GALLERY UPDATE:
D1 Grand Prix USA
DATE POSTED: 11/28/07
The Grandstands were packed at Irwindale Speedway, as 11,000 Drift Fans flocked for the D1GP. Saturday November 24th was the D1GP USA Season Finale. The final battle was Kumakubo, Nobushige in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX (CT9A) against Kuroi, Atsushi in his Nissan Silvia (PS13). After typical"One More Time" fashion, Kumakubo was declared the "Winner". Sunday November 25th was the Gran Turismo D1 All-Star World Championship. Kumakubo of Japan found himself once again in the finals, and gestured his assurance of his repeat win, but USA driver Vaughn Gittin Jr. had other plans. JR was on fire all night, and was showing signs of even a better performance than when he captured the title in 2005. After promising the fans he would bring it home for USA, and another "One More Time" battle that showed some error and understeer on Kuma's side, Vaughn Gittin was declared the "Winner" Congratulations to Vaughn Gittin Jr. of the USA, who took the 2007 D1 Grand Prix World All-Star Championship and solidified his win in 2005! Believe it or not, almost all these pictures were taken from behind a fence too! |
GARAGE UPDATE:
Looking Forward
DATE POSTED: 11/17/07
Things start to pick up again at the J.D.M. Garage. Even though 2007 has not come to a close yet, focus has shifted into preparing for 2008. This past year has been about learning and testing, next year will about application and utilization. In less than 7 weeks the year 2008 will be here, and just like the start of 2007, the changes will already be taking place. As a racer, I feel every year new challenges have to be made. Racing is not just about learning, but it is above evolving too. Look for rapid updates on BOTH projects in the next several weeks. |
EVENT UPDATE:
hotVW's DRAG DAY
DATE POSTED: 11/03/07
A week has passed since hotVW's Drag Day. Looking back I realize having a injury is hard in any sport, even in racing. After almost 3 months of not driving, I returned to the drivers seat for this event. The car and I stuggled most of the day, as the "Brothers" did not know if I was going to be able to make it until the last minute. The car and I ran a best of 7.4 @ 87 MPH at Irwindales Speedway's 1/8 mile track.
I was only able to get one clean run, as there had been a few changes done to the car that I had not yet been able to test. I am also sure the down time I had did not help either, but you do not get better at driving sitting at home or in the grandstands, and I had to start again somewhere. Even though the season is coming to a close for us, it was good to be back racing. J.D.MOTORSPORT and Brothers VW Machine Shop are looking forward to getting ready for 2008! |
EVENT UPDATE:
hotVW's DRAG DAY
DATE POSTED: 10/22/07
This Sunday Brothers VW Machine Shop and J.D.M. team up for hotVW's Drag Day at Irwindale Speed. After a long down time, we are returning to the track for one more shake down before the season ends. Again, I will be driving Brothers VW Machine Shop's drag car.
Gates open to the public at 7:00am, tech inspection opens at 8:00am, and racing starts at 10:00am. The cost for spectators is only $15, and drivers can race for an additional $20. There are 5 classes, including a water-cooled class. Click on the embedded video to check out how crazy the action can get! For more information on the actual event, check out www.bugin.com. |
EVENT UPDATE:
The Drag-In
DATE POSTED: 07/27/07
Something old, something new, something barrow, something blue! No, it was not a wedding that J.D.M. was in, it was "The Drag-In" at California Speedway! The old was racing at a drag strip; something I have not done for almost 2 years. The new was for the 1st time I was driving a car that was not mine. The borrowed and blue was Brothers VW Machine Shop's race car. I ran a personal best quarter mile time of 11.7 @ 112 MPH. I did my 1st wheelie on the 2nd run too! It was a honor to shake down a car for one of my favorite shops. |
GALLERY UPDATE:
American Gymkhana 2
DATE POSTED: 06/19/07
I have found out it is very hard to shoot pictures for an event your running. I have never attempted to do this before, but before heading to participate in American Gymkhana, I packed my camera anyway. I found out as you are preparing yourself or you car for the track, you are not taking pictures, and if you are talking pictures, you are not preparing yourself or your car for the track. Combined this with it is near impossible to take pictures while you are actually competing, and you soon find yourself divided and not doing very well at either task.
