Recap from Konig Sponsored Driver Dennis Mertzanis:
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Vegas, NV, was the scene for round 5 of Formula Drift and it lived up to its reputation for being a hot spot for fun, trouble and sin..and don’t forget temperature cause it was friggin hot at 109 degrees. This year has been overshadowed by the quest for speed and grip. The only thing we haven’t changed so far were the shocks. So here we are in the sweltering heat of Nevada, wrenching and sweating to get the car set up early on Thursday.
The Vegas course was a ton of fun. A fast line into a kink then bumper to the wall, you slide out to the next wall. This course can be done 1 of 2 ways, flick at the kink or hold a tight line and e-brake against the wall. The flick was baller, so I went for it. I was starting to get it down on Thursday, but the changes to the car and the challenge of the flick were not proving to be a winning combination. Well, there’s always Friday I thought, so I’ll get the e-brake down. The car was gripping well. The speed and traction were there, I just had to learn how to ride this bull. I’m telling you, the Kenda KR-20s are really grippy. I got good smoke and traction.
Thursday was also the scene of a tragic pop-up tent incident that included an innocent Dodge Viper and Dodge Challenger. We were moving the pit space around and Mark was holding the huge Kenda pop-up tent (RIP) when a gust of wind blew it up and over the fence, where it landed on top of these beautiful cars, scratching them. The Dodge guys were not too happy. I apologized for what had happened but what can you do…it’s nature and I have no control over that. There goes my chances of getting a Dodge Viper for next year’s FD season. Puh, yeah, right! By facilitating the use of my 2 upper control arms, duct-tape and many zip-ties, we got the Kenda Tires pop-up tent standing on its own again.
Friday starts off with the autograph signing and I sat next to Robbie Nishida. He’s an interesting guy; he has an odd sense of humor and a care free attitude. I didn’t expect to get that from him; it was cool. I started practice with a flick entry just to get my feet wet. The next run, I e-brake in a bit too close to the wall and smacked the rear of the car against it. It messed up my line, so I decided to try again. Thursday practice was plagued with crashes and Friday was no exception. After the numerous cleanups, I knew I had only 2 runs, maybe, to get the e-brake down. I decided it might be best to stick with the flick, seeing as that’s all I knew so far.
Qualifying: I’m up for my first run. I do the flick, stick it pretty good. I thought I was in for sure, but the judges gave me a 55. I wasn’t mad, I just had to do better. I was watching the top guys qualify and I was blown away by the entry of Forsberg. He rolls at the end of the wall and flicks hard, then flicks back at the wall, exactly what I was doing, only further to the right and much, much better. I lined up for my second run and just pictured his run as my run. I take off, aim for the wall, flick and ride through the course. Not my best run, it was shaky and offline a bit, but I gave it a shot. They announce top 32 and I’m not in the show. I understood, but I wasn’t happy. People told me my run was better than some that qualified, but I know we (everyone else) cannot see what the judges see, besides, I don’t worry about that stuff anyway. So, again I’m watching my friends battle to get into the top 16.
Saturday was a fun day. Since I wasn’t in the show and my car setup needed some work, I asked if I could use the top area of the gi-normous parking lot to setup a little course and get some suspension tuning on. Brad (aka B-rad), Dave Epifano (aka, the fonz) and I spent about an hour running the same line making adjustments to the shocks, rebound and compression. Towards the end, I was really hammering down with grip and tons of smoke through the course. The car was a ton better.
Saturday was especially special for a few reasons. First, Susan had come out for the event. Since I didn’t qualify, I could spend more time with her. Next was that Kenda had 2 really hot models come out to support the team, handing out stuff, taking pictures and making us look good. The last thing was that Saturday was my birthday. I should have told the judges to give me some qualifying points so I could have been drifting on my birthday instead of watching.
Interesting quotes from the weekend:
“You some sort of GOD D$%N retard?” – Fremont prostitute
“Hot girls are making out, let’s go there”
“That dude has a tail, I’m serious”
“THAT GUY IS THE F%&KING DEVIL”
“Hey Sean, can you check tire pressures, and then go kill yourself”
Why do Asian guys throw shoes? Seriously!?
“People come from miles around to watch him drift; they believe his transitions can cure cancer”……..”he once drifted around a blind man and cured his sight”
I’d like to thank the guys of Tanaka Racing and Sam’s Autoland for helping with trailer storage for the last 2 rounds of FD.
A big thanks for the team: Brad, Sean, Mark, Eugene and Dave for their help at the event.
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