Fullerton, CA –  Team Lucas Oil Mav TV Nexen Tire traveled to Road Atlanta for Formula Drift Pro Championship Round 2.

Mike Welch at Road Race Engineering and Joon Maeng our driver transported the rig safely to Georgia. “It’s an honor to drive for Lucas Oil, Mav TV, Nexen Tire, R.R.E., S-Empire and to have Mike Welch and the entire Road Race Engineering crew for our Drift Program this season,” says Joon Maeng.

The action packed weekend began with the crew testing out the Belle-1 Racing Communication radio setup.

Formula D Round 2 being a night event the team marketing manager made sure to install LED lights on the Lucas Oil Flag standing 30ft high. The fans were able to spot us from miles away.

While the Lucas Oil Mav TV Nexen Tire Team was setting up for Thursday practice, fellow neighbors had a couple of questions for our Crew Chief Lod Tongkul.

“I was amazed with our new engine and setup on the Lucas Oil Mav TV S13 Nexen Tire!” says Joon. “The new Brodix LSX Engine has been de-tuned for less power than the one at Long Beach to be more reliable.” says Lod Tongkul (Crew Chief) The new Brodix engine setup is pushing 650 hp and 640 tq.

Joon Maeng was looking strong all day during the Thursday practice session. The team made a few more changes to get more traction and speed going up into the horse shoe of the Road Atlanta track.

During the competition weekend the team made sure to take down notes and have plenty of data for us to use. “Having this data will help us to be one step ahead of the competition,” Says Sam Chaysavang ( Spotter/Tuner )

Since Thursday Morning till Saturday Evening Joon was swamped with Road Atlanta Fans wanting to take photos and hero cards. “Road Atlanta consists of the most dedicated fans in the entire Formula D Championship, they will even wait for us in the pits after the podium ceremony every season! I love our fans and appreciate all of their support all these years!” says Joon Maeng

Every night the Lucas Oil Mav TV Nexen Tire team went through the vehicle to double check all the Power by Max Products, Bink Industries Sway Bars, Feal Suspension and the entire vehicle to make sure the car was ready for the main day! “I’m so thankful to be driving for the best of the best! Lod Tongkul (Crew Chief/Tuner) and the entire crew is so humble and supportive no matter what situation the track throws at us,” says Joon Maeng.

Lucas Oil Mav TV Nexen Tire Pit was a hit in Road Atlanta and was a fan favorite! Fans from ages 9 months to 60+ year old were full of excitement to meet with Joon Maeng and the crew.

Two hour long line for the Formula Drift Drivers Autograph session. Joon made sure to sign every single fan in line before he had to head back on track. ” Thank you Kevin Lee at Nexus Visuals for designing our new hero cards the fans love it,” says Joon Maeng.

The Lucas Oil Mav TV Nexen Tire crew was mounting new Nexen Tires onto the Varrstoen Wheels non-stop as practice was in effect.

Focused and ready for battle!  “Pedal to the metal,” says Joon Maeng.

Best top tier drivers around the world compete here in the Formula Drift Pro Championship.

“Judges were looking for good angle, speed, aggressive style and line. So that was my goal to ace all those categories. Jarod Deanda the Voice of FD may call me Gentle Maeng but there’s not a single drop of gentleness when I’m behind the wheel,” says Joon Maeng

Spyder Auto tail lights and the Weir Performance rear end was a great add on to the 2013 Lucas Oil Mav TV Nexen Tire drift program. The Team now has 3 different Weir gears to select from and the Weir Performance Products provides high quality grade ring, pinion and diffs.

These moments are what inspires the team to push hard on track! Thanks for your excitement and positive energy buddy!

Fans wear super happy to receive Lucas Oil hats, products, lanyards, Mav TV koozies, key chains, Nexen Tire Lanyards, Road Race Engineering License plate frames and bunch of our partners goodies. Make sure to visit our pits for the next round of Formula Drift Championship to receive your goods.

Performance Auto and Sound Magazine photo shoot with Andrew Jennings. As normal, each day consisted of media photo shots and interviews. “My marketing manager did an amazing job of scheduling all of our interviews with the busy FD schedule!” says Joon Maeng

“Spoon with Joon” says our Lucas Oil Mav TV Nexen Tire Fans! “Our fans here in Road Atlanta are so cool and amazing!” says Joon Maeng

Photo By: Cory Conrad

Top 32 Battle against Chelsea Denofa driving the BC Racing BMW was interesting. The team noticed Chelsea’s crew had some car problem so the team made sure to offer any help they needed for the BMW to be at 100%. Once we confirmed that he was going to run with a limping vehicle we changed our setup super loose for less grip. Since he was low on power we wanted to match up our Lucas Oil Mav TV Nexen Tire to similar type of situation to make sure we don’t get stuck behind him causing us to straighten out because of his slower speeds. It was a good choice the team made as they were traveling at 15 MPH less on entry compared to the practice sessions. Team Lucas Oil Mav TV Nexen Tire advanced to the top 16.

