Behind The Wheel Podcast: FD Edition – RD3 Atlanta

Posted on May 22, 2018May 22, 2018 by Konig Gfx

On this special episode of the Konig Behind The Wheel Podcast, Joey Redmond of Wrecked Magazine sits down with us to discuss his “10 things learned from FD Atlanta”. You can find Joey’s “10 things learned after each and every event on Formuladrift.com.
We also touch a few of the more notable highlights from Formula Drift Atlanta, interesting things from FD season so far and revisit the PRO 1 probable/potential podium finishers that we talked about from the last special FD episode …. (details/cheat sheet below!)

FOLLOW:

Scott Weiss (Konig): Scott_Konig
Joey Redmond : joeyredmond
Konig Wheels USA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/konigwheelsusa/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

2018 Konig Formula Drift Drivers

Posted on April 25, 2018May 25, 2018 by Konig Gfx

Getting to know 2018 Konig Supported Formula Drift Drivers

The 2018 Formula Drift Season is in full effect with the Streets of Long Beach just behind us and Orlando approaching this weekend. We thought we’d take a few minutes and give you a quick rundown of our 2018 FD drivers and telling you what wheels and fitment they’re running. Check them out, show them love, and remember to follow their journey this season here!

Kevin Lawrence – Formula Drift (RB30DET powered Nissan S14.3)

Kevin Lawrence hails from Florida and has been drifting Nissan cars as long as we can remember. He took home the 2015 Three Palms Drift Championship and has never looked back in his drifting career. His reliable RB30DET powered Nissan 240sx helped him drift his way to the Pro 2 championship last season. An amazing victory at Texas Motor Speedway with all the pressure in the world on his shoulders allowed him to become Pro 2 championship by the thinnest margin in Formula Drift history of just two points.

Kevin Lawrence and the Enjuku Racing team are clear favorites for the 2018 Formula Drift Rookie of the Year award in the pro series. Kevin also is heavily involved in the drifting community in Florida and tours the country with his demo R32 Nissan Skyline to events like Hyperfest in Virginia.

Kevin is running Konig Dekagram in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25 rear. The Konig Dekagram is Flow Formed.

Matt Vankirk (SR20DET powered Nissan 240sx)

Matt VanKirk comes to you from the Northwest where the drift scene is strong! He really has become known for his aggressive driving style and his 3rd place, podium finish in Formula Drift Pro 2 last year. This year he is now stepping it up a notch as he competes in Formula Drift Pro! We’re excited to watch MVK try and earn that FD Rookie of the Year award!

Matt is running Konig Hypergrams in 18×9.5 et 25mm front and 18×10.5 et 25 rear in Race Bronze. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Ryan Litteral – Formula Drift & Pro 2 (LS3 powered Nissan 350z)

Ryan Litteral is a driver famous for having a drift vehicle with top class style over the years. Ryan comes from Southern California and has been drifting for 12 years now. He earned his license with his black S14 in the Just Drift series back in 2013. His last appearance in Pro 2 was in 2016 where he finished a solid 6^th place running his own program.

For the 2018 season he has teamed up with KoruWorks in Marietta, Georgia to campaign an LS3 powered Nissan 350z. The team will attend all four rounds that have a Pro/Pro 2 weekend and they will do double duty trying to sweep the Formula Drift weekend with a victory at both levels. You can also catch his YouTube series called IT’S LITT! Documenting his demo car 240sx build.

Ryan is running Konig Ampliform in 18×9 et 15mm front and 18×10 et 20mm rear in DARK METALLIC GRAPHITE. The Konig Ampliform is Flow Formed.

Geoff Donati – Formula Drift Pro 2 (LS3 powered Nissan 240sx)

Geoff Donati hails from a small town in Ohio and once he discovered drifting he wasted no time heading out to the track to give it a shot. His first full season of Pro-Am soon followed at the Midwest Drift Union in 2016 and where he fell just short of earning a license when the year ended by one point! Geoff went right back to MDU for the 2017 season and managed to win almost every round that year and became champion of the series with ease.

Geoff Donati dominates his competitors with consistency and some have even compared him to a young Chris Forsberg. He seems incapable of making a mistake at times behind the wheel and looks to carry that ice in the veins approach into Pro 2 for 2018

Geoff is running Konig Hypergrams in 18×9.5 et 25mm front and 17×8 et 40mm rear. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Travis Reeder – Formula Drift Pro 2 (LS3 powered Nissan 240sx)

Travis Reeder is a drifter from the Pacific Northwest who cut his teeth in the Evergreen Drift series. Travis dominated the 2016 season in the Evergreen Drift Pro Am easily becoming the champion of this regional Pro Am series. He made his Pro 2 debut last season and managed to earn Rookie of the Year for his amazing efforts behind the wheel in his 240sx. In fact, he was basically announced champion at Texas Motor Speedway and could only mathematically lose if Kevin Lawrence qualified first and then won the event. Sadly, that happened and he finished the season in second place by the smallest margin in Formula Drift history after some amazing drifting all year.

