East Coast Rocked

[foilman]

Well the Formula D event at Road Atlanta was awesome and by far the largest collection of non-Japanese talent in the US to date. I'm also happy to report the east coast rocked in more than one way. To anybody that might still think that if it's American drifting, it must be Cali, check this out...

Of the 6 east coast drifters with prior experience, 5 of us qualified for the top 16 and we finished as such:

2nd - Chris Forsberg - yeah, he moved, but he's ours
4th - JR Gittin
5th - Ben Schwartz (tied with Dai)
7th - Erik Jacobs - (tied with Hubert)
12th - Tony Schulz (tied with Alex, Ernie and Andy)

I know the whole east/west thing is dying down anyway, and I'm glad. Perhaps this past event was the final bit of attention we needed.

[but now it's time for the Hawaiians to chime in about how we need to come there blah blah... ]

No, Alex is here, you guys come here too. That's how it works. It's not much more expensive for you to ship a car to Cali (where most of the events are) than it is for us to travel from the east coast anyway.

Considering the car I ran, I'm very pleased with my result. I made it to the event by the skin of my teeth, and due to a fiasco the week before I didn't even get my coilovers or diff installed.
Got body roll?

There are tons more pictures from the entire weekend at modifed.com and urbanracer.com.


-Tony
Finishline Motorsports

[Ghost of Duluth]

Heh yea man we saw you listing like the Titanic but still busting solid Drifts and even getting the coveted "One more time".

Sorry to hear about the "Fiasco". If you ever get that again and need a car, mine is yours to use (if it's up and running, if not, I got a spare). You need just mention and you shall have the keys.

Great job East Coast. Looks like Drifting done come home to the hicks on the farm eh?

[AllMotorKing]

props to the east coasters for charging hard. i've met ben, chris and erik at various events and all have been super cool.

good people in general. as more venues open up to drifting the number of good drivers across the country will increase.

[sobe]

Originally posted by Ghost of Duluth
Heh yea man we saw you listing like the Titanic but still busting solid Drifts and even getting the coveted "One more time".

Sorry to hear about the "Fiasco". If you ever get that again and need a car, mine is yours to use (if it's up and running, if not, I got a spare). You need just mention and you shall have the keys.

Great job East Coast. Looks like Drifting done come home to the hicks on the farm eh?

omg...ghost..i want the keys..

ill show you my stuff in a couple of months

<--wants to be worthy

lmfao

[CrazyHawaiian]

Ok, wait a minute now. The only reason any of us Hawaii guys brought up this whole thing was because certain publications and people were claiming that their event winners were the best drifters in the USA. I honestly dont think it was any of the event coordinators or drivers themselves that made these claims, but more a result of the media storm covering the events. Regardless, we have to insist that if someone is going to make a claim that they are the best in the USA, they must include the entire USA for the claim to be truthfull. If you do not include Hawaii, then the correct claim would be best drifters in the continental USA. We do not claim that our Hawaii event winners are the best in the USA. They are the best in Hawaii. So there would be no need for any of us to travel anywhere else in the USA to defend that title. On the other hand, if we were claiming our Hawaii event winners to be the best in the USA, then yes we would have to travel to the continental USA to defend those claims. Its up to the people that make certain claims to defend them. As long as people dont make these types of claims, then its not an issue.

I'm glad to see the east coast guys kicking butt. I was never under the impression that the only good USA drifters were out of the west coast. I knew it would only be a matter of time before we see some events over there on the east coast, and in turn see some of the local talent out there. Good job in that car man!! Its not easy to competitively drift with stock suspension and diff.

[AllMotorKing]

judging from what i saw last year at the hawaii drift showoff event, hawaii's got a great drift scene w/ really good drivers. figures since they've probably been doing it the longest out there.

i know Ross Petty is now competing in mainland events but i want to see the other fellas out here rockin' it too. hopefully there will be 1 national event where drivers from everywhere will be there to compete.

[StanBo_IFX]

I loved the event and the people. You all rocked.

[Ghost of Duluth]

Well CrazyHawaiian, they were the best in the USA. Because they were the ones that entered. In this sport as in every sport, there is always someone who did not enter that could be better. Everyone heres stories about this guy who can do this and that and whatever, but, they weren't at the contest so they aren't among the winners therefore they are not the best in the USA. Simple as that. There are better looking girls than the ones that win Ms America, but since they are not in the contest, they are not among the best looking girls in the USA.

I am sure there are better in Hawaii, as in Kentucky or Colorado. But since they aren't in the contest they don't count in that statement.

[shimos]

Originally posted by Ghost of Duluth
Well CrazyHawaiian, they were the best in the USA. Because they were the ones that entered. In this sport as in every sport, there is always someone who did not enter that could be better. Everyone heres stories about this guy who can do this and that and whatever, but, they weren't at the contest so they aren't among the winners therefore they are not the best in the USA. Simple as that. There are better looking girls than the ones that win Ms America, but since they are not in the contest, they are not among the best looking girls in the USA.

