DriftCon Afterdark, a spinoff of our Afterdark show that was previously held at VLEDS’ headquarters in Bellingham, WA was held at Evergreen Speedway on September 27, 2014. It included a 3/8 Tandem Competition, Team Tandem Competition, Hoon-off (rolling burnout competition), car show, VIP parking area, and meet.
Photos by TK Akiyama and Anthony Kim. Text by Matt Haugness.
Unlike the first DriftCon in May that was paired with a round of Pro Am competition – DriftCon Afterdark was a standalone event with a $1000 purse for first place. Prior to the event, we decided on using the 3/8 layout from round 5 of the Pro Am competition that was held a few weeks prior. Drivers enjoyed the layout and it allowed for a larger selection of cars instead of just Pro Am 5/8 cars.
Over 16 drivers competed in the 3/8 competition including two Formula Drift Pro drivers – Erich Hagen and Kory Keezer. Ultimately the finals came down to Mike Goddard and Erich Hagen. Mike ended up taking the win and winning the $1000 prize. Taking third place was Eddy Gonzalez.
A new element that we introduced at this event was a Hoon-Off. This was inspired by burnout competitions popular in other parts of the world where cars are forced to continue moving while burning out. We had no idea how successful this part of the event would be but we were excited to see if the crowd enjoyed the show. Hoonigan liked the idea so much that they decided to provide us with prize packs for the winners. A total of six drivers competed in the Hoon-Off but Kory Keezer put on the best show – riding the wall in front of the grandstands with smoke billowing into the line of spectators. Also worth mentioning was Jeff Ziegler who signed up the day of the event with his LSX-powered E30 BMW. Jeff placed second overall behind Kory.
The car show for DriftCon Afterdark was held trackside just like the first DriftCon event but this time we limited the total number of cars to 80. As cars registered only the best ones were selected to be in the Great 80 Car Show. We will likely carry this format onto the next DriftCon event.
In addition to the Great 80 Car Show, we added VIP parking in the area that most other event organizers have their car show – right next to the grandstands. This gave people a chance to still be a part of the event even if they weren’t in the main show. Also a carryover from DriftCon was on-track meet parking in the gravel.
After the 3/8 Tandem Competition and the Hoon-Off the track switched to the Team Tandem Competition. A total of six 3 driver teams competed in this aspect of the event with many returning from the previous DriftCon event. Under the lights of the track the teams battled to see which performed the best as one complete unit. The finals came down to Ben Whyte’s Angels (Matt Vankirk, Cole Werner, and Brandon Schmidt) and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch (the 3 Corolla team consisting of Travis Takmori, Marc Ulin, and Tyler Campbell). On their final run one of the cars on the Corolla team went off track giving the win to Ben Whyte’s Angels.
DriftCon Afterdark exceeded our expectations. For an event thrown together at the last minute after the cancelation of another event at the same venue – we couldn’t have asked for a better turnout of cars, drivers, and spectators. We can’t wait to see what it will become with a proper amount of promotion in 2015.
Special thanks to our volunteers and the following sponsors:
VLEDS
Ozzy Motors
Stickers by Nikki
StanceWars
Other Coverage:
Always Reckless
I-Nertia Matt Nelson
KRafted Photography
Njacober Photography
David Kim
Wicked West
Video by Wicked West.
Video by Hamstik Media.
3/8 Tandem Competition Results
1st: Mike Goddard
2nd: Erich Hagen
3rd: Eddy Gonzalez
Team Tandem Competition Results
1st: Ben Whyte’s Angels
2nd: Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch (aka Backyard Built)
3rd: Redneck Coalition (aka Rowdy Boys)
Hoon-Off Competition Results
1st: Kory Keezer
2nd: Jeff Ziegler
3rd: Spencer Gatrell
DriftCon Car Show Results
Best of Show – Rob Kothenbuetel – 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution
People’s Choice – Derek Llewellyn – 2009 Nissan 370Z
Best Import – Eric Ludvigsen – 1995 Nissan Skyline GT-R
Best Euro – Kent Shaull – 2006 VW Jetta GLI
Best Old School – Steven Vogel – 1985 Nissan Stanza
Best Street Mild – Elree Guerrero – 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution
Best Street Wild – Rob Kothenbuetel – 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution
Best Race/Track – Quincy Yuen – 2012 Subaru STi
Best Stance – Micah Keochanpheng – 2007 Lexus LS460
Best Lighting – Nick Meier – 2012 Scion xB
Best Engine Bay – Andrew Louangphakdy – 1996 Honda Civic
Best Interior – Nate Dickey – 1994 Lexus LS400
Best Exterior Finish – Steven Vogel – 1985 Nissan Stanza
Best Honda – Daniel Hwang – 2008 Honda Civic
Best Nissan – Frank Moreno – 2005 Nissan 350Z
Best Infiniti – Travis Wilson – 2007 Infiniti G35
Best Subaru – Quincy Yuen – 2012 Subaru STi
Best Mazda – Patrick Elliott – 2005 Mazda 6
Best Mitsubishi – Dustin Murphy – 2008 Mitsubishi Evolution
Best Toyota – Andrew Aveno – 1993 Toyota MR2
Best Lexus – Micah Keochanpheng – 2007 Lexus LS460
