Great Season for Kelsey Rowlings! FDIRW Recap!

Great Season for Kelsey Rowlings! FDIRW Recap!

Posted on by Konig Gfx

FORMULA DRIFT PRO 2 IRWINDALE, CA – FINAL | Oct 12th and 13th

“BREAKTHROUGH”

After a long drive from Florida, I finally arrived at Irwindale Speedway for the final round of the 2018 Formula Drift season. The team and I were feeling pretty confident now that our new power steering pump seemed to fix our previous steering issues. After a few warm-up laps, I already was feeling comfortable on the track and was running very high lines on the bank. I kept cleaning up each run and got settled very quickly, only making small changes to our setup before qualifying.

As I pulled up to the line to qualify, the nerves hit. The intimidation of this track, both in its layout and history, was intense. Not only was it the final round of the series, but it has been known as the “House of Drift,” and has the potential to destroy your car with its walls. I floored it down the straight and clutch-kicked into the bank. I held a very high line, very close to the wall at the top of the bank. Pumped on my bank run, I lost a bit of concentration coming off the bank and ended up being off the first inner clip by a few feet. Knowing I had to make up for the mistake I slid the car deep into the next outer zone, right up against the inner bank wall. I carried my momentum through the zone, past the final inner clip and finally past the finish line. Overall, it was a solid run with a score of 82. I knew I could do better, but I ended up with an 80 on my next run. With my higher score of an 82, I qualified 7th and was put in the bracket against one of my Konig teammates, Alec Robbins.

When we arrived at the track the following day, we prepped the car for top 16 practice and mounted some fresh Achilles tires to our Konig Hypergrams. My very first lap of top 16 practice ended up being one of my best runs of the weekend, so I was feeling very confident. Unfortunately, that confidence was shut down aggressively in just our fourth lap when we wrecked hard into the wall just before the finish line. Between running a little too wide, getting into the marbles, and finishing off my tires at the very end, we slid right into the wall and popped the car into the air a few feet. I broke both of my Konig wheels on the passenger side, the front Coilover, and brake line, and I bent the front lower control arm, rear lower control arm, and rear knuckle. With only about an hour before top 16 battles started, I wasn’t sure if we would make it.

We got the car back to the pits and the team was already pulling out all the spare parts we had. Andy Hately and his crew also rushed over to help us with the car, knowing we had our work cut out for us. Fortunately, we had most of the parts we needed. The rear knuckle and front lower arm were reused since we didn’t have spares, but everything else was replaced. Unfortunately, the Coilover broke so bad that it fell out on track and was taken away by the track cleanup crew, but I needed the spring. We had been running a 10k spring in the front but our spare Coilovers had an 8k spring on them. Because we had no choice, we decided to just run the different springs. We were able to get a top hat from James Deane since we also broke the Wisefab-specific top when our Coilover was ripped out.

We finally got the car to the point where we could align it and bleed the brakes after installing the new brake line. Because of the bent parts we had to leave, we had to get the alignment as close as we could. When the brakes were being bled, I ran over to participate in the top 16 opening ceremonies without my car, but I knew it would get done and we were going to make it out to compete.

My first run after the wreck was my lead run in competition against Alec Robbins. I threw the car into the bank as committed as I could, but I could tell it felt very off. I struggled to settle the car while still trying to position it in all the right places. After the inner clip, I transitioned into the inner bank and the car was so unsettled I had to shut it down or risk putting it into the wall again. Because of receiving an incomplete on my first run, I knew it would be hard to make up for it. I could have stopped just then, but since it was the finals, I knew I had to go out again and do better.

This time, I had an idea of what to expect from the car when I threw it sideways behind Alec. I kept some distance on the bank since I knew I would be fighting the car, but started closing the gap as we approached the first inner clip. I managed to stay with him around the remainder of the course with decent proximity. Although overall the performance was not my best, I knew I did the best I could at the moment and I was proud of myself and the team for getting the car back out there for the competition. This season has definitely been one of learning, but even more so of improvement. Now that we are entering the off-season, I can’t wait to refresh the car and see what we are capable of achieving next year!

www.driftchick.com
www.facebook.com/KelseyRowlings
https://www.instagram.com/kelseyrowlings/

Kelsey is running Konig Hypergrams in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25mm rear. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

THE CHAMP! TRAVIS REEDER!! (FD PRO2)

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FORMULA DRIFT PRO 2 IRWINDALE, CA – FINAL ROUND! | OCT 12TH and 13TH

** Before Travis jumps into his recap from this past weekend below we just wanted to say a few things. We want to start out by congratulating Travis and his entire team on a great season. These drivers and teams work extremely hard and spend so much time, money and effort all year long to be able to attend these Formula Drift rounds and perform at such an intense level.

