The ten hour trip to Chicago, then the four hour trip up to Shawano made me a bit nervous. I wasn’t sure if the trailer was ready, and the lack of experience with such a long trip with the hatch created some lingering sensations of uneasiness. I decided to borrow a truck to assuage any potential issues with the rig, and that turned out to be a great choice. The plan was to link up with Nikos and Seb in PA, then convoy together to Chicago.
Seb and Nikos had spent almost the entire night prior applying their liveries so they were a bit behind on sleep. Here, we took a brief “wake up” break to re-invigorate Seb with some much needed energy.
A red bull and some of Nikos’ words of encouragement and off we went.
Seb looks pretty awake to me
Seb’s new setup with the one pc T5R screaming down the road!
We made a bunch of stops on the way and I have to say, the most memorable thing was the odd rest stop conglomerates in Ohio. They had these quarter pipe things by all the gas pumps that were enticing to skate. At one of the gas stations, someone came up to me and complimented the car after they had just seen a photo of it online a few minutes prior – It’s a small world! Overall, the cruise was great, the team caravan supplemented with podcasts and music passed the time jovially.
Once we passed Gary, Indiana I had my girlfriend read a bunch of facts about the city because the entire history of the place is really intriguing. As we drove past I fixated on the dim, hooded lights around the abandoned steel mills while there was smoke billowing from the factories that were still in operation. This became a theme of the trip as we were all curious to learn more. We ended up watching a short documentary shortly after.
Here’s another shot of Seb barking in a tunnel as we got closer to Chicago:
Once we got into the Chicago metro area, the entire damn trailer kept bouncing up and down on these decrepit roads. I get everyone bitches about the roads in their respective area, but this stuff I hadn’t personally experienced before. There were massive mounds horizontally across the road like those tall, yet skinny speed bumps that property owners will place in commercial parking lots, for example. I ended up losing Seb and Nikos for about 10 minutes until we finally synced up again close to the hotel. The second we pulled into the parking lot – it really hit me that we were in Chicago, with the hatch, and my tools, and my jack, basically all my car related belongings. This was a lot to take in, I’ll admit. I’m sure the boys were tired of me repeating this over and over because it just hadn’t really hit me yet. To make matters worse, it was close to midnight and we were all starving. Nikos tried to check us all into the room we got, and of course the second we went up to the seventh floor of the hotel, the room was trashed. There was shit everywhere and half-eaten bowls of Fruit Loops all over the place. I’m not kidding, if I had any more energy I would have whipped out the camera and taken a few photos.
Nikos stormed back downstairs and tried to get us another room. He was indeed, successful in getting us another room – another trashed room! This time, on the fifth floor. Same shit as the prior room, place was smoked and full of trash. Back downstairs he went and tried again – and we were finally locked into the third floor. If that wasn’t already problematic enough, we were starving and Seb tried to order Wendy’s via doordash since this was the only place open in the middle of the night. We ended up waiting an exorbitant amount of time like some depleting skeletons in the room while there was some issue with the order. Seb and Nikos finally resolved this and we crushed some nugs and dozed off to sleep.
The next morning, I jumped out of bed and headed outside – blue skies and zero clouds. The suburban Chicago air smells kinda funny though, it’s not quite the hot trash we have in DC but it wasn’t great. Can’t blame the place too much, it’s a metropolitan area so you can’t hold steep expectations. Seb and Nikos toted the livery stuff for my car, and we all agreed to install the stickers Tuesday afternoon, the day after we got to Chicago. Nikos warned me that the nearest car wash spot was a good 15 min away, and the pavement was fucked. Turns out, he was right on both points and we drove through some seriously gnarly terrain. The place honestly looked like it was hit by multiple meteors. Nikos proceeded to roast me for picking the bay with the worst damn pavement. Anyway, we took way too long to wash the cars but we were ready for a final detail and to install the livery on the hatch.
You can see the chunder below:
Five minutes after leaving this spot, the alternator decides to fuck all the way off. Quick side story about this mf, this is the original alternator. The case had a 2″ crack along where the bolt holes is. When I drove this thing to the Josh Le residence years ago, the car threw a belt a few miles away from his crib. When I made it back to the nearest auto parts store, Josh met me with tools and we replaced the belt. He spared no mercy when he fried me on the sorry state of the alternator case. Exhibiting my stubbornness, I was curious how long the alternator would last with the smoked case. Turns out, it lasted two and a half years after that endeavor, and it’s probably been cracked for longer! I called Nikos and we pulled into the entrance of a shop across the street. I wandered around the entrance of the bay doors and asked a dude if I could borrow a multimeter to test my alternator. Thankfully, the shop looked mostly empty but the dude was moving like he was busy. I felt like a total ass burdening this man but he still looked enthused enough to help – and he did. He popped back out with some wild machine, hooked it up to my battery and the device beeped, spitting a tune of “alternator smoked.”
