Daily Detergent

One of the biggest events for any car enthusiast or stance fanboy in Florida - Formula Drift! This was the third year FD paid visit to Palm Beach, and my third year attending. It was, as always, an absolute blast. Not quite as good as the previous year FD events due to the high number of delays and horrible seating arrangements that Palm Beach International Raceway put together, but overall it was worth the 365 day wait. This year I planned to attend as a spectator. I wanted to enjoy the event without the worry of a camera around my neck. So I picked up Sid Fligel, photographer for the StanceNation coverage, got to the event early, dropped a warm shot of Sailor Jerry's, and left my camera in the car. Every year I witness people letting lose to the sounds of shredding tires and an engine's roar - this year I would join them. With the help of some good friends.

We spent a lot of time just drinking and walking around trying to get into trouble. But after the buzz wore off, I couldn't really enjoy the event without taking a few photos. After snapping some photos of the hard parked entries in the Slammed Society showcase, and a few around the venue, it was back to light beer, drinking games, and cold sandwiches.

Soon after, I made way to the bleachers to watch the top eight. And of course, it was already so crowded that my group and I ended up sitting in the dirt at the front of the crowd. A few of us tried standing up so that we could see more than the back of people's heads. But apparently I was at a golf tournament and standing was frowned upon. There was almost a riot at one point between the people standing and the people behind us sitting. The rent-a-cops had to come out and calm things out and put us back in the dirt. Like I said, PBIR f*cked things up with seating arrangements. But we eventually moved on to the other side of the track, away from the pissed of girlfriends who didn't want to be there and the chaperones with six small children and had a great time with people - standing - and cheering at the top of our lungs. Here are some photos from Sid Fligel and StanceNation to show the drifting action:

It was great to see someone like Mike Essa, who might be a bit of an underdog, take the win this year. The event didn't end until 10:30 PM due to all of the delays that night, but even through all the moans and groans, most people were pretty stoked about the event going on a little longer than usual. So restart the clock, Palm Beach. We have another three hundred and some odd days of waiting ahead of us until we get to do it all over again.

First Place: Mike Essa

Second Place: Daigo Saito

Third Place: Robbie Nishida

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS BY SID FLIGEL FOR STANCENATION.COM

Towards the Conclusion of Cars & Coffee a couple of weeks ago, fellow photographer Tony Phanvu and I secretly pulled Bi and JR away from the meet to a nearby location to get a few photos in. Rather than setting up a full feature, we opted to simply deliver a few boner-jams. Some of you might recognize the Lexus. It was part of a shoot featuring a trio of Lexus IS for State of Stance last year. Only now, he's on Work SP3 in a brilliant Spectrum Silver finish. We hope you enjoy the photos. Both cars have breathtaking paint jobs. The fact that the IS is a factory color is irrelevant. Lexus did one hell of a job at selecting it. If you want to see more of the teal Acura, let us know. I'm sure we can set something up. But for now... enjoy your fap session.