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July 3rd 2016

The first big event of the year was the Import Expo x Clean Culture Race, Drift, and Show at Pocono Raceway. This was a unique event as it wasn't just a car show, but also included a trackday as well as a drift expo. We woke up bright and early and met up at the gas station, our favorite early morning meeting spot:



Since both kids wanted to tag along, Naomi had to ride in Jesse's BRZ and Isaac stayed with me:





Although we tried arriving early, we got stuck in a traffic jam at the gate to the track:



We were supposed to get there earlier before the show cars showed up since we had a driver's meeting, but we ended up getting lumped in together with everyone else so we ended up being late.

Pulling into the garages:




After getting situated we rushed over to attend the driver's meeting so we could figure out what was going on. The plan was to have a total of 4 thirty minute sessions over the course of the day, with the track being shared with drifters. The beginner group, which all of us were apart of, were up first.



Since we got in late, we ended up missing the first half of the first session because we still had to get teched







Once we finished teching, Jesse and i jumped in and went out for our first run. I had an instructor with me on the first run so he could guide me through the course as i had never run this configuration before. It was a pretty small section with a large part of it being the bank of the Nascar oval.



It was really strange to be back out on track again after my incident in 2014, but at the same time, the car felt so at home on track.



The FD is one of those cars that feels so clunky on the street but so alive on the track. Everything feels tighter and smoother. The engine especially feels so smooth as you rev it through the gears. Even the suspension is tighter and stable as you carve through each corner. The upgraded SS tires really helped build my confidence as not only did it not slide once, it didn't even chirp! Talk about serious grip. The best part of the track day was being able to drive around with other FD's, including Ted and Albert:



Thank goodness for all the awesome photographers who captured the day for us drivers!





The best part of this kind of event was that there was always something to do. If we weren't driving, we were checking out the drifters or the cars in the car show. Although i didn't get any good footage of the drifters, i did snap a few pics of the cars from the show:



I will always love the R34. To me, the R34 is the epitome of the GTR style. Granted the R35 trumps all in the performance category, the R34 captures both the style and performance we've come to love about the GTR chassis. The R34 will live on as the legend of the GTR family.





Isaac had the most fun of all. Not only did he finally get to see in person two of his favorite cars:

Lamborghini Aventador


BMW i8


He even got to sit in a real drift car!


He's really developed an interest in drifting. He was willing to sit on the bleachers and watch the drifters out on track for an hour straight. Normally he's bugging me to leave but this time it was me who had to drag him back to the garages.

All in all, it was a great event with lots to do and see. To me, it is the ideal event because i get to do what i love most, hit the track, and there's lots to see when i'm not driving. I really hope more people put together events like this instead of just the standard car show which gets old really quick.



I can't wait for this event to come around again next year!