We’re extremely proud to have Travis as part of our extended family. Over the past couple of years, he has been the definition of class and really lives up to, and exceeds, what we look for in a driver. The season’s last event at Irwindale is the perfect example of that. He stripped parts off his own car to help his friend, and competitor, Dylan Hughes be able to make his Top 16 battle. Dylan was the only one that could have beat Travis for the championship this year and all he needed was a single win in his Top 16 Battle. Travis knew that but still wanted to make sure that his friend had the opportunity to be champion. That is not just sportsman ship…thats the definitiion of class.

Travis always puts the sport first. So Travis CONGRATULATIONS again and THANK YOU! **

TRAVIS REEDER RECAPS FDIRW:

travis reeder fdirw

This event recap is going to be a little different than past examples for several reasons. Some of those reasons I am proud of and some…not so much. Formula Drift Irwindale was the most difficult, eye-opening, crazy and humbling event I’ve ever been a part of. If you would have told me in 2011 when I started drifting that I would be where I am today and what happened this past weekend was going to happen, I would laugh at you hysterically.

The crew and I started the weekend like any normal pro 2 round. Double checking things on the car, organizing parts and going over a general game plan for the coming weekend. The time came to head out on track for our first and only three-hour practice that connects straight to qualifying afterward. Immediately after the first lap, I knew the car was WAY off from what it needed to be for the steep and fast Irwindale oval. We made gear changes, shock changes, tire pressure adjustments and anything else we could do to try and get grip out of the car. It was overly tight and damn near undrivable. The difficult part of the situation we were in was that with our time limit, we had to juggle seat time and time making changes so that we didn’t favor one thing or another. In the end it only netted us 9 practice laps before it was time for qualifying.

I lined up on the grid, nervous as usual, but ready to get qualifying going to see where we land for the ladder part of the competition. I made my first lap, still fighting the car and struggling with the outrageous amounts of grip the car was still producing. I made multiple mistakes on the first and second banks but kept the car sideways for the whole run. We were given a 65 which was disappointing and placed the team and me outside of the pack for the comp on Friday. With the pressure high and me struggling to think of anything other than a championship, I lined up for my second run. I drove the car 120% with nothing to lose. I was prepared to wreck the car or get into the show, and although the team and many of my peers felt my second lap had solidified us a spot in top 16, it did not. I had scored only a few points below the cutoff and didn’t know how to feel. I had never failed to qualify for a drift competition throughout my career until now. And it just so happened to be the most important event of my life where a championship seemed the most possible. I felt like I let everyone down who had ever supported me. the déjà vu set in from last year where I had to wait on the sideline and let other drivers decide my championship at the final event of the year. We had a couple whiskey’s that night lol.

travis reeder fdirw 2

Friday was competition day, and although I was still feeling embarrassed and down, I held my head high and was ready to bench warm and wait for everything to unfold. With the focus on my good friend Dylan Hughes who had qualified 15th, the only driver who could clinch the championship from me, we watched from the grandstands as practice started. All Dylan had to do in the competition was advance past the top 16 and the championship would be his. Shortly after practice started, something happened that changed everything. Dylan had made a mistake and driven his car into the wall on the first corner.

Immediately after the hit I had stood up rapidly. I had only two choices. Knowing Dylan had very minimal spares for his car I could lock up my trailer and wait to see if he can fix the car before competition starts, most likely handing me the championship, or I could do what most people wouldn’t and do everything I could to get one of my closest friends back on track for a fighting chance at the title. I sprinted to my car which was parked at the AEM booth and drove it (faster than I should have) to the pit and waited for the tow truck to drop off Dylan’s mangled s13. I had gotten word that he needed nearly every passenger side suspension piece replaced to get the car 100% again. I made the decision to get my car on jack stands and offer Dylan and his crew any part they would need off it. With only an hour until opening ceremonies, I and my team, alongside Dylan’s thrashed as hard and as efficiently as we could to get his car together in time. We replaced front and rear lower control arms, front and rear coil overs, camber arms, tie rods, repaired a bent subframe and realigned the car. Dylan pulled the car on track just in time for opening ceremonies. We all were ecstatic seeing what we had done in such a short amount of time, and before we knew it the competition had started. Dylan lined up for his top 16 battle against Fillipi. As I stood on the outer bank, unable to see what was happening, I stared anxiously at the finish line. I was overflowing with nerves as I awaited the call from the judges. The decisions were in, and Dylan had failed to beat Fillipi and advance to the top 8.

