Behind The Wheel Podcast – Formula Drift RD2 Orlando Recap

Behind The Wheel Podcast – Formula Drift RD2 Orlando Recap

Posted on by Konig Gfx

On this special episode of the Konig Behind The Wheel Podcast, Joey Redmond of Wrecked Magazine sits down with us to discuss interesting things from FD Orlando and so much more…. (details/cheat sheet below!)

CONTENT CHEAT MENU:
0:18 | Intro
0:40 | The Special Format
0:50 | The Ovals
3:30 | OSW Challenges Drivers / Teams
4:40 | Drifting on the Banks
5:37 | Tire Management
6:50 | Matt VanKirk
9:00 | Adequate hp for FD POR
11:20 | Dirk Stratton
12:00 | Dean Kearney
16:25 | Odi / Matt Field Fued
18:20 | Forsbery / Vaughn Gittin Jr
19:00 | RTRs ran into issues at FDORD
22:40 | The “Cone” Rule
25:40 | Deane / Wang matchup FINALLY!…But…
29:43 | Forsberg wins after 1,485 days
33:20 | Aasbo’s Legacy
37:00 | Winning mindset
40:06 | Plateau of power in FD
43:55 | Has FD become mainstream?
47:20 | Instagram helped to push drifting
48:45 | Kevin Lawrence & jump to Pro1
50:25 | PA Drifters
52:15 | Topics for next time
52:57 | Who’s going to be on the podium at the end of the season?
57:40 | The “ELUSIVE” 100pt qualifying run
59:35 | Ending / Contact info

FOLLOW:

Scott Weiss (Konig): Scott_Konig
Joey Redmond : joeyredmond

Dont forget to check out our FD Orlando image gallery —> FORMULA DRIFT ORLANDO IMAGE GALLERY

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Lawrence debuts in FD PRO with back-up car

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FORMULA DRIFT LONG BEACH, CA – ROUND 1 | August 8th and 9th

What’s up everybody! Kevin here with my recap of the Formula D season opener at Longbeach, CA.

After losing the engine in my S14.3 on the dyno just a few days before leaving to Long Beach, The team and I revised our plans and decided to run Enjuku Racing’s R32 Demo car as this was our quickest option to have a car ready for Long Beach. We scrambled to bring the R32 up to tech regulations for Formula D competition as well as swapped over my last seasons nitrous kit and Garrett 3582 turbo to try and get some more power out of the R32. After a last minute trip to Tampa, FL to see my tuner Martin from RS-Enthalpy we were table to turn the R32s power up to 685whp from 505whp and off we went to make it out to Long Beach. After the 2.5 days travel filled with traffic stops and loosing parts of the roof of my trailer we finally arrived to the venue and loaded in for tech inspection, we passed tech with flying colors and then we were ready for practice and qualifying the next day.

FRIDAY

Friday morning after warming up the car in the pits I headed off to get in line to take my first practice pass. However after entering the burn out box and doing a few circles I heard a pop and realized my left rear axle had snapped. I scrambled back to our pits where the team confirmed the axle was broken and we got to work swapping it out. Unfortunately the spares we brought were a different length and would not just swap right in, we had to swap the outter stub that broke from the new axle to the old one in order to get the car back out to make a pass. This took a bit of time but we finally got it done and back out. After waiting in line again I was up next for a pass, this time no pop in the burn out box so I pulled up to the start line. Off I went and entered into the first turn of the tight course, I probably went into this pass with way more trust than I should have but I did alright for the first turn. Coming into the second one I pass the touch and go and then realize im going in too deep towards the Judges wall. I pitched more angle and pinned the car to try and dig out away from the turn but the impact was still going to happen. I tagged the rear wall which in return pulled the front of the car into it as well. I got the car back to the pits for evaluation of the damage and was suprised to find that other than all the cosmetics of the car the only suspension
part to really take the hit was the front lower control arm. We swapped that out as well as hammered out the chassis as best we could to keep the fenders from rubbing the rear tire and I rushed to try and get in a pass before qualifying. Unfortunately practice was called when I was about 3 positions back from making a pass so I would move on to qualifying with out making a full complete pass.