Top 16 Drivers Introduction Ceremony

Mother nature always plays a role here in Road Atlanta. As it rained on and off Joon had to adapt to the wet conditions in the new Nexen Tires. As Nexen Tire was introduced as the Official Tire sponsor of Lucas Oil Mav TV Drift Program it was Joon’s first time driving the N9000′s in the rain. “After watching other drivers spin out, I told myself to hold back 30% on initiation point. Once the battle was completed I was way off on holding back, I should have held back only 5%. These Nexen Tires are amazing in the wet, they have so much traction! Now I know what they are capable of in the rain, so next time we’ll make sure to advance,” Says Joon Maeng.

“On the lead run The Lucas Oil Mav TV Nexen Tire was so fast even in the wet and dry conditions,” says Joon Maeng.

The Team did an amazing job of keeping the Lucas Oil Mav TV S13 Nexen Tire running strong and the fans happy!

We would like to thank you for supporting our partners: Lucas Oil, Mav TV, Nexen Tire, Road Race Engineering, S-Empire, Nexus Visuals, VarrsToen Wheels, Enjuku Racing, Sam’s Auto Land, SPARCO, Holley Performance, Powered By Max, Meziere Enterprises,  Brodix Cylinder Heads , ACT, Aeromotive,  JE Pistons, Westech, APR Performance, Weir Performance, JBA Headers, Seibon Carbon, Rockett Fuel, FEAL Suspension, Turbo by Garrett, LS Auto, K&N, Sikky.

For more information, please feel free to visit  www.facebook.com/joonmaengracing http://followgram.me/joonmaeng    www.twitter.com/joonmaeng

Hello Lucas Oil Mav TV Nexen Tire fans!!

The off season flew by with the team working away on making all the necessary upgrades and changes on the vehicle. We made sure to get better flow with the custom fabricated JBA Headers, new Hi-Ram Holley EFI intake manifold for better throttle control, Powered by Max suspension upgrades for more steering angle, New Advanced Clutch Technology kit for more clutch kicks, Varrstoen Wheels for light weight, Custom Bink Industries sway bars for better handling, High voltage alternator, high torque starter, 7 different spring rates, variety types of gear ratios, new Seibon hood, Sam’s Auto Land Paint & Body work and Spyder tail lights for the exterior. The S-Empire crew practically lived at Road Race Engineering to make sure the Lucas Oil Mav TV S13 Nexen Tire gets dialed in for the 2013 Formula Drift Championship.

Here we are for Friday practice. To tell you the truth this is the best car I’ve ever driven in my entire drifting career! After our first run at Media Day on Tuesday, April 9th 2013 I had the biggest smile. I was amazed at the phenomenal handling and powerful setup we had going into the FD season opener at Streets of Long Beach Grand Prix Course.

I had my ears open wide for the drivers meeting. There are so many changes this year with the judging aspect. During a run if two cones get knocked down you get an automatic zero. If one wheel goes off track twice throughout the run you also get a zero. I like the fact there are more objective details for judging. It makes us improve as drivers and to be more precise of our line and driving style. The details are posted here.

Long Beach was the first time testing out the Nexen N9000 275/ 35ZR 18 Tires. The Brodix 498ci LSX engine is pushing 800 hp. I was shocked how much grip the N9000 provide for our powerful engine setup. After the team made a few adjustments on the vehicle, the Lucas Oil Mav TV S13 started bogging from so much grip provided by these amazing tires.

I’m so happy to be driving for the best of the best! We have great friends and partners that will go above and beyond for us to be competitive in the Pro FD Championship.

Pedal to the metal! Trail of Nexen Tire smoke from turn 9 to the finish line was a norm throughout the weekend. I’ve never had this much tire smoke from the previous seasons. It’s so fun and easy to drive the new S13! So proud of the team and partners’ hard work and dedication to make this possible!

I felt at home on this Long Beach Grand Prix Course! Last year we ran so many laps with the Lucas Oil Mav TV S13.5 Turbo By Garrett during the team drift event as well as drove the pace cars all weekend long during the Grand Prix Race. The gearing was right on the dot! Thanks team for making sure we had the perfect setup for Round 1!

We enjoyed spending quality time with our fans! We appreciate everyone waiting patiently in the long line during our autograph session in our pit area. The kids loved the Lucas Oil hats and had a blast!

