We would like to welcome the Xtreme Drift Circuit to Irwindale. Bob and all the event organizers have been really great to us and extended us to do tire service for all the drivers at Round 1. I see so much potential in this series.

 Busy Day as always when it comes to drift events. Can’t thank Hankook enough for our great tent. Alberto as usual doing most of the work, while I cop a squat.

Stan drifting the inner bank was looking solid all weekend. The XDC event has brought back a lot of memories. I haven’t seen Forest Wang’s S14 since Top Drift a few years back.

Also coming back into the scene was Alex “Baby” Kors and Quoc Ly from Drift Speed. It was very much like a reunion of drivers we have not seen in a while. 

Congrats to David Briggs for Top place at Round 1. Coming from Canada, he is definitely devoted and a force to be reckoned with.

And thanks to Jack (CTO) and Larry Chen (Driftfotos.com) for the pics from the weekend!

-John

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 After several attempts we were finally able to air this sucker up. 285/30R20 Falken FK-452 on an HRE wheel that measures 20×13″ So YES technically we were able to do what we were asked to do, and that is air this crazy stretch up.

But NO you should not be driving on this. There is about a 3/4″ gap between the tire bead and where it should be sitting on the wheel. This mysterious request was from Formula Drift world champion Chris Forsberg.

For what kind of car? A 350Z naturally… It’s a show car that Chris is helping out with. He was pretty floored that we were able to air it up after several attempts by himself and other tire shops. Later the customer decided to go with a 305/30R20. But we are still stretching with the best of them here at CTO!

For the love of charity! Just Drift along with the California Highway Patrol have come up with a fun way to help give a meaningful holiday for those kids in need. The annual JD / CHP Toy Drive at Willow Springs Balcony course is a great way for drivers to come drive at a discount when donating a toy to the CHP. $75 a day!

Speaking of the CHP, how often is it you see them enjoying the view of drifters sliding sideways in front of them? They had the best seat in the house. For me… it was freezing!!!! So I set up camp inside the trailer. 🙂

City Tire’s mobile setup.. without tent, because the wind was blowing so hard. Here is Oscar at work on some tires with our Hunter TC3500 tire changer.

Often times, people ask if we do more than tires, and the answer is YES! Tires, Wheels, Suspension, Alignments, Shocks/Struts, Coilovers etc etc etc… Good thing, because our friend Chris with a new Hyundai Genesis coupe had a bit of a mishap on Sunday. His wheel came flying off his car on the track. He ended up breaking all his wheel studs and bending 2 rear arms.

 After a quick trip to AutoZone, we put his new wheel studs in and was able to hammer the 2 bent arms straight so that he can make it home safe on his donut spare.

 Just Drift driver Chris “Flybert” Mendoza showing his skill all day at the Toy Drive. Also this red S14 with an OPEN DIFF.. was just murdering it.

Whoa! Cone killer!! A great way to learn or just get better in skill overall is to join the JD Drift clinic. They have beginner, intermediate, and advanced clinics to suit all driver levels. Many drivers who start off doing donuts and figure 8s in the morning, are able to drive the intermediate and advance courses by the end of the day.

Thanks to Just Drift and the California Highway Patrol for having us out there!

www.justdrift.com

They do have Toy Drive #2 coming up the weekend of December 19th and 20th so please don’t forget to sign up!

CTO was busy as usual for Pro-AM Nationals at Irwindale Speedway as the top amateur drifters test their skills to see who’s got what it takes to earn they Professional Formula Drift license for the 2010 season. Drivers and cars came from all across the country to try and earn their rights to make it to the big stage next year.

This is Logan from Work Wheels USA, giving us our traditional umbrella girl pose….

Here he is being an umbrella girl for Matt Powers, Formula Drift Pro Driver.

Thanks Jack for coming out to help CTO on a busy day, the help is always appreciated. Mike Essa sighting! He’s got some pretty big plans lined up for the 2010 season, in a new V12 powered BMW! Best of luck to Mike in 2010.. a big supporter for CTO in the past few years.

Plenty of Pro Formula Drift drivers made it out to show their support to the up and coming amateur drifters. Here is Joon Maeng, one of the nicest guys in the world.. little did he know Judge Andy Yen was critiqueing his CTO Photo from behind!

Mickie Frial on the left, and Luke Pakula were able to earn they Pro license through the Just Drift / Top Drift series 2009. For those that wish to test their skills in competiion, this series seems very promising for 2010. Contact us for details on how to compete and earn a FD license for 2011!

Drivers were drifting their hearts out. Look as David Blunt (Red BMW E30) got gangster on the wall on the inner bank. John Rusakoff (Light Blue AE86 Corolla) was killing it on the entire course all day.

Really close tandem action through the day! Congrats to the winners of this event.

1st- Ian Fournier
2nd- Mike Pollard
3rd- Chelesa DeNofa

And all of the Pro-AM competitors that earned their FD License through this event for 2010:
1 Mike Pollard
2 Ian Fournier
3 Nikolay Konstantinov
4 John Russakoff
5 Brad Hettinger
6 Chelsea DeNofa
7 Charles Ng
8 Jeff Abbott
9 David Blunt
10 Russell Walker
11 Keith Wong
12 Ameen Rizvi
13 Cyrus Martinez
14 Stewart Leask
15 Keith Arreola
16 Derek King
17 Victor Moore
18 Tommy Roberts
19 Roland Gallagher

And a big thank you to Formula Drift for having us out there to help all of our Grassroot friends!