This was the strangest feeling I had ever felt in my entire drifting career, I was unsure if I was supposed to feel bummed that a great friend was knocked out of competition after all of our hard work to get him back to the line, or to feel overjoyed that something I had always wanted so badly was finally mine, a pro 2 championship. Something hit me right then, it was now that It had dawned on me what professional drifting was all about. It’s about family all coming together to help each other and enjoy this crazy motorsport we all love so much, even if it means sacrificing certain things that mean worlds to you. So, with that, I am so proud and thankful for my amazing team for supporting me tirelessly through the ups and downs of this 2018 formula drift season. My family, for standing by my side no matter what and always having a smile on their faces. And my ever so awesome sponsors for believing in my small program and making sure I have every tool I need to succeed in this insane game. You are all the real MVP’s!

WE ARE THE 2018 FORMULA DRIFT PRO 2 CHAMPIONS!

__________________________________________________

Travis is running Konig Ultraforms in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9 et 25mm rear. The Konig Ultraforms is Flow Formed.

FDTX Breakdown! Behind The Wheel Podcast: FD Edition!!!

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On this episode of BEHIND THE WHEEL PODCAST: FD Edition, Scott and Joey talk FDTX!!! With the season coming to a close, this was for sure one of the more heated rounds of the season! As all the drivers are trying their best to close into the top position! Tune-in and let us know what you think and if you like it make sure to subscribe…

Behind the Wheel Podcast

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Behind The Wheel Podcast: FD Edition – RD 7 Texas

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In this episode of the Behind the Wheel Podcast, Formula Drift edition, we cover the ups and downs of Formula Drift Round 7 in Texas. What started out feeling a bit Deja Vu-ish from St.Louis quickly panned out to be an exciting round that served as a proper setup for the championship and final round later this month at Irwindale.

If you like what we’re doing here, please subscribe! We’re on iTunes and Google Play! Additionally, every full episode is uploaded to YouTube!
…. (details/cheat sheet below! – Audio )

0:20 | Intro
1:52 | Dylan Hughes Needs A Win at Irwindale
4:39 | Rookie of the Year Race is Close
7:23 | Kevin Lawrence brings it!
9:50 | Ryan Literal goes to the Great 8!
13:42 | Jeff Jones Shows Consistent Growth
16:27 | STORYBOOK Worthouse battle…NOT AGAIN!
17:41 | Forrest Wang Faulted for Braking
20:04 | Travis Reeder Ties All-Time Wins Pro 2 Record
23:00 | Ken Gushi ALMOST Delivers on His Promise
24:32 | Aasbo Can halt the Back to Back
28:00 | Outro / Contact info

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Scott Weiss (Konig): Scott_Konig
Joey Redmond : joeyredmond
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Lawrence recaps FDTX!!!

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Lawrence and the Enjuku Racing team hit the Texas Motor Speedway track and tell us how they dealt with the rain and his battle with Piotr Wiecek! Enjoy and see you guys at the last round in Irwindale, CA!

“Hey everybody! It’s that time again where I get to share with you how my weekend went at Formula Drift, This time from Dallas, TX!

Thursday Practice.

After a great time in St. Louis I was eager to get out to Texas and drive. We took 6 laps total on Thursday with some slight progression in dialing in my line. We decided to call it early since the weather was looking like rain for Friday and I didn’t want to take all my allotted 12 practice laps in the dry in case it was to be raining for qualifying.

Friday.

