On a cool Sunday morning in Northern California at Stockon99 Raceway, a crew gathered together and scrambled about in the early hours of the day. Some were on the track driving about placing cones, while others worked the front of the track helping the Stockon99 staff sort out the crowds. As cars began roll in, the crew worked diligently, as tech was thorough.
Off to the driver’s meeting it was. High for the day? 87 degrees, Northwest winds at 22mph; quite a blessing from the weather gods for the month of May!
Luke Crowell addressed the drivers, and braced them for the one of the most exciting course to be thought up by the Golden Gate Drift Pro-Am judges Matt Field, Patrick Mordaunt, and Kevin Wells. The crowd dispersed quick, and it was off to practice.
Eager to enter the track, Nick “The Biggest Friggin Wing there” Bayati lined up and ready to rock and roll!
As practice began, many drivers discovered how tough the course actually was. And to a few, the hard way.
But not all hope was lost. Although the course had devoured a few cars, some were able to escape its grasp and survived to drift another day.
As qualifying was underway, driver skill began to show, as each of the qualifiers started to accumulate scores.
Number one qualifier, Chris Mills, scores 82 points!
Matthew Coffman, coming all the way from Oregon, qualified with 80 points.
Jeff Wolfson scored 77 points one handed! Just kidding, but he did drift out of there with a burger in hand. True story.
Joe Farasati scored a 74 in his MK3 Supra.
Josh McGuire qualified with a 72.
Dave Forman with his LS1 powered WRX wagon, scored a 68.
Donovan Brockway also scored and identical score of 68.
Joshua Sher qualified with a 55.
Ty Milner scored a 54.
Faruk Kugay qualified with an identical score of 54.
Nick Bayati scored a 49.
Wais Samad qualified 12th with a 31.
Battles began, as there was only 12 qualifiers. Highest scoring drivers received bye runs.
Chris Mills gets a bye run.
First battle of Golden Gate Drift Round 2, Donovan Brockway versus Joshua Sher.
Donovan Brockway hits the wall hard, taking him out of the competition. Joshua Sher moves on to do battle with points leader Chris Mills.
Joe Farasati gets a bye run.
Josh McGuire versus Wais Samad.
Josh McGuire spins out during his chase run, giving Wais Samad the win.
Matthew Coffman, second qualifying leader, also receives a bye run.
Dave Forman versus Ty Milner.
Dave Forman wins by decision.
Jeff Wolfson also received a bye run.
Nick Bayati versus Faruk Kugay.
Faruk Kugay and Nick Bayati both had their shares of spinning out during each of their runs, leading to a 1 MORE TIME. Second time around, Nick Bayati wins by decision.
Chris Mills versus Joshua Sher.
Both battled fiercely as the two took to a 1 MORE TIME, eventually giving the win to Chris Mills.
Joe Farasati versus Wais Samad.
Joe Farasati spins out during lead, run giving Wais Samad the win.
Matthew Coffman versus Dave Forman.
Matthew Coffman over corrects and spins out during his chase run, giving the win to Dave Forman.
Jeff Wolfson versus Nick Bayati.
Jeff Wolfson unfortunately ran uncontrollably shallow lines during lead and chase runs, giving Nick Bayati the win.
Chris Mills versus Wais Samad.
Chris Mills and Wais Samad both spun out during their runs, leading to a 1 MORE TIME! Chris Mills wins the 1 more time and moves on.
Dave Forman versus Nick Bayati.
Nick Bayati puts up a great fight, but the win goes to Dave Forman.
Nick Bayati versus Wais Samad for third place.
Wais Samad spins out, and gives the third place podium to Nick Bayati.
Golden Gate Drift Round 2 Championship run, Chris Mills versus Dave Forman.
The two drivers drove valiantly, taking the championship run to 1 MORE TIME!
The second run gives the win to Dave Forman.
Northern California’s AE86 all star, Alveen Gideon, was absent in his mean little red machine, but played a good sport in showing the competition that he still got moves up his sleeves without his car.
Third Place winner of round 2 goes to Nick Bayati.
Second place winner Chris Mills!
First place winner Dave Forman!
There were also bonus prizes from Aeromotive, Sparco, RC Electric, and Daft Innovations for INSANE ENTRY AWARD!!! But, Dave Forman snatched all of them up! Congrats Dave Forman!
Great coverage! Sucks my car broke, I was really looking forward to driving with all these guys!