Chief Keef's New Roommates

This was a bit of an odd and entirely unexpected incident. Max from GOLDSTAR had found us an amazing mansion on Air B&B, for Weds and Thursday night. AcidSquirters from all across the US, and even a few from Canadia, descended up on the place and proceeded to cut loose. Video evidence may or may not be released of events which may or may not have transpired during these two nights. Friday morning, after the ruckus had been subdued, and we were packing up to leave, A few cars arrived to grab some of the dudes, and head north a bit early, when the police arrived.....

good think JY was there to hold it down and protect our street cred.

The insanity of it all.

While so much of the focus at FinalBout is on the Advanced course and running full tilt along the k-rail wall, so much incredible driving goes down on the Intermediate course. Long and flowing, it is the perfect setting for stacking cars up, and the perfect backdrop in which to frame them. In the past, the brilliance of Julian and Ryan from ANIMAL STYLE had almost overshadowed Baby J (Jason Bostrom), this weekend was his time to shine. He took full advantage of the Zestino Tyres and was hunting down doors without a second of hesitation. Run after run, he, Simba, and Chob (both from the Chicago drift team PROCEED) were making the Intermediate course center stage. Chob pilots a small island of a Lexus GS sedan, turning rubber into haze with over 500whp on tap (298LWHP) and Simba's s13 coupe with a refreshed SR20 setup blew through the weekend without a hiccup.

(click for larger size)

The FINAL Bout

So, as you may have heard by now, this past weekend was the last FinalBout event to be held. When the announcement was given, it was met with immediate disappointment by many, but as the reasoning was explained, i think the initial blow softened, and it was quickly accepted and even embraced by many. I'd been hearing some pretty substantial rumors leading up to the event and was happy to see that the reaction from many of the drivers, teams, and spectators was that the experiences shared, friendships made, and tires shredded, were life changing, long lasting, and in my opinion, more than validated the goal that the event had set out to achieve.

My personal experience with the series as both a driver and spectator has been phenomenal. The following are some of the moments captured from the week long trip, from LAX to ORD, from Chicago to Shawano, and back again. More than just the driving, the atmosphere and the comradery are the true successes of the event. As many of the drivers and event organizers call it, the AURA of FinalBout is something that has already been spreading across the country and beyond.

Over the coming days i'll be going through and adding photos and videos that i feel capture both the fantastic driving, and perfect grassroots style of the event, and the days leading up to, and following the event (probably in no semblance of chronological order).

Enjoy.

(all photos can be clicked to expand)

The REVGASM Zenki S14, with Heart of VERTEX.
Josh's long time S13 chassis met its end last year, and in the time since then, he's crafted this as a temporary replacement, while continuing to hunt for a permanent successor. After seeing the many revisions his previous car had evolved through, it was difficult to know what to expect when transitioning to an all new chassis, but the S14 presented is nothing short of exceptional. One can only daydream about what he'll have in store next.