Round 1 of the D4 Amateur Circuit took place in Memphis, Tennessee on May the 5th, and What better way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo than shredding some tires! The day started out cloudy with some drizzle. But Mother Nature eventually moved on and made way for a great competition. A practice session started the day and consisted of a parking lot practice area which integrated into a portion of the road course known as the “M’s”. Due to Memphis Motosports Park’s great setup, Drift411 was able to give the drivers options during the practice session. They could utilize both the parking lot area, located to the right of the start box, and the “M’s”. Or, if they preferred to save tires, time, and/or energy could make a left, bypass the parking lot area and practice just the road course. This turned out to be a great setup and enabled the entire grid to hot lap constantly and rarely having to stop/wait at the start box.
However, the earlier part of the day held many problems for a couple of drivers. Jodin LeJune in the Supunion S13 coupe had motor issues which began at a demo the previous night and continued on into the day of the event. The problem progressed and ended even worse for the team when the motor blew in practice. Nick Thomas in his Green S13.5 had problems with his steering rack but by the end of the day was able to get his car up and running.
The completion brought 6 drivers who possessed the proper safety equipment and several hard decisions for judges Chris Rhoad, Chad Copeland and Forest Lester. Top of 3rd gear and even 4th gear entries were common throughout the competition, but were ultimately too harsh for some when entering the decreasing radiuses of the “M’s”.
Third place went to Darren Streibig in his 1996 Toyota Supra sponsored by Adrenalin Motorsports. Second Place went to Jerry Farabee sponsored by Xtreme Auto Accessories and First went to Nick Thomas after having problems earlier in the day to take the win.
Special thanks goes out to Memphis Motorsports Park, Kumho Tires, Studio Rhoad, Cool Cat Racing, FERDwear, ProjectGirlDrifter, and Traction Optional for helping make this event possible. But, more so, the drivers. Each of them came out, grabbed MMP by the horns, and made their presence known.
Standings:
Series Points Standings can be on Drift411’s homepage: Drift411
Qualifying:
1. Jerry Farabee - 16pts
2. Randie “Ranzo” Schmidt - 15pts
3. Darren Streibig - 14pts
4. Charles Litterst - 13pts
5. Adam “Struka” Szczuka - 12pts
6. Nick Thomas - 11pts
7. Carter Thomas - 10pts
8. Adam Brenton - 9pts
9. Jodin LeJeune - 8pts
Top 8:
Jerry Farabee
vs. ——————–} Jerry Farabee
Adam Brenton
———————————————-} Jerry Farabee
Darren Streibig
vs.———————} Darren Streibig
Carter Thomas
—————————————————————} Nick Thomas
Charles Litterst
vs.———————} Nick Thomas
Nick Thomas
———————————————-} Nick Thomas
“Ranzo” Schmidt
vs.———————} “Struka” Szczuka
“Struka” Szczuka
Final Results:
1 Nick Thomas ————— SR20DET S13 ——- PTS:111
2 Jerry Farabee ————– KA24DE S14 ——– PTS:106
3 Darren Streibig ———— 2J MK4 Supra ——– PTS:95
4 Charles Litterst ————- SR20DET S14 ——– PTS:86
5 Adam Breton ————— FB RX-7 ————— PTS:75
6 Carter Thomas ————- SR20DET S13 ——– PTS:69
7 Adam’Struka’ Szczuka —– KA24DE S14 ——— PTS:66
8 Randy ‘Ranzo’ Schmidt —- 350Z —————— PTS:63
9 Jodin LeJeune ————– SR20DET S13 ——– PTS:8