CellBlock D

On a rainy Sunday morning, we loaded the car and made our way east towards the Agassiz Speedway to watch some drifting.

In the past, our commute to events has usually been made by either Devan’s Skyline or my Aristo. However, given the circumstances, the weather, the distance and our combined lack of funds, we opted for the more fuel-efficient Nissan Sentra. It turns out gas is cheaper past Chilliwack (no surprise), so we were able to fill the tank from empty for a measly $35 and (presumably) drive forever on it.

After navigating our way through some back roads, past a prison and into a wooded area, we arrived at Agassiz Speedway for the CellBlock D drift event. Given the proximity to the prison, these events are aptly named… with the “D” of course standing for “Drift” – and not the other euphemism that could easily fit into a prison joke.

The Agassiz Speedway is an oval track placed at the foot of the mountain. Apparently rain often accompanies the various events held at the track, making it the drift  equivalent of Helm’s Deep.

The spectator pass was $5, but given the fact that this is an oval and the pits are located in the middle of the track, it made more sense to just pay the $10 and be where the action is.

The CellBlock D events are a good place to get your feet wet – both figuratively and literally. As long as you can stay out of the wall, it’s a good place to hammer out some the basics and figure your car out.

I used the event as a means to brush off my motorsport photography skills. They’re a little bit rusty and could use some honing. It had been almost 7 months since I last shot an event, so I didn’t mind standing outside in the rain for a few hours reacquainting myself with my camera and moving cars.

Our friend Josh Whitehead, a.k.a. DEADBEATS Josh, made his way out to the event in his automatic mx73. The rain was obviously the deciding factor for what Josh chose to drive that day.

As you can see, Josh has clearly set up his car up to be a true driver’s car – what with the cassette tape holder featuring the easy listening sounds of Vanilla Ice to the Mr. Bean figurine…

I suppose the welded diff in the rain made all the difference as the e-brake was a bit touch-and-go for most of the day.

Without the help of clutch kicks, Josh got out on the track and got after it. It wasn’t too long before he had it all figured out.I feel like most of the things Josh does needs to be followed with a “Don’t try this at home” warning, because it sometimes seems as if he make things work that wouldn’t work for anyone else.

CellBlock D will be celebrating it’s 9-year anniversary this November, which is pretty impressive to say the least. What’s more impressive is that drivers, spectators and media people alike will always brave less-than-favourable weather just to get some drifting in.