I thanked the dude and Nikos and I putted back to the hotel – hoping we can make it back just on the battery. When the boys mentioned livery months prior, one of my first thoughts was the dread of the install. If you’ve noticed any of the stickers I previously had on the car, nothing was straight and level. I can’t install stickers worth a shit. Fortunately, Diane, Seb, and Nikos went to town on the install while I swapped out the alternator.
Once we finished the install and the alternator swap, we cruised with Karoshi to Mitsuwa, a Japanese market and food plaza a few miles from the hotel.
We had the pleasure of also cruising with this celebrity:
Had some of the best ramen here!
Some perfectly aligned new-age arcade games:
We then cruised to the airport to pick up Seb’s friend Mike, and the highway was shut down a few miles out. The speculation was a movie scene was in progress as we saw multiple emergency vehicles near the airport exits. Never thought I’d get a shot of us stopped in traffic in Chicago’s highways.
We cruised back to the hotel, hung out for a bit, then everybody that was at the hotel congregated to cruise to the car meet. This day was completely peppered with cruising and the endorphins were abundant. The entire day we were surrounded by killer cars and no matter how many times I saw them, it never got old. Every trip outside felt like I was seeing these things for the first time. Once the group got together, we all cruised out to the meet spot. The car meet was held on a private parking lot adjacent to some buildings that looked like they hadn’t been used in years. On the way there, a cop followed James Carper and I, then the cop pulled away from James and followed me the entire way to the meet. Once we got closer to the meet I realized the cop was actually escorting us and had no intention of causing a problem. The locals later explained to us that the Chicago PD is decently aware that the city is invaded by the cars, but turns an eye because they have bigger issues to deal with. We cross paths with the federales throughout the entire trip and never had an issue.
Here’s a few shots from the meet:
Frenzy always coming out hard
Seeing this thing pull up to the Westin was a welcome surprise. Euroline SL a top five wheel and the two tone across the entire kit blends the classic two-tone look with the aggression of the big wheels, low height, menacing aero, and proper fitment. The SR sounds glorious and this thing features a very tidy bay with a V mounted intercooler.
One of the few s-chassis with tubbed rears as well! The overall finish on the car was slick, a nice deviation from the usual drift oriented paint jobs.
I had the pleasure of conversing with a lot of great people at the meet, this was the first chance we really got to talk to most of the participants in the event. We all hung out for a few hours, then once Proceed fired their cars up – we immediately knew what would ensue. Everyone rushed to their cars and got ready for one of the most monumental parts of the trip – the Chicago cruise! I like drifting and everything, but the true utility I get from this hobby is putting the cars together and relishing a good cruise with friends. Leading up to the event, I spent hours immersing myself in old cruise footage from past Final Bouts, and the thought of being a participant was simply beyond belief.
As everyone scrambled to their cars, the lot looked something like this, minus the trucks ramming and police, of course:
Proceed and Front Street led the way and hauled ass once we got on the highway. The final destination was the Gridlife warehouse in downtown Chicago, about 30 minutes from the meet location. For the next 30 minutes, I existed in a realm completely detached from reality. All I saw were big wheels, sparks, bright LEDs, and underglow while cars flew past us. I’d look one way and hear David Bob’s wastegate barking to one side while Mike P’s single cam buzzed on the other side. The next, Matt Craig winds his SOHC out blasting down the highway next to Front Street while they duke it out.
Due to how mush my brain became while soaking this all in, I missed multiple exits and lost the group for a few minutes. After re-routing, we got to the spot 10 minutes late but the boys saved me a spot in front of the Gridlife warehouse.
As if the cruise wasn’t overly stimulating enough, the inside of this warehouse was a thrill. The moment we walked in, the music started pounding and my first thought was a rave venue of sorts (keep in mind, I’ve never been here and I know Gridlife also does music festivals). Then the polished concrete floor led way to Kazuya Bai’s car immediately upon entering. The lighting inside the venue perfectly showcased the features and details in the paint.
The paint has been maintained like this for two decades. What an absolute privilege to see this car in person.