Pulling up to the line to take my first qualifying lap also my first ever full pass at long beach it felt as if there was a building sitting on my chest. I did my best to put all that aside and was able to take a very conservative pass and not hit any walls and earn a score of a 68. Knowing that was good enough to put me in the show I did what I could on my second pass to tidy it up a bit which worked and netted me a score of a 71. After the qualifying meeting I was informed I would battle Chris Forsberg in the Top 32.

SATURDAY

I was able to get in 6 complete passes before my battle with Chris, all of which I dialed in a bit better than the run before. Chris being the higher point qualifier was up to lead first. Light goes out and off we go, I was excited to see that on the run up I was able to keep up with him in our R32 demo car on the straight. We enter into the first corner and thats exactly when I realized he had way more grip in his car when in drift that what I had. We did take a bunch out in hopes to prevent another axle breaking. He is able to gain some distance on me and I do everything I can to keep up. Coming into the final transition I reach over to down shift from 4th to 3rd and the car accidentally shifts into 5th causing me to bogg out and loose more distance from Chris going into the final turn. Now my turn to lead I knew Chris had the advantage on me going into this half of the battle so my best defense was to put down the best lead lap I could in hopes that Chris would make a big mistake behind me resulting in us getting a OMT call. We leave the line and I give this pass my all, I honestly would say it was the most comfortable / cleanest pass I have had all weekend. I was hoping for Chris to make a mistake on this pass behind me but hearing his car not far behind me I knew that he wouldn’t let me have the win that easy. He kept right up with me and followed my line just as the judges asked. Chris would be awarded the win and this would wrap up my first time driving Long Beach as well as my Pro1 debut in Formula D.

I want to extend a huge thank you to my Team, Sponsors, and Family for all their absolutely amazing support and keeping me going and not letting me give up on this event. Everything it seemed was going against us to not make it out to Long Beach but we never gave up and I was able to get out there, Qualify, and run my First Pro 1 battle with our Demo car turned Pro1 legal car with that was done with in under a weeks time. Again thank you all so very much for everything I cant wait to get the S14 back together for the next one.

Kevin is running Konig Dekagram in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25 rear. The Konig Dekagram is Flow Formed.

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2018 Konig Formula Drift Drivers

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Getting to know 2018 Konig Supported Formula Drift Drivers

The 2018 Formula Drift Season is in full effect with the Streets of Long Beach just behind us and Orlando approaching this weekend. We thought we’d take a few minutes and give you a quick rundown of our 2018 FD drivers and telling you what wheels and fitment they’re running. Check them out, show them love, and remember to follow their journey this season here! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kevin Lawrence – Formula Drift (RB30DET powered Nissan S14.3)

Kevin Lawrence hails from Florida and has been drifting Nissan cars as long as we can remember. He took home the 2015 Three Palms Drift Championship and has never looked back in his drifting career. His reliable RB30DET powered Nissan 240sx helped him drift his way to the Pro 2 championship last season. An amazing victory at Texas Motor Speedway with all the pressure in the world on his shoulders allowed him to become Pro 2 championship by the thinnest margin in Formula Drift history of just two points.

Kevin Lawrence and the Enjuku Racing team are clear favorites for the 2018 Formula Drift Rookie of the Year award in the pro series. Kevin also is heavily involved in the drifting community in Florida and tours the country with his demo R32 Nissan Skyline to events like Hyperfest in Virginia.

Kevin is running Konig Dekagram in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25 rear. The Konig Dekagram is Flow Formed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matt Vankirk (SR20DET powered Nissan 240sx)

Matt VanKirk comes to you from the Northwest where the drift scene is strong! He really has become known for his aggressive driving style and his 3rd place, podium finish in Formula Drift Pro 2 last year. This year he is now stepping it up a notch as he competes in Formula Drift Pro! We’re excited to watch MVK try and earn that FD Rookie of the Year award! 

Matt is running Konig Hypergrams in 18×9.5 et 25mm front and 18×10.5 et 25 rear in Race Bronze. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ryan Litteral – Formula Drift & Pro 2 (LS3 powered Nissan 350z)

Ryan Litteral is a driver famous for having a drift vehicle with top class style over the years. Ryan comes from Southern California and has been drifting for 12 years now. He earned his license with his black S14 in the Just Drift series back in 2013. His last appearance in Pro 2 was in 2016 where he finished a solid 6th  place running his own program.

