In case you ever tried to convince someone that drifting wasn’t just full of hooligan kids doing random hood-rat shit in the time  between robbing liquor stores and mugging old ladies then please don’t show them this video. All joking aside this Bloodmasters Part 1 video shows off some intense skill and entertainment all focused around Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey. The video features some Formula Drift drivers such as Ryan Tuerck, Chris Forsberg, and Tony Angelo who all seem to be driving “missile” car S13′s as they slam into each other, parts of the track, and about anywhere else you could think of around the race course. My favorite part of the video falls around 3:13 when they have a five car tandem (two cars going one direction on the track and three going the other way) all at the same time. This is shown in screen capture three above. Follow the link after the video to see a full list of credits for the Bloodmasters Bloodbath Part 1 video.

Directed/Edited:
Andrew Laputka

Bloodmasters (Drivers):
Tony Angelo
Steve Angerman
Nick D’Alessio
Mike Edwards
Chris Forsberg
Brian Hoplamazian
Matt Petty
Ryan Tuerck
John Wagner
Brian Wilkerson

Motion Graphics
Andy Sapp

Camera Operators
Chris Boon
Hertrech Eugene
Andrew Laputka
Mark Lenardon
Chris Szczypala
Mike Vogt

Special Thanks:
Mike Napp
Ryan Napp
Satan
Elite JDM
Clubloose

The team is half street gang and half missile drift crew which is composed of several Drift Alliance Members, a few Drift ALliance Aces, all mixed in with a few new bloods of the sport. The video boasts Ryan Tuerck, Chris Forsberg, and Tony Angelo tearing up Englishtown Raceway in what has to be one of the best drifting videos we have seen in a long time. While the Drift Alliance these days is all but dead (except for Rhys Millen joining the team) this just marks the feeling of 2004 Drift Alliance or dare I say the “Bad As Hell” days. Sit back and enjoy one awesome drifting video.

In case you don’t follow the former Falken Tire driver Tyler McQuarrie on Facebook he threw up some mentions about being in New Jersey. Following his firing and telling Bill Wood he had some offers form other teams (and Ryan Tuerck being looked at by RMR) our eyes perked up at these posts. Well it turns out that after a few phone calls I made that Tyler McQuarrie did pay a visit to Gardella Racing on the trip. Not sure that was the only purpose of his trip but it sure seems to be that way. He did quite a bit of hanging out with Gary Gardella and around Gardella Racing HQ in New Jersey in general. What would everyone think about Tyler McQuarrie driving the Gardella Racing Chevrolet Camaro in Formula Drift for 2012?

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a professional drifter, today is your lucky day. Many of us assume it’s an awesome job; to be able to drive awesome cars, attend notable events, and consume as many free energy drinks as your heart can handle. Last weekend I learned the realities of this profession as I had the opportunity to follow Vaughn Gittin JR around Irwindale for Round 7 of Formula drift. I mean, if I’m going to shadow a drifter, why not follow the 2010 Formula Drift Champion? Here is what our day consisted of:

11:30am – Formula Drift Insider Interview on Track: Vaughn started his day with a head to head with Ross Petty to settle some conspiracy accusations. If you’re a regular Wrecked reader, you’ll have seen our post with a link where Ross Petty suggests a “conflict of interest” between Tony Angelo and Drift Alliance members. We settled this by breaking down each judge’s call at Road Atlanta, disproving Ross’s assumption. It was hilarious to see Ross bringing out his crew of 15 or so, decked out in their 1990s camo pants and belly shirts. JR did the interview without any “backup.”

12:00pm – Falken Tent /Lunch: The schedule said lunch but at no point did I see JR eat. JR spent most of his time talking with his crew and the folks from Ford Racing.

12:30pm – Driver’s Meeting: All the drivers were herded into a small tent to get any new instructions for the day.

1:00pm – Massage: This wasn’t on the schedule but apparently some folks from Massage Envy set up shop right across from the Falken area and offered JR a deal he couldn’t refuse.

1:20pm – Phone Interview with Hot Rod Magazine Radio: When you’re a popular competitor in the motorsports world, everyone wants a piece of you. To accommodate a phone interview with this online radio show, JR had to hideout in a rental car.

1:37pm – Peed: Note* I did not follow him for this part of the day.