Travis Reeder caught the world’s attention when he won Road Atlanta last year and took a commanding early lead in the Pro 2 championship. He has committed to the Pro 2 season again for 2018 and is determined to win the championship at all costs.

Travis is running Konig Ultraforms in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9 et 25mm rear. The Konig Ultraforms is Flow Formed.

Kelsey Rowlings (5.0L Coyote powered Nissan 240sx)

Kelsey Rowlings earned her Pro 2 license in the Three Palms Drift series down in Florida and became the first-ever female to earn a Pro 2 license through the Pro-Am drift promotion ladder. Kelsey was one of the few drifters who traveled in the younger part of her career and she managed to also compete in the Streetwise Drift, Lone Star Drift, and XDC series before stepping into the Pro 2 stage.

Kelsey’s engine package makes her one of the most unique car setups on grid in 2018. Instead of the traditional LS-engine setup, her team has picked the 5.0L engine out of a new Mustang GT to power her 240sx. Kelsey returns to the Pro 2 series in 2018 looking to outperform last season.

Kelsey is running Konig Hypergrams in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25mm rear. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Garrett Denton (2JZ powered Nissan 240sx)

Garrett Denton is one of the most unique racers in the Pro 2 field today. At the age of 14, Garrett was the youngest driver to win a sanctioned NASCAR event race in North America. His love of driving and racing started as early as 5 years old and he has been behind the wheel ever since. Garrett also came from the Midwest Drift Union series where he finished in second place in 2017 and took plans to run in the Pro 2 series.

His Pro 2 campaign involves a crew full of University of Northwest Ohio graduates where he also attended college earning an in dual Associates Degree in High-Performance Motorsports Technology and Automotive Technology. Garrett will be taking to the Pro 2 circuit with a 2JZ powered Nissan 240sx with support from Koruworks to help him make a run for the championship.

Garrett is running Konig Dekagram in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25mm rear. The Konig Dekagram is Flow Formed.

Alec Robbins (LS powered Nissan 350z)

Alec Robbins is a unique individual who famously ran a slammed pickup truck drift build with an LSX engine in the Pro-Am ranks. Alec Robbins saw success as the 2016 Midwest Drift Union champion and made his rookie year debut in 2017 in the Koruworks 350z for some Pro 2 rounds.

Looking forward to the 2018 Pro 2 season, Alec Robbins has built his own 350z with a LS engine making 550/560 to the wheels. This should be a great setup to keep up with the competition at all four rounds of the Formula Drift Pro 2 series.

Alec is running Konig Hypergrams in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25 rear in RED OPAL. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Adam Knapik (LS powered Nissan 240sx)

Adam Knapik hails from Southern California and earned his Pro 2 license through the Just Drift Pro-Am series. In 2016, he managed to take home the Just Drift Championship and has been working to improve his LS-powered Nissan 240sx ever since. His day job is a Porsche driving instructor giving him endless amounts of time behind the wheel of racecars. Moving into the 2018 Pro 2 season we cannot wait to see what Knapik Racing has put together to go out and compete with the big boys of Pro 2.

Adam is running Konig Rennforms in 18×9 et 23 all the way around. The Konig Rennforms is Flow Formed.

Donovan Brockway (LS powered 2014 BMW 2-Series)

While Donovan Brockway has opted to take the 2018 season off he is still a part of the Konig Wheels Drift team. His 2018 season off is allowing him to put a new “BeastMW” together that starts with an F22 BMW 2-series chassis that will have a full HGK carbon/Kevlar widebody kit and one big RHS 427 race engine. We know Donovan will be missed on the paddock this year but we cannot wait to follow his build progress and see it debut on Konig Wheels in the 2019 Pro 2 season.

Donovan is currently running Konig Rennforms in 18×8 et 35mm front and 18×9 et 35 rear on his 1000hp e30. The Konig Rennforms is Flow Formed.

However on the F22 he will be running the Konig Ampliform’s! Make sure to stay tuned to his build!

Kevin Lawrence smokes out Hoonigan Donut Garage

Posted on October 17, 2017October 17, 2017 by KONIG

Konig Sponsored, Formula Drift Pro2 Driver and 2017 Formula Drift Pro 2 CHAMPION Kevin Lawrence dropped by the Hoonigan Donut Garage to cause a blackout. He took a perfectly good set of Hankook Tires and well…Tire smoke for days…check it out!

Travis Reeder breaksdown FDTX & 2nd place series finish!

