The DSTROYR brand has made an official team t-shirt for Gardella Racing in 2011. The shirt features Gardella Racing along with some vintage racing art to go along with it. You can find this shirt at DSTROYR to pick up for the 2011 season.
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Hey, what’s up everybody? This is going to be my first of many blogs, and I’m going to start with the Formula Drift Las Vegas weekend. My blog isn’t just going to focus just on Formula D, but also my travels, experiences, and personal happenings.
I showed up to practice on Thursday night just as the sun was going down. Thank God, because the desert heat is brutal this time of year and generally makes the Vegas experience pretty miserable. It feels like you are baking in an oven the entire time you are outside, but besides that I was pretty excited to start drifting the Mobil1 Pontiac Solstice since we made a huge power plant change to the car.
Here is a pic of the new LS7 powered solstice. After the wreck I had in Seattle FD everyone in Gardella Racing decided that we would go to an LS7 power plant and I was pumped to hear the news. As a driver in Formula D you always want the best equipment to be able to compete with the best. Now, I’m not saying the Ecotec engine couldn’t hang or be competitive, but the LS7 v8 Torque and broad powerband makes tandem driving easier in a lot of different ways. With the Ecotec engine I would always have to use the clutch, as if I was riding a Two Stroke 125, to keep the turbo lit and have the gearing perfect for it to be competitive. The LS7 has so much more useable power on tap that you don’t have to hustle the clutch so much, and make sure your RPM’s don’t fall off after using the footbrake or e-brake to clutch back into the power. Basically the V8′s simplify what the driver has to focus on inside the car. The LS7′s torque generates a hell of a lot more wheel speed which means a lot more Maxxis tire smoke.
Here’s Gary and Steve Angerman putting the finishing cosmetics on the Solstice before I hit the track
I don’t have any good entry shots so here is a shot showcasing that smoke-making LS7 Torque. In practice I felt pretty good, I had a few solid runs but my normal consistency wasn’t there and I would be searching for it all weekend. I was loving the new power plant and the car was setup great but, I couldn’t get consistent with my runs. It was weird for me because I usually get comfortable right off the bat then start cleaning up my lines for qualifying runs.
Next days practice I felt a lot more comfortable and started to get more consistent, then qualifying came around and they were the worst two laps I put down all day. I ended up 12th which is the worst I have qualified all year and after qualifying it’s time to focus on tandem, which is an entirely different ball game. Top 32 had me up against Ross Petty in his SR powered Boso S15.
Rossy and I had a good tandem battle. I had a really good follow lap where I was close to him on the entry. On my lead I tried to put down a strong qualifying run. I put a little distance between us and ended up getting the win. Next up was JR and I were going head to head like so many other times this season.
There is about 2 hours between top 32 and top 16 so the guys spend there time getting the car and pit cart ready to do battle while I try to relax a little bit keep hydrated and go over some strategy with the team.
Here’s Scott putting fresh Maxxis tires on the car for top 16.
Trying to relax a bit before my nerves start getting the better of me.
JR and I lined up for top 16. He lead the first lap since he qualified better than me. Leading your first lap is a little bit of an advantage because you’re not so pressured to drive up someones door right after a two hour brake. It gives you a second to get back into the groove of things. My follow lap I entered faster than I had all weekend to stay close to JR. I got off the brakes a second too early and when we both came off the first clip wall I was eating cones with the side of my car. If I stayed on the brakes a second longer it would have been a great follow lap. I caught the edge of the tire wall and kept on going finishing my run with a huge mistake. At this point there is nothing I can do but hope that JR makes as big of a mistake so we can go OMT. My lead lap was pretty solid but JR made a clean pass and advanced to the next round. I was bumming pretty hard because number 1, I absolutely hate to lose!!! And secondly, this was a very pivotal point in my season where I needed to advance to stay within striking distance for the championship.
I can’t wait to get to Sonoma. I’m glad its only a couple weeks away and that entry is going to be fun. With the Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice being faster than it’s ever been before I’m hoping I can break that infamous triple digit mark on the entry. Hope to see you all there.