1:45pm – Time to get into the zone: JR had 15 minutes in the schedule to relax and get his head into the zone which in reality was about 2 minutes, which he used to enjoy a fresh juice and start walking to the grid.

2:00pm – Practice: Two whole hours were dedicated to practicing on the track. JR had a little fun with this and showed off his drifting skills on his way to the starting line. One of his practice opponents was none other than Ross Petty. Awkward… Click here to watch some of Vaughn Gittin’s practice laps.

4:00pm – Top 32 HRE Interview: With the start of the Top 32 being postponed by 15 minutes, I thought this was my time to sit down for a breather but NO! What? JR has a few spare minutes? Let’s do an interview! So we hightailed it over to HRE for some camera time and photos.

4:15pm – Top 32: And so the action begins! JR went up against Mike Essa and after an awesome run with a slight tap on the wall, the judges voted on an OMT. JR’s run, even with the tap, was definitely better than Essa’s but what do I know, I’m not a judge. After the OMT the judges went with Essa, saying JR had too many corrections.  It sucked to see JR out so early but he’s had a great year so far – he just got back from China where he won the opening round of the World Drift Series!

6:00pm – Half Time / Eat More Crew Talk: After his run, JR stayed on the track with his crew to support the other drivers. When half time came around and everyone started heading back to the tents, I figured the night was over and I won’t lie: I was a tiny bit relieved because holy shit my feet were tired! But alas, JR is JR and just because he was out did not mean it was downtime. He spent the next 30 minutes or so talking with his crew and mechanics.

6:30pm – Alpinestars Autograph Session: JR joined other drivers Chris Forsberg, Ryan Tuerck, Matt Powers, and Fredric Aasbo over at the Astars booth to do an autograph session. The line was to infinity and beyond and poor Abby had to tear JR away to get to back to Falken to chat with fans over there for another 15 mins or so before heading to Exedy.

6:45pm – Autographs/Pictures: You would never know JR was out of the competition with the droves of fans that were lined up to meet him. And they would not stop coming! Come on! I’m starving here…

7:00pm 7:10pm – Exedy Appearance/Swag Giveaway:  We needed to be at Exedy by 7pm but holy shit people are relentless! Can I get an autograph? Can I get a picture? Oh, it was blurry, let’s take another one! My 6-month-old daughter wants a picture with you too! It wasn’t even like we were standing around with nothing to do. JR was clearly walking like he was on a mission but the fans couldn’t care less. They just wanted 17 seconds with their favorite driver. So finally we made it to Exedy and people went bat-shit crazy over some free stickers.

7:30pm – Finally, some damn food: I was borderline hangry at this point so thank the lord it was time to finally eat.

8:00 pm– Top 16: Because JR is such a great sport and truly loves drifting, he stayed and watched the rest of the competitors. It turned out to be a great night with Tyler McQuarrie taking 1^st Place for the round and Dai Yoshihara taking the title of 2011 Formula Drift Champion.

So what did I learn? There is a lot of work that goes into being a successful drifter. You need to be willing to put in the hours, the sweat, and most importantly – you have to love it. Huge thanks to Vaughn Gittin JR for allowing me to be a fly on his wall, and huge thanks to his fiancée Abby for making it all happen (and keeping JR as close to schedule as possible).

After the 2011 season Formula Drift has 52 events in the books. The series now has 17 overall event winners meaning just about every 3 events (twice a season) a driver will receive his first win in the sport. Now after 2011 nine drivers are multiple events winners in the series. This year added two of those nine drivers with Justin Pawlak winning both his events this season and Tyler McQuarrie earning his second at Irwindale Speedway this season joining the club.

1. Sam Hubinette (9 Wins)
1. 2004 Road Atlanta
2. 2004 Houston
3. 2004 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)
4. 2005 Road Atlanta
5. 2005 Chicago
6. 2006 Streets of Long Beach
7. 2006 Chicago
8. 2006 Wall Speedway
9. 2007 Summit Point

2. Tanner Foust (7 Wins)
1. 2006 Road Atlanta
2. 2007 Irwindale Speedway
3. 2008 Streets of Long Beach
4. 2008 Englishtown
5. 2008 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)
6. 2009 Las Vegas
7. 2010 Evergreen Speedway
8. 2010 Irwindale Speedway