Posted on October 12, 2017October 13, 2017 by Konig Gfx

**** GUEST BLOG – BY TRAVIS REEDER****

FORMULA DRIFT TEXAS – PRO 2 FINAL ROUND | August 8th and 9th

Prepping for Texas wasn’t as smooth as previous rounds for the team. Just nine days before the car had to be on the road we had an internal engine failure while testing some setup changes we had made after seattle. The timing chain had snapped which netted us eight bent valves, two bent pushrods and a collapsed lifter. Luckily the pistons were fine. We quickly got ahold of the awesome guys over at Thompson Motorsports of Texas and they got us everything we needed to rebuild and had the car in he trailer and back to 100% just in time.

As we arrived at Texas motor speedway we were quick to get unloaded. The team performed the usual fluids changes, alignment and bolt check. We were ready and eager to get out on track and demolish some Achilles radials.

Practice was a definite learning process. The track at Texas was extremely fast with brutal consequences if mistakes were made. After focusing on perfecting a line and finding the correct gear ratio for the car we were ready for qualifying.

The team and I felt solid going into qualifying. On my first run I had made a slight mistake after inner clip one and ended up throwing my line off for the rest of the run. Run one scored a 67 which at the time was already deemed out of the top 16.

With the pressure building I lined up for my second run. All second runs granted a parade lap before the run due to some fluids spilled during Danny George’s roll over. I threw a new set on the car and decided to make two full runs. Practice is practice right? I ended up with a 79 which put me in the 9th spot for the big show.

With the bracket set for Friday I was lined up against Austin Meeks. I knew his car was fast so I was preparing for a solid battle. Austin led first due to qualifying position. I matched his pace all through the course until he made a correction in front of outer zone 3, at the wall. From my perspective it looked like he was going to drive off track so I dove in and attempted to finish my run. He then jumped back on track and we made contact, which was unavoidable. I was deemed at fault for the contact and Austin was awarded 10 minutes to look over his car and fix what I assumed to be a bent suspension arm or tie rod.

Once fixed, we were ready to swap positions. I made as close to a perfect lead run as I could as Austin made some mistakes in the chase position. The judges awarded a one more time.

On our second run I was in the chase position first, again. I maintained proximity with Austin through the first half of the course and ended up making a small mistake through the last inner clip and going a bit wide. On my lead I put down a solid lead run as Meeks made a very similar mistake as I did in my chase run. After some review from the judges it was a 2-1 decision flavoring Meeks and my weekend was cut short.

With Texas being the final round, the rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and reflecting on what an awesome rookie season I had in formula drift pro 2. I ended up 2nd in points for the season which felt amazing and was awarded rookie of the year on top of that! I can’t thanks my family friends and sponsors enough for the outstanding support, especially Konig Wheels for lacing the car up with the raddest wheels in the game! That’s a wrap for me, see everyone next year!

Travis Reeder is a Konig Sponsored Professional Drift driver that competes in Formula Drift Pro 2 Series. Travis runs Konig Ultraform in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9 et 25 rear. The Konig Ultraform is Flow Formed.

Make sure to follow Travis on INSTAGRAM!

Kelsey Rowlings FDTX PRO 2 FINAL ROUND recap!

Posted on September 18, 2017October 12, 2017 by Konig Gfx

**** GUEST BLOG – BY KELSEY ROWLINGS****

FORMULA DRIFT TEXAS – PRO 2 FINAL ROUND | August 8th and 9th

The Final round of Formula Drift Pro 2 at Texas Motor speedway arrived quickly after round three in in Seattle. After some repairs from our incident at Evergreen Motor Speedway, we were ready to take on Texas.

This round, the schedule on Thursday was completely different than previous rounds. Instead of Pro 1 and Pro 2 alternating practice sessions, and Pro 2 qualifying occuring at the end of the day, Pro 2 practice was one long session, followed by qualifying, with Pro 1 practice occuring at the end of the day. I was excited for the change, because I felt like I would have more energy with qualifying earlier.

While I was hoping for some good luck this round, my Thursday morning started early with feeling nauceous around 4 am. Determined to push through, I headed to the track and suited up for practice. Despite feeling worn out from a rough morning, I was actually feeling very confident during practice. By my third lap, I felt like I was ready to qualify. I was putting together very solid runs and took a break around halfway through the long session to watch some of the other drivers.

After some rest and rehydration, I returned to the track for more practice. I wasn’t driving quite up to par with earlier that morning and decided to lower the pressure in the tires mounted on my Konig Hypergrams due to the higher track temperatures and loss in grip. I made a few more decent laps before pulling into my hot pit to wait for my turn in qualifying.