I am sure there are better in Hawaii, as in Kentucky or Colorado. But since they aren't in the contest they don't count in that statement.

So by that rationale if a "best of the USA" drift contest were held anywhere, whoever enters would technically be the "best in the USA?"

I think that the next time a drift contest is held in America it should be named "The Best Fcuken Drifters on Earth Challenge." Then the Americans will be the best drifters around by default if no one from Japan comes down to challenge. Ha!

Hey, didn't someone post up about an online video challenge so people all over the US could post up their own video footage? That was a great idea, but I don't remember seeing much video submissions. It would be great to see something like that again.

[CrazyHawaiian]

Look guys, I'm not saying anyone in Hawaii is better than anyone in the mainland. What I'm saying is that its unfair to make a claim like that without including everyone. How would you feel if you picked up a magazine off the shelf and the cover story said 'Best drifters in the USA!!' and the article covered a Hawaii drifting event that you had no chance of attending? And on top of that all the people in the article start picking up sponsorships while your local talent gets passed up? Bah! Feels like crap! Anyway, the time has passed!! This should not even be an issue anymore. Hawaii guys are starting to pick up sponsors and they will now have the means to compete at mainland events in the near future. If you guys poke fun at us about this in your posts, then yes I'll speak up and defend my position. But if you leave the issue dead, then there is no issue any more and this conversation won't clutter up your thread.

[nissanguy_24]

i Gotta agree with CH here. On both the best in America comment and the chime in comment. I understand about the guys not entering, that happens all the time you always hear about "the best baseball player" or basicly ANYthing, of course this doesnt include some poor kid in a third world country that could be the best if they allowed him a chance to play

Its never really fair to claim your the best in a country or the world, Really you can only claim to be the best at the competition. And even one competition doesnt mean anything, a better driver could of been eleminated due to mechanical failure.

Any claim that your the best is hard to stand by in all honesty.


And as for CrazyHawaiian chiming in, i think he has a right to, even if it was just kidding you made a comment that poked at him and his boys, for lack of a better word.

[Ghost of Duluth]

Well first off Shimos. The event wasn't called best Drifters on earth now was it? It was USA. Unfortunately you guys are not part of the mainland and therefore get screwed in that sense. But they have every right to call it best in USA cause it's in the USA. Just because a few get left out cause of location isn't gonna make them re-think that. Which is too bad too cause you guys have been doing that there long before it got popular here and the talent is amazing.

As for poking fun at you guys, I don't think anyone was poking fun at you. Someone made mention of you guys coming over here but I didn't see any ribbing or poking of fun at you. But in all reality, companies are going to make events and sponsers where they can do the most good for the company. Unfortunatly for you, that ain't in Hawaii. It ain't where I am either so don't feel bad. At least you guys aren't considered to be the Farmer Teds of the automobile world like the East Coast has since the dawn of time.

So let it die. Sure it ain't fair, life never is. But the fact still remains that the needs of the many don't always outweigh the needs of the few company and events owners who make the rules in that sense. I hate it for you guys over there because every Hawaiian driver I have seen rips it up, and it's a shame you guys don't get the proper respect.

[Ben Schwartz]

Cool, I got 5th? Where did you get this info Tony?

[foilman]

I figured it out on my own, so consider it unofficial... but I'm pretty sure it's correct. Read the rules, points are awarded for qualifying and how far you make it in the elimination brackets.

Notice half the field is in ties. The first column is qualifying position, then qual. points, finish points, and total.

6 4 100 104 Samuel Hubinette - Mopar
14 1 80 81 Chris Forsberg - MotoRex
2 7 60 67 Hiro Sumida - Drift Association
5 4 50 54 JR - Falken
8 3 40 43 Dai Yoshihara - Pacific Rim
7 3 40 43 Ben Schwartz - Falken
16 1 40 41 Erik Jacobs - DG Trials
13 1 40 41 Hubert Young - Motorsports Dynamics
1 8 20 28 Ken Gushi - Rotora
3 6 20 26 Taka Aono - DA
4 5 20 25 Calvin Wan - Falken/Discount
12 2 20 22 Tony Schulz
11 2 20 22 Alex Pfeiffer - Battle Version
10 2 20 22 Andy Yen - Autolink
9 2 20 22 Ernie Fixmer - Rotora
15 1 20 21 Benson Hsu - Hot Wheels

-T

[Topics II]

The whole east coast west cost thing is long gone now. Ever since everyone started traveling all around the country and running together, everyone realized that we are all just having a good time. And everyone is totally cool with everyone else. Everyone out here was very accepting when i first moved out in october, and its only been fun since.