DriftCon Afterdark 2019 / Evergreen Drift Round 5 – Full Event Coverage

DriftCon Afterdark 2019 finished off our sixth year hosting DriftCon events at Evergreen Speedway. These events continue to grow and evolve and we appreciate the support from the PNW drift community. Make sure to see the full gallery at the bottom of the page!

Photos by Nick Foskette, Michael Ericson, and Brady Gunderson. Video by Tony Hamblin. Text by Matt Haugness.

The standard format of the Great 75 Car Show, VIP Parking, ProAm Round 5, Team Tandem Showoff, Big Entry Contest, and Hoon-Off was maintained. This year we attempted to add our new Jigen Drift (timed drifting) but due to time constraints it had to be canceled. Jigen Drift will be back in 2020 and have a larger focus!

The ProAm main event was insane this year. It was a super competitive event and even our guest judge Faruk Kugay was impressed! With it being the final round before the end of the season multiple drivers were on the edge of getting their Formula Drift Pro2 license. First place went to Brennan Walstrom in his well-sorted 240SX. Alex Lindsay put on a heck of a show and despite being one of the most under-powered cars on grid he drove really well and secured second place. Tyler Mayer drove great all day and locked down the third place podium spot.

ProAm ran a little later than expected due to some slight rain showers and delays but we immediately moved onto the Hoon-Off Burnout Competition. This part of the event comes and goes based on interest from competitors. This year we had quite a few drivers sign up in advance so we made sure we did it! We also had some last minute entries show up on track to help fill the venue with smoke. Ultimately Tyler Rees in his Ford Mustang took the only award we had – first place. Ben Whyte put on a solid show and it was extremely close between the two. We think this competition could heat up for 2020…

The Big Entry Contest was a bit rushed due to time constraints but Henry Hamerly scraped the pool noodles and wall perfectly with his BMW. Word is he had a newish paint job but now has a battle scar on the rear bumper from DriftCon Afterdark!

Team Tandem Showoff at DriftCon Afterdark is strictly for fun with no cash prize. 17 teams signed up quickly and we announced this part of the event was sold out nearly a month in advance! It was great to get tons of interest in team tandem and many of the teams put on a great show. IGNANT came back and secured first place once again! That makes them 2 for 2 for the year with a first place finish at our June event. Front Bumper came in second with Enemies in third. Solid driving in general for the top 5 teams!

The Great 75 Car Show was held alongside the track. Some awards were determined by our traditional voting method but Best of Show, Best Import, Best Domestic, Best European, and Best Make awards were judged by our judging staff (Hiro Kanno and Andrew Vun – two top tier winners of the past). Best Lighting was chosen by VLEDS. We also made some tweaks to the voted awards to allow for some interesting changes in who won. See the coverage on ImportMeet.com for a full list of award winners.

Thank you to everyone that attended DriftCon Afterdark 2019! We have some exciting things in the works for 2020 that could mean some dramatic changes to how these events are held. Stay tuned!

Special thanks to all of the vendors and the following sponsors for their support of this event:

Major Sponsors:
Ace Auto Repair & Tire Pros
APC Auto Spa
VLEDS
Rat2 Motorsports

Sponsors:
ImportMeet.com
425 Motorsports
The Import Guys
Planted Technology
Tragic Squad
Redstart Racing
Gundies Auto & Truck Wrecking
GripWerx
All In – Refreshment Energized