The weather was still calling for rain but now much later in the day. We went out to practice and it would seem like we would luck out and be able to practice and get our qualifying in before the rain hit. The first pair of runs now earlier in the day than on Thursday showed the track had actually lost a bit of grip in some areas but picked up some in others. We removed my rear sway bar but upped the tire pressure a bit as my car was washing out on turn 1 but was also struggling to get out to the outer zones. I was only able to get in 2 more laps before qualifying and was feeling frustrated as I had yet to put down a solid pass checking off all the clips and zones.

Qualifying pass 1 I leave the gate and again wash out a bit on turn 1 leaving some points on the table at inner clip 1. I get to outside zone1 but short come to the touch and go before making the dive tight into inner clip 2. Transition into outer zone 2 a bit early and don’t quite reach out to it and wrap tight around the final turn and inner clip 3.
I was awarded a 70 for this run so I would have to clean it up for run 2.

Qualifying pass 2 I enter into turn 1 with a much tighter line and clean up my first half of the run. Deeper into outer zone 1 but still struggle to get to the touch and go which put me on a very tight line to inner clip 2. I barely squeeze by it after taking some angle out and again transition too soon before outer zone 2. Leave again quite a bit of point on the line there before another tight pass through the final turn before bumping the last inner clip. Being I cleaned up the first half of the run my score this time around was a 74. After all the drivers completed their runs we had a quick drivers meeting to go over our qualifying order. I ended up qualifying 30th this round and would be up battling Piotr Wiecek in the Worthouse S15.

Saturday

Knowing I was struggling yesterday with the line I knew I would have to put it all together and lay down some good practice runs to be ready for battle with Piotr. I was able to get in 5 runs all of which would have been much higher scored qualifying runs so needless to say a nights rest to clear my mind and start fresh was exactly what I needed. The car was running amazing and seemed to be on par or better speed wise with some of the fastest cars on the grid.
pulling up to the line I am in the chase position and ready for battle. The lights go out and off we go, I am aggressive on the run-up not leaving much distance between Piotr and myself. He initiates into the first turn and I make my dive right on his door I have to fall off just a bit to avoid some contact which puts my front bumper right on his rear wheel. I bump him a bit about 3/4 through the first turn and again just before the first inner clip. I have to choke up a bit behind him going into the first rear zone and transition wide behind him before going into the touch and go where I am able to reel him in again. As we dive towards inner clip 2 I hesitate to get on the throttle as I am blinded by the smoke and don’t want to make big contact and knock him off his line. Coming through the smoke I see he has pulled some distance which forces me to take a shallower line through the final rear zone before catching up some distance and finishing tight to the final inner clip. At this point, my blood is pumping and I’m super stoked on the run. We pull back to the line for my turn to lead, I jump the line twice before the lights go out from just being super excited. On the third attempt to send us we get a clean start and off I go. I manji enter into the turn and am immediately on the throttle. I pull about 1.5 cars on Piotr into the first turn, he gains some proximity before having to check up to get around inner clip 1. At this time I pull an even larger gap on Piotr going into outer zone 1 and transitioning into the touch and go. Big angle and tight on inner clip 2 that Piotr ends up taking out and I transition deep into the second rear zone before finishing off the run tight on the final clip with still a dominate gap on Piotr. The judges go over both replays a few times before making their decision during this time Piotr got out of his car to tell me what an awesome run it was and how surprised he was on my cars ability to pull away, the judges come back and voted 2-1 for an OMT battle so we have to run again which caught both myself and I think Piotr by surprise.

OMT.

Toss on a fresh set of tires and were back at the line. I knew I would have to be just as aggressive on this battle in the chase so I pushed a bit harder. I ended up going a bit too hard which pushed me on a bit of a wider line and I washed out the front end some and my rear tires ended up on the marbles on the wider line. I tighten up just as we go through inner clip 1 and giver her all she’s got through the power alley and into the touch and go where I’m able to dive in a bit. Again I get blinded by the smoke and transition a bit too early going into the final rear zone before finishing off the run with a bit of space behind Piotr. Pulling back to the start line in the lead lane I know I need Piotr to make a big mistake in order for me to win however that doesn’t happen often at all. Out of the gate, I do a big Manji entry into turn one, I am on a bit of a wide line but tighten it up again through the inner clip. Through the clip, I pull a big gap on Piotr again and transition into the touch and go before diving into inner clip three and going deep into outer zone 2. Finishing out the run on a decent line but my first lead was much better. Piotr was able to gain proximity to me before the finish line while doing well keeping on my same line in the latter half of the run. The judges review the runs and Piotr is announced the winner and would advance into the top 16 ending my weekend in TX.

