This past weekend was the time to go back in time. Built in 1961 , Paradise Dragstrip is currently celebrating it's 50th year anniversary while still running strong, and hosting many cool events. This past Saturday was the first of the three main Show-N-Go's held at the strip by North Georgia Hotrods , most know the lead man... BB Brown. Now this nostalgia show is far from static , as the sounds of high horsepower Rat Rodz & Flathead Fords can be heard from far away rippin' down the strip all day ! A fun day with the family can be had , whether you're checking out vintage parts in the swap meet , getting up close to many Rat Rodz at the car show or simply standing along the fence watching these old skool steel body machines run the historic 1/8 mile once again !
Though the chance of rain made for a few less tires on the hill this time , it was still a good turnout. The highlight of my day attending the event was seeing a 820ci Kaase Boss engine pushing 2,000hp in a ... yep once again...Rat Rod !!! The Mountain Magic Speed Shop rod wasn't there to just set pretty and bench race noooo , the crew brought it out to turn the tires. But unfortunately , like all fresh builds ,it had a few bugs to be worked out and never made a full pass. When it came time to load it up the crew found out it was fuel related and possibly faulty floats in the carbs. No major disappointment from me...the monster burnouts made up for it haha. Not to over shadow the other cool rides there , was one of many repeat Show-N-Go'ers "FistFull Of Dollars", a awesome Gassers that has no problems lifting the tires off the line ! And a Kellison car that brings plenty of attention with it's proudly worn original paint job , I must add...it also has no problem putting daylight under both front tires !
A day filled with oldies playing on the big speakers , walking around finding vintage parts , looking at all the "back in the day" cars we love and setting on the bleachers or standing on the fence and watching lil' deuce coupes race side by side as they once did... 50 years ago ! It's a great time to be had and not one to miss ,so come on out to the next one which will be July 2nd then another Oct. 8th , and crowd the fence with all the other motorheads and have yourself a good time ! As a final note , I would like to end with RIP to Mr. Otto Timms the man behind this wonderful place that many call home. Otto passed away early this year , but like any legend he held strong at his home overseeing the track during the winter while the track was closed , and I'm grateful to say he left us all on a Sunday...a race day...he left us hearing the sounds he so happily loved. Thank you Otto , we all miss you and will continue to call this lil piece of Paradise our home !
To view all photo's taken at the event click ..... HERE
That's right , if you noticed the haze in the sky around Atlanta this weekend don't worry...we was all up in smoke after a few of the 800+ Hp beast at Road Atlanta roasted their tires ! May 6th & 7th Road Atlanta hosted round 2 of Formula Drift , a 7 round drifting competition that started April 8th in Long Beach California and will end in Irwindale ,California Oct. 8th . This makes the 8th year Road Atlanta has hosted the Formula Drift event and word from the web is they have confirmed a 3 year extension for this completely intense show of driving skill !
Friday started off with Pro/Am practice and qualifying ,which is held in the turn 10 complex of the track. A cool bit of info I heard announced is that 8 years ago the horseshoe ( 10b) was created just for this event ! A starting line that's a straight shot downhill where the goal (points wise) is to hit 80mph before the left-hand turn,and if you mess up just a little...you end up in the gravel ,which is nicknamed "Kitty litter" and a few found it on both days ! The right-hand to left-hand turn into the horseshoe is uphill until the exit which made for some of the best full throttle high rpm drifts , the smoke clouds would sometimes hide spectators on the other side of the track...it was just too cool ! Another little extra Friday was seeing F2000 series race, it went down during the break in drifting action.
Saturday , well... was PACKED out. I thought by getting there early I would find a good parking spot , haha never mind the spot I had a hard time with the crowds of fans along the road. Making my way to the pit's to cover that scene I noticed the diverse fan base, young to old , mostly all carrying or wearing Nitto,Hankook,Falken etc. gear. Trying to capture the scene and get good pic's in this highly crowded area I used my wide angle lens & my height to my advantage lol . Most of the drivers & crew could be met down there..just hanging out tweaking on the cars, prepping for the big day. The Formula Drift scene knows how to show their fan's a good time, I was even able to meet many of the drivers, not to mention Vaughn Gitten Jr (2010 FD Champ) , you know I got a pic with him ! This event makes you feel so apart of the sport (minus the driving haha) that you just stay entertained all day. When it came time for the main competition of a field of 32 the bleachers were packed , and you could feel the excitement all around. The sun was setting creating a warm glow on the track and when the cars put up all that smoke and made the turn out of the horseshoe their headlights would barley creep through the cloud , just making for such a cool sight to see & hear ! If anyone gets a chance to go to a Formula Drift event (or any drift event) don't miss out, it's a cool motor sport that's fun to watch ...and to be apart of !
The results of round 2
1st - Dai Yoshihara (1993 Nissian 240 / car #9)
2nd - Darren Mcnamara (2009 Saturn Sky / car #8)
3rd - Toshiki Yoshioka (Nissian 240ls / car #21)
View the two days of coverage (983 pics) from the event .... CLICK HERE