Then towards the back of the warehouse, the top teams from the year prior were lined up.
I was really excited when PJ pulled up and I finally got to see his car for the first time. He’s such a genuinely nice and supportive guy and the drift game would be different if more people matched his demeanor.
How can there not be a crowd of people around this thing?
ProceeD always holding a high standard.
Another wild car I couldn’t believe was in front of me
We ended the night with a mellow cruise home with the team. We purposefully missed the next 5-6 exits because we were enveloped in euphoria. Empty highways, the entire team mobbing four lanes deep, something I’ll never forget. We finally pulled up to a pump and grabbed some snacks. Justin Smalls drove the hatch back to the hotel so I could rest my back and decompress from the day.
The following Thursday we met up with some more drivers at Pequods and had some ZA.
We then spent the day downtown. Diane was super pumped to check the city out and I snuck some shots in while she existed as her glamorous self.
Can’t believe this mf tolerates me. What fortune.
We ran into this lovely rabbit as we walked around, and had to grab a few photos.
She looks proper next to this thing!
We then hit up an arcade with tons of retro games and spent the next few hours losing at everything.
Seb then dominated the air hockey table to all of our dismay.
Poor Nikos was in a chokehold.
The air hockey pharaoh in all his glory.
After the arcade we went to a Japanese restaurant and I had some killer ramen. Nic Michuda and Liam Klancic joined us for dinner then we headed back to Nic’s house and got to hang out with his majestic cat.
He was just as soft as he looks.
We got back to the hotel pretty late, and Nikos and I agreed to venture off to Shawano early in the morning. I despise getting to the track late to set up my pit area. I take eons to get all my stuff in order and the stress of rushing is unneeded at a track day. We grabbed a spot on the corner of the paddock then waited for the rest of the team to pull up. Nikos and I hightailed it to the nearest auto parts stores to try and grab some water wetter. While Nikos and I ran errands, Frenzy pulled up and the girls finished getting the pits set up. The first store was empty, and the cats at the counter mentioned that people from the track ran them dry on water wetter. We got lucky at the next store and grabbed the last two bottles. After checking online stock in all stores in the zip code, it felt like we got the last bottles of water wetter in Shawano! Then, we dashed into Walmart to secure plenty of distilled water for the team, followed by a detour for fried chicken on our route back to the track.
There were a few more stickers I needed to apply before we pulled out for judging and tech inspection. Here’s a killer photo Tyler grabbed while I put forth my best effort installing stickers. Unrelated but slightly related – Tyler started a blog and has his own killer post covering FB6 here. If you’re a fan of film or want to see a new side of Final Bout 6, I highly recommend checking that out.
With the car cleaned up, we were off to judging
Connor Croak immortalized the car with this set. He also helped install the livery on the hood becausei am unsophisticated and devoid of an eye for sticker aesthetic.
Had the pleasure of pulling behind Matt Craig’s coupe
Frenzy poppin off as usual
Pretty cool pitting up next to Minh hundreds of miles away from home after we drove our first SSE together in 2022, then saw him again in 2023, and will likely drive with him again this year!
Kasia perfectly representing the joy we all felt that day.
Nick scoping out his prey.
Here he is on the attack, violating the personal space of inanimate objects again. Taking lots of mental notes
Candids of the girls
Diane most likely roasting me.
Nick probably saying some top tier nerd shit while I watch in amazement as he releases the entire capacity of his brainpower in one fell swoop.
I smile and nod, pretending to understand while he likely explains the differences in Japanese vs. USA octane ratings.
Loved having the boys back together. Moose left VA beach earlier in the year and we hadn’t been reunited in months. Tyler and Nick flew in from VA Beach (this was Nick’s first time on a plane ever. Moose drove up from Iowa and we hung out all weekend.
Sebastian Suaza getting a good look for judging!
Pretty surreal having these two going through the car with a fine toothed comb.
“Sir, this car is shit.”
DB making those last minute touches… literally… as his car gets judged. Never change, DB.
After judging, we grabbed some iconic photos in front of the scoring tower.
That night, all the PA boys headed to the county fair. Diane had never been to a fair in her life, so this was the fitting next move. The fair was wild with some tremendously popping colors and lights that made for perfect subjects:
Diane’s amazement as the swing was nearly upside down
There’s never any respect for the fool with the camera around these parts! Justin, Carper, Kak, Wild Steve, and Diane lettin em know:
The rest of the group had to jump in because “fuck Migo,” I guess!
