Most of you drifters who participated at Sideway Sundays are still talking about the issues regarding lack of time, professionalism of drifters, etc. on the facebook event page or through forums, and I was a bit hesitant about writing Part 2 today. Why? Because stating my own opinions might create an even longer ongoing conversation, but I was a participant, yet a staff, and heard from the organization on what happened, so I do have rights in every way to say what I got to say..right?
First of all, let me share my thoughts on the most asked and debated problem posted on the event page and forums.
1. Gate opening
-I arrived at Irwindale Speedway around 7:50am and according to the schedule I received, the gate was supposed to open at 8am. I believe gates were opened 10~20 minutes later after the staffs finished organizing the stage.
Although Adams Motorsports is the head of the drifting session, Irwindale Speedway has control on what goes around inside and outside of the track area and if anything does not satisfy their needs of a 'safe drifting' event, more time will be spent to organize. Do know both organizations want Sideway Sundays to be the best and safe event for all drifters, car show participants, and even for the spectators, so please understand some overtime.
2. Lack of time for drifting and price to drift being too expensive
-I heard a few different stories from a lot of participants and will not mention who said what, but before the event started, I was informed there were two separate groups; amateur drifters (including those who never drifted) & drifters (had some experience in drifting).
There were about 80 drifters in total and was separated into two groups. Let me compare to how many drifters participated in Sideways Sundays #1 and #2; about 15~20 for the first event and ~40 for the second. I barely read and heard any complaints about those two events because each drifter had enough time to drift more than 3 times.
Let's get to Sideway Sundays #3. Because of the positive feedbacks that were written on forums and facebook regarding the first and second event, the amount of drifting participants doubled. I saw the first group starting at around 10am and a lot of participants were spinning out, hitting cones, etc. and it definitely took much more time for each drifter to complete the track layout compared to those who participated in the first and second event. I'm not saying this is bad at all because Sideway Sundays is opened to everyone, amateurs and professionals. When considering this happening to the first group, the amount of attempts to drift definitely reduced. I also want to mention that this whole event was at Irwindale Speedway. I'm not trying to make a huge deal out of this, but Irwindale Speedway is where the final rounds of Formula D occur and rarely do they even open the bank for drifters to drift. Only drifting event I know of at Irwindale would be House of Drift outside of the track. It took a lot of time and effort for Adams Motorsports to organize this whole event so please keep that in mind rather than saying it was about the money.
Now to group 2, there were a lot of experienced drifters and most of them I saw were participants from the first and second event. There were also about 40 participants in this group including Formula D stars Mike Essa, Jeff Jones, and a few XDC leveled participants. Although a few amateurs were included in this group, it seemed as if everything went pretty smooth until one drifter crashed into the wall and took literally 40 minutes for the towing truck to get the car off the track layout. This incident greatly reduced the amount of time for the second group to attempt more drifting rounds.
I've read some other feedbacks, but I'll just leave it to here because I'm sure Troy from Adams will explain each situation thoroughly. Part 2 will mostly cover the drifting session and some of the Car Show parts I missed. There are actually other photos I didn't share in Part 1 so that will be posted on this parts coverage as well.
Here's the first group. Drifters were coming in and out and I'm speculating more than 25 cars were in this first group.
Car Show participants and spectators.
This G35 won first place from first Sideway Sundays event.
I did not go into the center Media area, so don't be expecting great drifting shots.
There's DK and his Rx-7 FC. He's currently a drifter for XDC and leaving to Seattle for the upcoming XDC event. Hoping for the best! While I'm at it, if you guys need your tires stretched by a professional, take it to Pep Boys located at Rowland Heights because DK works there. I got mine done and he did a tremendous job.
How often will you see a truck drifting. Only at Sideway Sundays!
DK was killing it!
Back to the Car Show area, a few more rides came in like this Supercharge or Turbocharge'd Truck on Work Emotion CR Kais.
