Quick update; Went to the 2nd KC Drift event of the year and had a blast. The track was faster than the previous with less sweepers, so the miata did well. Alec and I pushed ourselves on some tandems and were getting some pretty close proximity to each other and other cars all day long. Then at the end of the day the old "one more run" curse got me. A 240 spun out and instead of rolling back he hit the brakes and I couldn't stop in time. Popped my drift crash cherry quick, haha. Luckily it was all fender damage on my end. Wheel was turned so it didn't get hit either. Sadly the guys hood, driver side pop-up, and fender were pretty wrecked. Luckily he wasn't mad and realized that it's just part of drifting.
Loaded the miata up and headed home still buzzin' from the event. Beau Desmarteau (@breau_desmarbreau) said it best, "Tandems ruin solo runs". The next day I removed the fender and banged on it for a few minutes until it was "good enough". Wound up looking way better than I expected!
A few weekends later Full Lock Drift had an event "Red, White, and Drift" at the MacPark go-cart track in OKC. Alec and I have been eyeing MacPark for a while and decided to give it a shot. This is the first legitimate track either of us have driven; up to this point its just been streeting and cones on skid pads. The track was a little more technical than I expected, so I had to do quite a few gear changes in my runs, but it was a fun and really productive in terms of seat time. MacPark has a little elevation change (nothing like the rollercoaster of
love - still the wildest shit I've ever experienced in a car) but it still feels
huge when you're going sideways. The track seemed narrow, but then
again what do I know? I'm used to skid pads and being able to veer off
if things go wrong. This event really pushed me to focus more on entry's
and being as smooth as possible (I still have a ton of work to do). It took a few laps to get it sorted out, but within a dozen or so laps and a getting a few "cowabungas" into the dirt out of our system Alec and I were comfortable enough to start doing some tandems. Tandems on a track are a whole new experience. On skid pads I tend to focus probably 75% of my attention on the lead car and my proximity, but at this event it was a solid 50/50. This event was also a fucking oven with absolutely no wind. I'm so glad I brought a pop up tent, but I'm pretty sure Alec was on the verge of heat stroke before we left. Shouts out to my dad and Alecs lady, Celsi for tagging along and sticking through the heat. Oh, and my #1 homie, Otis, is a champ. I brought a ton of ice and made him a bed of it in the grass under the trailer; but that still had to of sucked. He slept the entire drive home hugging the AC floor vent. Hopefully the 3rd KC drift event is a little more bearable and he's not miserable. Overall it was a good fucking time and I can't wait for the next one. Full Lock Drift is definitely on Alec and I's radar now and we're going to try to hit at least one more of their events this year.
Alec and I did a few ride along's from early on in the day and got some footage, so here's some solo runs after we kind of figured out what we were doing.
KC Drift #3 is a couple days away. Surprisingly Alec and I have everything repaired and inspected before hand, so we're not rushing this time around. Both of us wanted to check underneath to make sure we didn't fuck anything up too bad by going off course; all is well. Alec fixed his exhaust (you can hear it in the video below towards the end), replaced a wheel stud, got some steel lug nuts,and drift stitched his front end back together. I changed the CAS o-ring and re-timed the car, wrapped the exhaust under the tunnel (it's SO hot), got a cheap white delrin shift knob, and topped off fluids.