3. Chris Forsberg (6 Wins)
1. 2005 Irwnidale
2. 2007 Road Atlanta
3. 2007 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)
4. 2008 Streets of Long Beach
5. 2009 Road Atlanta
6. 2009 Evergreen Speedway

3. Rhys Millen (6 Wins)
1. 2004 Irwindale Speedway
2. 2005 Wall Speedway
3. 2006 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)
4. 2008 Road Atlanta
5. 2008 Evergreen Speedway
6. 2011 Las Vegas

3. Dai Yoshihara (6 Wins)
1. 2006 Irwindale Speedway
2. 2007 Evergreen Speedway
3. 2007 Wall Speedway
4. 2010 Road Atlanta
5. 2011 Road Atlanta
6. 2011 Evergreen Speedway

6. Vaughn Gittin Jr. (3 Wins)
1. 2008 Irwindale Speedway
2. 2010 Streets of Long Beach
3. 2010 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)

7. Ryan Tuerck (2 Wins)
1. 2009 Streets of Long Beach
2. 2009 Irwindale Speedway

7. Tyler McQuarrie (2 Wins)
1. 2010 Las Vegas
2. 2011 Irwindale Speedway

7. Justin Pawlak (2 Wins)
1. 2011 Streets of Long Beach
2. 2011 Palm Beach International Raceway

10. Ken Gushi (1 Win)
1. 2005 Houston

10. Calvin Wan (1 Win)
1. 2005 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma

10. Yukinobu Okubo (1 Win)
1. 2006 Evergreen Speedway

10. Mitsuru Haraguchi (1 Win)
1. 2007 Streets of Long Beach

10. Toshiki Yoshioka (1 Win)
1. 2008 Las Vegas

10. Darren McNamara (1 Win)
1. 2009 Wall Speedway

10. Stephan Verdier (1 Win)
1. 2009 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)

10. Conrad Grunewald (1 Win)
1. 2011 Wall Speedway

The most winning driver in Formula Drift Sam Hubinette took the top qualifying spot this weekend at Irwindale Speedway which is something we haven’t seen from him in sometime. A huge congrats to his performance after a rough start to the 2011 season! Here is how the Top 32 stacked up with Rookie of the Year leader Odi Bakchis missing out with a 33rd place finish.

1.Sam Hubinette – 92.7 points
2. Justin Pawlak – 90.4 points
3. Tyler McQuarrie – 88.4 points
4. Ryan Tuerck – 86.1 points
5. Rhys Millen – 85.9 points
6. Dai Yoshihara – 83.5 points
7. Walker Wilkerson – 83.3 points
8. Robbie Nishida – 83.2 points
9. Conrad Grunewald – 82.3 points
10. Matt Powers – 79.4 points
11. Ken Gushi – 79.0 points
12. Vaughn Gittin Jr. – 77.7 points
13. Fredric Aasbo – 77.3 points
14. Dean Kearney – 77.1 points
15. Luke Lonberger – 77 points
16. Chris Forsberg – 76.9 points
17. Matt Field – 76.5 points
18. Toshiki Yoshioka – 73.1 points
19. Ryan Kado – 72.8 points
20. Kyle Mohan – 72.8 points
21. Michael Essa – 71.2 points
22. Taka Aono – 70.8 points
23. Ross Petty – 68.9 points
24. E. Armandio “Dio” – 68.6 points
25. Dennis Mertzanis – 68.3 points
26. Darren McNamara – 67.9 points
27. Jeff Abbott – 67.8 points
28. Pat Cyr – 66.3 points
29. Kenneth Moen – 66.2 points
30. Cyrus Martinez – 63.3 points
31. Charles Ng – 62.5 points
32. Patrick Mordaunt – 61 points

A big news buzz floating around this week which was confirmed Rhys Millen is stepping down from driving in Formula Drift after this season. Rhys Millen and the Hyundai Genesis won’t be going anywhere for 2012 since RMR will continue to run the program and Rhys Millen will take over the team owner position.

To make this rumor even better we have heard he is trying to bring another Redbull athlete to fill the seat in the car for next season. Some sources have told us this is currently Drift Alliance star Ryan Tuerck! They are trying to get a deal together by the 2011 SEMA Show but nothing has been signed as they are still in talks. How do you feel about Ryan Tuerck driving the Hyundai Genesis in 2012?

