LZ World Tour Stop One

I’m not sure if I had a good idea of what to expect going into the LZ World Tour but as I had recently also shot Hotpit Autofest, I figured the feeling would be the same and that at least I’d already have a pretty good understanding of the flow of a multi-day professional drift event. Indeed, I had already had a moment of being a bit awestruck at Irwindale Speedway to be standing on a NASCAR track which might seem a bit weird as we weren’t a NASCAR watching family growing up but I do have family ties to the sport way back to 1955. I didn’t expect to be fazed when under a month later I had the opportunity to be shooting at another, however, there’s just something about that moment of getting to drive through the tunnel at Kern Raceway that is really unmatched.

Seeing the giant color coordinated trailers, tow rigs and pit set-ups, as soon as you hit the infield, it’s easy to feel the difference between these professional events and smaller grassroots drifting events but gratefully lots of aspects are still the same. That aspect of community we all love was no less present at LZ World than I’ve come to expect from regularly attending events at a grassroots level. People were rooting each other on, helping each other with issues, loaning cars so runs could be completed, etc. When Dave (Driftgames) spoke at the drivers meeting, he acknowledged the competition aspect of the weekend but also wanted the spirit of the whole thing to be fun, and for everyone to remember why they love doing this. Judging from what I could see everyone took the competition and fun having equally as seriously.

As media we were supplied a generously sized media box right in the center of the action as well as another smaller box a little further to one side. The funniest part of the main box was that we couldn’t actually hear the livestream announcing whatsoever so had no idea who would win battles until the two drivers rolled up in front of us and we saw the interaction between them, the audience, and Cerise.

In spite of the weather shifting and experiencing some significant rain delays, we were treated to a lot of great battles, hard driving and exciting moments. One of the most memorable, obviously, is Adam LZ catching his car on fire. After a battle he was doing a donut and roasting tires when they caught, all of us in the media box were screaming fire at him and waving frantically while he continued roasting tires. Thankfully he finally became aware, brought the car to a stop and hopped out to put the fire out. He later stood in the burned up trunk and posed for pics, definitely a lighthearted reaction to what could’ve been a big issue.

This event was also T-Pain’s foray into competition drifting with Nappy Boy Automotive and I’ve gotta say he’s a certified ripper! Winning battles in your first ever comp against this level of drivers is pretty crazy, I’m happy I was there to witness it. I also give the team major props for the simplicity and cleanness of this livery giving cameras a lot of strong colors and lines to grab onto regardless of lighting conditions.

California was just the first stop of the tour, they’ve also had a stop in Montreal, stop three is upcoming at Mondello Park this September in Ireland and there’s an as of yet undisclosed 4th location is coming soon. It would be so much fun to be able to go to all 4 events just to witness how the driving and energy change track to track but also with different drivers. I’m sure regardless of location they maintain that spirit of a fun, lighthearted competition.

Final Bout Special Stage South

Unlike some drift events that are more about speed with drift missile type cars, Final Bout is strongly aesthetically driven. At their events you are sure to see some beautiful 90’s jdm vehicles. Many of the teams are matching either through base colors or through liveries and while super stylish, these folks don’t skimp on the driving skill either.

Final Bout SSS is held at Speedsportz in New Caney TX just outside of Houston and is part of a drift weekend co-hosted by KnuckleUp TX. KU at Speedsportz is where I got my start in drift media and even though I am not in Houston full time anymore I still very much consider it to be my home track, so much so that I flew in to be there for this event. Speedsportz is a go cart & motorcycle track so a little bit smaller than some of the tracks out there which is great for really letting you feel involved in the action. There isn’t as much of a divide between drivers and spectators at a KU or Final Bout event, pits are accessible to wander and drivers are always happy to chat. In addition there’s a moment with Final Bout where all the cars park up on track and spectators are free to actually come on and check them out.

The event kicks off with a traditional cruise to downtown and meetup at Moon Tower Inn after car show judging and tech. If you’ve never made it to this part, I highly recommend making sure you do. It was incredibly cool to be in this huge group of gorgeous cars weaving their way through traffic and across town. Once at Moon Tower everyone parks up and wanders, another great opportunity for folks to chat with drivers and for other enthusiasts to park up with those in comp.

For as chill as Final Bout seems to be, and is, it is also judged. There’s a car show aspect as well as the driving comp and this year’s judges in addition to Simba, were Hert (Hertlife & Nappy Boy Automotive) and Palmer (Goodest Cast & Animal Style). Unlike KU’s Double Cup you need at least 3 vehicles participating which left some drivers scrambling and saw some very new “teams’ springing up last minute. Since Final Bout Special Stages are regional we get drivers from other states coming in to compete, like Risky Business from Florida. You’ll also see OG drift Texas drift teams like Essence, Fat Cats and Good Feeling to name a few.

The ultimate goal in the regional Final Bout’s is to place high enough to move onto the summit, the large Final Bout competition at US Air. It’s typically held in late August or early September time frame and sees the top three finishers from all the regionals competing against one another. Having that goal in mind really has drivers showing up and showing out during the preliminary comps. Unfortunately my boys, Reiwa Style, crashed and the time it took to get their cars back out on track left them with not enough runs to place high but I am still super proud of their determination in getting back out there.

Post comp driving continues throughout the weekend hosted by KnuckleUp and things tend to get rowdy with hot lapping and drift trains vs tandems. This year I got to run grid for a bit and that was super fun. If anyone wants me to take a media break and run grid for ya, I am happy to do so!

After comp and the day’s driving is through you should definitely go check out the nearby food court made up of repurposed shipping containers. So many different types of cuisine to choose from so there is a bit of something for everyone.

Final Bout SSS x KnuckleUp TX, good times with good people.