Kak gave Diane a pep talk on how to win at darts. She persevered and came home with a marshmallow plush – what a way to remember her first fair trip.
Moose doing his best to stand up straight after his fair refreshments!! He kept us entertained for the remainder of the night. Especially at Culver’s when he introduced us to his cousin, Michael.
Nick doing his absolute best to not think about SR20.
The best part about this photo is Tyler lurking in the background.
Rich, Chad, and I tried this ladder game and I could barely walk straight much less climb up a ladder.
The anticipated aftermath – not shown is the 20+ people we came with laughing on the other side of the photo!!
After the fair we headed back to the hotel to revitalize some life back into our bodies, then headed to the bowling alley next to our hotel to meet up with the rest of the team.
The alley had some killer colors. We filled this place up not 20 minutes later.
FO FO FO
Wood grain grippin’
We headed back to the hotel then headed to bed. The following day, I would be driving USAIR for the first time and I was not mentally prepared. We did a track walk once we pulled in and the place looked just like what I had practiced on Assetto. The curbs were pretty treacherous, and the massive tire stretch I run up front spurred feelings of uneasiness. This is my first “new” track visit in quite a long time. Despite watching tons of clips and spending dozens of hours on Assetto, standing on the bottom of that massive hill marking the beginning of Advanced course was unimaginable. I can’t help but wonder how my shitter car was going to fare at a new track, but everything looked pretty smooth. There were tons of scrape marks at the bottom of all the hills, likely a result of the insane amount of compression the weight of the cars generate on the suspension.
Practice went smoothly, we definitely needed a handful of laps to get into a groove. Not only did we need to get acquainted with the track, but we needed to do so as a team. The first hairpin was critical to set up for the main turn along the wall. I actually installed a 4.08 for this event, thinking I would need to wind second gear out along the wall. While the 4.08 was great for the long turn, the longer gears made gathering vehicle speed out of the hairpin tricky. Seb was also driving a quick line and was able to haul ass onto the main turn. We had some really fun laps and hitting the rollercoaster as a time felt like we were skating a pump track.
During the comp, my ebrake ended up getting stuck and I rushed back to the pits to fix the issue. Once repaired, I hurried back-on track and we were able to get the rest of our comp laps in as a group. We’re all definitely keen to practice hard this year and continue developing our team driving.
This is one for the books!
Shortly after I got back on track after the ebrake debacle, Seb and I had a bobble and I hit his rear left wheel with my front right on the hairpin. This ended up bending the lip on the SSR to the point where all the air leaked out of the wheel. We were so keen to keep getting comp laps that I was in a complete trance and didn’t even check the damage. During the next lap, the front right tire debeaded on the wall entry which barreled the car forward off-track. Fortunately I brought a spare 9J XT7 with a 205 in case something happened to one of the front tires. I spaced them out to match the track width of the other SSR and the show went on:
Chasing Seb was a riot. We kept pushing and pushing all weekend! He’s made some dramatic improvements in his driving and he looks nice and comfortable wheeling his IS300.
Remember what I said earlier about the compression coming down the hills?
Tyler got one of my favorite photos of the weekend here! Seeing both the front and rear tucked is a delight.
Got the gang together while we watched the top teams throw hands:
After the comp, I switched to the 4.9. I wanted shorter gears for intermediate and advanced reverse. I should have kept the 4.9 on all weekend. Live and learn!
I’ve known PJ for a few years now and sharing the track with him was unforgettable. Hopefully next time I don’t get dragged!
Flying down the straight then floating downhill to the left on advanced reverse was dreamy.
Following Seb up into the wall had me shifting from slip to bumper-to-bumper grip for a split second to keep up. He carried good momentum as he ascended towards the wall.
Can’t forget about Super D! This layout was incredibly tight and I was glad we were packing the 4.9 to keep the car moving through the narrow sections. Did my best to rotate the car as much as possible on entry.
Driving under the lights was definitely challenge, the road felt like it “bit” harder than usual and I had to raise pressures to keep the tires spinning.
The final loaders.
Nick peed on the floor.
Ran into Frenzy & Co. on the way back and we cruised together. We saw a couple hauling companies sideswipe some trailers on the PA turnpike!
This blog post is going to immortalize a critical memory for me. Everything happened so quickly yet I think about this trip frequently. I’m still in awe we achieved what we did, and experienced a mecca of sorts for a large portion of the US drifting community. Thanks for all that supported and continue to support my antics, and the great people that made this post what it is.
Juan