I lined up for my first qualifying pass and took off from the starting line. Immediately I noticed my tires spinning more than anticipated and I knew I had to adjust my driving for the loss in grip. I managed to enter into the outer zone and settle the car into a nice line leading me right past the first inner clipping point and into the second outer zone, filling it completely. I extended from the second outerzone to the second inner clipping and aimed for the final outerzone. After passing the front clip with good proximity, I transitioned and lost it. I spun and backed my car lightly into the tire wall lining the outer zone. I was devastated. The run was going so well, and now the pressure was on.

I knew I didn’t have enough grip on my first run so I decided to lower my tire pressures slightly before the second run. I didn’t want to change too much and risk having too much grip on a such a technical track. I was in my head and nervous. I lined up for my second run and took off. Again, I didn’t have enough grip but I knew I could drive through it. I set my car to angle in the first outer zone and kept it locked there to the first inner clip and into the second outer zone. My rear wheel was on the rumble strip as I exited the outer zone and towards the second inner clipping point. I realized my line was a little too shallow and “bobbled” past the inner clipping point. At that point I got in my head because I knew I couldn’t afford such a silly mistake, and because of my “bobble,” I was off line heading into the final outer zone. I try to extend my drift and push out towards the zone but I’ve lost to much speed. I push past the final clip and cross the finish with disappointment. I knew it wasn’t a good score, and I knew I could drive so much better.

At the drivers meeting, my suspicions were correct. I received a score of 54 and it wasn’t enough to get me into the top 16. While I had a rough year and didn’t finish the season the way I had hoped, I learned so much from every new experience and I have Konig Wheels to thank for that. I am looking forward to putting all of my new knowledge to use and come back stronger next year!

Kelsey Rowlings is a Konig Sponsored Professional Drift driver that competes in Formula Drift Pro 2 Series. Kelsey runs Konig Hypergrams in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9 et 25mm rear. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Make sure to follow Kelsey on INSTAGRAM!

Lawrence Takes Top Honors FDTX!

Posted on September 14, 2017October 12, 2017 by Konig Gfx

FORMULA DRIFT TEXAS – PRO 2 FINAL ROUND | August 8th and 9th

Formula Drift Pro 2 Podium Filled By Konig Drivers:

The last and final round [Round 4] of Formula Drift Pro 2 was insane! Starting the Top 16 there were 5 Konig Sponsored drivers ready to throw down and claim a win. Kevin Lawrence, Matt Vankirk, Travis Reeder, Alec Robbins and Donovan Brockway all had qualified and were ready to battle in top 16.

Brockway, Reeder and Matt VanKirk did not advance to the Great 8, only Kevin Lawrence of Enjuku Racing and Alec Robbins of Koruworks has advanced on. That is where this story takes an interesting turn. Going into #FDTX Matt Vankirk and Travis Reeder were the Formula Drift Pro 2 series top point holders. Kevin Lawrence, who won Round 1 in Orlando and was the top point holder going into Round 2, went into Texas ranked 5th.

At the start of the day if you tried to think about how Lawrence could even potentially reclaim the series you would have to have a “perfect storm” the way the event would play out. Essentially Konig drivers Matt Vankirk and Travis Reeder, both top point holders, would have to lose their first matches in Top 16 or not qualify. Then Kevin Lawrence would also have to win (his second event for the season) in Texas. Clearly this isn’t something you could ever plan for.

Going into the Great 8, with both Reeder and Matt Vankirk not advancing, the stage for Lawrence was set. There was still a ton of work to do, and clearly while the thought may have occurred somewhere in the back of Kevin’s head, he couldn’t let that occupy his thoughts! But round after round, Lawrence proved he meant business. In the Great 8 Kevin defeated Gyorgy, then Saxsmith in the Top 4 and Finally Jaeger in the Final Battle to win his 2nd event of the season and become the 2017 Formula Drift Pro 2 Champion by only 2 points!

Congratulations to Kevin Lawrence on his INCREDIBLE win at FD Texas and becoming the 2017 Champ! Also a big congratulations to Travis Reeder and Matt Vankirk. They were standing on the season podium right next to Kevin Lawrence as they took 2nd and 3rd respectively. It was a great honor to be involved and a small part of these driver’s programs. Having all 3 spots of the podium filled with Konig sponsored drivers is a real honor for us. These driver’s and their teams work so hard all year long to maintain and run these programs and we thank them for their support!

Stay tuned for exciting recaps from all of our sponsored Formula Drift drivers including Nate Hamilton, who still has the last and final round to head too for Formula Drift Pro in Irwindale, CA!

Kevin is running Konig Hypergrams in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25 rear.
The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Travis is running Konig Ultraforms in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9 et 25 rear.
The Konig Ultraform is Flow Formed.

Matt is running Konig Hypergrams in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25 rear.
The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Travis Reeder makes top 8 at FDSEA!