For the 2018 season he has teamed up with KoruWorks in Marietta, Georgia to campaign an LS3 powered Nissan 350z. The team will attend all four rounds that have a Pro/Pro 2 weekend and they will do double duty trying to sweep the Formula Drift weekend with a victory at both levels. You can also catch his YouTube series called IT’S LITT! Documenting his demo car 240sx build.

Ryan is running Konig Ampliform in 18×9 et 15mm front and 18×10 et 20mm rear in DARK METALLIC GRAPHITE. The Konig Ampliform is Flow Formed.

 

Geoff Donati

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Geoff Donati – Formula Drift Pro 2 (LS3 powered Nissan 240sx)

Geoff Donati hails from a small town in Ohio and once he discovered drifting he wasted no time heading out to the track to give it a shot. His first full season of Pro-Am soon followed at the Midwest Drift Union in 2016 and where he fell just short of earning a license when the year ended by one point! Geoff went right back to MDU for the 2017 season and managed to win almost every round that year and became champion of the series with ease.

Geoff Donati dominates his competitors with consistency and some have even compared him to a young Chris Forsberg. He seems incapable of making a mistake at times behind the wheel and looks to carry that ice in the veins approach into Pro 2 for 2018

Geoff is running Konig Hypergrams in 18×9.5 et 25mm front and 17×8 et 40mm rear. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

 

Travis Reeder Konig Ultraform

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Travis Reeder – Formula Drift Pro 2 (LS3 powered Nissan 240sx)

Travis Reeder is a drifter from the Pacific Northwest who cut his teeth in the Evergreen Drift series. Travis dominated the 2016 season in the Evergreen Drift Pro Am easily becoming the champion of this regional Pro Am series. He made his Pro 2 debut last season and managed to earn Rookie of the Year for his amazing efforts behind the wheel in his 240sx. In fact, he was basically announced champion at Texas Motor Speedway and could only mathematically lose if Kevin Lawrence qualified first and then won the event. Sadly, that happened and he finished the season in second place by the smallest margin in Formula Drift history after some amazing drifting all year.

Travis Reeder caught the world’s attention when he won Road Atlanta last year and took a commanding early lead in the Pro 2 championship. He has committed to the Pro 2 season again for 2018 and is determined to win the championship at all costs.

Travis is running Konig Ultraforms in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9 et 25mm rear. The Konig Ultraforms is Flow Formed.

 

Kelsey Rowlings Konig Hypergram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kelsey Rowlings (5.0L Coyote powered Nissan 240sx)

Kelsey Rowlings earned her Pro 2 license in the Three Palms Drift series down in Florida and became the first-ever female to earn a Pro 2 license through the Pro-Am drift promotion ladder. Kelsey was one of the few drifters who traveled in the younger part of her career and she managed to also compete in the Streetwise Drift, Lone Star Drift, and XDC series before stepping into the Pro 2 stage.

Kelsey’s engine package makes her one of the most unique car setups on grid in 2018. Instead of the traditional LS-engine setup, her team has picked the 5.0L engine out of a new Mustang GT to power her 240sx. Kelsey returns to the Pro 2 series in 2018 looking to outperform last season.

Kelsey is running Konig Hypergrams in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25mm rear. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

 

Garrett Denton Konig Dekagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garrett Denton (2JZ powered Nissan 240sx)

Garrett Denton is one of the most unique racers in the Pro 2 field today. At the age of 14, Garrett was the youngest driver to win a sanctioned NASCAR event race in North America. His love of driving and racing started as early as 5 years old and he has been behind the wheel ever since. Garrett also came from the Midwest Drift Union series where he finished in second place in 2017 and took plans to run in the Pro 2 series.

His Pro 2 campaign involves a crew full of University of Northwest Ohio graduates where he also attended college earning an in dual Associates Degree in High-Performance Motorsports Technology and Automotive Technology. Garrett will be taking to the Pro 2 circuit with a 2JZ powered Nissan 240sx with support from Koruworks to help him make a run for the championship.  

Garrett is running Konig Dekagram in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25mm rear. The Konig Dekagram is Flow Formed.

