I was on another continent last year while the first-ever Drift Wars was happening and I think it was the one and only thing I regretted missing out on while I was in Europe. This year, I was excited to see what Drift Wars was all about.
It felt different than any other event I’ve been to at Regina, Saskatchewan’s King’s Park Speedway, and I think it was probably because of what happened after the driving stopped. The pit of the race track was the ideal place to be, since everyone there was a car enthusiast and there was no lack of car talk – my favourite kind of conversation.
The weather was gorgeous and at a few points too-freaking-hot. There was maybe five minutes of rain on Saturday, which was refreshing and Sunday had some intermittent cloud coverage. Otherwise, it was 30 degrees with the sun beating down on you.
I missed out on the infamous DUI held in Penticton about a month before, so I was past due on some drifting coverage. This year was a big one for me and my car, and so far my photo taking has taken a backseat to being an enthusiast. I knew Drift Wars was going to be fun and I made sure I wasn’t going to be anywhere else. Needless to say, I’m satisfied with my decision.
Having the event happen over two days made it more enjoyable. I found it gave me time to just watch the drifting and enjoy the invite, instead of trying to cram in a bunch of shooting over a short period of time. Also, the fact there were four of us taking pictures gave us all time to hang out and relax with the rest of the spectators.
Two full days of driving did have a downside when it came to the competition. Because Saturday drivers had tons of time to go through clutches and develop other problems, only four teams were left to compete. The competition was short but sweet, and tons of fun to watch.
These two teammates made the the entire first day without any disruptions, but just before the team competition on Sunday they wound up in a head-on collision.
Gavin in the BMW 5-series was leading on a practice run with Tanner in the Nissan Cefiro in the middle and Anthony Thiessen following in the red s-chassis. Gavin spun out on the top edge of the bank to point in the wrong direction, Tanner was able to maneuver his car out of harm’s way, but for whatever reason Anthony’s Nissan went face first into the BMW. To my surprise, it wasn’t too long after being pulled off the track that Anthony’s car was back out there chasing Tanner in the team competition. For the second year in a row, they ended up taking 1st place as team Drunken Pandas.
The organizers did a great job of keeping spectators happy with a hard park competition, where drivers had the chance of winning their weekend fee back. The premise was to initiate into an off throttle slide and park their door as close as possible to the wall of pilons. I don’t think any of our photographers were taking pictures as this was going on, but I think it’s safe to say we had a blast as spectators.
There was also a glow competition organized once the sun went down and drivers were off the track. Mike Cooper pulled through with some pretty cool shots…
Our very own Megan Skene in her S13.4 was driving and taking pictures all weekend. If that’s not dedication to the drift scene, I don’t know what is…
I want to thank everyone who came out to enjoy Drift Wars. I had a blast and hope to see you all again next year! Pictures courtesy of Mike Cooper, Megan Skene, Jessica McKinnon and myself. Keep scrolling down to see a ton more in the album!
