Looking at the weather forecast for Proving Grounds may have scared many people off, but not me. I have been waiting all year long to attend and I was determined, rain or shine that I will be at Brainerd International Raceway for a whole weekend of racing and drifting. Laying in bed all night in a half flooded room, rain pouring outside, branches all over the streets and half of the neighborhood with their power out from the storm; I stepped outside with zero sleep heading towards Brainerd, MN. It wasn't the most ideal start of the day, but it was a start. Arriving later then I attended to; as I stepped outside I could almost smell the race fuel in the air and slightly inhaling some tire smoke; taking a deep breath...I have arrived.
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| 10 second All-motor Civic from AMK |
Like a little kid I couldn't decide what to see first; the drag racing? drifting? or go over to the road course? with all the options running through my head I had to go see some familiar faces over at the drag races. It looked like some low ETs were in store by the way a lot of the cars were set up and rumor was going around that Alex Pagan of Humble Performance was helping out local race team "AMK" with their all-motor EG civic. With news like that I couldn't wait for run downs to happen especially with "Team Brooklyn" 10sec civic hatch owned by Kou Lee (October 9, 2011 Brooklyn's Finest) on the prowl for a single digit ET. Only exciting things could happen with this many heavy hitters on the strip.
While walking around Saturday I started feeling like a zombie with the zero sleep I had. I didn't realized how it effected me until I sat down and felt light headed and dehydrated. Thinking to myself if I should continue on or do the smart and responsible thing. So, I decided to be smart and drink a couple bottles of water and attempt to sleep for at least a hour. After waking up from my hour long nap I felt a whole lot better. Now, with some food in me, I was ready to go out again and explore the grounds. I went back to watch some more drag racing before heading over to check out some drifting action. I always get a little giddy when I see some tire smoke and bunch of cars attempting to get sideways. There was a handful of talented drivers and hope to see more throughout the year.
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| Team Brooklyn 10sec - Tranny rebuild on the spot! |
As the day progressed I decided to head over to the road course area where I rarely get to watch because lets face it, it's no fun to watch if you're not driving. Since I knew some friends who were running the track I thought I'll go see how they were doing. Seeing some impressive track cars made me want to go have a session in Gran Turismo 5, but that's another story on it's own. As I was starting to wrap my day up by swinging back at the drag pits I heard Team Brooklyn's civic was on the lift having it's transmission rebuilt on location the second time that day. It sure was a sight to see a group of guys pitching in and helping out for the same goal. Leaping over hurdles, the team finished the assembly of the transmission and back on the mission of hitting 9s they went.
This year I didn't sit and watch the burn-out competition, but did see and smell the burning tires that filled the sky. The echo of tires popping and engine breaking echoed throughout the thick summer air following with a big roar of cheers. It was a sight to see where I was sitting, but that 1 hour sleep could only help for so long until I just needed to sit down for a bit away from the crowds getting ready for the night at Proving Grounds. If anyone has ever camped at a Proving Ground event before then they know exactly what I'm talking about.
Sunday started off with a down pour that seemed like it wasn't going to let up. There was a moment when I woke up and saw the rain coming down that I thought, maybe it's a good time to call it quits and go back home, but something inside me told me to tough it out and I thought to myself "fuck it...I do have a poncho, if i need to wear it, I will". The only event I knew that for sure will go on rain or shine would be some clutch kicking action. Slowly the sky started clearing up and next thing you know, Sunday became a great day for racing.
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| Cory and his 11.7 second SE-R |
Watching youtube clips of 10seconds all-motor civics is one thing, but seeing one in real life is crazy. It was truly a sight to see especially for the Honda fans like myself. Even though nothing in the all-motor class was going to touch the AMK civic (10.39 @129), I couldn't forget to mention about Cory Gimsrud Nissan Sentra SE-R. The stroked SR20VE was blasting a 11.60et, even with the fact he was down on a bit of power.
Because of the morning rain, it seemed to bring down the count of drag racers as they may have gone home. The AWD class seem to be filled with cars from the group NFected. At least that's what it looked like from the amount of NF vinyl I saw on Subarus. After two transmission tear downs on Saturday, Team Brooklyn's Civic did not break into the 9sec barrier due to some minor issues, BUT the car is very capable of that feat and was only thousandths of a second away of tearing into the single second barrier with a 10.0xxEts. Even though they did not get the time slip they were seeking, Team Brooklyn did achieve the trophy in the Real Street Unlimited Class which was a very competitive class. A honorable mention has to go to Team Ballistic's RHD civic for having some fuel injector issues and still hitting a personal best of 10.7Et. There was many many other quick hondas that I didn't get any names, but hopefully I can justify them with fotos.
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godzilla? no...it's SLIDEZILLA
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The Drifting competition ended up being with Eric Moen (S13.4 sohc KA24.T aka SlideZilla) and Adam Montante (Toyota V8 powered onevia) going at it. But there can only be one winner with Moen taking the trophy home with his Slidezilla monster. Something I feel like I have to fess up was that there was a white S13 that I was obsessing throughout the weekend...just because I have a super soft spot for S13s, but it almost brought me into tears when I witnessed the s13 hitting a wall. Though the driver was okay, I can't say much about the car itself, but I imagine it would be back to drift another day. Everyone was looking great throughout the weekend drifting their asses off. SHOUT OUT TO THE EPDC CREW!!
Proving Ground has never failed to amaze me; each year it gets better and better. The weather may have scare some to attend, but I have learned that it doesn't matter. If you think you're about this car life then you should just come and enjoy a weekend full of racing and a night of great company. This is the first year that Modern Automotive Performance is having two PG in a year, so I don't have to wait another year to do it over again. If you couldn't make it to part 1 of Proving Ground with whatever excuse you may have and still want to; you should most definitely come to part 2 in September. I would like to finish this entry with a big thanks to Dan of MAP with the media passes and of course Modern Automotive Performance for putting on another successful event. Also a shout out to the group of friends I camped with (when I was little), Team Brooklyn for showing JMP love and just to everyone I met throughout the weekend and that has always supported us at JMP with what we do. thanks!! See you guys at the next event
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| P.K - photo taken by Mary Chhom |
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| Collin Melody - photo taken by Mary Chhom |
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