One of the most anticipated events to hit the Bay Area this
summer was the BLOX Open House in Fremont, California.
NOS Energy Drink was on hand to provide the energy
and entertainment forthe crowd as they checked out over 300 of the Bay Area’s finest import tuner cars. Hundreds of models were featured at the NOS Energy Drink Lounge and Main Stage, where ice cold NOS was distributed to thousands of car enthusiasts throughout the day. For more information on this event, check out BloxRacing.com or TunerPlayground.com
Check out this teaser video from our friends at 360VM:
Willows, CA – June 30th was Round 3 of the 2010 ThunderDrift
Pro-Am Series, with Nor-Cal’s top drifters gathering to go for a shot at a
pro
license. Of the three points leaders, two returned in new cars. Andy
Gillespie was driving Tomasz Olech’s SR-powered Corolla while his Miata
was
down, and Ryan Kado was in his new orange S14, recently purchased from
Inland Drift. Luke Lonberger was still using his Turbo LS1 S14.
NOS Energy Drink was out in full force, with photographers and models
making
the rounds and handing out free NOS to anyone who looked thirsty.
Resident
judge Richard Kong was joined by Don Ahn and Conrad Grunewald to round
out the
judging staff for this round.
Kado qualified first and was favored to win, but a stroke of fate pitted
him
against 8th qualifier Julian Jacobs in the Top 8 round. On the second
run, Kado
was following just a tad too close, hit the brakes, and straightened out
for a
second in turn 3, costing him the battle and giving him 5th place. Had
he
qualified 2nd, he would have finished 6th and lost out on an additional
30
points.
Lonberger and Virgil Brosseau went One More Time in the Top 8 after
Lonberger
made an epic pass on the inside of Turn 3, sending him far off the track
at the
exit. Lonberger also went One More Time against Gillespie in the Final
4, and almost got another One More Time against Jacobs in the Championship
Round, but
Jacobs got the win. Gillespie went up against Josh Sher in the
Consolation Round
and came away with 3rd place. This was Jacobs’ second win of the
series,
but he’s still in 4th place overall with 261 points, due to a poor
finish in
Round 2. Lonberger is still in 3rd with 285 points, Gillespie is hanging
on to
2nd with 288, and Kado has the tenuous lead with 295.
In addition to the Prizes and Trophies the drivers usually receive, NOS
Energy Drink presented the winners with NOS Hats and Hoodies!
With only 10 points separating 1st and 3rd, the series could still go
to any
of the top four drivers. All Kado has to do is show up to Round 4, and
5th Place
Brosseau won’t be able to squeeze by.
The 4th and final round is August 31st at Thunderhill Raceway. NOS
Energy Drink will be there providing refreshments and adding to the
excitement
as the drivers make their final attempt at achieving Formula Drift
greatness!
For a more in depth look at all of the action
from Round 3 of the ThunderDrift Pro-Am Series, check out this great
video from our friends at Lab17:
We hope to see everyone at NOS Energy Drink’s Forum Fest this Sunday, 7.18.10 @ Pacific Raceways in Kent, WA…Remember the event is free for all spectators!
For all you car show participants! Here is a sneak peek of the LIMITED EDITION NOS Energy Drink Car show BELTS.
Every category winner will take home one of these lovely belts instead of a trophy. Hold it high and wear it proud to show that You made it…..You made it!
Check out this video of some Q&A I did in the NOS VIP tent in Long Beach, and don't miss the guy with the blue hair...
If you're going through hell, keep going. ~Winston Churchill
Where to begin? So many things happened this year at Pikes Peak. We were at tech about a week ago today, yet it feels like an eternity ago. But, I suppose technical inspection is as good a place to start as any.
Dave had arrived back from Chicago with a new engine, new rear diff and reinstalled wiring harness - all things that had been summarily destroyed in the unplanned CORE Evo BBQ (i.e. piston through the block resulting in fireball). We arrived for tech in Colorado Springs just in time. Passed with flying colors and headed in to the driver’s meeting. Excitement about the record breaking was already abuzz, particularly since another few miles of the road had been paved (from Boulder Park up to the summit); effectively resulting in a faster course.
Wednesday began the tireless practice schedule of getting up at 2:30 am to head up the hill. We got 2 runs in the middle section before the timing belt broke. Car went straight from the mountain to SCR Performance for a cylinder head replacement. It was an all-nighter and the crew then scurried from Loveland straight to Devil’s Playground for practice day 2. Just one run on practice day 2 … and low oil pressure reared its ugly head. Car went straight from the mountain to Tobz Performance for another all-nighter to, sadly, put the stock motor back in. We missed practice on Friday because we simply couldn’t get the new engine in place and onto the dyno for a new tune in time to make it. Hopes were raised a bit as Martin, Tobz & Mitch had their way with the Evo on the dyno. Horsepower was high and turbo lag wasn’t too bad with the stock Mitsu engine and Forced Performance turbo.