Though some of the pictures looked rushed, I still got some coverage worth posting. The Hasport Honda CRX from American Touge 2 & 3 was at this event, and is pictured too. I also caught a little Mazda Miata known as Sport Compact Car's Project Time Attack. There was also the Falken Toyota Corolla out there, as well as quite a few other personally own Hachi-Roku. A good showing for Underdog JDM Motorsports to say the least. I wish there were more action shots, but like I said, it is a little hard when you are trying to compete. |
VIDEO UPDATE:
American Gymkhana 2
DATE POSTED: 06/18/07
Lug Nut Motorsports decended on El Toro Airfield for American Gymkhana. We all struggled to get through this event, with many ill events taking place with our cars. But like any real race team, we pulled together to make it happen, and happen it did. Two members came home with Trophies. Jonathan Hartendorp won 2nd place in the D-Modified Class and Michael Palero got 2nd place in the SA-Stock Class. Project Käfer and I, who won the honorary "You Got Balls" trophy last event, returned this time to get some sliding action on video. Besure to right click and "Save Target As" and check the video out HERE, or see it at Lug Nut Motorsports. |
EVENT UPDATE: American Gymkhana 2
DATE POSTED: 06/10/07
J.D.MOTORSPORT is taking it full circle and is ending the testing where it all started; Drift Association's American Gymkhana 2. This event takes place June 16th 2007 at El Toro Airfield in Irvine. Though Project Käfer is not able to seriously compete yet, this event should prove to be last major shake down before the current setup is torn down for analysis. That does not mean we will not be pushing it, so still expect a show!
Lug Nut Motorsports will be making a showing too. Come and join us for one of industries newest and fastest growing motorsports! Every car nut can enter, Import or Domestic, Front Wheel drives, Rear Wheel drives, and All-Wheels drives. Modified or stock, it does not matter. Challenge yourself and against the clock. Unlock your cars true performance and see what you can “REALLY” do.
American Gymhana is a fun, inexpensive, and safe motorsport to join, so come on out! Its open to the public, you don’t need to pay for membership and you don’t have to work the track field between runs. Just come and run! Spectators are FREE! Gates open at 8:00am. Event ends at 5:00pm. See you there! |
GALLERY UPDATE:
American Touge 2
DATE POSTED: 06/03/07
With Best Motoring International releasing "American Touge 3", it made me reminiscent of "American Touge 2". With the success of the first video and Top Setup's EG6, Zigzag Asia Inc decided to hold an open casting call for American Touge 2.
Project Hachi-Roku was not as competition ready as Project Käfer, and was not submitted. Project Käfer was submitted and accepted as a contestant, but was never really considered past that stage of screening. Despite the screening process, a bunch of mildly tuned cars were chosen over Project Käfer. Keiichi Tsuchiya and Yasuyuki Kazama struggled to find a car that could repeat the results of last years Underdog Top Setup.
All was not lost for Underdog Fans, as Top Setup's Honda Civic EG6 made a return. Comptech's Acura NSX NA1 also returned and XS Engineering made a last minute switch to a Nissan Skyline GT-R R34. J.D.M. drove Project Hachi-Roku to Horse Thief Mile Touge and covered the finals. This addition to the GALLERY is in memory of unseen pictures taken that day. |
EVENT UPDATE: West Coast Z Nationals
DATE POSTED: 05/16/07
Project Käfer was spotted during a secrete shake down session at West Coast Z Nationals Autocross Practice at El Toro. It was brought to my attention by fellow Lug Nut Motorsports team members, that some of us were captured on video. This humble video was posted on YouTube, where it can still be found. A track map of the days layout was also posted here, but for those that prefer a first person view, there was a second video posted on YouTube. If you go here you can view the track layout from the seat of a Spec Miata. Check back soon, as the testing continues. |
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