First Ever Drift Event – Good Luck League! Practice Day 12/16/23

My first ever drift day. After years of watching drifting videos on high school Chromebooks. Years of pretending to clutch kick while studying for college midterms. And years of work on my S13. I made it. 

Goodluck League held a practice day this past weekend and thankfully I was able to make it. It took a whole team effort and a lot of prep on my part. I spent a lot of time after work in the dark with a hoodie and a flashlight in hand, to dial in the car for the event. In true fashion of my “cursed” car, everything was going bad last minute…

The weekend before the event my steering wheel wasn’t returning to center after turning. After a bit of troubleshooting turns out my “new”aftermarket tie rod ends were sorta seized as the heim joints would get stuck in certain positions. After multiple return trips to O’reillys, I finally got the correct parts and threw them on. Problem solved.

The next few days after work were spent installing the LSD. Since I drive my car in the street I figured an LSD would be best fit for the car, and this also gave me the opportunity to weld the open diff I have for the future. That was a 3-day process as I only had a few hours to install after work.

After the diff was installed, I took it on a test drive and heard a funky noise coming from the engine. Power steering pump was bad and no parts available anywhere…

I was down bad for a power steering pump. I frantically scoured Facebook marketplace and thankfully I sourced one on Thursday night. And after a smooth install on Friday night, we loaded the car on the trailer.

Getting to the event Saturday morning, I was a bit nervous but remembering all of the time and effort I had put into the car put me at ease. The vibes for this event were cool. Music was bumping and everybody’s car was so sick. I couldn’t help but think about all the work each owner had put into their machines. 

I didn’t spend much time out of the donut/figure 8 pit. I really wanted to practice my control before I graduate to anything bigger. I learned that small technical details are exaggerated even more in a low horsepower car and my setup was not the most ideal. Nonetheless, I was still able to do a few donuts and figure 8’s and grew more comfortable with driving the car harder than usual. And, I know I have a lot more work to do if I want to continue to learn to drift in this car. 

After the event I am feeling a bit weird as this was sort of a goal I have been working towards for years now. I feel like I just finished watching the season finale of a show I have been invested in for a long time. It’s a bittersweet feeling to finally have attended my first drift event. However, the show isn’t over yet and the next season will be even more exciting than before. 

A very special thanks to my pit crew <3

Dylan for being there on my 240 journey since day 1 and helping me successfully get my car to this event. Karen for being very supportive and getting into the car after a bit of convincing. My loving girlfriend Gabi for always cheering me on and making me look cooler in photos than in real life. My mom for the obligatory Facebook post before the event. And my dad for always supporting my crazy ideas and making a 16 year old’s dream become a reality. 

Looking forward to where this car will take us next…