At the Track : Jingle Bell Drift

Willows, CA - The annual December full track competition is traditionally one of the biggest drift days of the year at Thunderhill, and while this one was a little low on attendance compared to previous years, it was still one of the funnest. Because of the rainy and muddy conditions, it could have been likened to a good game of muddy football with your friends.

This event also marked one year since we lost fellow drifter David Kula, who died on his way home from the track. TD organizer Geoff Pitts had a moment of silence for Kula during the Sunday drivers' meeting.

The competition itself followed a radically new format. Instead of single runs on a short section of the course, the drivers took three normal trackday-style 20 minute sessions, with judges Conrad Grunewald, Al Lagura, and Xander Newell, judging different sections each session. They also judged not just the traditional criteria, but also fun things like longest e-brake slide, best tandem train, best understeering, and best 360. There were also some fun prizes this year, like the leather-wrapped flame pattern toilet seat, toy race cars, money from Lagura and Jay Pizarro, half off coupons to local shops like Stealth-Custom-Fab and Limitless Motorsports, the custom ThunderDrift skateboard, and tees from ThunderDrift and Lab17.

And as always, here are the pictures:

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