Thursday, May 19, 2011

Buttonwillow Trackday 5/13/11


To everyone who decided not to play hookie you sure missed out. These photos should speak for themselves, it was a killer day out there and I shot non stop. I still have tons more that didn't make it into this preview mix so if you want to see the rest of your shots hit me up with your car number and I'll get back to you. Thanks again to Jei and Natalie for putting this event together and inviting me out. It was great meeting new faces and hanging out with the old, hope to see you next time! jeremywforbes@gmail.com (don't let the thumb display fool ya, there's 4 pages)



Photos by:  Jeremy Forbes

Monday, May 16, 2011

Brandon Kraus Makes Two Wins In A Row - US Touring Car Championship


A big Congrats to Brandon Kraus once again for winning 1st in this weekends US Touring Car Championship. This now marks two 1st place finishes in a row and he's got his sites on the Trifecta. Brandon's H-powered 4th Gen Prelude engine built and tuned by BlackTrax is showing to be a top contender in this racing class. Keep up the good work BK!

Excerpt from ustcc.com 
CHECKERED FLAG: KRAUS MAKES IT TWO WINS IN A ROW, AIMING FOR A TRIFECTA
May 14, 2011, Willows, Ca. – Brandon Kraus in the #9 DW Pumps/BlackTrax Performance/Roger Kraus Racing Honda Prelude takes win number 2 from pole position for the Nitto Tires U.S. Touring Car Championship Round 2 Race of Thunderhill Raceway. Kraus scored the fastest lap of the race with 1:58.013, besting his pole qualifying time of 1:58.408.

Words from Brandon Kraus
RACING RECAP: WORDS FROM BRANDON KRAUS
Well it started out realy well for the DW Pumps Roger Kraus Racing BlackTrax Honda Prelude....We were fastest in practice and qualifying and in the Sat race we pitted on the wrong cheakered flag....We should have taken the 2nd flag...See they had 3 races going on at 1 time....The map sensor started to go bad on us so the Dodge srt4 caught back up to us by the last lap but we beat him to the line and won by .166 second.....The closest race finish in USTCC history...People were on there feet......Awesome day for the team....And we beat the track record....We ran a 1:58.016 in the race......Day 2 was great until the race were the alt went bad and the batt went dead and we did not finish....But untill that happened,we sat on p1 and by turn 1 we were in 2nd...I made the pass on the outside of turn 3 getting hit by the Dodge.....We then went into turn 1 at 125 mph and he turned me sideways then hit me right in the door....We fell back to 2nd......Then i ran him down again and passed him back,had a 8 second lead untill the batt went dead...We were Fastest in the race with a 1:59.00....We had the best car out there and the fastest car....We helped Pete and Kurt get there cars faster....We had Petes car down to a 1:58.40........Till he blew his motor........Thanks to BlackTrax/DW Pumps and Roger Kraus Racing for all there help and support.......Next stop Sears Point June 11/12 2011.....

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Recap of Formula Drift Round 2 - Road Atlanta: Words from Matt Field "no S in Field"


Formula Drift Round 2- Road Atlanta

My trip started out well, our flight was suppose to land us in Atlanta at 6:45 pm. Too bad we missed our flight connecting us from Arizona to Atlanta. Haha no biggy, we took the next flight out and got there at 10pm. I thought this was going to be a problem because I needed to go unload the car off the rig it came to ATL on. However, the rig wasn’t there. So Thursday came around and it was time for practice, and my car still wasn’t here. I walked around the pits talking to people and watching EVERYONE else practice, it sucked. My car finally showed up at 3am Friday morning. I unloaded it, worked on it for a second, went back to the hotel and went to sleep.

I woke up at 8am with a little more than 2 hours of sleep. Sweet, time to qualify. I was able to practice with the pro-am guys, as well as practice in both FD groups, but I still only got so many runs. Oh-well, its time to qualify. First run, didn’t account for drop in temp on track and went out with way too much air pressure. I initiated and went right off the end of the course. Not good. Now it is a waiting game, wait for people to do their runs, wait for people to do their second runs, wait for the track to get cleaned up. Ok cool, now its my turn. I get in my car, burn out and wait for Ross Petty to do his run. BANG! His engine explodes and drops oil all on the initiation point, right in front of me. Great. More waiting. The get the track as cleaned up as they could and send me out. It was more slippery than usual that’s for sure, but I made a run. Dirt dropped, but its ok. I qualified low but at least I’m in the show.

Saturday morning rolls around and we get to the track. Top 32 practice went well, more track time is always helpful. The crowd here is freaking awesome! I couldn’t believe how nuts and excited these people get. This is what we drift for. When it came time for my run against Matt Powers I felt ready, prepared, confident. On my follow run I stuck with him charging down the hill, Initiated and tried to throw as much angle as possible. I was close to him, yes, he didn’t get away. Coming into the horseshoe I was on him, didn’t give him an inch. As we exit the horseshoe and begin to floor it going down the hill, he pulls away a little bit. That’s ok, he has like 200hp on me. Its expected. All in all a great run, I really feel it was one of my best follow runs I have ever had in FD. Ok time for me to lead. Leave the line hard and don’t look back. I initiate and begin to slow down, catch grip, catch grip, catch grip I’m thinking to myself. It didn’t. I dirt drop one wheel and keep going. Because I dropped that one wheel it threw my line off and I drop another on the other side of the track, come into the horseshoe and try to cut his line off, it worked. He straightens out right in front of the judges. I finish off the run strong slightly pulling on him as we exit the horseshoe. I knew I screwed up, but I was hoping for a one more time at least. 2 of the judges voted for Powers, one for me. (thanks Tony). He got it, I’m disappointed, but life goes on. All in all it was a good weekend, I actually qualified with very little practice and it being my first time ever at this track, it wasn’t too bad. I had a great time and I can’t wait for next year at ATL!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

FormulaD Atlanta Matt Field Shows Agressive Angle and Style

Officially sponsored by BlackTrax, driver, Matt Field hit the grounds of Atlanta running last weekend. After waiting for the Formula Drift Transport Rig which arrived late at 2am on Thursday, Matt still managed to get some practice runs in to qualify 26th out of Top 32. Unfortunately his momentum was cut short as he was knocked out by Need for Speed sponsored, Matt Powers in his S14.

Here's the vid of the final qualifying run and judging. Keep an eye out for Matt Field. His gangster angle and wicked drifting style will be gaining points among the crowds on the East Coast very soon!