Event Coverage
Southwest Drift Series Round 1 at Vegas Drift

Southwest Drift Series Round 1 at Vegas Drift

April 22nd turned out to be the the hottest day of the year so far breaking in the Southwest Drift Series competitive season. Ensuing 90° weather was mild compared to the all day long heated drifting competition taking place at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway outside road course. Tires were screeching, smoking and kicking up rubber across the track. Sitting at turn two you were 30 feet from the action as cars flew by throwing debris right into the crowd. With all the whipping around there were several exciting close calls and a few mild driver collisions leading to dislocated bumpers, dented fenders common place at a drifting event. The paddock was abuzz with purpose built machines ready to take to show the asphalt who’s boss. It’s a serious sport and the drivers well trained like any other athlete but they’re some of the friendliest and well spirited you’ll meet. They push their vehicles and themselves to breaking points with a smile. At the end of this fierce day only 3 of them however could claim victory and earn their Formula Drift Pro 2 licenses opening the door for them to take on more challenging competitions in the Formula Drift series this season. 1st place was awarded to Traverse Hilsabeck with his Team Overstyle behind him. He swung around his monstrous 1JZ swapped Nissan Silvia S13 expertly. This round put him ahead in the Southwest drift series by a massive 9 point lead with boastful 60 points. David Curtis won 2nd  with his first podium position on the record saying “It’s been a long time coming but everything came together and I was able to make it happen!” No doubt with support from his family team and his dad’s help building his BMW 3.0L stroked 325i E36 pushing 19 lbs on a 34r turbo charger which landed him 51 points. Coming up uncomfortably close behind him with 50 points Tony Chard also won his first podium position in 3rd place. Another father son build team produced their BMW 325i E46 chassis with an LS3 swapped in put the high revving power to the pavement where it counts. He’s only been drifting since 2016 which makes it all the more impressive when up against 27 other seasoned drivers this round. He says “The most memorable moment in the competition was the fast entry. It’s always fun ripping the e-brake at 80+ mph.” And I can only imagine. Watching them out there tearing it up encouraged me to want to test myself and car out. Thankfully Vegas Drift events are extremely friendly to novice drivers. They offer several options for individuals looking to get in on the fun. At this event they have a wet pad for even the least prepped vehicles to try their hands at the sport. I took mine out and spun around and spun out until my heart was content. It was great to hone in on the car without so much worry about damaging something in the process. Just to the side for the more daring and prepared they had a test track open. Only slightly less technical than the competition track drivers could register and hit it hard. A great opportunity to test and tune your vehicle if you’re considering getting in to the competitive side of the series. Sounds like fun right? It was. So if you’re interested in the Vegas Drift experience check out our events calendar for this and other great local meets, shows and races coming up this year.

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