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Posted
May 10 2011, 04:00 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 1 comment(s)
Remember the Mysterious Dodge Charger Daytona that I posted last week? The car got got quite a bit of interest, and our friend Rob Einaudi over at Car Domain did a bit of searching and found that the car is owned by a guy named Sean Machado. It's not a real Daytona, but a very convincing clone built for track use (Sean also owns a genuine Daytona). Rob also dug up this clip of the beast running flat out at Willow Springs with some other Mopars last month.
Just listen to it roar around Big WIllow. Awesome!
Thanks for the tip Rob!
-Mike Garrett
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Posted
Mar 30 2011, 02:18 AM
by
Larry Chen
with 59 comment(s)
Top Drift is the largest Amateur drift series in North America, and one of the biggest in the world. Quite a few pros including Justin Pawlak and Team Need For Speed driver Matt Powers learned how to drift at Top Drift. The three highest finishers from the season earn a full Formula D license and the top eight finishers get invited to Pro-Am Nationals in Iriwndale. Dave Briggs came all the way from Canada to battle it out. However, Dave got knocked out in the top 8 by Southern Californian native...
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Posted
Mar 03 2011, 03:01 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 26 comment(s)
This past Tuesday our friends at Hotchkis Performance Suspension rented out the "Streets" course at Willow Springs for a day of track driving. I was unable to make it to last year's event, and since then I had been counting down the days until this this year's gathering. Not only was I excited to shoot the event, I would be doing a bit of driving myself....
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Posted
Dec 01 2010, 05:00 AM
by
Linhbergh
with 39 comment(s)
Recently some of the Formula Drift drivers built Missile cars with the intention of just messing around. Soon it became a trend. No one actually knows who started it but it seems like it’s the thing to do now for pro drivers during the off season. A missile car is a drift car that is all function with no regard to how it looks, but it has to be done on a budget. Heck you don’t even need a windshield. It is utter chaos when these guys get on the track and it’s not uncommon to get...
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Posted
Apr 08 2010, 11:50 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 65 comment(s)
Myself and my colleagues at Speedhunters and Need for Speed are really into some new territory, as we prepare for the debut of Matt Powers and Mike Whiddett at Formula D Long Beach tomorrow. We know all about making crazy media and gaming projects, but an international automotive project is quite a different experience all together. Mind you, I am to some degree looking at Team NFS as a bit of a film/photography/gaming/media/music/lifestyle project. Take this test we did with the two cars at Willow...
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Posted
Mar 17 2010, 03:30 PM
by
Linhbergh
with 45 comment(s)
One look at the picture above and you can instantly imagine the rumbling of all that Detroit metal. Each of the three cars give you a completely different sort badassery. The green Plymouth Valiant is classically sophisticated, the yellow Dodge Challenger is a rugged badass, and the Viper is just pure, raw, gut wrenching power. The guys at Hotchkis Suspension held a track day at Willow Springs International Raceway and invited Speedhunters to come and drive their various selection of tuned muscle...
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Posted
Mar 10 2010, 04:45 PM
by
Linhbergh
with 44 comment(s)
It was my phone that cracked the silence. I groaned as I reached over to the bright and loud object that was a mere blur in my eyes. I squinted. My eyes started to focus as I made out a text message saying "WAKE UP!!" I set my phone's alarm to do just that a few hours before hand. The time was 4:30am. It was still dark and I had somewhere to be in a few hours time. Red eyed and still groggy, I rolled back into that sweet spot of my bed thinking and anticipating about the long drive...
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Posted
Feb 19 2010, 08:01 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 13 comment(s)
SoCal based reader Dane Harding sent us this awesome picture of his FC RX7 drifting the Horsethief Mile course at Willow Springs.
The photo was taken by none other than Mr. Papparazi, Larry Chen of Driftfotos.com.
-Mike Garrett...
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Posted
Sep 07 2009, 02:35 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 8 comment(s)
"What's the difference between a Car Spotlight and a Car Feature?" ... this question was asked to me by the various Speedhunters writers, a few times during the first months of the website's existence. The answer I gave them was like so: a car feature shows pictures of all a car's major components and provides detailed information, whereas a Car Spotlight has limited photos and limited information. Spotlights are usually done when we find a car that we think is cool, but we...
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Posted
Jun 11 2009, 11:30 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 22 comment(s)
Agh I'm getting a bit backlogged here.... Need more hours in the day!... Anyway, let's have a quick look at my final set of observations from the twin Red Line Time Attack and Just Drift events from Willow Springs the other weekend…...
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Posted
Jun 03 2009, 03:07 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 26 comment(s)
Ok, let's quickly look at day two of my visit to Willow Springs for Red Line Time Attack. We were primarily at the event to shoot HD footage of Chris Rado's Scion tC but I did pick up my still camera from time to time in order to document my own automotive observations from the event. The day started out with a quick blast down the freeway from our hotel in Palmdale up to Willow Springs. The experience of the California desert is all about open space and big sky.... two things which quite...
