*screeching tires + gunshot backfires*
No need to worry! Just a normal weekend in the desert, where people take cars and rather than drive as quickly and efficiently as possible around the track... they instead purposely "lose control" of the car to slide around the corners like an excited Corgi on a hardwood floor...
AND I LOVE IT.
The control and skill of these drivers are no joke. Everyone from seasoned professionals to the rookies still learning the ropes... the confidence to throw your vehicle into spins and slides while avoiding barriers and even other cars takes some guts... or a fat wallet.
To avoid any clickbait comments, there was a fire. Everyone handled it professionally and really demonstrated the training and protocols plus the care that these guys/girls have for one anothers safety.
(Past) The weekend:
A contact on social media told me about these events and invited me out to see firsthand and it was an absolute treat and I am so grateful for social media (sometimes). Driving to the event was almost as fun as being there, it was a 95 mile journey for me but I'm a road-trip guy so getting to see some new parts of California is always exciting. Driving past any part of L.A. on the other hand...
After saving 13 dashcam clips I finally made it past L.A. traffic and made it out to the desert. As a big fan of the show "Entourage" so seeing signs for Joshua Tree reminded me I need to get back into camping. I later missed a turn after being distracted by the mountain ranges and ended up taking a back road into the event. And let me tell you, the regular road to the event is a bit of a doozy so I'm quite sure what I was on was nothing more than an ATV trail but the Stinger has yet to be lowered and probably never will for reasons like this so it was slow but a good time.
The event itself was even better and watching cars slide around a track for hours was a treat. Unfortunately the person who I was aiming to film for blew up a turbo so I ended up taking the time to experiment with camera settings and switching between video and photos. I caught some incredible moments so I'll be posting everything on my instagram accounts over the next few weeks:
@jaydee.prod
@kia.stanger
(Present)
Live now are some new photos from a trip to Tuscany that I took. Thank you personally to all of my family who asked for them to be added and even more for those who made the trip itself happen.
Check them out: https://jaydeeprod.com/collections/tuscany-travels
(Future) This week:
My plan is to put the drift event together into some short form content (<30 seconds) but also an overview from the day to post on here just as a bonus for anyone who's interested. Free of course. The whole reason I am where I am today is from the simple act of being reasonable with good people and mutually helping each other get to where we want to be.
Step up YOUR GAME so you can step up THE GAME.
I'll also be posting a video tomorrow of a really cool event in Pasadena from a few weeks back. It was a showcase for automotive design and the future of transportation so you had people like John Hennessey and Henry Fisker as well as designers from Lamborghini/Ferrari etc. Great opportunity and so awesome to see these concept cars next to vintage cars.
Amazing how far we've come and some things habe changes so much while others... not at all!!
- John (JayDee)