We headed up the mountain on Sunday morning still reeling. With one problem after another and things not going particularly smooth for us at any point this year, we were partially thinking “what next?” and partially thinking “who cares what’s next, it’s a miracle we’re taking the start line”. The green flag waved and we were off. Things were going exceedingly well, Dave was in the zone. We screamed through Picnic Grounds, we floated through 11 Mile, we were coming up on the Ski Area.
This video says it all and so I’ll let it do the talking ... Go to 3:31 on the timer … we come around this tight right corner at the Ski Area quite aggressively and fast (a testament to the run up until that point I’m pleased to say) and then right as we pass the videographer you can hear the clutch go (… hear poor little Evo shudder as Dave tries to shift).
We stumbled and lost a lot of time immediately after; contemplating what we should do. Proper use of the car’s gearing and power is what allows you to pull out of the power-slide on dirt. Should we continue on, sliding through corners knowing we might slide right off the mountain without the ability to get the car into its powerband to pull out of a slide if we need it? As we discussed it (literally – still hauling up the Peak and taking corners we contemplated our fate between my navvie calls) we remained in 3rd until we came to a quite steep hairpin. The car nearly stalled, Dave shoved it into 2nd and we creeped out of the hairpin. This gave us a little hope. If we can RPM-match shift between 2nd and 3rd we may just be able to pilot it up to the summit. Dave started to get the hang of driving under the conditions we were faced with. And, call me twisted and addicted to a nice shot of adrenaline, but it was actually, well, kind of fun. We’d whip around a hairpin and the car would bog down terribly while we waited for the turbo to spool, but when it did, that feeling of g-force slamming you back into your seat was a thing of joy – life worth living. It only lasted about 4 seconds before the pinging of the rev limiter like nails on a chalkboard, but I giggled almost every time that turbo kicked in. After a week of awful thrashing, you’ve got to take solace in the little things. :)
We ended up in third place with a 12:55. While not a terrible time in the grand scheme of things, pretty dismal compared to what we were hoping for and what the car, running optimally, is capable of. Our Time Attack record still stands at an 11:48. As usual - no boost, no clutch, no whatever - Dave drove the piss out of that Evo and I’m a proud navvie/wife. Live and learn, make it faster next time. Yet again, though I wanted to curl up in a ball and forget this ever happened a few days ago, I find myself planning for and excited about next year already. We want our shot at the mountain again…
We would like to thank our 2010 sponsors for their support, both in helping us in getting to the race, and in keeping us there! Special thanks to the guys from AMS Performance for coming out to lend a hand and to Aaron Searle for his awesome dedication throughout the week.
Be sure to become a fan of Kern Racing on Facebook by clicking the link and we'll keep you updated on the latest news about the NOS Energy Drink Hill Climb team. We've got lots of pictures and videos of the Evo in action for you to check out too!
Formula Drift the TV show is voiced over by myself and Ryan Sage co-founder of Formula Drift, Sorry to expose the man behind the curtain but that's what's up...
So I headed out to LA to rendezvous with Ryan Sage in LA and while there I got to catch up with my friend and NOS Energy Drink sponsored Formula Drift driver Chris Forsberg...
Mic, Me and NOS...
The Essentials... protected by INCIPIO Blackberry, iPhones, Macbook and of course NOS
While out in LA I had some work to do in Orange County at Barrett Jackson...
Chris and his wife Mich came out, it was at Orange County Fair so they cracked open all the vendors, it was how they say "ON!!!!!"
DEAL WITH IT! Funnel cake!
NOS and I need to build a "SLED" replace the LV top and interior with a blue canvas top and we're in biz with this sled...
I love wagons so maybe we can rock a wagon....
That's a wrap! Thanks Formula Drift, the Official Energy Drink of Formula Drift....
New Jersey was a pretty intense weekend. I had a lot of high hopes coming into this event and was looking to get my first northeast podium. As the weekend began we had some excellent practice runs on Thursday. Kevin was trying a new setup on the car and it seemed to be working well for the tight course at Wall Speedway.
Leading into Friday we had a pretty solid plan, get a good pass in first for qualifying, then go all out on the second run (like usual). The first run was great and put us in 2nd place! As everyone was going into their second run, we got pushed down to 6th place, so I wanted to try to better my first run and grab that top spot along with the extra championship points. As I was coming around the bank, I could see the wavering guardrail getting closer… as I was in the outer clipping zone, my rear bumper tagged a protrusion in the guardrail and knocked our car straight into the wall. We would obviously earn a 0 on the second run and I now had to trust Kevin and Sergio to fix the damage that I had created.
The guys dragged out our Genius Tool box and started getting busy.
Saturday came and I got out on track for a few laps in the morning, everything felt perfect! I knew I could rely on the guys to get us back in the event with a good car. Our first matchup was against Bill Sherman. He was driving really well this event in his new chassis and he was pretty fast through the infield. We ended up running two One More Times for a total of six laps! In the end we got the win, but I was so hot and tired after all that running. Our car was running at 240 degrees, and apparently Sherman’s car blew the motor shortly after he left the track. That is a lot of abuse!