Sparco USA did an amazing job with the design of our race suit. Quality service and high quality products keeping us safe from harm’s way! It’s always fun catching up with our fans during the autograph session. The fans wait hours in line to meet their favorite drivers and to achieve an autographed hero card.

Here’s our Crew Chief, Lod Tongkul (Driver Seat) and Spotter, Sam Chaysavang (Passenger Seat) tuning the Lucas Oil Mav TV S13 Nexen Tire with the Holley EFI unit on the dyno packs at Road Race Engineering. The power band kicks in instantly and drivability on the vehicle has been improved drastically. The Fuel consumption improved after the new tune. We are burning less Rockett Fuel in our Aeromotive Fuel Cell A1000. On Friday Qualifying we ran a solid run with an 80.4 score.

Brother Tom, Zac Bogner and the entire team / partners are my hero! I appreciate all of your amazing support and inspiration! You guys rock!

Team Lucas Oil Mav TV Nexen Tire made sure the S13 is dialed in during the off season! Road Race Engineering / S-Empire crew worked non-stop to make sure the vehicle will be ready for battle! I’m so Blessed and grateful to have a solid and dedicated crew for the 2013 Formula Drift Championship season!

 (Starting from left to right: Lead Tech- Art Thavilyati, Suspension specialist- Nate Haugh, Pit Crew Member- Garrett Patthasriroj, Pit Crew Member- Matt Kohlwey and Crew Chief- Lod Tongkul.)

Kevin Lee (wearing the hat) at Nexus Visuals making sure we have good footage during the events and does a phenomenal job with PR, Marketing and logistics portion of the team. We always appreciate his hard work and passion for team Lucas Oil Mav TV Nexen Tire!

Mike Meeiem making sure that we are good to go with the Nexen N9000 tires. I love driving on these high performance/grip tires.

Mike and Rossy Welch at Road Race Engineering always provides positive energy and supports the crew to keep pushing hard! It’s great to have an awesome marketing team on hand to share the joy of each round of Formula Drift Championships to our fans and partners. Thank you all for your support!

During the main event day practice session we noticed a loss of power and heard a ticking noise under the hood of our Lucas Oil Mav TV S13 Nexen Tire, so we ended up heading back to our pit to figure out what was going on. We opened up the valve covers on the Brodix Engine and noticed one of the valve springs broke. The team tried their best to fix it in time before the top 32 battle but didn’t have enough time to finish. It was heart breaking to see but in the end the team gave it all their might! That’s what counts.

Click Here to watch the VIDEO of the Formula Drift Long Beach weekend

Provided by Nexus Visuals

The Crew taking out the Brodix Engine on Saturday night right after the event. Although we were up from 5AM to prep for the main event day the team never showed any signs of weakness going late into the night making sure the engine gets dropped off to our engine builder the very next day.

On the bright side, we made it to the main day and got points for the Championship Chase! Team Lucas Oil Mav TV Nexen Tire is currently building a new Brodix engine, spare engine, ordered a new Dog Box Transmission (new custom gear setup for Road Atlanta), new drive shaft, new rack and pinion, new power steering pump with pulley, new ACT Clutch and Flywheel, new rear end from Weir Performance and many other parts were ordered from Enjuku Racing to make sure the car will be solid for the rest of the season. We’ll have a spare of every component of the vehicle so we can push hard without thinking twice about it.

The Lucas Oil Mav TV Trailer has been upgraded to 12K LBS axles, new hubs, wheels and tires at American RV Inc.  They provide high quality and fast service to their customers. Great place to drop off your trailer and rv for upgrades.

Road Race Engineering crew is currently fabricating tire racks and shelf’s to store all the extra parts we’ll be transporting for the Formula Drift Round 2 Road Atlanta event.

Thank you fans for supporting all of our partners and rooting us on!!!

Feel free to follow us at:

www.facebook.com/joonmaengracing

www.twitter.com/joonmaeng

http://followgram.me/joonmaeng

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Joon Maeng partners with

Lucas Oil Products Inc.,

MAV TV and Nexen Tire

SANTA FE SPRINGS, CA – February 25, 2013 – based Joon Maeng Racing is proud to announce its partners for the 2013 Formula Drift Season. Lucas Oil Products Inc. has been a strong supporter of the team since 2009 and will continue to support the team as the title sponsor along with MAV TV, for the 2013 Formula Drift Season.  The partnership made its debut at Round 6, at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a V8 powered S13. Nexen Tire joins as the new tire sponsor.  Joon Maeng is excited to join the Nexen Tire roster that is already populated with some of Formula D’s top drivers. “We are honored to have partnered with such amazing companies. We look forward to a great season together!” – Joon Maeng

The team is also supported by Road Race Engineering, S-Empire, Nexus Visuals LLC, Sam’s Auto Land, Aeromotive, Holley Performance, LS Auto, Brodix Cylnder Heads, ACT, JE Pistons, Westech Performance, APR Performance, SPARCO, Enjuku Racing, Varrstoen Wheels, Seibon Carbon, AIT Racing, Rocket Fuel, Meziere, FEAL Suspensions and Powered By Max.

