Yesterday was Rd 3 of the VegasDrift pro am series, and boy was it a hot one. With air temps around 105 degrees and ground temps over 150 degrees, lots of car were suffering. our own driver Joey Sproul was having his fair share of overheating issues. but with hood and bumper removed and a spray down after ever run we managed to keep the car cool, of course the N/A guys were not having as many temp issues as the turbo guys. it was a very exciting night with a few upsets, and also a few surprises. our driver Joey was having a great day with back to back to back consistent runs things were looking good for him with his new setup. but unfortunately was not able to put together a qualifying run. the event was a very laid back fun event with only 20 or so drivers singing up to compete and only the true enthusiast coming out despite the heat, made for a fun time. Starting off the top 16 introductions Brandon Wicknick’s car caught fire after the ever popular hooning that takes places after all drivers are introduced. I am not sure hat caused this or what damage had actually been done, he was able to get reinspected and allowed to go on to participate in the top 16. his day was full of problems after braking a tranny and swapping it out during the hottest part of the day just to make practice before qualifying, and then it broke again only allowing him to have 1st and 2nd gear. The number 2 qualifier might have let his nerves get to him, allowing him to spin in both runs after a one more time, and just like that Spike Chen was out.POW put on a great show making it to the top four, but blowing his motor on the his wining run to take him into top 4. but as the night wore on and the battles for top 3 started to take place it became a very different mood, there was tension in the air after the battle for first and second with Forest Wang making a pass due to Alex Villabrialle taking a shallow line. after the decision was made there were some unhappy campers that believed it should have been a one more time battle, but with the judges call standing with a 2 for forest and 1 one more time, the night was over.
Check out the GOPRO videos of Joey Sproul on during practice below.
And As always check out pictures from the event by clicking HERE for my FLICKR with 114 photos from the event. side note all picture were shot using a borrowed camera and a stock lens, as mine is in the shop.