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VEGAS HEAT TAKES ITS TOLL ON GARDELLA RACING TEAM ~Tuerck still fourth in driver standings despite tough weekend ~
HOWELL, NJ (Aug. 26, 2010) – The heat was in the air and on the track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when Formula Drift Round 5: After Dark came to town this past weekend. Unfortunately, the heat in the air kept Gardella Racing’s Ryan Tuerck from being able to perform well in his Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice and he ended the weekend in the Round of 16, with the newly added LS7 V8 engine. Prior to qualifying on Friday afternoon, Fox 5 Vegas came out and featured several of the drivers including Tuerck on their morning show. The news program highlighted Tuerck and the Gardella Racing team as they let viewers know about the Formula Drift event that came to town. When qualifying came around later in the day, Tuerck hit the track with one thing on his mind, to qualify well. Not what he was shooting for, Tuerck ended up having his worst qualifying effort of the 2010 Formula Drift season. By the time it all came to an end on Friday evening Tuerck sat in the 12th position. After a good night’s rest, Tuerck and the whole Gardella Racing team fired up the Solstice to run it in hopes of a great finish to a tough start. In the Round of 32 Tuerck faced Ross Petty. Petty put up a fight, but the skilled Tuerck was able to get by him. The next round Tuerck knew would be difficult. He was facing the leader in points, Vaughn Gittin Jr. In the first run Tuerck was following Gittin. He went into a turn way too fast and scraped the wall with the right rear. He was able to finish and go onto the second run. Tuerck was not able to shake his competitor while in the lead lap; Gittin moved on to the next round. This ended Tuerck’s weekend with his lowest finish in 2010. “This was a tough weekend for the team. We had hoped to have a great outcome here in Vegas,” said Tuerck. “I’m glad to still be fourth in points, but we have our work cut out for us in the next two events. I have to come out focused and be on top of my game to finish strong in the championship.” Overall, Tuerck was able to stay in fourth place in the driver standings. Disappointingly, this weekend’s finish dropped him farther back behind Gittin. He is now 78 points behind with two remaining events. Modified Magazine came back out to the Vegas event to shadow the team. This was to complete a follow-up to a story they started at the Formula Drift event in Seattle. The issue with the Seattle story should be hitting the newsstands in the next few weeks. Next up on the Gardella Racing Formula Drift schedule is Round 6: Point of Impact on Sept. 10-11. This event will be held in the beautiful wine country of Sonoma, Calif. at Infineon Raceway. Tuerck will be keeping busy during the few weeks off, as he gets ready to be a judge at the Red Bull Flugtag in Philadelphia on September 4th. Check out the full photo gallery at gardellaracing.com
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This past weekend was round 4 of the XDC Drift series. This was my second round that I was able to attend. After getting 4th place in West Virginia, I was hungry for a podium finish.
During my time off in between XDC rounds I drove a few local clubloose events to get some more tandem practice in. I was starting to feel much more confident driving, and following in the solstice. Tuerck drove my personal S13, while I got practice following him in the solstice. This helped me out a ton! At XDC West Virginia I was really struggling when it came time to follow.
So it was time to load up the rig and head to Englishtown. Luckily for us, it’s only a half hour drive from the Race shop, which is definitely nice for a change. Bruce and I got to the track early Friday morning to set up the rig for the weekend.
We had a quick drivers meeting before we hit the track for practice. They reviewed the track layout and clipping points as usual.
So we hit the track for practice. I was struggling to make consistent clean runs. Scott radioed me in to make a few minor alignment changes. Once we did that it was like a night and day difference. I started putting down much better runs.
Once it came time for qualifying, I was feeling confident. I watched a few other drivers and there were a lot of guys killing it so I knew I had to really put it together! I did my two runs and they felt good, but I knew I could have done better. So we went back to the drivers meeting, I ended up qualifying 8th.
Day 2, we got a good amount of practice in and I got some decent tandem practice. After practice we had a lot of down time so we did the usual maintance to the car, and got all the Falken tires mounted and ready to rock.
It came time for Top 16, the bleachers were packed, and everyone seemed to be really excited!
My first line up was against Evan Tuerck, he was looking really good in practice. I followed him first and he spun on the entry. When he followed me we both put down really solid runs, but due to Evan spinning out, I advanced.
Next up was Nate Hamilton. He was the number 1 qualifier, and was putting down some serious runs. He led first and both of us had big entries. When exiting the bank I got to close to him, and tapped into his rear fender which caused us both to spin.
It was unclear if Nate was on the brakes or not, so the judges called for a One More Time. We both made a few corrections both runs, but Hamilton ended up advancing on.
We finished in the Top 8, which is still good. I learned a lot more about the car over the course of the weekend, with a little more practice I think I’ll be ready for Texas.
Id like to thank Gary Gardella, and the whole Gardella Racing crew. Scott, Mike, Tueck, and Bruce, with out them none of this would be possible.
Check out this video edit by Nate Chen from XDC Englishtown.
Steve Angerman at XDC New Jersey from Nathaniel Chen on Vimeo.
As you can see we were lucky enough to have Modified follow out program around in WA Round 4. I think we gave them a little bit of action mixed with a bit of carnage. We got to hang with Nate Hassler, an employee of Modified Mag; he was great to have around. Be sure to look for the full article in the October issue of Modified.
http://speedhunters.com/archive/2010/07/29/magazine-blog-modified-gardella-racing.aspx
Check out the link below for an article from FD Round 4; Throwdown.
Check out video from the final elimination round at Evergreen Speedway.
Gardella Racing’s Steve Angerman was featured on CNN.com. Check out the video and complete article.
Summit Point, West Virginia — At first blush, it appears Steve Angerman doesn’t know the slightest thing about driving.
For starters, he approaches a curve way too fast. Then he sends his Pontiac Solstice into a suicidal slide and the car vanishes in a cloud of smoke, dust, rubber and asphalt.
But before you can punch even the first digit of 911, Angerman seizes control of the car through a deft combination of throttle and brake, shifting and steering and, quite possibly, prayer.
“Dear Lord, Help me in my time of need.”
And his car emerges intact, throttle up, headed for the next turn.
Amen.
Click Link for Complete Article: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/10/drift.racing/index.html?iref=allsearch
