Irwindale Adventures Day Four.

Today is the big event day. This is the day where we see if the engine can survive, and how far into the competition we can go. We are up against Sam Hübinette for the Top 32 round. We slept in today to ensure we were ready. As we were leaving the hotel, we saw a few wild animals. The first was this lizard at the side of the pool,

the second was a rooster named Pat. The hotel was full of crazy things, so we left as fast as possible.

When we arrived at the track, the first thing we wanted to do, is find out how Nikolay was on the repairs of his car. As we got there, he was just putting the final touches on the car, and getting ready to try it. Nikolay did a few practice runs, and was happy that it worked, sort of.

Meanwhile, Zack was chatting with the MotorMavens model, Tailyr Brianne Monette, who is a totally cool girl. Glad to see she is not all snobby.

During practice, Sam's engine caught fire, which was bad enough that Sam's crew had not enough time to repair it. Basically all fuel lines, wiring, and more needed to be replaced.

Sam was a champ and told us that we had the win. Here is Sam and Ian, after their run. :) 

As the night fell, the competition began. Ian did a single run, just to advance to the top 16. After that, we watched as the crowd introduction of the Top 16 took place. The place was sold out, and all eyes were on us, well, so it felt.

Here Ian and Matt Fields, the Fatlace drivers, are rolling out to the intro line, following the DA guys.

Ian kept his cool, now that he is in the Top 16, he is going to push the car, even if it breaks. Media was excited to see Ian there as well. Here Antonio from MotorMavens.com is taking shots as Ian is lined up with James Deane for the first round.

During the first run with James leading, Ian put the pressure on James on the big bank, which caused James Deane to push a bit too hard, and hit the wall. We were shocked, as we had been told that James is a machine, and does not make mistakes.

Matt from Evergreen Drift was there to take video of the Northwest drivers, and to share his reactions to the camera. We were then told after James Deane took his 5 minutes, that they could not repair the car, and we advanced to the Top 8. In this round we were pit against Michihiro Takatori.

During the first run, Ian drove as hard as he could, and the judges gave them a One More Time! As we were about to run the second run, the start guy noticed an oil leak. We took our 5 mins and emptied the overfull oil catch tank. Doing this in 5 minutes is harder than it seams. Trent even took the hot tank in bare hands to empty it, and the oil was engine hot. We got it back to the line with 30 secs to spare, and ran the second round. During this round, Takatori chased better than us, so he advanced. 

We were still very happy with the results. Top 8, with a One More Time. Now time to watch. Ian and Trent are here relaxing against the car after 3 days hard work.

After the event was over, we started to load up the truck and trailer, when Teddy, a passionate V8 hater came over and talked to us about his car, our car, and the movement he is passionate about. No V8's in cars that did not come with them in FD. He even had this big sign that was being held up during the event in the stands. Cool kid.

After leaving the venue we met up with the MotorMavens.com crew for some Thai food. Antonio is a food lover, and knows a lot of great places to eat that you would normally just drive by. 

As we all talked about the good times, Justin told us about JR sticking his rubber in his eye...

JR did what???

That caused the table to get hysterical with laughter. Antonio then suggested we stop by his storage unit / shop to unload his gear and chill there. We hung out enjoying the good times of good friends, and cool cars, like his all original 1973 "Mango" Corolla SR5, until around 3:30am. It was the perfect way to end that day. 

We slept in until 11am, and checked out. Zack was wearing a sweater, even without wearing anything. Man that boy is harry.

The car is looking a little worse for wear, and the exhaust has been flow adjusted, fun and games as we say, and that is drifting.

We headed for Hollywood to grab some lunch and see a few sights. While in traffic, a crazy lady pulled beside us, and eventually into us as we were in traffic. The lady who spoke NO ENGLISH, busted Trent's mirror. Damn. 

After some Fat Burger, we headed to Hollywood Blvd, and saw a sun bather at a resort...

WTF????

Now for tourist action.

Ian with Kermit The Frog...

and Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen. Zack decided to show Britney Spears his crotch...

We hit up the famous Chinese Theater,

which is where all the hand prints are located.

Then Trent found his unit had a star named just for it.

People were taking pictures of the car on the trailer, as if it was a famous Hollywood attraction. :)

After seeing the Hollywood sign, we headed home. During our first gas stop, we discovered that there are more drifting related food products available here, not just Beer. 

Tandem Ice Cream. Here is a triple tandem. Team Orange has nothing on this...

We continued on our journey North, and stopped for supper in Sacramento with Gabe, Gia, Kenny and Lillie from Techno Toy Tuning and GT Faction.

After enjoying some food, we had fun in Gia's Lotus. Here Ian and Trent are in the tight car. Trent in the passenger seat has to move his leg to allow Ian to shift gears. lol. Awesome.

Here is the gang of trouble makers that we met up with. These guys are great, and the stop made our night.

So did this. Pimp.

After many hours of driving, we were getting close to Portland, wearing shorts in this was not the best plan. We decided to get some drinks and have a Bathroom (Restroom for American's) break. 

When we went to leave, the truck would not start. It acted like a dead battery. We even tried to jump it. No luck. Ian climbed under the truck to hit the started while we tried to turn it over. While under the truck, he discovered the main power to the started had corroded and broken off, some time in the last few hours. Well the corrosion may have taken longer. Napa fortunately delivered a ring terminal and some shrink, so after about 2.5 hours we were back on the road.

We arrived in Canada without any problems, and went home. This trip was amazing and like every drift related trip, an adventure.