About Lucas Oil Products Inc.
Lucas Oil is one of the fastest growing additive lines in the consumer automotive industry. A premium line of oils, greases and problem solving additives has helped to firmly establish Lucas as a prominent figure in this marketplace.  Lucas has long been directly involved in the American racing industry through multiple vehicle sponsorships and racing event promotions, at all levels. For more information, visit www.lucasoil.com

About MAV TV
MAVTV was founded in 2002 by four former Showtime Networks executives and was originally geared towards a male dominated audience.  In 2011, MAVTV was purchased by Lucas Oil Products, an automotive lubricant manufacturer with a history in television production. Having grown their company from a single product company into an international powerhouse in the lubricant and motorsports industries, Lucas Oil was eager to employ similar strategies to transform MAVTV into a premier cable network. For more information, visit www.mavtv.com

About Nexen Tire
Originally established in 1942 as Heung-A Tire in South Korea, Nexen Tire has over 60 years of tradition as a respected leader in the tire industry.  Acknowledged as Korea’s first tire company, Nexen began car tire production in 1956.  Nexen implores the latest tire technology into their Ultra High Performance tires, which is what is being used in the Formula Drift Series. For more information, visit www.nexentireusa.com.

About Joon Maeng
Joon Maeng is a seven-year veteran of Formula Drift.  His passion for the sport and to his fans, has won over the hearts of fans from all over the world.  Joon’s determination for success is evermore clear for the 2013 season.  For more information, visit www.joonmaeng.com.

For updates throughout the 2013 season, follow us at:

www.lucasoil.com

www.facebook.com/OfficialLucasOil

twitter.com/Lucas_Oil

www.nexentireusa.com

www.facebook.com/nexentire

twitter.com/nexentireusa

www.joonmaeng.com

www.facebook.com/joon.maeng

twitter.com/joonmaeng

Team Lucas Oil American Real TV Nitto Tire prepping for battle. The new Brodix LS 7 Engine was assembled and tuned at Westech Performance with 600+ HP / TQ. Richard Holdener did a phenomenal job in building us this new engine supplied with JE Pistons, Holley EFI, Manton Pushrods, Meziere Enterprises electric water pump and many other goodies. Thank you Brother Tom Bogner and Richard for making all this happen!

We were amazed with the new power band we had here at the Formula Drift Finale. The team worked countless days and nights at Road Race Engineering fabricating away to make room for the new Brodix powered Engine, Jerico Transmission and a few upgrades. Coming into Irwindale Speedway everything was new to me once again with the improved platform. The Lucas Oil American Real TV Nitto Tire S13 was flying throughout the course.

We enjoy spending time with our fans and supporters in our pit area. They were losing their voices as they were screaming and cheering us on from the grand stands. Job well done guys! Thank you for rooting for us!

This is the fastest drift car I’ve ever driven in my lifetime. The throttle response is so crisp and responsive. The APR Performance Spoiler played a big role in planting all the power down to the track surface.

Placing the K&N Filter separate from the engine bay helped to keep the heat down during competition. We qualified and made it in for the main event.

Photo by: David Karey at Am Drift

 Had a blast passing out Lucas Oil Shirts, hats, Road Race Engineering, Nitto Tire Swag with the team. It was great to meet and talk with everyone! Thank you for stopping by out pit area! We appreciate you all waiting in the long line.

Every night consist of preventative mainteniance. The Road Race Engineering / S-Empire crew made sure to keep the Lucas Oil American Real TV Nitto Tire S13 in tip top shape!

 Run by run we were getting more comfortable with our new platform at Irwindale Speedway. We matched up with Tyler Mcquarrie driving the Go Pro Chevy Camaro. We were able to keep up with him at ease throughout the course and was a close battle. After our run the judges were taking quite bit of time to decide who will advance. It wasn’t enough to move on to our next contender.

It was hard to swallow but we went back to our hot pit area to discuss what we can do to improve and learn from this final round. We have a lot of data to work with now and use it to our advantage on the Lucas Oil American Real TV Nitto Tire Drifting Machine. The Team is very hungry to win and will strive for perfection!

