Everytime I come up to Texas Motor Speedway I have mixed feelings about the trip. It’s a long as hell drive to what’s ultimately the middle of nowhere. And for all the middle of nowhere that it occupies, it is still the most expensive round to put on for the Lone Star Drift guys. On the driver side of things it’s a terrifying escapade into the deep end of the pool. The big calling for the track is that it’s been host to a round of Formula D for the past two years. As simple as the layout is, it’s fast, it’s tough and it’s dangerous. For the ProAm drivers fighting for their Formula D Pro 2 licenses, it’s a monster they all have to challenge sooner or later.

Wayne and I rolled out on the friday night before the event and ran into this fella at a pitstop along the way.

Will Parsons was bringing out his new Formula D build for testing this weekend. It’s so odd to see FD without AE86’s this year, but it’s a chassis that got a bit long in the tooth and will deserves to pilot a car that can keep up with his abilities. This built as hell SC is definitely looking like a step in the right direction.

The next morning we arrived to catch the staging for the S-Chassis meet up. Wayne’s Mazdaspeed6 is decidedly not an S-Chassis, but it’s a turbo 4, so who’s complaining really?

When I first heard they were hosting an S-Chassis meet and show at Lone Star Drift’s Round 4 I thought it was funny. What is a drift event if not a congregation of Nissans half the time, anyway?

But then perusing it reminded me that while a lot of the cars in the show put in work on the track, they don’t always get to stay looking pretty afterwards. So I guess the meet was a nice quiet period of cleanliness and shine in between the track getting its hands on them.

In the case of Texas Motor Speedway, if the track gets its hands on you, you won’t be happy.

Like last year, Wayne and I got plenty of carnage photos, but it’s not like I enjoy seeing it happen. (Do you believe me?)

I missed out on driving this round because of a broken Axle, but after watching round 4, my problems seemed small time.

But there was no time for being scared when seat time was to be had. While there wasn’t a TXSL competition this round, a few less expensive builds made it out to practice.

I always root for Miatas, but this guy was on a serious David and Goliath kick at TMS, and it was an inspirational thing to watch. Roadster guys be proud.

That’s not to say that the monster builds were getting showed up or anything though. Pro Am was still happening and everyone was going all in.

And it was a very good day to be Arsenal Garage.

While things started out wet, grippyness cameback in the final brackets and battles got closer and even more intense.

John Windham and John Riggs went at it for the top spot.

And as you might have guessed, John came out victorious!

Really though, it was a good competition despite a smaller bracket than previous rounds, and sunburns aside, we had a great time! Check out the quadrillion photos of Nissans breaking stuff below and stay tuned for more drifty things coming soon. Click here for Wayne’s Photos and here for Ryan’s Photos.

Ryan’s Photos

Wayne’s Photos