WEKFEST DRIVE THRU TIMES SQUARE

By Katarina Rdultovskaia in Event August 8, 2016

Once again it’s that time of year again and the recently married (Congrats you two) and very gracious Yin & Mike hit me up to show face, and you know I was about it. Unlike last year we were graced with the good weather here in New York City after a few weeks of non-stop heat, which made the “no-ac-club” very happy. I was interested to see what kind of turnout we would have this year and to see how the SNTRL crew would switch it up, and any new editions to the event.

I managed to get to the “if you know you know” location of the meet early this year to get in the full action. This year was definitely bonkers, the street became so packed with cars within an hour they were double parking them. It seems like word has gotten out a bit more than last year since the turnout was at least double. The atmosphere itself was really chill, meet and greets of friends, ogling of admirers, and of course, a few dogs in the mix, what more do you want from a meet?!

Aside from the usual suspects and show cars, there was a nice little dash of drift chassis and more old school Japanese classics in the mix too. Though I know that the “car enthusiast club” come with it own high school like territorial communities its nice to see this overlap from last year’s event. We even got our own ice cream truck for a bit while all the commotion settled down.

9pm hit and it was drive time! Unlike last year where we went straight for the business that’s known as times square, a new route was on the menu. The folks at SNTRL scouted out some sick locations and did a bit of a stop and go photo op for everyone who wanted to participate. The drive consisted of going down the west side highway stopping at an overpass near Terminal 5, anther roundabout and back down to the financial district and the iconic one work trade center and memorial.

And of course, the final course would be Times Square and the most troublesome for the obviously street legal crew. The experience really surreal when you drive through times square and a squad of photographers come out and swarm us like a performance piece which in turn gets the surrounding unsuspecting tourists ( because face it no new yorker would be caught dead in Times Square on a Friday night). Unfortunately, this time, there was too much of a show and quite a few people got tickets by the gracious NYPD that swarm the location.

I would have to say all in all I love events like this. It’s like a guerrilla-styled car show in new york city of all places! Unfortunately, it ran a bit too long, with a lot of drivers dropping off by the finale which may or may not be a gift in disguise considering the high security in Times Square. There is always a fine line in these kinds of events between keeping the energy high and coming up short. Can’t wait to see whats in store for next year !

Photo x Katarina Rdultovskaia
Location NYC

Suns out, no guns out this time, but rather US Drift Circuit(USDC) setting up a drift BBQ in pits for what looks to be another fire full track day. This is the second time we have seen this merry go round event at Palm Beach International Raceway(PBIR). Last time it was flooded with sky tears, fears of running of track and various car chassis smacking the walls totaling their car jack. The sunshine blessed the northern south florida track with dryness found only within the fibers of a Downy dryer sheet scented autumn breeze.

After the well informed drivers meeting everyone quickly gather themselves to check into the tech hotel to clear their missiles, dori style street cars to full blown race ponies for that final approval before unleashing the builded cocktail of emotions on the track. Maybe it was autumn breeze or semi cool temperatures we were experiencing that day (in Florida any time it drops below 80 degrees is a blessing) but, everyone was one point. Most certainly an improvement from the staff and driver etiquette. Its was a tad weird to have everything run smoothly. However, why complain or look for faults in when things improving.

Among the all of those positive improvements being hashed along as the day came to a close. The one which stood out the most was the driving. Maybe its was sufficient time from last event for the drivers who were a little lack luster at the first full track event to come to a realization, that they needed more street time or focus to take this a little more serious and bring their A1 game to the playground. As this steady momentum of drifting starting to take flight in South Florida I think its safe to see the third renaissance of its chapter of drifting is well on its way in good direction.