 

Alec Robbins Konig Hypergram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alec Robbins (LS powered Nissan 350z)

Alec Robbins is a unique individual who famously ran a slammed pickup truck drift build with an LSX engine in the Pro-Am ranks. Alec Robbins saw success as the 2016 Midwest Drift Union champion and made his rookie year debut in 2017 in the Koruworks 350z for some Pro 2 rounds.

Looking forward to the 2018 Pro 2 season, Alec Robbins has built his own 350z with a LS engine making 550/560 to the wheels. This should be a great setup to keep up with the competition at all four rounds of the Formula Drift Pro 2 series.

Alec is running Konig Hypergrams in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25 rear in RED OPAL. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

 

Adam Knapik Rennform

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adam Knapik (LS powered Nissan 240sx)

Adam Knapik hails from Southern California and earned his Pro 2 license through the Just Drift Pro-Am series. In 2016, he managed to take home the Just Drift Championship and has been working to improve his LS-powered Nissan 240sx ever since. His day job is a Porsche driving instructor giving him endless amounts of time behind the wheel of racecars. Moving into the 2018 Pro 2 season we cannot wait to see what Knapik Racing has put together to go out and compete with the big boys of Pro 2.

Adam is running Konig Rennforms in 18×9 et 23 all the way around. The Konig Rennforms is Flow Formed.

 

Donovan Brockway e30 beast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Donovan Brockway (LS powered 2014 BMW 2-Series)

While Donovan Brockway has opted to take the 2018 season off he is still a part of the Konig Wheels Drift team. His 2018 season off is allowing him to put a new “BeastMW” together that starts with an F22 BMW 2-series chassis that will have a full HGK carbon/Kevlar widebody kit and one big RHS 427 race engine. We know Donovan will be missed on the paddock this year but we cannot wait to follow his build progress and see it debut on Konig Wheels in the 2019 Pro 2 season.

Donovan is currently running Konig Rennforms in 18×8 et 35mm front and 18×9 et 35 rear on his 1000hp e30. The Konig Rennforms is Flow Formed.
ampliform

However on the F22 he will be running the Konig Ampliform’s! Make sure to stay tuned to his build!

LITTLE’S NEW LIVERY FOR 2018!

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Savanna Little has been a long-time friend and sponsored driver of Konig Wheels and its about that time of the year, where all drivers are revealing their new livery for the season! We are super excited to display and debut Savanna’s new livery for 2018 of the LS350z!

Savanna Little is a Konig Sponsored Driver and currently runs Konig Hypergram in 18×10.5 et 25mm all around. The Konig hypergram is Flow Formed.

Make sure to follow Savanna Little on INSTAGRAM!

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SAVANNA LITTLE IN D-SPORT!

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Our long-time friend and Konig Wheels sponsored driver, Savanna Little makes it onto the D-Sport Magazine pages! From model to one of motorsports upcoming drivers she gives us insight into her journey in the motorsport world. Make sure to get your copy which is available on news stands now!

Savanna Little is a Konig Sponsored Driver and currently runs Konig Hypergram in 18×10.5 et 25mm all around. The Konig hypergram is Flow Formed.

Make sure to follow Savanna Little on INSTAGRAM!

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CHAIRSLAYER & SAVANNA AT SEMA 2017!

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IT’S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN! THE SEMA SHOW IS BACK!

IF YOU’RE AT SEMA, STOP BY BOOTH & SAY HELLO TO ROB “CHAIRSLAYER” PARSONS & SAVANNA LITTLE

BOTH WILL BE IN BOOTH #43069, TAKING PICTURES & SIGNING POSTERS!  ROB WILL BE SIGNING, TUES, WED AND THURS FROM 2PM-3PM.

NOT AT SEMA?  MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
WE WILL BE GIVING YOU INTERVIEWS OF BOTH ROB & SAVANNA!

WE ARE ALSO GOING TO BE INTRODUCING THE LATEST KONIG WHEEL RELEASES FOR 2018 ON OUR SOCIAL CHANNELS …

FOR MORE INFO, MAKE SURE TO STAY TUNED:
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
YOUTUBE

2018 WHEELS SNEAK PEEK!

Posted on by Konig Gfx

IT’S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN! We are headed back to Las Vegas, NV for the the 2017 SEMA SHOW. SEMA is not only an exciting show it’s also the benchmark of the automotive year. At the show we will be launching and debuting our newest wheels!