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Posted
Jun 03 2009, 01:29 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 19 comment(s)
With all that was going on last weekend at Willow Springs, I still have plenty more photos to post from the Redline Time Attack and Just Drift combo event. If you got tired of the grip cars on Big Willow, you could just head over to Balcony for some drifting - a pretty cool setup really. There were also different events at Horsethief Mile and the Streets of Willow, but I didn't get a chance to check those out. When you think about it, with all of its courses WSIR is as close as you'll get to "Ebisu Circuit USA". All you have to do is replace the mountains of Japan with the barren Mojave Desert......
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Posted
Jun 02 2009, 04:39 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 30 comment(s)
For my second bit of Redline Time Attack coverage from Willow Springs, I wanted to highlight some of the day's fastest cars. The level of the American time attack competition continues to grow by leaps and bounds, and many track records would be broken before the desert sun set at WSIR. Before we move on, you also have to remember that unlike the Japanese time attack events which are held in the cooler winter months, this all went down under blazing 90-degree conditions!...
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Posted
Jun 02 2009, 12:54 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 10 comment(s)
So that's why there was a big cloud of smoke coming from the oval course at Willow Springs this weekend.
The new car looks and sounds awesome. Can't wait to see how JTP does with the RX8 this weekend in Jersey.
-Mike Garrett
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Posted
Jun 01 2009, 04:25 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 34 comment(s)
Man, I love living in California - the place where the geography is just as diverse as the car culture. Last weekend it was hot rods and customs in the cool coastal breeze, and this weekend it was time attack under the hot desert sun at the Redline Time Attack event at Willow Springs International Raceway. Even with the hot and dusty weather, competitors and fans came out in large numbers for the second Redline event of the season. All the big time attack regulars were out to run on "Big Willow", plus several new cars made their competition debut this weekend....
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Posted
Apr 24 2009, 04:06 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 28 comment(s)
As you've probably seen, the vast majority of my drift photo archive comes from events in Japan. Before I left for Japan though, I had the opportunity to attend what is probably the best grassroots drift event held in the United States - the Ziptied All Star Bash. Brian "BH" Harte had the idea to make a two-day event that celebrated the style, fun, and camaraderie of drifting instead over the "serious" stuff you see at other events. At this time I was still getting a grasp on photography, but once I saw Brian's exquisitely handcrafted MS Paint posters for the event, I knew I had to be there. With it being drift month and all, I figured it's the perfect time to take a look back at this historic event that was held in the summer of 2007. ...
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Posted
Jan 02 2009, 12:48 PM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 19 comment(s)
Hey guys, check out this Ziptied All Star Bash V video I just saw... it was shot and edited by my new friend Josh Herron, who I met through ex-RiceboyTV video shooter Will Roegge when we were out at Willow Springs. You just can't fade the JustDrift/Ziptied ASB and its all stars...
Anyway, I think the video looks dope! And I dig hip hop music as a background to drifting videos! Try to make it out to the All Star Bash for yourself next time! This is grassroots drifting!!!
Enjoy...
-Antonio Alvendia
Ziptied All Star Bash V from Joshua Herron on Vimeo
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Posted
Dec 09 2008, 02:30 PM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 19 comment(s)
For those who were waiting to see them, here are some photos from the very first " Grip Day " event at Willow Springs, put on by Drift Association , the same people who brought us the ever popular Drift Day events, which changed the traditional scene of grassroots motorsports by making them more fun, youthful, and dare I say it, diverse! Okay, okay, I know this event happened last week, but I think the pics are better late than never! Haha! Big thanks to Naoki Kobayashi and the Grip Day...
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Posted
Sep 24 2008, 07:30 AM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 8 comment(s)
Sometime last year, I received a call from my friends David and Tim at Classic Motorsports Magazine . They asked me if I'd be available to come out to Willow Springs Raceway to shoot photos of a bunch of classic Porsches they rounded up for an upcoming issue. Of course I was interested - classic Porsches are cool, and besides, I've been a longtime fan and supporter of the magazines that David and Tim produce as their labor of love - Grassroots Motorsports and Classic Motorsports. In fact...
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Posted
Jul 18 2008, 06:30 AM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 9 comment(s)
And it just don't stop... Just when you thought it was all over, I thought I'd show everyone some more images from the Just Drift/Ziptied All Star Bash 4, which was generously sponsored by Federal Tires. (How's that for plugging your sponsor, Charlie? And you were all worried that we'd forget...) Up above is an image from the pit area of the event. That's Justin Pawlak unloading his blue FC3S off the trailer, while his girl prepares to start up her bike to ride around the track...
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