Two Days in the Valley: Drift Evolution | Bash to the Future

Every famous or well regarded racing driver started somewhere and for these future drift stars, it all starts at events like this one: The Drift Evolution Bash to the Future.

The drift event is the kickoff to a festival of car culture on display all over the Rogue River Valley, during the week-long Medford Cruise. Car shows and cruises, as the name implies, dominate the weeks activities, but this weekend, they drift. And drift they did, in everything from the staple of the grass roots drift scene, the Nissan 240SX to much more interesting choices. Including nameplates like Cadillac and Mercedes. A diverse array of sheet metal, indeed, as diverse as the drivers who were piloting them. Combatants range in skill from still shiny first timers to those that appear well on their way to the professional ranks, and all manners of weekend tire slayers and pebble punishers in between.

Second hand, sometimes well-used tires dominate the parade of smoke around the Karting track that called the event home. Each living a brutally short but useful life on the back of an enthusiastically driven drift machine.

Entrants came from all over the west, some as far away as Phoenix and Los Angeles. Regardless of where from or how far they traveled, they all had a few very important things in common: They all acted professionally and respectfully and were all very eager to have fun and show off their skills to the sizable crowd.

The event was exceptionally well organized, equally well run, and well promoted and has a very bright future. And if this is the action we can expect to see, I see this event growing exponentially in years to come. I, for one, will certainly be back.

Two days in the sun yielded some impressive drifting action and even more impressive personalities.

Here are some of my favorite shots. (Full gallery at the end of the story)

Lets start this off with some flavor, shall we? Head gear is important when it’s insanely hot and sunny.

Preparation is key. And for Andrew Bohan, that means making sure his website, Lifeblasters, is well represented. Mission accomplished.

Much important information was disseminated during the drivers meeting. Joe Ayala surveys the crowd and sips the water that would prove most necessary on this exceptionally hot day.

Justin Shreeve, the other half of Tandem of Die with the above pictured Joe Ayala, speaking here with Andrew Bohan and nursing what was rumored to be a pretty darn good “day after the night before”.

The competition is ready. Bandanas are not mandatory, but recommended.

Trying to decide if the helmet choices were functional or fashion driven.

Drivers are ready.

And so am I.

It’s a Holley 0-1850 (the most generic Holley you can find – lots of tuning required), on a Mazda Rotary Engine, firmly planted in an old BMW. Makes sense to me. He struggled with the car and tuning, but appeared to be having some good fun none-the-less.

And then the cars hit the track. With a smoky, wonderfully noisy purpose.

Yes, the Mexi-Can…And did. Luis Maya getting it done in a hurry.

And it doesn’t always go as planned.

High-centered on a three inch slope. Bummer. Great story about this young man, Jacob Greenwood, and his dedication to drifting: He shows up Saturday with an off-the-wall 240sx WAGON and hits the track aggressively. Really putting on a good show. Late in the day he hurts the motor. Problem is, this is the car he drove to the event from three hours away. He gets the injured vehicle running just enough to limp home and, not wanting to let his entry fee go to waste, drives a second car back down, in time for the drivers meeting Sunday morning. This car… the one that’s currently high-centered on the edge of the track. It happens. A quick tow with a yank strap attached to an old F250 would resolve the issue and Jacob would be back on track in no time.