Posted on September 6, 2017October 12, 2017 by Konig Gfx

After a long couple months off, the team and I were anxiously awaiting Seattle and stoked to get back on track. Here is a breakdown and recap of our weekend at rd 3, the throw down.

The car was prepped, up to temp and it was time to go out for the first practice session of the weekend. We were in for a rude awakening as the track conditions turned to be drastically different than previous pro-am 5/8 rounds. The car was over gripped and under powered. Unbeknownst to the team there was a NASCAR race a couple weekends back, and with pro 1 practice being before us, there was no shortage of traction to be had on the longest and largest bank in Formula d.

Once suspension changes and adjustments were made we stepped into qualifying. I kept the first run conservative, and pushed a little harder on the second. We ended up seated in the 6th position after qualifying, which the team and I were pretty happy with.

It was now time to step into top 16 eliminations. We were paired against Brody Goble, who’s a good friend of ours and absolutely rips behind the wheel. I led first and put a decent lead run on the board with some minor corrections. Brody ended up getting into the wall behind me and disrupting his line slightly and I got the small advantage. On the second run I chased Brody on the bank with decent proximity as well and through the rest of the course, I was awarded the win and advanced to the great 8.

Now on to my favorite battles of the weekend, not due to stellar driving but due to the fact I got to drive against one of my best homies, Dylan Hughes. Dylan led first due too a higher qualifying score. I made a few mistakes on the bank in the chase position but kept proximity in the power alley and latter part of the course. On my lead run dylan fell back in proximity at times during the run which led the judges declare a one more time battle.

During dylan and I one more time battle I made a pretty sizable mistake on the bank in the chase position, giving dylan an advantage going into run two. On my lead run I did my best to put down a solid run but unfortunately I was unable to overcome my mistake in the chase position and dylan advanced.

Seattle overall was an amazing event in more ways than one. We learned a lot about car setup as well as team work. I had an absolute blast driving my home track and can’t wait to get back in the drivers seat. Massive thanks to Konig wheels, my family, friends and sponsors that have a hand in making my program run. See you all in Texas!

Matt Vankirk wins FD SEATTLE!

Posted on August 24, 2017August 24, 2017 by Konig Gfx

**** GUEST BLOG – BY MATT VANKIRK****

FORMULA DRIFT SEATTLE – PRO II Round 3 | August 4th and 5th

PICTURE PERFECT!
WE DID IT! The team received our very first win in Formula Drift Pro2 during Round 3 at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe Wa! The entire MVK Racing team worked very hard for this moment and there was no better place to do it than our home track in front of all our fans, friends and families! Knowing this we decided to go all out for this event debuting “The Vankirk Experience” where fans are able to drive the MVK Racing Formula Drift S13 onto Evergreen Speedway in a Fanatec Club Sport Racing Simulator paired to a VR Headset. With all the extra attention we knew we needed to look apart so F7LTHY Clothing provided us with shirts that stand out amongst the crowd. Popeye Energy Drinks brought everything together by providing an expo booth and all natural energy that propelled us onto the podium!

CHANGES
When we showed up to practice / qualifying on Thursday we had a few different changes to the car. We are making quite a bit more power thanks to the Brian Crower 272 cams, valve springs, retainers and a tune by GetADomTune. We upgraded our wheels to Konig’s new HYPERGRAM model which saved us a lot of rotating mass compared to our previous wheels. This was my first time running Achilles Radial 123s tires, we ran Achilles ATR Sport 2 the past two events, so we came into the event expecting to have a lot more power and grip than what we are normally used to.

PRACTICES
Our goal for practice on Thursday was to dial in the vehicle and set up our Fortune Auto Dreadnought Pro 2-way suspension and Achilles Radial 123s tire pressure for the new amount of power we are now making. After a few laps we actually left the tire pressure where we started. Matt from Fortune-Auto stopped by to adjusted our rebound a little bit and we felt good heading into qualifying!

QUALIFYING
As we head into qualifying I tend to get a tad nervous even though I was feeling quite comfortable with the track and car in practice. During our first lap I transitioned a little too soon in the power alley which made me have a slight correction and the judges gave us a score of 75. During my 2nd run all my nerves dissipated and I was ready to put everything on the line to up my previous score. On my 2nd qualifying run I felt like we hit all of our clipping points and did everything the judges wanted to see. We received a score of 85 which put us as the 4th Qualifier.

TOP 16
Friday the team showed up ready for the big day! In top 16 we got paired up with Austin Meeks. Unfortunately in practice before the main event Austin had hit the wall and his car was unrepairable. This gave us the opportunity to do a bye run and feel out the track before heading into the great 8.