Our next pair was with Charles Ng, who had just taken out Conrad Grunewald. I was told that he was pretty fast and outran the Camaro. Kevin and I discussed adjusting the car to add some speed to keep up with the Mazda. Our predictions were right and we were door to door with Charles all the way through our chase lap and we moved into the Great 8.
I was getting really excited and nervous at the same time. I was now up against Darren McNamara, who won this event last year. Once again Kevin and I adjusted the car to get some more speed out of it to keep up with Darren… everything was going great and we were right behind him, until the transfer in the infield. I got lost in all the smoke behind Darren’s car and transferred to soon! As soon as I was able to see the track again I was heading straight for the inside cones. Instead of straightening out and going around them I just stood on the gas to maintain drift. We were at a huge disadvantage at this point, and I put a great lead lap down on the next run but it was not enough to make up for my mistake.
Next round is in Monroe, Washington, where I took 1st place last year! I am very excited to get back to that track, and hopefully we will have a few surprises for everyone there!
Chris
Also, here is a quick video of some of our practice runs with our Contour HD cameras.
My name is Jarod DeAnda and I've been known as the "Voice of Formula Drift" for now 7 years, I'm not limited to only MC'ing and hosting the Formula Drift TV show in both the U.S. and also Southeast Asia but over the years have MC'ed events such as Drift Mania Canadian Championship, XDC, Vegas Drift,Hyperfest and even X Games both Summer with Rally Car Racing and Winter X Games announcing all Snowmobiling disciplines. I've also been the voice of "Big Jay" in the EA Games videogame Need for Speed Pro Street, so you never know where I'll pop up!
Just so you have an idea of who I am, this is me drinking NOS at Formula Drift ATLANTA round 2
I'm very proud to be part of the growing and now very victorious brand NOS ENERGY DRINK team including my good friend and Formula Drift Champion Chris Forsberg, Kyle Busch, Dan Wheldon, ACP, the rest of the NOS team and all of you on the streets pounding the pavement in your rides and pounding the NOS Energy Drink.
You might also might have seen my cameo in the Chris Forsberg NOS Energy Drink commercial
This past weekend at the 3rd round of Formula Drift in New Jersey it was announced I'm part of the NOS Energy Drink team and also the debuting of the NOS Energy Drink microphone painted by Danny D, famous automotive painter, see the video below to see his handy work, it gets really good with the hand striping later in the video.
Here's some studio shots of the now infamous microphone, drivers get helmets I get a custom mic
So watch this blog and my blog for some EXCLUSIVE images, videos, debauchery and fun here at DRINKNOS.COM I promise you'll laugh, you'll cry and you'll laugh again, just kidding it'll be a good time, NO CRYING by the way!
Here's some images from this past weekend at Formula Drift round 3 at Wall Stadium New Jersey.
I started tagging the ground immediately at Wall Stadium with some NOSFuel Victory stencils, get some!
Pretty rad idea if you ask me, atta boy Square!
This is Rob "Freming" and he likes and now works for NOS...
This is the one and ONLY Matt Petty, he not only organizes the infamous Club Loose events in New Jersey and East Coast Bash but also has followers that wear "In Petty We Trust" t-shirts + NOS pays him to come to Formula Drift events to heckle invite to the NOS Energy Drink BUNKER!
Here's me and my new NOS Energy Drink microphone, what a great crowd/event!
Next stop after Formula Drift New Jersey is Maryland for a chill out session with Vaughn Gittin Jr. his chica Abby and also chillin with some crabs, libations and last but not least HALL & OATES!!!
I did not stutter this whole gang below partook in the Hall & Oates concert and their awesome tunes!!!!
I'll let you just imagine the craziness that ensued or you can click over to one of my other blogs on FATLACE or my personal website JarodDeAnda.com click it and stick it....
It's an exciting week,
first, we just arrived in Wall, NJ for Round 3 of the Formula Drift
Championship. Wall Township Speedway is only an hour from my hometown,
Doylestown, PA, so it's kind of my home track. Wall is an interesting
track with a lot of character and is pretty tricky if you don't hit it right.
The bump down the transition after the big banked turn
can severely disrupt your car and send you into a spin if
you aren't smooth.
Even more exciting is
this announcement.... The NOS family has a new member, it's Jarod DeAnda,
which is amazing because Jarod's commitment to drifting is as strong as most
drivers, spreading the word about drifting and educating fans all around the
world. His character has brought color to our sport and now he will be
bringing that same color to the NOS brand.
Will Roegge and Josh Herron really stepped it up with this new video that is unlike their usual slow motion music filled jams. I have always been in love with any of the videos that these guys create, and this unorthodox style for them just shows how creative they can be. Check it out.
