illustrious. The car has evolved from a scraping KA-powered sled to a dialed-in pro machine that runs with the best in the Formula Drift field. At the same time, Matt himself has transitioned from unknown laid back California grassroots drifter to a pro who is recognized worldwide. He's still laid back though...
While Matt claims no particular allegiance to the S-chassis, his 240SX shows just how this car can evolve with its owner. No matter how far you want to take, the good old S-chassis is there for you.
-Mike Garrett...
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Posted
Nov 10 2011, 02:00 PM
by
Larry Chen
with 15 comment(s)
I felt so privileged to have the chance to follow Team USA around at World Drift Series China in Hang Zhou. Even though our drivers are given unfavorable conditions and unfavorable odds, they still seem to make the best out of it. Vaughn Gittin Jr's crew chief, Ian Stewart, of Auto Sport Dynamics, told me that he loves competing in China. He mentioned that it brings everyone back to the roots of drifting. The teams don't have fancy rigs and spare parts are very limited. Drifting in China...
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Posted
Nov 09 2011, 09:30 PM
by
Larry Chen
with 37 comment(s)
The first round of World Drift Series China was a big success for Team Need for Speed. Vaughn Gittin Jr. finished first and Matt Powers finished second. The event was held in the industrial and smoggy city of Tianjin. The second and final round of the series was held in the beautiful city of Hang Zhou. Five members of the media came along for the Asian adventure. Three of which, including me, were Speedhunters. Midway through our fourteen-hour flight to China, I decided to check on the boys of team...
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Posted
Nov 08 2011, 11:00 AM
by
Jeroen Willemsen
with 14 comment(s)
One of the reasons I came to the recent RC Drift event was to see this car. It's a close replica of the Team Need For Speed S14 driven by Matt Powers. I was amazed at all the details the owner was able to put into it. Markus Busch is the person who created this masterpiece after he did the same with the 2010 car you saw in the first feature I did. The car started as a blank Yokomo S14 body. You have to cut all the excess plastic to make it fit onto your chassis and after that you can start to...
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Posted
Nov 03 2011, 09:30 AM
by
Charles Kha
with 51 comment(s)
For the final round of this year's Formula DRIFT season we wanted to do something out of the ordinary. Throughout the year our Team Need for Speed drivers have been doing a driver blog after each round, however for Irwindale, we decided on something completely different. A comic book. ...
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Posted
Oct 30 2011, 11:30 PM
by
Linhbergh
with 7 comment(s)
The second and final round of the Wold Drift Series in China has concluded at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center in the city of Hang Zhou. It was an event full of upsets, spectacular crashes and dance routines. But after the tire smoke cleared a local driver, Zhang ShaoHua, stood on top. Another local Chinese driver, Zhang ShengJun, took second with Team America was represented by Vaughn Gittin Jr. on the 3rd step in the podium. Seeing how this was also the final round of the 2011 season, a champion...
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Posted
Oct 27 2011, 11:00 PM
by
Linhbergh
with 2 comment(s)
In life, theres are always firsts for everything. This past week has been a whole check list of firsts and one of those is my first time in the country of China. I'm in the country following the drifting exploits of Team Need for Speed drivers, Matt Powers and Vaughn Gittin Jr., at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center in the city of Hang Zhou. The stadium usualy caters to football games (aka soccer) and also serves as a training facility for Olympians. But this week, the running track has been paved...
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Posted
Oct 06 2011, 09:30 PM
by
Larry Chen
with 30 comment(s)
Our final day in China started off with a big bang. The cars started to arrive around 3 AM local Beijing time. The last car to arrive was Vaughn Gittin Jr.'s Mustang, which showed up at 6 AM. All night the cars were pulled out of the containers along with all the spare parts and tires needed to keep these machines running. This is Todd Ho. He actually grew up in California but he moved to China recently for work. Todd was the very first driver to swap in a LS motor in his FC RX-7 and drove it...
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Posted
Oct 06 2011, 05:30 PM
by
Linhbergh
with 6 comment(s)
Matt Powers has had a good year so far. Two podiums and a shot at finishing the season off 3rd in the driver's championship. So as the 2011 Formula D season draws to a close this weekend at Irwindale Speedway, we present to you this season recap of Matt's year.
-Linhbergh
Matt Powers stories on Speedhunters
Team Need for Speed Stories on Speedhunters
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Posted
Oct 05 2011, 11:00 PM
by
Larry Chen
with 21 comment(s)
I had a feeling it would not be a normal day as we touched down in Beijing at 8:30 AM local time. How often can you say you were stuck in the middle of a Chinese freeway during rush hour? I was traveling with six mechanics, five drivers, four members of the media (including me) and one judge. We were all headed to World Drift Series China in the city of Tianjin. In China, everyone seemed to have switched on tourist mode. Everyone, including Justin Shreeve and Joe Ayala, from "Tandem of die,"...