GREAT 8
We went up against round 1 winner, Kevin Lawrence! I knew this battle was going to be a tough fight. Kevin was looking solid all weekend and this track really resembles his home track at Orlando Speed World. We ended up leading first. We had a great line on the bank and even tapped the wall half way through it! After transitioning in power alley we finished off the run cleanly and Kevin Lawrence was right on our tail! During my follow Kevin laid down an identical run as us and from the live stream it almost looked like two identical runs! Coming into the final turn Kevin over rotated slightly and we advanced on to the Final 4!

TOP 4
The Final 4 battle was the battle our team has been waiting for all year! We were up against Dirk Stratton in the Lingenfelter Corvette who beat us in round 1 by completely out running us! Now that we teamed up with Brian Crower and was able to upgrade our engine we felt confident at getting our rematch! Dirk lead first and remembering how fast his car was in Orlando I took off of the line before him and by the time he caught up we were a little over half way on the straight and he slingshot right past us. We were able to reel him in on the bank and got back on his door by power alley and finished of the course with him. My spotter Justin relayed to me that we had to put it all on the line if we were going to advance and I knew that after our follow run was not what we hopped for. Taking off the line I went as fast as I could and initiated right up on the wall which looked like it threw Dirk off a little as he ebrake entered and brought him up into the wall with the back of his car. We rode the wall all the way around the 5/8ths and with Dirk trying to play catch up coming off of the bank he went 4 tires off and could not catch back up to us. We were awarded the win and advanced on to the final match of the evening.

FINAL
The grand finally against Dylan Hughes! The team and I were excited to make it to the finals but it wasn’t over yet we put our game faces on and headed into the final match of the night. Dylan was looking solid all day with some of the best tandem runs that weekend so I knew we would have to be right there with him throughout the track. Dylan led first, as we initiated into the bank I was right there with him. This was one of our closest tandems of the night as I left foot brake across the 5/8th’s. Coming off the bank we were a little shallow compared to Dylan due to me having to clutch kick and not having that low end torque Dylan has but we stayed with him and finished the run. On my lead run we pulled about 2 car lengths on Dylan but coming off the bank we went two tires off resulting in a OMT.

FINAL
During our OMT battles as I followed Dylan coming off the bank we went all four tires off which put us in the advantage going into our lead run. We knew all we had to do was lay down a solid lead run with no mistakes and the victory was ours. We initiated up on the 5/8ths wall and as we were coming off I chucked the car and almost had backwards angle coming into power alley which through Hughes off and he ended up hitting us. We stayed in throttle and finished off the course granting us our first ever Formula Drift Podium!

The Konig team is ready for Formula Drift Round 6!

Posted on August 4, 2017August 7, 2017 by Konig Gfx

FORMULA DRIFT SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – Round 6 | August 4th & 5thAs Formula Drift descends on Seattle, WA this weekend for round 6 (round 3 of pro2), Konig sponsored drivers from all over the country are making their way to the city of coffee and rain. Hopefully it wont rain this weekend because we’re excited to see what will be served up at Evergreen Speedway. With this season only a few events from the end, we thought we would give you a quick rundown of some of our FD drivers.

THE KONIG FORMULA DRIFT TEAM

Nate Hamilton has returned back to FD Pro and has really shown his skills and maturity in the sport. This season as proven to be almost a graduate course for Nate. He has had more top 16 finishes this season then in his entire career. It just seems that Nate gets better and better at each event. That has shown through his confident and aggressive driving. Currently in 16th place the last two events this season are going to be defining for Hamilton. Of course it will be his best professional season in Formula Drift but it will also be an incredible benchmark in his professional drifting career. We’re super proud of Nate and are excited to be part of his program. Go get’em Nate!

Nate is running Konig Hypergrams in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25 rear. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Kevin Lawrence is for sure a rising star in the Formula Drift series. With his most recent win at FD Orlando, Kevin and the Enjuku Racing team are pushing for another “W” in Seattle and are chasing that championship. Kevin is an extremely knowledgable and all around great person. He is the definition of a true enthusiast not to mention has one of the coolest cars in FD pro2 with his right hand drive RB25 powered S14. Kevin is making that journey across the country and looks nothing less than ready and prepared to come out on top! Kevin is currently in 5th place.

Kevin is running Konig Hypergrams in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25 rear. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Travis Reeder is a 100% the one to beat on the PRO 2 track! The battle for the series at this point could be a face off between two Konig sponsored drivers, Reeder and Lawrence. Travis placed 2nd in Orlando to Kevin Lawrence but took the win in Atlanta. He is currently in 1st place in the pro 2 rankings. Travis and his 240SX are on Konig Ultraforms and are coming into Seattle armed and ready to take out the competition!

Travis is running Konig Ultraforms in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9 et 25 rear. The Konig Ultraforms is Flow Formed.