The expression on that guys face was hilarious.
Walked over to the starting line to take some photos.
DK and his FC powered by GodSpeed.
Brian Sloma from Road Race talking to the RPS13 drifter from Falken Tires.
Jason Wong waiting for this turn.
Thanks for the pose buddy.
RHD Silvia. Pretty nice to see a true JDM Silvia in the states.
Winner from Sideway Sundays #1.
This guy placed 2nd at Sideway Sundays #2.
I believe the S13's battery went out so one of the participants helped him out.
Probably the cleanest S14 I've seen that's daily driven and drifted.
Back to the car show area...
Spotted these trophies for the winners from Sideway Sundays #2. Legit!
Seems like this Z on Volk TE37s from JER came in later on.
Not bad at all, but expecting much more for the next months (technically this months) event.
Second group rolling in for their session.
It's been awhile since I saw this S13 conv. I think it's daily driven so I give him even more props for keeping the ride sexy.
At first, I thought I was mistaken, but the sound of a turbo'd S54 was a giveaway. Here's Mike Essa and his Z4.
Sideway Sundays brought another surprise to the crowd; Jeff Jones and his 1JZ powered S13.
Two professionals next to each other.
A lot of built-to-drift cars from the second group.
Mike Essa doing what he does best.
Didn't get too many drifting shots from this group so please understand.
Green Monster~!
One of my favorites since Formula D Fatlace:Slammed Society Showcase last year. It had the marks of a drifting car, but I never seen it drift. Now I know the purpose behind its build.
Jackson Yang brought out his entire crew, 626 Drift Crew, to this months event. Cheese~~~!!
and there's Mikee from JDM Glam with It's JDM yO!'s t-shirt.
I had no clue this Hachi had a history being in Formula Drift until I took an up-close shot.
Front bumpers are overrated.
Jeff Jones's S13 rocking OMGDrift's decal.
The most gutted out S13 I've ever seen.
Sexy cars I would love to own and build one day.
Just a 'wsup!' to all you fans. Much love!
Glad that Mike Essa opened up the hood of his Z4. Look at that beauty. What about ITBs in a BMW?
Tony Pham from team Infinit ripping it!
I've seen this Purple Hachi drifting at 'The Balcony' and he was definitely experienced.
Drift!
This Truck had a godly sound.
So there goes that session.
I left the track to grab some lunch and came across this Rx-7 FD. If I'm not mistaken, it had a Veilside bodykit and won first place during the 2nd Sideway Sundays event.
Spotted this CLEAN Datsun. Talk about a pristine classic car!
I overheard someone saying this Celica was running on a SR20.
After the quick lunch break, I walked to the pit area and saw this Red Rx-7 FD, which I thought belonged to Justin Pawlak, but I don't want to give you guys incorrect information.
Hachi going out.
Gawd I ❤ this S13.
< Walking back to the track, I saw Jackson talking to himself complaining about the hot weather. Yes, it was dam hot.
Some rides I didn't spot earlier in the morning.
Domo and a.... Chucky...?
Random Spotlight on this FC coming up.
The trophies we saw earlier for the winners from last months event. Awards weren't given out to last weeks Sideway Sundays winners but was announced.
A few people left around mid afternoon. By the way, I spot Big Abe's limited t-shirts at the left.
Spotted Mr. Clean (Tim) and Jeremy from Elite-Autosports.
There's the MC of the day, Troy from Adams Motorsports. This was his expression when he looked at me and said, "What the..."
"Now there's Mr. Lee from Night-Import!"
Really awesome to see such an event happening inside the track of Irwindale Speedway. Thanks to everyone who came out to this event. The staffs and I promise to make the next Sideway Sundays better. We are putting a lot of effort and time for an even more organized and enjoyable day rather than just a one day drifting/car show event. Make sure to check the Facebook Fanpage and Facebook Event Page for more info. Remember! The next Sideway Sundays will be on August 28th!
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