Overall the weekend was amazing, I was lucky enough to dodge all driving in the rain in both practice and battles and everything with the car went smooth. The car is insanely fast and I’m getting so much more comfortable with it and comfortable in the chase position. Huge shout out to all the Sponsors of our program, the team for keeping me and the car together and cool, as well as all our fans. You all play a big part in our program and we wouldn’t be out here doing what we love without your support so Thank You! I am really excited to be heading to Irwindale as I have not driven there since 2015 and was able to get a 3rd place finish there in Pro2 so I’m hoping to replicate that again now being in Pro1.

Thanks again, I’ll see everyone in California in 2.5 weeks!

-Kevin”

Kevin is running Konig Dekagram in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25 rear. The Konig Dekagram is Flow Formed.

Robbins recap of FDTX!!!

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Formula Drift Texas was full of some great battles in both Pro and Pro 2! With a podium finish in FDSTL, our boy Alec Robbins is back with a vengeance! Check out below as Robbins recaps his experience in Texas…

“Texas is one of my favorite tracks. Everything is, in fact, bigger in Texas. Big fast entries, a long sweeping power alley, and ending with a wallride and tight inner clip, its got a little bit of everything. Going into our first practice, we like to focus on our lead runs and prepare for qualifying. our suspension setup was left the same from St. Louis but Texas being we little bit tighter track we found ourselves stuck in between two gear ratios. 3rd gear is a bit too high and fourth not quite having the power we needed to keep the tires lit up. We decided to run a gear high in practice and qualifying, with some clutch work it was able to keep the tires spinning in a lower rpm and make for a smooth run. I felt confident behind the wheel and we were able to put down a good run to score us a 6th place qualification. However, we knew running a gear high was not going to work well in tandem competition the next day. So the team went to work making some rather large suspension adjustments. When practice went underway Friday the track was half wet and half dry, making it hard to determine if our changes were working or not. After a few runs the track dried out, and with one more rear toe adjustment, we were feeling good. running in third gear left us touching the rev limiter quite a bit down the power alley, but with more grip in the car, we were able to keep the speeds up and not have to sacrifice too much angle. Our top 16 battle had us up against the S14 of Sebastian Gunther. Leading first I put down a great run. hitting all the clips and zones and even pulling a bit of a gap on Sebastian. Judges made it clear in the drivers meeting, they wanted to see aggressive follows, so I knew I wanted to stay close even though I knew I had an advantage. He got a small jump on me off the line but I was able to close the gap and get on his door by the first inner clip. I stayed close through the power alley navigating through his thick smoke. Coming into the last outside zone Sebastian slowed more than I had anticipated and I had to get on the brakes hard, and ended up making contact in the last zone. I was able to finish the run but Sebastian straitened just before the finish line. Judges deemed me at fault and the battle was lost. It was very frustrating but always a learning experience. The team did amazing all weekend in the heat and ever-changing weather conditions and I am so thankful for all of their support. Looking forward to the final round at another new track for us, Irwindale CA. Already getting excited to get back in the driver’s seat!”

Make sure to follow Alec Robbins on Instagram at @alecrobbinsracing for more!

Alec is running Konig Hypergrams in 18×9.5 et 25 on the front and rear in RED OPAL. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Rowlings FDSTL recap!!!

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Hello St. Louis!!! In this guest blog, Kelsey Rowlings takes over the Blog and tells us her story of FDSTL. With a solid finish in Atlanta, Kelsey and the team walked into St. Louis with confidence and ready to take on the Gateway Motorsport Park. Below Kelsey gives us details on her adjustments to the new track and much more…

FORMULA DRIFT PRO 2 St. Louis – ROUND 2 | August 10th and 11th

Coming into the second round of Formula Drift Pro 2 in St. Louis, the Drift Chick team was feeling hopeful and excited. After a 7th place finish in Atlanta for round one, we were looking for similar or better results. It was the first time Formula Drift would make its way to Gateway Motorsports Park and very few competitors had driven the track before which slightly leveled the playing field. Although our team was one of those that had never driven the track, we were excited for the high speed drifting it would allow.