Kelsey Rowlings is an exciting driver to watch and definitely ready to show the field what she’s made of. Kelsey’s driving style is super agressive which makes her the one you can’t keep your eyes off. She’s struggled a bit the first half of the season but not due to lack of effort or skill. Seattle could really be an exciting breakout event for her. Its refreshing seeing a women driver in professional drifting but be very clear, Kelsey is as solid of a professional drift driver as anyone in pro 2. Make sure to keep your eyes on her, because she really is an incredible driver!

Kelsey is running Konig Hypergrams in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25 rear. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Donovan Brockway and the Red Baron team are like no other! His turbo E30 BMW, nicknamed “theBeast”, throws more smoke than you can imagine and the platform is one of the sickest in FD. Brockway is another one of those extremely aggressive drivers. They have been working out the kinks the first half but its looking better and better every event. When they put it all together Donovan is going to pop in to action in a major way! Follow Donovan and the Red Baron team as they prepare to move up on the rankings in this round of Formula Drift Pro 2!

Donovan is running Konig Rennforms in 18×8 et 35mm front and 18×9 et 35 rear. The Konig Rennforms is Flow Formed.

Alec Robbins and the Koruworks team are getting the 350Z on Konig Hypergrams ready for the FD Seattle! If you follow pro-am drifting last year and a bunch of grassroots drifting events you will know this dude can drive. Pairing him with one of the coolest shops on the East Coast (Koruworks) is a killer combo. Alec is currently in 15th place and is looking to show the field whats up! Unfortunately he wont be driving in Seattle due to mechanical issues, however look for him at Gridlife and back at FD Texas.

Alec is running Konig Hypergrams in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25 rear in BRONZE. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Adam Knapik had a rough start to the Formula Drift season. It seemed like anything that could go wrong…well…went wrong for Adam. Blown engine, crazy electrical problems, etc, etc. So this round is definitely one of redemption for Adam and his team! Gearing up the V8 powered 240SX on Konig Rennforms, stay tuned and be ready to see Knapik lace up the track this time around!

Adam is running Konig Rennforms in 18×9 et 23 all the way around. The Konig Rennforms is Flow Formed.

Matt Vankirk is now part of the Konig family and we are super excited to have him. With a ranking of #4 on the PRO 2 board with 105pts, which is only 2 points away from 2nd place, it’s obvious Matt and his team are aiming for the top spot! MVK took second place at FD Atlanta right behind Travis Reeder. Who knows how that battle would have ended up as a mechanical issue forced MVK to shut the car down just as he entered into the first battle between him and Reeder. This event will be a test to see if MVK, Lawrence or Reeder will be the top Konig sponsored Pro 2 driver. Super exciting! Be sure to check out Matt’s 240sx on Konig Hypergrams!

Matt is running Konig Hypergrams in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25 rear. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Travis Reeder wins 1st place at FD Atlanta!

Posted on May 24, 2017 by Konig Gfx

**** GUEST BLOG – BY TRAVIS REEDER****

This is a special recap for us. Not just because, as you will read, Travis Reeder took home a victory at Formula Drift Atlanta in the Pro 2 series. It’s special because that win comes at the start of a great relationship between Konig and Travis Reeder.

Travis is brand new to the Konig team! Reeder, hails from Vancouver, WA where he was the 2016 Evergreen Drift Pro-am Champion. That victory was what earned Travis his Formula Drift Pro 2 license. We came across Travis through a good friend of ours; Caleb Quanbeck. Caleb is also a friend of Travis and at Formula Drift Orlando Travis was having an issue with his other brand wheels breaking. Caleb stepped in and let Travis barrow his Konig Hypergrams to finish out the event. That finish resulted in a second place, podium finish. Having a podium finish at any point in the season or your career is amazing. Doing it in your first event EVER as a professional is unimaginable!

That night we received an email from Caleb and a message from Travis on Instagram. He was in need of some wheels and after only a few minutes we knew Travis was that hardcore, drift-loving enthusiast that was putting everything he had into his program. That’s the exact type of person we love to support, and we did. We reached out to Travis and with little time before the next Formula Drift event, we shipped some Konig Ultraforms in Gold right to Road Atlanta awaiting his arrival!

Keep in mind that Formula Drift Atlanta would be Travis’s second event as a professional Formula Drift Driver (the first event he placed 2nd in). Just like something written for a movie, Travis took first place in Atlanta and is currently the Formula Drift Pro 2 series points leader!

Check out what travis had to say about his experience…

***************************** TRAVIS REEDER RECAP *********************************
Our weekend started off like any other event weekend. The team unloaded the car, tools and spare parts into the pit and got everything organized. I went through my normal routine of checking over fluids and nuts and bolts on the car. After orlando i knew the car was going to need an alignment due to the aggressive nature of the track, so we threw the strings on the car and got all our alignment setting dialed in. We were feeling good as well as optimistic going into Thursday’s practice and later qualifying sessions.

