I showed up to the track on Thursday morning to find Ashley van Dyke suiting up to drive Conrad’s Camaro. They were doing a bit for some kind of show.
We all headed over to the track, and I found this Cressida owned by Luke “Formula Dread.” What a sexy machine!
Ashley’s camera guy got ready.
And a different kind of 240 flew by.
Jose saw it too. Since when does Jose have a 1Ds Mark III?
Back to the action, Ashley figured out the Camaro pretty quick. She was doing donuts in no time, and moved on to figure eights.
Back in the paddock, I found some familiar faces.
Just like the teams, the full-season media gets to be like old war buddies after a while.
Drivers want to watch too.
Julian was the only new pro from TD ProAm who made it down for the ProAm Allstars. He was stoked!
He was worried that his car wouldn’t pass tech, so he was relieved when it passed without issue.
I’m not sure, but Frank might have been happy to see me.
Matt is all business when it comes to competition.
Partly because of what happened with JTP getting his car in Vegas, Tyler decided this would be his last weekend with Falken. As a parting gesture, he won the entire event.
Larry was hanging out as usual.
Joe and Justin shot some pretty incredible stuff from the roof of the grandstands. You can see it in their latest .
Coming into Round 7 as the points leader, I wonder how nervous Dai was. He ended up getting knocked out by Ken Gushi in the Round of 16, but JTP’s loss in the Great Eight meant Dai would win the championship.
On Friday, we all wore different Attack Works tees. I don’t know where Geoff was, but he had one too.
Jeff was wearing his new Life Blasters tee (designed by Sam from Attack Works) as he fixed Ryan Kado’s wiring.
Non uses dry ice for cooling.
Formula Dread and Santa Clause were owning everyone in the beard department. Santa Clause said he looked like Luke 25 years ago. I’m not sure if that’s an insult or a compliment.
TD ProAm winner Jason came down to crew for Julian.
Joon was happy, but then again, when is he ever not happy?
Formula Dread was all about this Cressy running in ProAm.
Julian was killing it in practice. It looked like it would come down to him and Dave Briggs.
Julian was determined to take it.
BG has no idea how sexy he is.
Justin wanted to try out my 300 with Joe’s 2x extender. 600mm is a lot to handle without a monopod.
Pro practice started up again, and Luke was looking good.
This event would mark his first time in the Round of 16.
Ryan was coming in with ridiculous angle. I kept thinking he was going to spin! Unfortunately, gremlins kept him out of the Round of 16.
Rhys came by right as a cloud went in front of the sun, making some awesome light. It was just enough of a cloud to soften the shadows and make the reflection of his headlights show up.
Robbie was looking pretty solid too.
The Wolf was ready to attack.
I wonder if Mike knew this would be his last event as the only BMW driver in Formula D. Gabe’s coming for you!
Continuous shooting make Tailyr smile. Fact.
On Saturday morning, the Top 32 drivers had their last meeting.
Dai and Taka practice speaking Japanese with each other so they don’t forget how.
JR was ready to rock. He was in contention for the $14k Exedy Prize.
So were Conrad and Rhys, but even rivals can stay friends. Tyler’s win over Rhys in the final battle meant Conrad won the Exedy Prize by only four points.
Julian was making my head explode with his missile.
He knew he was the man.
After Dave took himself out, Julian pretty much had it made.
But engine trouble during an OMT final battle kept him in second place behind Brian Peter. Actually, he wouldn’t have fit in the frame if he was on top of the podium anyway.
Tandem of Die and I were shooting video during the main competition, so Geoff was the only one shooting photos. He got on the roof of the grandstands to see what he could get.
I completely missed this from where I was shooting. Conrad made contact with the back of Robbie’s car, and when Robbie transitioned, he actually threw Conrad’s car way off the line. Crazy!
Geoff and I caught up with Jarod after the trophy ceremony to give him his new Life Blasters bro top. He was super pumped! Wouldn’t you be?
If you weren’t able to make it out to Irwindale to pick up one of the new tees, don’t worry! We’re going to have them for sale on the site shortly!
.:Bohan