Can’t make it to the show? NO PROBLEM! We have you covered! This year we will be using Facebook and Instagram Live to stream these products to you!

JOIN US AS WE GO LIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA!
ALTHOUGH, THE SEMA SHOW IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC… WE WANT TO GIVE YOU AN EXCLUSIVE VIEW OF OUR NEWEST WHEELS, AS WELL AS SOME INSIDE VIEWS OF THE 2017 SEMA SHOW!

CHECK OUR FACEBOOK
TUESDAY 10/31/2017
10AM PST / 1PM EST
FOR FURTHER DETAILS on our go live times!

FOR MORE INFO, MAKE SURE TO STAY TUNED:
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
YOUTUBE

Kevin Lawrence smokes out Hoonigan Donut Garage

Posted on by KONIG

Konig Sponsored, Formula Drift Pro2 Driver and 2017 Formula Drift Pro 2 CHAMPION Kevin Lawrence dropped by the Hoonigan Donut Garage to cause a blackout. He took a perfectly good set of Hankook Tires and well…Tire smoke for days…check it out!

Travis Reeder breaksdown FDTX & 2nd place series finish!

Posted on by Konig Gfx

**** GUEST BLOG – BY TRAVIS REEDER****

FORMULA DRIFT TEXAS – PRO 2 FINAL ROUND | August 8th and 9th

Prepping for Texas wasn’t as smooth as previous rounds for the team. Just nine days before the car had to be on the road we had an internal engine failure while testing some setup changes we had made after seattle. The timing chain had snapped which netted us eight bent valves, two bent pushrods and a collapsed lifter. Luckily the pistons were fine. We quickly got ahold of the awesome guys over at Thompson Motorsports of Texas and they got us everything we needed to rebuild and had the car in he trailer and back to 100% just in time.

As we arrived at Texas motor speedway we were quick to get unloaded. The team performed the usual fluids changes, alignment and bolt check. We were ready and eager to get out on track and demolish some Achilles radials.

Practice was a definite learning process. The track at Texas was extremely fast with brutal consequences if mistakes were made. After focusing on perfecting a line and finding the correct gear ratio for the car we were ready for qualifying.

The team and I felt solid going into qualifying. On my first run I had made a slight mistake after inner clip one and ended up throwing my line off for the rest of the run. Run one scored a 67 which at the time was already deemed out of the top 16.

With the pressure building I lined up for my second run. All second runs granted a parade lap before the run due to some fluids spilled during Danny George’s roll over. I threw a new set on the car and decided to make two full runs. Practice is practice right? I ended up with a 79 which put me in the 9th spot for the big show.

With the bracket set for Friday I was lined up against Austin Meeks. I knew his car was fast so I was preparing for a solid battle. Austin led first due to qualifying position. I matched his pace all through the course until he made a correction in front of outer zone 3, at the wall. From my perspective it looked like he was going to drive off track so I dove in and attempted to finish my run. He then jumped back on track and we made contact, which was unavoidable. I was deemed at fault for the contact and Austin was awarded 10 minutes to look over his car and fix what I assumed to be a bent suspension arm or tie rod.

Once fixed, we were ready to swap positions. I made as close to a perfect lead run as I could as Austin made some mistakes in the chase position. The judges awarded a one more time.

On our second run I was in the chase position first, again. I maintained proximity with Austin through the first half of the course and ended up making a small mistake through the last inner clip and going a bit wide. On my lead I put down a solid lead run as Meeks made a very similar mistake as I did in my chase run. After some review from the judges it was a 2-1 decision flavoring Meeks and my weekend was cut short.

With Texas being the final round, the rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and reflecting on what an awesome rookie season I had in formula drift pro 2. I ended up 2nd in points for the season which felt amazing and was awarded rookie of the year on top of that! I can’t thanks my family friends and sponsors enough for the outstanding support, especially Konig Wheels for lacing the car up with the raddest wheels in the game! That’s a wrap for me, see everyone next year!

Travis Reeder is a Konig Sponsored Professional Drift driver that competes in Formula Drift Pro 2 Series. Travis runs Konig Ultraform in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9 et 25 rear. The Konig Ultraform is Flow Formed.

Make sure to follow Travis on INSTAGRAM!

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