Coming into practice the car was feeling super solid so all i had to do was learn the track and find my line for qualifying. With this being my first time driving Road Atlanta i quickly realized that the track was extremely fast and super difficult to put the car into the zones needed for a solid scoring run. After a few sets of tires and a whole lot of fun jamming with the other guys in the field, i felt like i had a pretty good handle on the car and track layout.

The qualifying session snuck up pretty quick after practice but i was anxious to really stretch the car’s legs and throw down some solid runs. On my first qualifying run i had a solid entry and kept the car pretty far into the first outer zone on the rumble strips. Once in started making my way through the key hole i noticed i came off the first outer zone too quickly and struggled to get super deep into the second outer zone, which is a large chunk of points for the run. I was then able to dive into the inner clip with angle and power through the rest of the course. On my second qualifying run i came up the hill into the key hole with too much speed and ended up making a large mistake and almost spinning the car so i decided to shut the run down after that. Luckily my first run landed me in the 11th spot with a 71 so we were in the big show.

Fridays practice started late in the evening. I made a few conservative runs while noticing a vibration and what seemed to be a loss of power in the car. With only a short 45 minute session my team had to act fast to diagnose our issue. After a quick look over we noticed we had a burnt plug wire and had been running on 7 cylinders the past couple days. It didn’t take long however to source a new wire and get the car back to 100%, thanks Gale Hohnadell! We moved into top 16 intros and were feeling awesome and ready for some good battles.

My first battle in the top 16 was against Andy Hately. He qualified higher in the 6th position so he would lead first. I chased him down the hill after jumping the tree, knowing his car was pretty quick. I initiated right with him but ended up going a little wide around the first clip. Once transitioned i was able to make up ground up the hill and close the door entering the key hole, then proceeded to keep decent proximity throughout the rest of the course with minimal mistakes. On my lead run i was able to pull a gap of a couple car lengths while keeping the car on a good qualifying line with good angle. We were given the win and advanced into the top 8.

Entering the top 8, i was paired up against Hooman Rahimi. I qualified higher so i was set to lead first. I put down a pretty solid lead run with minimal mistakes and was able to pull a few car lengths in the process. On my chase run i initiated as close as i could to Hooman and was able to keep and maintain pretty tight proximity through the key hole and most of the course. It was enough to get the job done and i was awarded the win and advanced into the final 4.

The final 4 battle was set to put me up against Randall Waters. Randall’s car was extremely fast all night so i knew i really had to be aggressive and apply as much pressure as i could as i was going to be in the chase position for run 1. Unfortunately in my chase run i made a large amount of mistakes and in one judges eyes scored an incomplete due to mis-shifting and straightening the car out while exiting the key hole. During my lead run, Waters got a little too aggressive and made contact with my door on entry, which forced him to straighten and drive off track. This made a very difficult decision for the judges and by a stroke of luck i ended up advancing into the final battle.

Unfortunately the final battle against Matt Vankirk was un eventful after Matt broke off the start line. I was really looking forward to competing against Matt considering we had quite a bit of seat time together last year during pro am up at Evergreen Drift. Under the circumstances all i had to do was complete my by run and was crowned winner at rd 2 Road Atlanta!

I’d like to thank Konig Wheels for their massive support of my program this year as well as all my crew, family and other sponsors. See everyone in Seattle!

**********************

We WELCOME TRAVIS REEDER TO THE TEAM! If you don’t follow him, now is the time to go check him out! This is one talented guy and we have a feeling there is a lot more in Travis’s future!

Travis Reeder is a Konig Sponsored driver that runs 17×9 front/18×9 rear et23mm Konig Ultraform wheels in Gold. The Ultraform are flow formed and perfect for the harsh environment that drifting provides. Make sure to follow Travis Reeder and Instagram and Facebook:

TRAVIS REEDER – FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/travisreederracing/
TRAVIS REEDER – INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/travisreeder/

Behind The Wheel Podcast: FD Edition – RD3 Atlanta

Behind The Wheel Podcast: FD Edition – RD3 Atlanta

2018 Konig Formula Drift Drivers

Kevin Lawrence smokes out Hoonigan Donut Garage

Travis Reeder breaksdown FDTX & 2nd place series finish!

Kelsey Rowlings FDTX PRO 2 FINAL ROUND recap!

Lawrence Takes Top Honors FDTX!

Travis Reeder makes top 8 at FDSEA!

Matt Vankirk wins FD SEATTLE!

The Konig team is ready for Formula Drift Round 6!

Travis Reeder wins 1st place at FD Atlanta!

Faces Of Konig

Are you a face of Konig? Here are some who are…

Kevin Lawrence 2017 FD Pro2

Enjuku Racing

Nate Hamilton on FD 17'

Enjuku Racing

Tom Paule

NASA/Honda Challenge