The Mexican Standoff hosted by Fabricated Motorsports turned out to be a super rad event, with lots of prizes for the drivers, and some of the closest tandem action Texas has ever seen. Slide Factory’s Kyle managed a smoking third place qualifying run, while Brock qualified an unfortunate 14th place. For those unfamiliar with the competition format, this put Brock and Kyle up against each other in the first round. Kyle gained advantage on the second set of runs, advancing him to round two where he would be paired against eventual winner of the event, Chelsea DeNofa. Our newest driver, Teo Tompkins, had another good day of progression in his s13 missile car. With any luck, his car will gain some functional and appearance upgrades in the near future.
With a heat index rumored to be near 120 degrees, and surface temperatures of undetermined value, Mineral Wells was still the place to be. The pit area was full of tents linked together like motorsports fortresses. Everyone stayed hydrated and as cool as possible throughout the day and into the early evening. It’s safe to say that the competition was as hot as the weather. Welcome to Texas.
Say hello to Teo Tompkins, Slide Factory’s newest official driver. The following photos are from last week’s BHF drift event. It was Teo’s first time ever to legitimately attempt drifting, and also the first time ever to drive his new s13 project. Two tire changes later and he was already performing transitions and shifting gears while in drift – pretty much unheard-of stuff for the first day. Teo just happens to be Brock’s younger brother and roommate, so expect progression to come quickly. Also, as you can see, he needs a pair of metal s13 Silvia fenders and some sort of Silvia hood, so please let us know if you have something local! On to the pics…
Welcome to the largest drift event in Texas, the infamous Lonestar Bash held by Fabricated Motorsports!
Image by Sy Pham
I’m super psyched to see this picture all over the internet, with my car in the foreground. Now check out some of the videos below, and be sure to keep a lookout for our cars – we were blessed with some really neat shots!
Kyle’s car ran like a top all day long, transforming a mountain of used rubber into a smoky haze with ease. My car suffered a couple small issues – a bent tie rod and a broken front bumper. Once the tie rod was replaced, my car smoked up the Federal 595′s all day, until suffering a broken downpipe, indicating it was time to put the car back on the trailer. Now that everything is repaired, look for us to be out again soon.
Fabricated Motorsports drift event at Grand Sport Speedway in March 2010. This was a great event, and I was able to get so much more footage thanks to Epic Action Cameras, even despite some critical problems with the car early in the day.
Please be tolerant of my video and editing quality – I’m already editing beyond my means with the meager software I have. I’m slowly saving for my coveted iMac.
All of the new aero is test fitted and good to go. I’m not currently running the front bumper until I devise a better mounting solution to work with the vent in the nose. Overall, I think that G-Corp’s Flash kit is going to make this car super hot once painted.
Slide Factory has been lucky over the years. One blessing is access to John Roper, an automotive enthusiast and Datsun lover, who just so happens to shoot for all of the big time car magazines. And us, of course. Thanks John! (check out his work at Roper-Photo.com – you’ll recognize a lot of cars)
This is my s13 in it’s current state. It’s about to receive Stance coilovers to replace the Tanabe units currently installed, as well as BN Sports type 2 aero and a fresh alignment. I can’t wait to see how it evolves over the next month or so.
This batch is ready to go, but supplies are limited. Based off of high quality Japanese tie rods and custom machined to Slide Factory specifications. These provide more steering angle than any competitor’s tie rod without the need for dangerous spacers that limit thread engagement into the steering rack. These are the perfect addition to your car if you’re looking for more angle than your current tie rod setup, but aren’t ready to make the jump to shortened knuckles. Below is a side by side comparison to a TEIN S14 tie rod. Note that the SF tie rod is about 1/2″ longer while still providing superior steering travel. Going price is $125 per pair. Yes, that is more expensive than most of the large companies, but it is simply because these tie rods are machined for us on a short run basis. If we could afford to make hundreds at a time, they would be dirt cheap, too.