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Posted
Oct 03 2011, 04:32 PM
by
Larry Chen
with 27 comment(s)
Vaughn Gittn Jr. and Team Need for Speed driver, Matt Powers, walked away with 1st and 2nd place at World Drift Series China in the city of TianJin. Fellow Formula Drift drivers, Ross Petty and Kyle Mohan, both finished in the top 8. Vaughn battled his way to the top when he met 2008 D1GP champion, and current D1 points leader, Daigo Saito in the top 8. It was a close battle but Vaughn moved on. The two American drivers, Powers and Gittin, battled it out in the finals with some door to door driving...
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Posted
Sep 14 2011, 07:00 AM
by
Larry Chen
with 30 comment(s)
What's up Speedhunters! I'd like to make a toast. How about that ride out? I can see why they call it sin city... I wanted to drive real aggressive this round. The season is almost over! Vegas is a really good track for a big entry and I wanted to demonstrate my style and a commitment over the other drivers in these aspects. I also needed to finish off my rear bumper from the Washington abuse it got, which was quite easy to do it on this main entry wall if you wanted to. We showed up to Vegas...
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Posted
Aug 28 2011, 12:30 AM
by
Linhbergh
with 13 comment(s)
It was a day that couldn't make up its mind. Off track and on track at Las Vegas Motorspeedway. It was a day filled with dark moody skies, short periods of rain showers, sunshine, upsets, break downs, and of course, the excessive heat of the desert. But when all the heat, tire smoke and dust subsided, there was a person on top of the podium that hasn't seen such graces in a good while. Rhys Millen drove his heart out and stood on the top step. Darren McNamara took 2nd, and Team Need for Speed...
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Posted
Aug 27 2011, 03:30 PM
by
Linhbergh
with 15 comment(s)
Friday. Las Vegas Motorspeedway. Qualifying day. And as the heat of the day started to subside and the sun started to dip below the horizon, the action around the Formula D paddock started to heat up. Though all was quite in the Falken pit area... ...but in the Need for Speed Electro Lounge, Miki Taka was busy cranking out the tunes as usual... ...and Matt Powers signed away autographs with his pink Sharpe at the autograph session. But before any qualifying was to happen, the cars lined up at the...
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Posted
Aug 11 2011, 11:02 AM
by
Larry Chen
with 13 comment(s)
What’s up Speedhunters! Hope the downtime since the east coast Formula D has made you hungry for some more Formula D coverage and excited for the last couple FD rounds of the season. Check out my Washington drivers blog below! I would also like to note here that this blog really has nothing to do with mullets at all. But I approve of them. Roland Gallagher’s dad probably has the flossiest one in Formula D though if you must know. Our pits and all our stuff got pretty wet from the rain...
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Posted
Jul 26 2011, 03:00 PM
by
Charles Kha
with 10 comment(s)
For the New Jersey round of FD, we wanted to do something a little bit different, so Will Roegge produced onboard footage of our drivers Fredric Aasbo and Matt Powers in 3D. So grab a pair of red and cyan glasses and enjoy!
- Charles Kha
Team Need for Speed
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Posted
Jul 09 2011, 10:20 AM
by
Charles Kha
with 13 comment(s)
There's a saying in racing that if there's one person you must beat, it's your team-mate. In FD Florida, Team Need for Speed had a glimpse of that when Matt Powers and Fredric Aasbo were paired against each other in the top 32. It was an incredible, no-holds-barred battle between the two team-mates. And while both drivers are known for being aggressive on the track, what are they like off it? To find out, Speedhunters stuck a voice recorder between them to see what really goes on in the TNFS pits. What ensued was a rather candid discussion...
...
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Posted
Jun 14 2011, 03:00 PM
by
Larry Chen
with 22 comment(s)
What’s up Speedhunters! Thanks for checking out my blog on Florida. I think my last few blogs got beneath the surface of the event and captured a deeper attitude and some unique thoughts. I've tried to do that again and create an interesting read, but it's often difficult. Some of the moments in the pictures don’t beg for deeper insights and some thoughts and feelings don’t lend themselves to being revealed. Anyways, wallah... This was the first time I’ve ever gotten...
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Posted
Jun 04 2011, 06:30 PM
by
Larry Chen
with 4 comment(s)
Matt Powers knocked out Fredric Aasbo, his Need for Speed team mate, in the top 32 bracket at FD Florida. It was a fierce battle, with Fredric making the slightest mistake on the lead run. After the first run Matt's car had some mechanical issues, causing it to overheat. After calling for an additional five minutes to let the Rocket Bunny S14 cool down, the team mates went at it again. Matt's lead run was solid and Fredric was equally strong chasing. It was a very close battle but In the...
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Posted
May 24 2011, 11:00 PM
by
Larry Chen
with 34 comment(s)
Hello Speedhunters. How are you? Let me share with you my driver's blog from FD Atlanta. I got a new helmet this year. I had it before Round 1 but I was waiting to bust it out. It has the parker pumper air vent which I don’t use while I drive because it restricts my head too much. My buddy Dillon Schmersal did the painting for me. I think my theme for this year is to wage war at every event, against everyone, including myself. At least on the track. Why would you only want to keep drifting...
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