Technical

Grassroots Round 1 Recap and Media

June 6th dawned a gray and rainy Seattle day. The prospect of poor conditions did little to deter the die hard Northwest drifters and fans. Thirty drifters from BC, Oregon, and Washington showed up to compete in the first of three rounds in the Evergreen Drift Grassroots Championship and over 100 spectators came to cheer on the drivers.

With competition rules that allow all skill levels and modification levels compete head to head drivers ranged from beginner to ProAm. All had one goal; to give it their all and see how far they could go.

Drivers had four practice runs before going into qualifying. The track was wet from morning showers and dusty from a monster truck event the weekend before making traction very hard to find. Drivers were getting warmed up and several got real close looks at the wall stopping mere feet from disaster. Others had fun punting the clipping point traffic barrels in spectacular fashion!

Hit the jump for the rest of the recap and tons more pictures!

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Pit Fire Extinguisher Update / Changes - Discounts!

We spoke with the Fire Marshall when he stopped by the Open Drift event. He is a laid back, cool dude and will be stopping by all the events to help verify compliance.

The Marshall was able to clarify the requirements and they are actually less stringent than originally posted. That will save most people money.

Drift cars without trailers are only required to have one 5lb extinguisher. If you trailer your car you’ll need 10lbs of fire fighting power and we’ll accept one 10lb or two 5lb bottles.

Here is the updated rule:

• Every vehicle driving in the event  must have a fire extinguisher readily accessible and in plain sight located in the driver’s pit spot for the duration of the event. Cars without a trailer must have minimum of one 5lb extinguisher. Cars with a trailer must have one 10lb or two 5lb extinguishers. The extinguishers must be fully charged and should be rated 2A:10B:C or 10B:C at minimum. You must have your extinguisher(s) with you at tech inspection for verification.

You may not know but there are several differences between the consumer grade extinguishers carried by hardware stores and other retailers that have plastic heads and the commercial grade extinguishers carried by fire extinguisher specialty stores.

Advantages // commercial vs consumer units:

• More durable metal head
• Does not leak over time
• Better warranty
• Can be refilled for $16.50/5lb (plastic head extinguishers are not refillable)
• Certified
• No shipping charges if picked up in store
• Usually have higher UL Rating due to better extinguishant

Due to the hazardous shipping charges for pressurized containers  you are better off purchasing locally from a store than trying to mail order one.

To get a commercial grade extinguisher you’ll need to check the yellow pages for a local fire extinguisher retailer.

The Speedway uses Evergreen Fire and Safety in Lynnwood, WA. They are offering discounts to Evergreen Drift drivers to help them out. Just mention that you are an Evergreen Drift/Evergreen Speedway driver and ask for the Contractor Pricing.

MSRP

• 5lb - $48.50
• 10lb - $74.75

Contractor Walk in Pricing

• 5lb - $41.22
• 10lb - $63.53

Remember, all events for the rest of the season will require full compliance with this rule so get your extinguisher before the next event. If you show up to tech without your pit extinguisher you’ll be sent packing to the store to get one before you’ll be allowed to run.

Also, Take some time to look through this short online demo about the different kinds of fire extinguishers and how to use them.

http://fireextinguisher.com/

Thanks for your understanding and cooperation with this new requirement.

Fire Extinguisher Reminder – All Drivers!

- Attention all drivers -

The Fire Marshall is requiring all race cars at Evergreen Speedway to have fire extinguishers in their pit area during events.

In response to this requirement the following rule has been added for all Evergreen Drift events.

• Every vehicle driving in the event  must have a minimum of one 10lb or two 5lb extinguishers easily accessible, and in plain sight in your pit area for the duration of the event. The extinguishers must be fully charged and should be rated 2A:10B:C or 10B:C at minimum. You must have your extinguisher(s) with you at tech inspection for verification.

Due to the short notice prior to the 4/11 event drivers will still be allowed to participate if they do not meet this rule. We will use additional Speedway extinguishers to supplement the pit area as needed.

For all events after 4/11 all drivers will be required to have conforming extinguishers for each car drifting in the event.

Extinguishers can be purchased at your local hardware store and the many fire safety specialist shops listed in the yellow pages. Due to size and hazardous shipping charges we recommend purchasing from a retailer.  5lb extinguishers start at $40 and 10lb at $70. You may want to consider purchasing a unit with a metal head as they are more durable and can be recharged and reused saving you money in the long run.

While this represents a significant cost and extra burden of hauling more gear to the track it just might save your car or a buddy should a serious fire break out in the pits. The ProAm guys will remember FD ‘09 when Jeff Jone’s car caught fire in the pits and Justin Elin had to grab his extinguisher to put it out quickly. Having the extinguisher on had saved the car from major damage and thankfully no one got hurt.

Evergreen Drift appreciates your understanding and compliance with this new requirement.

2010 Formula Drift ProAm Rules Posted

Formula Drift has released the 2010 ProAm rule book.  Evergreen Drift’s ProAm championship series will utilize these rules for the ProAm competition events.

If you are intending on competing in the 2010 Evergreen Drift ProAm Championship series please review these rules and ensure your car and gear conforms to these regulations.

Evergreen Drift ProAm rules page

Any questions can be directed to drift(at)evergreendrift.com

For full details about the 2010 Evergreen Drift ProAm Championship please refer to the official announcement.

Stay tuned to EvergreenDrift.com for additional ProAm information as we approach the start of the season!