Here are the drivers found on the poll for the 2011 Formula Drift Awards that are presented at the banquet after the season ends. Here are the nine questions which each have four options selected by Formula D. I heard they are going to make a new category this year called driver who missed driving their own race car the most but I don’t think we need multiple choice options for that one (this is a joke for you non sense of humored people).

1. Crew Member of the year (this person can be the crew chief, mechanic, suspension engineer, etc.)

A. Mike Kojima (Discount Tire S13/Dai Yoshihara)
B. Scott Dodgen (Discount Tire S13/Dai Yoshihara)
C. Kevin Wells (NOS Energy Drink 370z/Chris Forsberg)
D. Costa Gialamas (Team Need for Speed S14/Matt Powers)

2. Team Manager of the year (this person can be the manager, owner or the person instrumental in managing the team well)

A. Jonathan Bradford (Falken Tire)
B. Stephan Papadakis (Team Need for Speed Scion tC)
C. Chris Forsberg (NOS Energy Drink 370z)
D. Ron Bergenholtz (Full Tilt Poker Mazda Rx-8)

3. Hardest Charging Driver of the Year”
A. Matt Powers
B. Dai Yoshihara
C. Darren McNamara
D. Walker Wilkerson
E. Conrad Grunewald
F. Justin Pawlak

4. Best Drifting Style:
A. Matt Powers
B. Dai Yoshihara
C. Ryan Tuerck
D. Fredric Aasbo

5. Spirit of Drifting:
A. Joon Maneg
B. Ross Petty
C. Walker Wilkerson
D. Dai Yoshihara

6. Best Style (the person with the best overall style this season, not driving style)
A. Matt Powers
B. Matt Field
C. Ross Petty
D. Dai Yoshihara

7. Most Improved Driver:
A. Odi Bakchis
B. Cyrus Martinez
C. Justin Pawlak
D. Matt Powers

8. Best Comeback of the Year:
A. Rhys Millen
B. Fredric Aasbo
C. Odi Bakchis
D. Vaughn Gittin Jr.

9. Best Looking Car of the Year:
A. Dai Yoshihara
B. Matt Field
C. Fredric Aasbo
D. Chris Forsberg

An American dominated another season of Drift Mania this year with Miro Ovcharik. Ryan Tuerck and Matt Waldin have taken a championship from the Canadians in the past and this year was no exception. Here is the championship finishing order:

1. Miro Ovcharik
2. Dave Briggs
3. Jeff Laflamme

An awesome weekend after dark here at Round 6 had temperatures that were hot but tolerable on the track after 8pm. Team Need for Speed driver Matt Powers proved his talents again this weekend by driving to a first place qualifying finish without a problem. Two other big shocks were Rhys Millen making a return to the top of the qualifying list with a second place finish and Robbie Nishida out of no where took his 240sx to a solid third place finish.

1. Matt Powers – 96.9
2. Rhys Millen – 93
3. Robbie Nishida – 89.8
4. Chris Forsberg – 89.5
5. Vaughn Gittin Jr. – 89.5
6. Dai Yoshihara – 88.5
7. Kyle Mohan – 88.3
8. Conrad Grunewald – 87.5
9. Ken Gushi – 86
10. Michael Essa – 86
11. Ryan Kado – 86
12. Darren McNamara – 85.8
13. Ryan Tureck 58
14. Otto Graven – 84
15. Dean Kearney – 82
16. Matt Field – 82
17. Fredric Aasbo – 81.5
18. Patrick Mordaunt – 79.5
19. Odi Bakchis – 79.5
20. Charles Ng – 79
21. Kyle Pollard – 78.8
22. Toshiki Yoshioka – 78.5
23. E. Armando – 76.3
24. Tyler McQuarrie – 75
25. Matt Waldin – 74.5
26. Dennis Mertzanis – 74
27. Ross Petty – 73
28. Cyrus Martinez – 70.5
29. Alex Lee – 68.5
30. Justin Pawlak – 68
31. Sam Hubinette – 65
32. Jeff Jones – 65

UPDATE at 6:41pm: Formula D changed the Top 32 due to points not given to Ryan Tuerck. No update of rankings as of Top 32 has been posted or provided as of the event going on live in progress. We apologize for the errors in this post.