Photo By: Drew Fishbein at OMG Drift

 Kids excitement fuels me to drive hard! Jason was happy to see us and loved the Lucas Oil goodies! Always study hard and keep up the great work kids! Dream big!

We’ll be striving forward to come out stronger than ever before in the 2013 Formula Drift Championship!

We couldn’t have made it out to the track without the support and expertise from Lucas Oil, American Real TV,  Nitto Tire, Road Race Engineering, S-Empire, Sams Auto Land, Brodix, Holley EFI, West Tech Performance, Meziere Enterprises, LSA, Enjuku Racing, Advanced Clutch Technology, Nexus Visuals, Sparco, Powered By Max, Apr Performance, Aeromotive, Turbo By Garrett, Feal Suspension, Ait Racing, Seibon Carbon, Varrstoen, JE Pistons, Manton Push Rods, KandN Filters, Apexi and all of those that inspires us to achieve our goals.

Photo By: Kyle Pope

Super grateful to have a dedicated team!

Crew Chief: Lod Tongkul

Lead Technician: Art Thavilyati

Pit Crew: Sam Chaysavang, Garrett Patthasriroj

Spotter:  Jack  Reynolds

Film: Kevin Lee, Zac Bogner and David Karey

The crew is always working hard at Road Race Engineering to get the job done no matter what time it may be.

Thank you all for an awesome 2012 season! Aiming high for the 2013 Formula Drift Pro Championship! Let’s do it team!

The 4,200 mile round trip to LS Fest in Kentucky was well worth the great journey. The event date was scheduled from September 7th-9th. We arrived early Friday morning to set up our Lucas Oil American Real TV Nitto Tire Pit Area. The new transporter Ford F450 Diesel Turbo pulled up hills with ease. Driving cross country was a great way to break in the new truck.

Once our pit area was up and running we made sure to prepare handing out the Lucas Oil Hot Wheels to the youth here in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

It was great to meet all the families and fans out at the LS Fest. Kids were super excited and happy to sit in our Lucas Oil American Real TV Nitto Tire Drift Machine. Thank you Lucas Oil for the Hot Wheels! It brought the biggest smile and made the youth’s day!

Once we started our exhibition runs the crowd started to work their way over to the bleachers.  New Nitto Tires were mounted and ready to make clouds of smoke for the spectators.

Having it being only the 2nd event in this new chassis was a good experience to learn new characteristics and great potential the Lucas Oil American Real TV Nitto Tire S13 has to offer. Our fellow drifters, road racers, drag racers all ran nothing but LS engine platforms.

Jarod Deanda the Voice of Formula Drift was announcing for the drift portion of the LS Fest.  I enjoyed giving Jarod and many other media/press a ride along! Jarod did an amazing job to deliver to the crowd an action packed and well rounded drifting event!

Our partner Holley EFI was very welcoming and kind enough to show us around their high quality products. We’ll be running the Holley EFI unit for the Final Round of Formula Drift Pro Championship.

We met with Jake Boswell at WBKO TV News Channel to show him what drifting is all about! Here is a link of what was shown on Television this weekend.   >>Click Here<<

Even with the heavy rain on Saturday morning it didn’t stop the fans from checking out the LS Fest event. Many were shocked and amazed to see drifting for the first time.  Here is a roof cam video posted on our first lap after the storm passed by.  >>Click Here<<

The Lucas Oil American Real TV Nitto Tire S13 felt great throughout the entire LS Fest weekend! We ended up giving non-stop ride alongs and went through so many of those amazing Nitto Tires! Thanks to the phenomenal Lucas Oil Products the engine, trans and diff is holding up to the extreme driving environment at ease.

We made sure to pass out Lucas Oil goodies to our fans, fellow drivers, crews and staffs. It was fun throwing shirts towards the grand stands with Blane at Holley EFI.

All in all it was a successful LS Fest event. I’m so grateful to be driving a solid car thanks to the Teams hard work! We couldn’t do it without the amazing support and expertise from Lucas Oil, American Real TV,  Nitto Tire, Road Race Engineering, S-Empire, Sams Auto Land, LSA, Enjuku Racing, Advanced Clutch Technology, Nexus Visuals, Sparco,  Brodix, Powered By Max, Apr Performance, Aeromotive,  Turbo By Garrett, Feal Suspension, Holley EFI, West Tech Performance, Meziere Enterprises, Ait Racing, Seibon Carbon, Varrstoen, JE Pistons, Manton Push Rods, Apexi and all of those that inspires us to achieve our goals.

Please feel free to check out our partner’s web sites and stores! You can click on their logos on the right side of our web page.

We appreciate your kind words and excitement!