The Lucas Oil Nitto Tire S13.5 will be at Formula D Ultimate Drifting Pre-Race Spectacular out in Texas Motor Speedway on June 9-11th.  It’ll be great drifting in front of  thousands of INDYCAR race fans. I’m looking forward to this adventure! It’ll be my first time drifting at TMS. 

Ticket info and more details can be found HERE

 The vehicle has been dropped off at the FD rig for transport on May 28th 2011. It’s going to be a busy but yet a fun month of June! I got a call from my good friend David and mentioned the temp out in Texas is around 100 Degrees Fahrenheit. So he made sure that I must hydrate myself ahead of time. I’m so thankful to have good friends and supporters around my life! Without them I wouldn’t be where I am now. Thank you all for always looking out and making it possible for me to go out to live the dream and passion!!

Photos from Wrecked Magazine can be found here.

All the new upgrades/mods have been installed at Road Race Engineering located in Santa Fe Springs Ca. With the help of S-Empire we installed a brand new Precision Turbo, New engine harness, Megan Racing Suspension, brakes, sway bars, bushings, Enjuku Racing Intake Manifold (ISIS) and the list goes on….

Joon Maeng piloted the Nitto Mazda RX8 to the number three qualifying position at Formula Drift’s Round 3 event in Atlanta, Georgia.  Joon electrified the crowd and judges with his backwards entries, outright speed and burning Nitto rubber.  He was able to pilot the Nitto Mazda RX8 to a 94.4 score in qualifying.  “The Mazda RX8 felt amazing!  The best it has ever been.  Ed gave me the power and Derek gave me the grip.  We were ready to kill the competition!  Said Joon Maeng pilot of the Nitto Mazda RX8.

  2011 Formula Drift Round 2: Road to the Championship
Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA
QUALIFYING RESULTS

Joon Maeng would have to face Walker Wilkerson and the Fatlace Nissan 240SX in the TOP 32.  Joon would do an amazing lead run and leave Walker Wilkerson in the Nitto smoke.  Joon would clearly be the leader in points during that lead run.  “Joon was literally smoking Walker throughout the course on the lead run.  The RX8 was hauling butt!”  Said Mark Manansala Intern for the Bergenholtz Racing Nitto Mazda Drift Team.

With a clear lead over Walker Wilkerson, Joon would simply need to run a clean run and stay close to the Fatlace Nissan 240SX.  Joon would pilot the Mazda RX8 perfectly next to the Nissan but the Mazda RX8 would experience a ring and pinion failure at the top of the track.  “My heart dropped when the car stopped accelerating.  We broke right in front of the crowd.  I got out of the car and some of the crowd was in tears.  I could not believe it.  Despite the hardship, I really felt the love of the fans in Atlanta.  Our team performs for them.  We will fight on and come back in Florida with our guns firing.” Said Joon Maeng pilot of the Nitto Mazda RX8.

The Bergenholtz Racing Nitto Mazda Drift Team is relentless in propelling Joon Maeng to the podium.  The ring and pinion problem is already diagnosed and a clear solution has come into play.  “I must admit it was completely disheartening to go out in the Top 32.  The team was hit pretty hard but we put our heads together to solve this problem.  Thanks to Titan Motorsports in Orlando, Florida we have a concrete solution to solve this ring pinion failure.   Despite the failure, the ongoing changes Ed and Derek were doing to the car throughout the weekend were producing truly advantageous results on track.  The ring and pinion although was not liking it at all with the added load.  Once we implement the new ring and pinion setup, Joon will be unstoppable!  I know he’s going to be on the podium soon.” Said Ron Bergenholtz Team Manager of Bergenholtz Racing.

Check out our blogs from Atlanta with this link:

http://bergenholtzracing.blogspot.com/

TOP 3 Qualifying run can be viewed with this link at Time Marker: 11.28 sec.:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2ZinVLTGrE

1^st Round of Top 32 can be viewed with this link at Time

 Marker: 34.20 sec.:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2ZinVLTGrE

Support Bergenholtz Racing and its Marketing Partners:

Photography extraordinaire Larry Chen covered Team Mazda at the Long Beach Grand Prix for Formula Drift’s Team Drift. He started his roots photographing numerous Hollywood Stars.  Larry has always been known for his amazing photography at capturing the perfect moments in the sport of Drifting.  “His photography is simply remarkable.  Larry can capture the moment whether it’s a drifting car in motion or that special moment between two human beings.  I love his perspective when he’s behind the camera.  He’s an artist.” Said Ron Bergenholtz Team Manager of Bergenholtz Racing.

Coming out nice and tight out of turn 9. Team Mazda consisted of Charles Ng in the Evasive Nitto Tire Mazda RX-7, Kyle Mohan in the Mazda Trix Nexen Mazda RX-8 and me in the Nitto Tire Mazda RX-8.

 Main sweeper on the famous Formula Drift Long Beach course. We had a blast and ended up on top of the podium taking home the 1st place trophy.

Cheers!

FD Round 1 experience posted on Team Bergenholtz Racing’s web site below

http://bergenholtzracing.blogspot.com/2011/04/drifting-in-long-beach-breeze.html

Looking forward to FD Round 2 in Road Atlanta! Thank you all for your on-going support! 

We appreciate you cheering us on!