Our first practice session went well but had a few hiccups. We had recently returned the car to run unleaded Thunderbolt E85 instead of lead. When we did this, one of the oil pressure safeties we had set up on the Haltech had reset itself to a higher number, so anytime the car would drop below a certain oil pressure, even if just for a split second, it would trigger the safety and lower our rev limiter to five thousand RPM. This is a great safety in case of loss of oil pressure because it would save the engine without completely cutting power and making for a dangerous situation in drift. Unfortunately, it was set too high and was dropping the limiter in a few of my runs, making it impossible to Drift the high-speed course. Fortunately, the safety rev limiter was an easy fix. We just had to lower the trigger oil pressure number to a lower, but still, safe number and our problems were solved for the next practice session which was right before qualifying.

Going into our second practice session, our runs were getting more and more consistent, but I also notice my previous power steering issues seemed to be coming back. The power steering feel was stiffening up under any slow speeds, off-throttle/hand-braking or deceleration. We thought we had solved our problem by switching from ATF to an actual power steering fluid because it had less chance of over-cavitating and seemed to work for a few events. Unfortunately, I was noticing the issue getting worse and worse. Even though my last two runs before qualifying were fantastic runs, we were thinking about whether we should try to make any changes, like changing the power steering fluid, before qualifying.

Ultimately we decided not to make any changes at the risk of possibly making it worse, and since our last two runs were definitely qualification level runs, we decided to ride out the problem and worry about fixing it after qualifying and before top 16 competition. Heading into my first run I was feeling very confident. I had great proximity to the first clip and went slightly wide on the second, but I had great speed and angle. I continued the course and positioned the car in the touch-and-go and had great proximity to the third inner clip. Heading into the only outer zone in the final sweeper of the course, I carried a little too much speed. This forced me to drop a couple tires into the outer zone, and once I was two tires off, I couldn’t get any traction in the slippery grass and it sent me sliding off track and into the tire wall, a problem that many drivers had throughout the weekend.

I drove the car back to the pits and everything felt fine. We went over the car and were pleased to find that the damage was only cosmetic and I could easily go out for my second run. However, I was sitting on a zero for my first run so the pressure was on. The sun was starting to set as I lined up for my second run. There were no lights out on track so seeing in the dim lighting proved somewhat difficult to perceive depth. As I floored it down the straight, I ended up entering just a fraction of a second too early, which forced me to put a wheel up on the huge rumble strip in front of clip one. This completely unsettled the car as I tried to transition for clip two so at that point, I was just trying to save it and keep drifting in hopes I could clean up the second half of the run. Unfortunately, I was so off-line and struggling with the power steering that I had to straighten slightly before the third inner clip, closing the door on our hopes of qualifying.

Although we didn’t have the results we wanted, it allowed us to realize that there is still more R&D needed to make this car reach its full potential. I think that once we get everything working properly, we will have a lot of success, and we can’t wait until the third round in Texas to see were our changes put us!

www.driftchick.com
Like on Facebook: www.facebook.com/KelseyRowlings
Follow on Instagram: @kelseyrowlings

Kelsey is running Konig Hypergrams in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25mm rear. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Behind The Wheel Podcast – Quick Shift: Matt Vankirk

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In this Quick Shift Edition of the Behind The Wheel Podcast, we link up with Matt Vankirk, Formula Drift Pro driver.

Soon to be FD “Rookie of the Year” (LET’S GO MATT!!), Matt throws some insight on what it’s like to line up for the first time against your idols (like he did with Aasbo at Long Beach), how his cars mechanical grip keeps him competitive, and the transition from Pro2 to Pro!

Matt also drops some knowledge for the grassroots drivers that are working toward advancing their program.

Make sure to follow Matt Vankirk (information below).

Oh and if you like the podcast and what we’ve been doing here, please subscribe! We’re on iTunes and Google Play and we always post the full video version on our YouTube Channel! Thank you for listening!



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Knapik takes on Gateway Motorsport Park! (FDSTL recap)

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FORMULA DRIFT PRO 2 ST. LOUIS – ROUND 2 | Aug 10th and 11th

Formula Drift St. Louis have moved to a new track and the drivers from PRO and PRO2 are dealing with the change! Below is Adam Knapik’s recap how he dealt with Gateway Motorsport Park track in Round 2 of FDSTL PRO 2 series!

