Taylor Hull wins round 2 of the $100,000 shootout by Klutch Kickers
March 7th, 2020
Taylor Hull, his wife and spotter Tamarah Hull, and crew chief for the weekend J J Alfano unloaded the freshly wrapped Cadillac ATS-V in Holt, FL. The track is called Emerald Coast Dragway, but Klutch Kickers took it upon themselves to build a track next to the strip specifically designed for drifting. The track is small, tight, and technical; perfect for equalizing the power advantage that Taylor and several other competitors may have had.
Saturday practice went well, but was not without issue completely. The team had a blower belt failure but quickly changed it out and was back on track. Achilles tire smoke filled the air with every lap Hull made with the vehicle. He was interviewed after practice stating “We made alot of changes over the offseason with suspension geometry that helped put a ton of speed in the car we were lacking before. It really helps us, especially in chase to be able to surge up on other cars and keep a very tight tandem. Cory Cox designed and built us a brand new pair of custom overfenders and Patrick at ERA tees wrapped it in this tribute livery. I’m excited to see how this event goes for us!” Later Saturday evening, Taylor would qualify with a score of 80, giving him a bye into top 32, but with a final standing of 13th. That result would mean he would have to chase first on every battle past top 32.
The car was prepped Sunday Morning with a oil change courtesy of Liqui Moly and a few changes for increased grip on the Yellowspeed coilovers and then Sunday practice went flawlessly. Taylor got through his top 32 battle cleanly and moved on to top 16 opening ceremonies.
Taylor was welcomed by the crowd at introduction and tipped his black cowboy hat to them before preparing for battle. His top 16 battle was arguably his toughest. It was against fellow Formula Drift pro driver and winner of Klutch Kickers round 1, Alec Hohnadell. Taylor chased first and was very close to Alec through the course. Hull would lead next and on the second run, the pair made heavy contact coming into the first touch and go. Fortunately, both cars were able to continue in drift and finish the battle. The judges awarded the victory to Hull. Upon arrival to the pit, Taylor, JJ, and most of Ethan Parnell’s crew went to work to repair the Cadillac and prepare it once more for battle.
Taylor would face Nick Castleberry in the great 8. The pair had battled once before at Emerald Coast back in December. Again, after a close battle Taylor would move on. For the final four, Taylor would be against one of his good friends and long time competitor Kevin Lawerence. They know each other well from competing in the Pro series of Formula Drift. Kevin would lead first, but cold tires would lead to a spin on his lead, giving a huge advantage to Hull. Taylor put a solid lead on display next that Kevin followed closely with Taylor being declared the victor.
The finals would be Taylor Hull against Nick Noback who recently purchased a pro level vehicle from recently retired Alex Heilbrunn. The pair would have a very close battle that the judges took some time to dissect. In the end Taylor Hull was announced to the crowd as the winner. He stood on the roof of the Cadillac, fist pumping in elation to applause of the crowd. He was interviewed following the announcement. “This is amazing! To have the opportunity to come and compete for $10,000 is unprecedented, and to go the gauntlet of awesome drivers that we just did…It feels so great. Every one of the battles was tough, but our Cadillac worked great, it was fast, and I pushed as hard as I could! And to win with the new livery on the car as a tribute to Dale Earnhardt, man that’s cool. We’re going to keep this momentum rolling this year, it’s going to be a great one!
Taylor will be competing again with Klutch Kickers April 25-26 then at Road Atlanta for Formula Drift May 8-9. He would like to thank the fans, his crew and all his partners for their support.
Taylor is running Konig Dekagram in 18×8.5″ et 35mm front and 18×10.5″ et 18mm rear. The Konig Dekagram is Flow Formed.