“So after the first round in Atlanta there was plenty of work to be done on the car. I had to pull out the “temporary” motor, redo the cooling system and wire up new more powerful fans, redo the engine harness wiring, install an OS Giken differential into a 350z pumpkin for a taller final drive, install said pumpkin into the car, rebuild a new motor, get it tuned, and all the other little things in between to make a car work. With such a long laundry list of things to do I set out to work as soon as I got back. Since there was a 3 month break from round 1 to round 2 I had a good amount of time to get a lot of things finished up. But as always time flies by way faster than you think it will. After getting the car almost completely finished up my tuner noticed that my alternator was starting to die. I ordered a new high amp alternator that came the day before packing up and heading out to St. Louis. Unfortunately, this alternator came dead out of the box. I was so excited to slap it on only to see that it wasn’t putting out any volts. Since we where about to leave and no one could get me a replacement before I had to head out, we packed up the car and figured we would try to figure it out on the drive to St. Louis. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get a high amp aftermarket one in time but I found out that an OEM Pontiac GTO (04-06) alternator would bolt up with the correct spacing and put out the right amount of AMPs that the car would need, and only some minor wiring would be needed. We arrived to the track early and luckily enough there was a junk yard across the street from Gateway Motorsports Park. We didn’t find an alternator, but lucky for us GM uses the same plugs for a lot of harnesses. As for the alternator, no parts store within a 100 mile radius had a replacement, but we had another stroke of luck as someone local on Craigslist was parting a GTO. GOLD! We grabbed the alternator and slapped it on!

The next day was practice followed by qualifying. I was excited to get out there and see how the car ran and handled. In FD it seems like practice is always the hardest on the car. There are at least 30-40 drivers that all want to get in as much practice as possible, meaning that you do one run, and then wait in a line of 30-40. So the car will heat up, and then sit and heat soak for about 15-20 min before running again. But the car’s temp’s held up ok because of the new fans, also all the rewiring for the harness proved itself, as the gauges and logging was working great. Next run out the serpentine belt snapped and I had to pull in. The new alternator had a slightly larger pulled, making the belt a super tight fit. We through on a spare that’s a little longer, but unfortunately it was a bit too long, and we ended up loosing some boost since the belt started slipping. So with that we changed up some pullies to see if we can get the belt a bit tighter, which definitely helped a little. I was able to go out and get a few good runs and was getting more and more confident and then the car lost power and felt like it was running with some dead cylinders. With a massive pit in my stomach I limped the car back to our pit to do a compression test on the car. Luckily the compression check out. We changed out all the plugs, kicked it over, and it purred like new! Nothing but some foaled out plugs.

While working on the motor we noticed that our radiator had a pin hole leak coming from one of the welds. Unfortunately qualifying was starting and with so little time to address it we decided to throw some JB Weld onto it and hope it holds. My first run was super conservative so that I could put a score on the board. The team and I thought it was good enough to at least make the show but with more and more scores coming up we quickly realized we would be on the bubble. So lining up for the second run I knew I had to throw it in much harder. On initiation the slave cylinder failed and it threw off my line. With this being my second qualifying run I tried to make up this error on the last outside sweeper, I went in a little too fast and just barely put a wheel off the track. Since Gateway has grass off the track, if you touch it even a little, you’re going off, and OFF I went. So my first score of 74 would be what we are betting on to get into the show. We watched our position drop slowly, and then with 3 runs to go, we where sitting at 16th. The anxiety was real. Unfortunately we got bumped down to 18th and just like that we where out.

We didn’t make it into the show, but nothing major went wrong with the car, and the team did great under all the pressure. Texas is round 3 and we’re looking to come out swinging! See you soon guys there!”

Adam is running Konig Rennform in 18×9 et 23 all the way around. The Konig Rennform is Flow Formed.

FDSTL best event of the season?! Behind The Wheel Podcast: FD Edition!!!

Posted on by Konig Gfx

On this episode of BEHIND THE WHEEL PODCAST: FD Edition, Scott and Joey Redmond talk FDSTL and how it all went down! From adjustments to the new St. Louis course(Gateway Motorsport Parkway) to Reeder being better driver than most of the PRO drivers? FDSTL was definitely filled with amazing moments and jam-packed with awesome match-ups. Tune in and give us some feedback!

Behind the Wheel Podcast

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